With a spring-session the Style Championship Tour and the QParks Tour stop finished in the Blue Tomato Kings Park Hochkönig last Saturday. At bright sunshine and spring-like temperatures, numerous riders as well as spectators enjoyed a sensational event at the Hochkönig. Live DJ, schnitzel-rolls, moderation, chilled drinks and sick freestyle action – what more could one want?

The Blue Tomato Kings Park in Mühlbach at the Hochkönig is not an insiders‘ tip anymore. This season enlarged to 4 park sections in total, freestyle fun on 1.8 km is definitely guaranteed. The Hochkönig Style Championship, a local and long well-established freestyle event, was part of the QParks Tour for the first time this year and lived up to its name: pure style-factor! A big thanks goes to the shape crew around park designer Karl Sanderson who perfectly prepared the event setup despite spring-like temperatures. It consisted of two kickers with two jumps, each between 8 and 14 meters, a jib-section with Canon Rail and A-Frame Box as well as an end-section with a Butterbox and a Jibtube. Speaker and "multi-entertainer” Felix Prankl hosted the whole action backed by relaxing beats of head shaper and hobby-DJ Ricky Lalos.

Youngguns rocked the setup

In the qualification it went blow on blow true to the motto "2 runs, best one counts”. After the first elimination, 8 freeskiers and snowboarders as well as 5 rookies qualified for the finals. The finals were hard to top in excitement, above all the rookies showed a sick performance! In the rookie category, "Mr. Mayrhofen Freeski Open” Jakob Gratzer won ahead of Simon Hutter from Dorfgastein and Lukas Müllauer from Saalfelden! With his 3rd place, Lukas is in lead of the Rookie QParks Tour overall ranking now! Moritz Hofmann from Salzburg took the 1st place in the category Snowboard Rookies with his solid runs.

The battle of the Ladies & Gentlemen

With pure style and a high riding level, the pros performed a big show. In the category Freeski Men, Alex Moser from Schladming became 1st ahead of Martin Hauck and Tobi Gratz. After four 2nd places at other Tour stops the Styrian Flo Galler finnaly secured a victory. He relegated Kevin Scherübl and Jonel Fricke to the places 2nd and 3rd. The ladies fought a hard battle as well. With her 16 years of age, Lisa Zimmermann won the category Freeski Girls ahead of Maria Blersch and Gemma Middlo. In the category Snowboard Girls, Klara Dinold stood on top of the winners' podium – Nadine Härtinger from Germany and Lisa Veith from Graz became 2nd and 3rd.

It's all about the style

The "Best Trick” award of the snowboarders went to Dave Wagner with his sick Double Frontflip and the freeskier Martin Hauck from Schladming won this category with his stunning "Cork 630 blindside out” at the Canon Rail.

You can find the whole result list of all snowboarders and freeskiers here!

BURN ENERGY DRINK, PREMIUM PARTNER OF THE WINTER X GAMES TIGNES 2012
Burn Energy is a premier sponsor of the Winter X Games Europe for the third year. Once again this prestigious winter sports event will take place in Tignes. The world's best riders will compete in slopestyle and superpipe across ski and snowboard. Burn Energy drink provides the fuel and the energy to those who want to leave their creative mark on the world. Commencing winter 2009, the Burn Snow project aims to build the foundations for fresh creativity and new concepts within the snowboard community.

Be ready to live a unique, interactive and energizing Winter X Games 2012 experience!
BURN RIDERS JOIN THE ACTION AT THE EUROPEAN WINTER X GAMES

• Snowboard Slopestyle: Ulrik Badertscher and Stale Sandbech
• Snowboard Superpipe: Mathieu Crepel and Arthur Longo
• Real Snow: Gigi Ruf and Mathieu Crepel
• Wednesday 14 March @ 13:00 – 14:00 Burn Rider Signing Session @ Burn Zone, X-Fest

BURN MAKES HISTORY AND BRINGS REAL SNOW BACKCOUNTRY TO WINTER X GAMES
8 professional snowboarders have submitted a 90 second backcountry video. These will be judged by an expert panel and the top 3 athletes awarded X Games medals. First prize is $50,000!! Burn Riders Gigi Ruf and Mathieu Crepel are in the running alongside other world class snowboarders such as Nicolas Muller & Jussi Oksanen. Find out who wins….

