NZsnowboard.com

20th August 2008

 Falls Creek, Australia: The 08/09 season of the Swatch TTR World Snowboard Tour is charging at full steam down under and the anticipation is rising for the first 4Star event on the Tour, the Oakley Stylewars 2008.

Jonas Carlson at last years Style Wars - Photo Credit: Johnny McCormack

Taking place August 24th - 28th 2008 in Falls Creek, Australia, the 4-day lifestyle Slopestyle event, complete with intense snowboarding, parties and live music, is looking to be the highlight of the Southern Hemisphere.
 
With 500 Swatch TTR ranking points in the mix along with a $15 000 USD prize purse, Stylewars is sure to carry the competitive momentum set just recently at the 5Star Burton New Zealand Open and 3Star Billabong Snow Stock. Last season, Norwegian rider Torstein Horgmo blew apart the Falls Creek scene, and this year hes back to claim it all again. But a hefty challenge Horgmo is sure to meet, as this years event is full to the brim with over 40 talented riders set to destroy the 3 Kicker course.
 
Expect freestyle entrepreneur Travis Rice (USA) to make things spicy as current TTR World No. 2 Chas Guldemond (USA) attempts to get back the Tour Lead which was taken from him last week at the 3Star Billabong Snowstock by James Hamilton (NZE) Swatch TTR No. 4 Janne Korpi (FIN), TTR No. 13 Mikkel Bang (NOR), TTR No. 21 Sebastien Toutant (CAN), and TTR No. 40 Antti Autti (FIN) are sure to keep it interesting alongside a sick south-hemi contingent that includes the likes of TTR No. 26 Jake Koia (NZE) and Australian snowboarders Robbie Walker and Ryan Tiene.
 
Current leader of the Swatch TTR womens ranking, Jamie Anderson (USA), will also take part in the mens competition. Although there are no womens points available at Stylewars simply due to the large scale of the competition features, she will show case her talent together with the guys. We are excited to see how the top female on the Tour will do. 

Photo: Johnny McCormack

 
Riders will be greeted with a relaxed, shred-friendly atmosphere, but even more exciting is the private, contest-purpose built Slopestyle course, already beefed up due to an excellent snow season thus far and set to exceed last years set up with increased quality and flow.
 
Also coming up soon on the Swatch TTR Tour is the 3Star Boost Mobile Sno Sho presented by Samsung, a one-night, under-the-lights, Big Air and Rail Showdown. Taking place August 29th to 30th at Perisher Blue, Australia, the event boasts a $30 000 USD prize purse and the longest rail seen in competition that is sure to spark some creative hits. Perisher Blue will also host the 5Star Burton Australian Open, starting off on September 1st.
 
For more information on the Swatch TTR 4Star Stylewars and the 3Star Sno Sho, along with inspiring videos, blogs, and ranking stats, head on over to www.ttrworldtour.com and keep yourself up to date.
 

2008/2009 - Swatch TTR World Snowboard Tour Ranking as of: 19/ 08/08
 
MEN
Rank    Name    Nation    Points
1    Hamilton, James    NZE    272.70
2    Guldemond, Chas    USA    256.12
3    Kleivdal, Roger    NOR    251.36
4    Korpi, Janne    FIN    249.73
5    Maurer, Stephan    SUI    234.02   
 

LINK:   www.ttrworldtour.com


 
ABOUT TTR:
Founded by Terje Haakonsen and industry innovators in 2002, the SWATCH TTR World Snowboard Tour is a non-profit, rider-driven organization with the  mission to create the highest quality competitive snowboard environment in the world, using authenticity, accessibility, innovation as guiding principles. Since its foundation, the Swatch TTR Tour has been  developing into the most exposed snowboard tour worldwide featuring global grass root and key independent freestyle snowboarding events over a ten-month period from Southern to Northern Hemisphere locations. Events are rated via a 1-through-6Star system, with points allocated accordingly, a 6Star  event holds the highest (1000 Swatch TTR points). Any rider participating in these events, from up-and-coming to professional talent, earns ranking points and a position on the SWATCH TTR World Ranking List. The top male and female rider based on an average of their best eight results of the season is crowned SWATCH TTR World Snowboard Tour Champion.