• Thursday 15 March @ 20:00 Real Snow Film Screening & Medal Ceremony @ X Fest One film will be awarded $10,000 as the Fan's Choice. Check out the Fan's Choice final and cast your vote: http://espn.go.com/action/xgames/realsnow/2012/tignes

X PARK – TEST YOUR SKILLS ON THE BURN AIRBAG
Open Every Day | 10:00 - 18:00 @ X Park
Burn gives riders of all abilities the chance to test out their acrobatic skills on the Burn Airbag. No crashes, just good times and soft landings! Each jump will be filmed and uploaded to the users' facebook.

X FEST – VISIT THE BURN ZONE & BECOME A PRO
Open Every Day from 10:00
Come watch all the X Games action on the big screen from the comfort of a burn deckchair at the Burn Zone. Fancy a bit more action? Play our Human/Machines interactive facebook game and become a pro rider.

AFTER-PARTIES – CONTINUE TO FUEL YOUR FIRE EVERY NIGHT WITH BURN
Burn will fuel the official X Games parties: The Backyard Sessions @ Bluegirl, Val Claret from 23:00 – 05:00

• Wednesday 14 March| Opening Party | PARA ONE / SURKIN / BOBMO & DAS GLOW (Marble)
• Thursday 15 March | Real Snow Party | KITO (Mad Decent) & DJ FEADZ (Ed Banger) / DOUSTER (Mad Decent)
• Friday 16 March | Closing Party | TREVOR ANDREW (NYC –live DJ set) / CANBLASTER & PANTEROS666 / MANARE

Tickets are available on the door from 23:00 at 15€

On March the 24th there will be the Nechkino Snowboard Cup in Russia, a 3Star TTR and WSF event.

Nechkino is a nice ski resort in the middle of Udmurt Republic, about 50 km from Izhevsk. Izhevsk is the capital of Udmurt Republic; also you can know it like a hometown of noted gunsmith Kalashnikov. It's easy to reach from Moscow in 1.5 hour by plane or in 13 hours by train. Sport and Tourist Center «Nechkino» - is a modern year-round resort located at the beautiful place surrounded by forests on the banks of the river Kama. It's a resort with a European-level infrastructure.

There are 10 ski tracks of various degree of complexity with difference of heights to 115 meters, longest of which – more than 1,2 km. Also we have a Snowboard Park. Nechkino is equipped with the advanced lifts, including four-seater chair lift «Doppelmayr».

Three years ago we started to set up the Snowboard Competitions to get a one TTR star. Those actions have united the best Russian snowboarders and free ski riders. All of this was accompanied by a concert and DJs sets, and evening has ended with amazing fireworks. In 2009 the competition passed in Snowboard Park, and in 2011 we prepared a special ski track with different springboards.

Thereby in 2009 the status of the competition has a one star, in 2011 it was a two stars event, so now we are going to organize one more TTR competition and make this action our annual tradition.

Source: www.worldsnowboardfederation.org

GET READY FOR ACTION: The internationally well-acknowledged freestyle Mecca STANTON PARK will become once again the ultimate centre for the freestyle elite at the O'Neill Kirschbaum Battle, part of the QParks Snowboard Tour. On March 18th 2012 the riders will battle for prizes in a total value of US$ 10,000 and provide some serious snowpark action!

As the highlight of the season the O'Neill Kirschbaum Battle is an absolute mandatory date for all freestylers, which doesn't only guarantee adrenaline pure and sick parties, but also breath-taking tricks and thrilling battles. On March 18th 2012 the snowboarders will show their steeziest tricks in the TTR 3* event. The slopestyle contest are divided in the categories men, rookies men and girls and the finals are settled in challenging head-to-head battles, where all riders have to bring in their A game to step up to the next round.

Tons of prizes in a total value of US$ 10,000

This year competition is getting tougher than ever before, as there are some bold prizes waiting for you. Besides fancy goodies, there is a total cash prize money of € 1,500 as well as a golden necklace with the O'Neill Kirschbaum Battle emblem as trophy to all winners. Hence prizes in a total value of US$ 10,000 are waiting to be taken home. Moreover all riders can collect valuable points in the QParks Snowboard Tour ranking and hence qualify for the big finals in the end of the tour. Additionally there will be also a best trick competition where you can win sick prizes from K2!

Get your freak out at the prize giving party

No freestyle contest without party action! After the contest the Red Bull DJs at the Red Bull Brandwagen will deliver the right beats at the prize giving ceremony at the valley station of the Rendlbahn, where you can also have yourself tasty battle sausages and take part in an on-site raffle!

REGISTER NOW and win fancy prizes!

Wanna be part of the action? Then simply register now! The registration can be completed online on the QParks Snowboard Tour Website – registration fee is € 15,- or in combination with a day ticket only € 25,-. The number is starting places is limited! Each registered contestant also gets a fresh Kirschbaum goodie package!

HOTTEST SHOT – Take part and spend two weeks in the Balicamp

If you have no plans for next summer and want to win a surf vacation at the Balicamp, then you have two possibilities: At the „Riders Voting" the most popular rider is wanted! Just register for the contest and get the most votes in the final voting round. But not only riders, also all spectators have the chance to win the surf trip: At the „HOTTEST SHOT" competition, everybody can send his or her best shot of the O'Neill Kirschbaum Battle to info@qparkstour.com - the pics are then released for open voting on Facebook.

The registration gates are open now and the run for the 50 limited snowboard starting places already started! Go to snowboard.qparkstour.com to sign up and be part of the O'Neill Kirschbaum Battle 2012!

All news, tour stops and further information about the QParks Tour can be found on www.qparkstour.com. Be also up-to-date on Facebook: www.facebook.com/qparks.snowboardtour.

All information about the O'Neill Kirschbaum Battle 2012 can also be found on www.kirschbaum.cc/battle or on www.facebook.com/kirschbaum.stanton.

March and April are choice times to ski and snowboard Crested Butte with runs that have accumulated snow all winter, lots of action in town and on the slopes, and pleasant spring temperatures. Here is a glimpse of happenings from March 1 until April 8, closing day for both Crested Butte Mountain Resort and Crested Butte Nordic Center. For a complete calendar of events, go to http://www.GunnisonCrestedButte.com.

EVENTS

Art, Concerts, Film & Festivals
Mar 2, April 6 - First Friday Gallery Crawl & Music, Various Galleries & Locations, Gunnison
March 6 - John Oates Concert, Crested Butte Center for the Arts
March 9 – 10 - Banff Mountain Film Festival, Crested Butte Center for the Arts
March 10 Kids Rock Concert Presented by Trailhead Children's Museum, Crested Butte Music Festival & Crested Butte Center for the Arts, Mountaineer Square Ballroom
March 17 – 18 - FestEVOL (featuring Barenaked Ladies, Guster, Big Head Todd & the Monsters), Crested Butte Mountain Resort
March 29 - ArtWalk Evening, Studios & Galleries in Downtown Crested Butte
March 29 - Kissidugu Concert (music & dance), Crested Butte Center for the Arts
April 4 – 8 - Flauschink (flush out winter & welcome spring festival), Crested Butte & Mt. Crested Butte

Sporting Events
March 8 – 11 - 21st Annual Extreme Freeskiing Championships, Crested Butte Mountain Resort
March 10 - Ski For Hope Nordic Challenge & Ski-a-thon, Crested Butte
March 10 - Big Air on Elk Presented by Colorado FreeSkier, Elk Avenue, Crested Butte
March 22 – 24 - 16th Annual Extreme Telemark Freeskiing Championships, Crested Butte Mountain Resort
March 25 - 38th Annual Al Johnson Uphill/Downhill Telemark Race, Crested Butte Mountain Resort
March 29 – 31 - Junior Extreme Freeskiing Championships, Crested Butte Mountain Resort
March 30 – 31 - 15th Annual Elk Mountains Grand Traverse, Crested Butte to Aspen
April 7 - Bump & Jump and Pond Skim Competitions, Crested Butte Mountain Resort

Activities on Nordic Skis & Snowshoes
March 1 - Learn to Skate Ski for Free!, Crested Butte Nordic Center
March 8, 17 - Moonlight Dinner at the Yurt, Crested Butte Nordic Center's Magic Meadows Yurt
Mar 8, Apr 6 - Moonlight Snowshoe Tour, Crested Butte Mountain Resort
March 18 - Winter Photo Workshops by Xavier Fane & Raynor Czerwinski (on snowshoes or skis!), Crested Butte area

DEALS
Hot Deal: Ski & Stay in Paradise is available from March 26 – April 8, 2012. Choose from 19 properties in the Gunnison-Crested Butte Valley starting at $62 per person, with packages priced to include one night of lodging for two adults per room and two adult lift tickets. Additional nights and lift tickets can be added. Go to http://www.paradisepackage.com.

With Three Rivers Resort's Stay, Ski & Save Package, a lodge room and lift tickets for two start at just $95 per person, per night and deluxe cabins on the river are available starting at $132 per person, per night from Feb. 17 – March 25, 2012. This package also can be priced for families. Call (888) 761-3474 or visit http://www.3riversresort.com.

FestEVOL is back on March 17 – 18 with headline bands Barenaked Ladies on Saturday and Guster/Big Head Todd and the Monsters on Sunday. Host Crested Butte Mountain Resort is offering FestEVOL Lift, Lodging and Ticket Packages starting at only $112 per person, per night for three nights' lodging in a Grand Lodge king suite, two days skiing and both concerts. Other combinations and lodging properties are available. Packages are based on double occupancy and subject to taxes, fees and availability. For more information call Crested Butte Vacations at (800) 810-7669 and visit http://www.skicb.com.

Embark on a thrilling, two-hour snowmobile ride in Crested Butte with Colorado Adventure Rentals for only $79. Your partner on the trail is a Polaris 550, a 60 HP deep snow/trail sled that is all about having fun in the back country. This special is valid through March 31, 2012. For information, go to http://www.coloradoadventurerentals.com or call (877) 641-3525.

VACATION PACKAGES & VISITOR INFORMATION
To find out more, call the Gunnison-Crested Butte Tourism Association's toll-free number (800) 814-8893 or visit http://www.GunnisonCrestedButte.com. Find the Tourism Association on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/gcbta or follow us on http://www.twitter.com/gcbta. The Gunnison-Crested Butte Regional Airport in Gunnison is served year-round by United Airlines and during the winter season by American Airlines and Continental Airlines.

Another bluebird day, spring temperatures and an epic Slopestyle course laid the groundwork for one of the Burton European Open's most memorable slopestyle competitions earlier today. Jamie Anderson (USA) successfully defended her title and won the BEO Slopestyle for the second year in a row, while Aleksander Ostreng (NOR) won his first international title today. Both winners took home $15,000 and a world-class title to add to their snowboarding resumes.

Eight women competed in the finals, pushing things to a super high level of riding that is rarely seen in women's slopestyle finals. Each rider had three runs to earn her best score, and Jamie Anderson took the lead with her first run. Jamie then proceeded to top her own score with each subsequent run, with a final winning score of 93.58. Jamie's winning run included a backside tailslide on the rail, a frontside 360 to backside 180 on the step-up/step-down combo, a Cab 720 nose grab and switch backside 540 Indy grab on the kickers, finishing off with a backside lipslide to frontside 360 melon. Enni Rukajärvi (FIN) managed to get close to Jamie with a top score of 81.80, ending up in second place followed by a new face on the BEO podium, Swiss rider Isabel Derungs, who took third.

Jamie had this to say about her win, "It was the best riding I have ever seen from the girls. I love the new course…it's great for creative runs. I'm so happy that I won because my mom stayed up all night to watch the finals.”

The men's final was a heavy one with things heating up in the third and last run, where riders proved to possess nerves of steel. For a while, it looked like the podium would be completely in Finnish hands. In the end, it was Norway's Aleksander Ostreng who claimed the top spot with an incredible third run, including a switch frontside 180 on to 360 out on the rail, a super stylish backside rodeo to Cab rodeo 540 on the step-up/step-down combo, followed by a frontside 1080 nosebone and a huge and super clean backside 1260 melon grab, ending with a Cab 180 on to 270 out to tailblunt 270 out on the MINI Creative Use of Space feature.

Alek was overwhelmed and said, "I haven't realized that I won yet. It's a super good feeling being on the podium for the first time in a 6 Star TTR event. I landed everything in the second run, so I tried to step it up in the third, and itworked out!” The Finnish squad followed with last year's BEO winner Roope Tonteri taking second place and Peetu Piiroinen taking third place. Peetu had a theory why the podium was in Northern Europe's hands, "I like the dominance of the Scandinavian and Finnish riders…maybe it's because of the food.”

After today's slopestyle finals, the MINI Creative Use of Space (CUOS) Awards go to Jamie Anderson and Emil Ulsletten (NOR). Both of them won $5,000 each with the most creative tricks of the day. Jamie earned the award with a backside lipslide to frontside 360 Melon on the MINI CUOS feature, while Emil secured the award with a frontside Alley Oop 360 to Cab 180 on 360 out.

With his win today, Aleksander Ostreng moved from 24th place to the top spot of the Slopestyle Burton Global Open Series Ranking, Roope Tonteri is now in second and Sebastien Toutant is in third. On the women's side, Jamie Anderson is of course still leading the BGOS Slopestyle Ranking, with Sina Candrian now close behind her in second and Kjersti Buaas in third.

Three-time TTR World Tour winner Peetu Piiroinen made it into the top five of the TTR Overall Ranking with his podium position in Slopestyle today. Stale Sandbech is still leading the Overall rankings. In the Slopestyle rankings, it is still a close race towards the TTR tour final, with many guys hunting for that number one spot. Jamie Anderson has pretty much cemented her first-place position in the Slopestyle ranking, with Kjersti Ostgaard-Buaas now moving up to second place. Sina Candrian made it into the top three today as well. Cilka Sadar is currently leading the Women's Overall Ranking, with Kjersti and Jamie following close in second and third position. The BEO Halfpipe contest on Saturday and the final stop of the TTR World Tour, the Burton US Open in Stratton next week, will determine who claims this year's tour championship titles.

ResultsWomen's Slopestyle Finals
1. Jamie Anderson (USA), Billabong, 93.58
2. Enni Rukajärvi (FIN), Burton, 81.80
3. Isabel Derungs (SUI), Ride, 68.20
4. Spencer O'Brien (CAN), Nike, 65.68
5. Cilka Sadar (SLO), Burton, 59.12
6. Sina Candrian (SUI), Burton, 56.92
7. Kjersti Oestgaard Buaas (NOR), Roxy, 41.52
8. Silje Norendal (NOR), Nike 6.0, 29.80

Results Men's Slopestyle Finals
1. Aleksander Ostreng (NOR), Forum, 90.08
2. Roope Tonteri (FIN), Burton, 87.92
3. Peetu Piiroinen (FIN), Nike – Burton, 86.70
4. Ville Paumola (FIN), Quiksilver, 85.62
5. Seppe Smits (BEL), Burton, 85.46
6. Janne Korpi (FIN), Kissmark, 82.60
7. Sebastian Toutant (CAN), O'Neill, 82.10
8. Emil Ulsletten (NOR), Nitro, 81.88
9. Torgeir Bergrem (NOR), Volcom 79.40
10. Stale Sandbech (NOR), Oakley, 78.54
11. Sven Thorgren (SWE), Protest, 71.78
12. Nuutti Niemelä (FIN), Smith, 71.38
13. Eric Beauchemin (USA), DC Shoe CO USA, 68.96
14. Christian Haller (SUI), Burton, 67.08
15. Mark McMorris (CAN), Burton, 62.44
16. Brage Richenberg (NOR), Salomon, 76.62

Slopestyle is now officially finished at this year's Burton European Open, and tomorrow, the Halfpipe riders will take over the spotlight with Halfpipe semi-finals.

If you can't make it to LAAX, be sure to watch the live webcast on www.redbull.tv.

All results and further information can be found on www.opensnowboarding.com, www.facebook.com/BurtonEuropeanOpen and www.facebook.com/BurtonEurope

World Champions Kelly Clark (USA) and Iouri Podladchikov win the Burton European Open, on yet another very warm and sunny day in LAAX and each get to take home the $15.000 first prize. Second in the women's competition was American Gretchen Bleiler, followed by Yuki Furihata from Japan. In an exciting men's final, Swiss Iouri Podladtchikov took the win with his second run with a 88.90 score, followed by Danny Davis (USA) and Japanese Ryo Aono.

On yet another sunny day in Laax, it was ladies first this morning, with Kelly Clark dominating the first run. With Gretchen Bleiler on her heels, Kelly improved her result in the second run, throwing a beautiful Frontside 900 Frontside grab to Backside 540, going into a massive Frontside 1080 and a Cab 720 Mute to finish it of.

Gretchen wasn't able to improve her first result, but managed to hold on to her second place regardless. Yuki Furihata also performed best in her second run and with her 72.63 score she landed the last podium spot. Kelly Clark, commented happy as ever on her win: ‘It was great riding in sunny weather, it lifts the spirits, and the level of riding. All the girls were pushing it and it still remains a challenge even after so many consecutive wins!'

With more and more people surrounding an already packed pipe, it was time for the men to drop in after a short shaping break. Tension started to rise, as the men all seemed very eager to beat each run prior to their own. It still was Iouri Podtladchikov taking the lead the first chance he had, dropping in second to last in the first round. With two exactly identical scores of 88.90 in the first and second run, his winning run was his first, failing to improve. His second run started of with a Frontside 540 Indy Grab to Backside 1260 Double Cork Mute Grab - Backside Air and Alley Oop Andrechtplant. His second run was equally impressive and again showed a lot of style: Frontside 900 Tail Grab to Backside 900 Mute Grab followed by a Frontside Double Cork 1080 Frontside Grab to Cab Double Cork 1080 Mute Grab. Iouri had a big smile on his face all day and said: ‘It was so sunny today and you can just boost. There is a sick crew out here, pipe held up, sick crowd and its home turf for me so I can't even talk right now, its incredible!!'

The prizegiving ceremony today concluded a great week of riding, starting of with the youngest talents at large in the Junior's competitions Slopestyle and Halfpipe, where Stian Kleivdal (NOR), Kyle Mack (USA), Miyabi Onitsuka (JAP) and Zoe Kalapos (USA) were the stars. In thrilling Slopestyle finals we saw Jamie Anderson (USA) dominate and Aleksander Ostreng (NOR) take his first 6Star win.

There was some shifting in the rankings with the Burton European Open now wrapped up. In the Women's Halfpipe Rankings Gretchen Bleiler moved up to second position, pushing Queralt Castellet in third. Swiss Ursina Haller made it into the top five with her result today. Men's Halfpipe still has Ryo Aono in the lead, followed by Christian Haller moving from fifth till second position with Iouri Podladtchikov moving up from thirteenth place to third.

The Women's Overall Rankings sees Jamie Anderson now leading, pushing Cilka Sadar down to the second position, followed by Kjersti Ostgaard-Buaas.

The Overall Rankings will remain thrilling till the end in the men's competition, with Stale Sandbech still leading, but with Peetu Piiroinen now close on his heels in second place. Janne Korpi and Christian Haller move up in third and fourth and still have chances to take the lead from Stale at the Burton US Open coming up.

This week had a pretty packed TTR event schedule, with two 5Star competitions running alongside the Burton European Open. In Mammoth, USA the Grand Prix welcomed riders to Slopestyle and Halfpipe disciplines, and in Leysin, Switzerland the Nescafé Champs featured some more Slopestyle action. Results can be found on www.ttrworldtour.com. All these results have great impact on the TTR World Tour rankings, and it will make the tour finale, the Burton US Open in Stratton next week, very exciting. Another 6 Awards still have to be picked up, by the best Overall, Slopestyle and Halfpipe riders; male and female.

CHECK OUT BEO VIDEOS HERE:
http://www.ttrworldtour.com/nc/multimedia/video/play/ttr-burton-european-open-2012-slopestyle-final.html

TTR is making another major step in order to break down barriers in the world of competitive freestyle snowboarding, TTR Pro Snowboarding today announces the launch of the universal World Snowboarding Points Lists. The new points lists will include available results from all major snowboarding events including the TTR World Snowboard Tour, XGames, Dew Tour and FIS World Cups. They will provide world ranking lists for male and female halfpipe, slopestyle and big air athletes.

TTR President Reto Lamm: "This is the first ranking list of its kind for freestyle snowboarding and has been introduced by TTR Pro Snowboarding as a next step in advancing the organization of the sport. For the first time in its history, snowboarding now gets a transparent, up-to-date ranking resource. This allows fans, riders, event organizers and media to see who the truly best riders are. This is more proof of TTR´s efforts to provide the best competitive environment for the sport of snowboarding.”

With many separate organizations operating snowboarding events, the TTR has launched the new universal points lists to introduce a complete world ranking resource for riders, events, nations, media and the snowboard industry. The purpose of the new points lists are to create a definitive world ranking that shows the true leaders in the disciplines of halfpipe, slopestyle and big air.

The World Snowboarding Points Lists have been developed by TTR Pro Snowboarding in collaboration with national snowboarding associations around the world, riders, events and coaches. The new lists will be available as public domain at www.ttrworldtour.com as of February 18, 2012 and will be free for all to reference and use as a tool. From this point forward, TTR Pro Snowboarding will use the lists for seeding and qualifying riders into TTR events.

The introduction of the World Snowboarding Points Lists is just one piece of a comprehensive strategy that TTR has developed in order to progress the organization of the sport and to further distinguish TTR as the leader in competitive snowboarding.

For more details on how the points lists work and how rider rankings are calculated, visit www.ttrworldtour.com.

Pinkham Notch, NH – Are you capable of skiing and riding all day? If so, skiers and riders might consider participating in two scheduled events whose challenge also include raising associated pledge donations to benefit Make-A-Wish Foundation® of New Hampshire and AbilityPLUS Inc.

Mount Washington Valley's AbilityPLUS Inc. will host their Ski-A-Thon fundraiser event at Wildcat Mountain on Saturday, March 3. This event will allow skiers and riders to simply access the entire mountain as they would normally and keep track of their runs. The AbilityPLUS Inc. Ski-A-Thon is open to all levels of skiers and riders interested in participating. An entry fee of $70 ($35 for season passholders) or $250 for a team of four will include the day's lift ticket, gift bag, and awards party with appetizers and additional prize raffles. For more information and to register, visit abilityplus.org.

The annual Wildcat Mountain 100,000 Vertical Foot Challenge event scheduled for Monday, March 12 will challenge participants to complete at least 48 runs in a single day via the famed Lynx Trail's vertical descent from summit to base. In addition to the personal challenge, the maximum number of 40 participants will individually raise a minimum donation amount with top fundraisers being awarded prizes. As a result of previous event's participants fundraising efforts, Wildcat Mountain was most recently recognized by Make-A-Wish Foundation® of New Hampshire among its "Chris Greicius - Society of Strength” donor level noting that the event's annual cumulative giving has surpassed $100,000. Now in its ninth year, the event has actually risen over $200,000 total and continues toward the next recognized Make-A-Wish Foundation® of New Hampshire level set at $500,000. The annual event is unique to Wildcat Mountain coupling the accessibility and speed of the Wildcat Express high-speed, summit lift and the ski area's greater than 2,100 vertical foot drop.

Registration for the event is only $70 ($40 for season passholders) and includes lift access for the day, a ticket voucher valid for another day of skiing/riding this season and participant gift bag, exclusive lift-line privileges while completing the 48 runs (maximum 50 runs) on the intermediate level Lynx trail which will be closed to the public, light breakfast/lunch items, snacks, and refreshments provided during the event, and dinner and awards for top fundraisers as well as bib-raffle prizes for participants. All ages and disciplines are welcome to participate, but a limit of 40 participants and a minimum $250 in pledge donations to the Make-A-Wish Foundation® of New Hampshire must be acquired and provided the morning of the event, Monday, March 12. For more information and to register, visit skiwildcat.com/100Kday.html.

Livigno's carnival festivities came to a climax tonight as expectant crowds gathered at the foot of the Mottolino slopes to watch 30 top European riders take on the Burn River Jump course over the River Spoel.

With pumping music and amped fans, fireworks exploded as the Grand Final saw Roope Tonteri (FIN) rightfully claim the 5 star TTR Burn River Jump title. He spanned the River Spoel with a winning run of cab 12 / BS 5 / front lip 270 out, winning by just one point ahead of Ulrik.

Ulrik Badertscher: "I'm super stoked. It was a close one at the finish, going head to head with Staale and then Roope…. I'm still buzzing from the final. I am super happy with two 2nd places in the contest.”

Mark McMorris took home the title of Burn Jib Master. Undoubtedly the master of the most technical tricks of the night, his super smooth cab hardway 270 on, back lip 270 out was certainly worthy of the title.

Staale's super progressive run in the finals guaranteed him a place in the Super Finals against Mark McMorris, but a crash in his final run saw him take 4th place over all.

Staale Sandbech: "Yeah it was a sick contest. I hit myself pretty hard in the last run though…. I landed on my butt so hard, I nearly pooped my pants!”

Staale's double 4th performance over the event will ensure he maintains his current leader status in the global TTR world tour rankings.

Celebrations are set to continue throughout the night at the Burn Afterparty….the allure of blasting beats mixed with a complimentary bar is calling…

Results from the Burn River Jump

1, Roope Tonteri (FIN) 91.33 2. Ulrik Badertscher (NOR) 90.33
3. Mark McMorris (CAN)
4. Staale Sandbech (NOR)
Burn Jib Master – Mark McMorris