The Canadian Shield Ski and Snowboard Tour stopped at Mount Seymour on the north shore of Vancouver BC. With over 100 cm of new snow over the weekend for a little resort thats more used to 10-20cm dumps, the competition was delayed a few hours but went off none the less. A few names such as Ian Cosco (first place winner) of the Chug Life webisodes, a few members of The Kid Concept crew, Max Hill, Sean Pettit and Justin Dorey.

With just a little fog during the day, conditions were pretty good for a slope event. The course consisted of a top rail option up top including a replica of the Burlington Double Set with a 40 ft down tube and a down box for the under 15 categories. Next came a double step-down combo, one Medium one XL. Finally a nice big step-over combo, again, one medium one XL.

The skiers were all going hard, and the boys definitely came out to play. Here are the results of the Mens and Ladies ski slopestyle events:

PRO OPEN MALE
1. Ian Cosco $5000
2. Jonas Hjohlman $1000
3. Jordan Innes $500
4. Cam Smith $200

PRO OPEN FEMALE
1. Yuki Tsubato $2000
2. Emmanuelle Blauchet $400
3. Ashley Low $200

STANDOUT TRICK $100 / 100 POINTS
Female – Yuki Tsubato
Male – Ahren Stein

AMATEUR OPEN MALE
1. Bradon Wheeler
2. Avery Rankin
3. Logan Dobson

AMATEUR OPEN FEMALE
1. Ali Tracy

BOYS (13-15)
1. Tommy Polomsky
2. Jacob Shepanski

BOYS (12 & UNDER) 
1. Todd Hurd

Here are a few videos from Atomic Skiing of the first two days of practice at Winter X Games 16. You can get an idea of the slopestyle course and halfpipe that will be used in competitions this weekend as well as a behind the scenes look into what is going through the heads of riders in the days before the events.

A Brief History

The X Games was origionally introduced as the Extreme Games in 1995 by ESPN and was held in Rhode Island. There were 27 events in 9 different categories which are completely different than those today: Bungy Jumping, Eco-Challenge, In-line Skating, Skateboarding, Skysurfing, Sport Climbing, Street Luge, Biking and Water Sports. Over the years the (now) X Games morphed into sporting events for BMX, Moto Cross, Skateboarding and even Rally Racing and in 1997 the first Winter X Games. Today the Winter X Games include various Skiing, Snowboarding and Snowmobiling events.

X Games Criticism 

Though there is a lot of hype around the X Games, there is also a number of people who dislike the X Games. The judging systems have been criticized for being unfair for example how some riders have admitted to throwing up their arms after a run because they feel they get high scores.

Another controversy was over the 2009 Winter X  Snowboard Big Air Final when the “public” voted for the winner via text messaging. Sadly enough, though ESPN broadcasts the event internationally, only residents of the United States could vote. This resulted in an upset over Travis Rice’s Double Cork 1080 with a nice added revert getting 92% of the votes over Mikkel Bangs switch BS 1260 as well as Torstien Horgmo who also threw a 1260. Todd Richards, one of the pioneers of snowboarding even stated in order to win, “Torstien would need to cure aids and herpes to win plus do a 14.000.000 (rotation)”.

There are plenty of other criticisms over the X Games, the commercialization of action sports being one, but it’s still a great event to watch on TV in terms of pushing the limits and see a handful of each sports top athletes ride together and have fun.

X Games 16 kicks off today in Aspen, Colorado. The events run from January 26th to 29th and showcase some of the best winter action sports athletes as they compete on some of the best competition courses out there. You can find the Eastern Timezone Tune In Schedule here, and if your in another part of the world, well you’ll have to figure it out yourself (like myself).

What do you think about the X Games? Like? Dislike? Tell us below?

The Revelstoke Freeskiing/Freeride World Tour went down last week on the Mackenzie face under bluebird skies and fresh snow.  

Big lines, big drops, and big exposure was the norm for the day.  Here are the highlights from some amazing skiers throwing down on a gorgeous day in the Revelstoke, British Columbia.

Some people just don’t have what it takes to perform at the highest levels of competitive powder 8-ing. Put them in a freshly laden snowfield and the unprepared skier will completely lose his head. All it takes is a couple of face shots for the average lotus eater to become overwhelmed by debilitating euphoria. The resulting mental regression utterly depletes the athlete of any semblance of competitive drive or focus.

Just look at this run. The judges must have been appalled. Rapidly deteriorating synchronicity, lack of symmetry, progressive expansion of turn radii, diminishing turn frequency. They’re not even wearing matching outfits. Pphff!

This clip is a prime example of a powder 8 team succumbing to the lowest base instincts of the powder hound. Surely at the conclusion of this run, or perhaps the following morning, after a night of celebratory reverence in homage to the conditions of the mountain that day, the duo came to from their temporary hypnosis with the devastating realization of  their flagrant lapse in self discipline. They could have been champions. Instead they threw it all away for a couple of airs and a few endorphins… Amateurs.

If you ever thought that competition didn’t show a riders ability, or you’ve always wanted to see your favourite  rider in a competition but he just isn’t that type of guy? Well this is a competition for you!

X Games Real Snow is in it’s second year of the Winter X Games. If your a fan of urban, rails, and bomb drops then this is a must watch! With some of the top urban riders, these short video parts are always a pleaser. This competition has every urban style from Scott Stevens to Halldór Helgason(unfortunately they are up against each other in the first round)!

Eight of the world’s best urban snowboarders have submitted 60-second video parts, vying for a shot at $50,000 and Winter X gold. WX medals will be awarded by a panel of judges. Winner of the Fan Favourite will also receive a $50,000 cash prize. The Fan Favorite will be announced during the live telecast of the WX Games on Jan. 29.

Videos are paired up and voted on by the viewers through 3 rounds for Fan Favourite. You can visit the link below to watch, then vote for your favourite parts!

Click here to start voting now! 

I get the feeling this won’t generate the same buzz as a Lindsey Vonn post on Unofficial yet it’s definitely worth a look. When it comes to sanctioned freeskiing competitions Tom Wallisch is a tough act to follow. With the first stop of this season’s Dew Tour now in the books Tom finds himself in a familiar position: on top of the podium. Couldn’t make it to Breckenfridge to freeze off your little keester and take in only a portion of the action live? Not to worry, Unofficial is bringing the best of the action to you. The scoop on Tom’s winning run: he makes it look all too easy. Here’s the take-away for all you aspiring freeskiing slopestylers out there: practice, practice, practice. Props to the Breck Park Crew: that slope course looked awesome – nice combo of rail and jump features, mixed throughout, rather than the oh-so typical start with rails/boxes and finish with 3-4 pack of jumps.

Inspired? Get out there and play. Hey, with low snowfall, now’s the perfect time to practice those Switch Un-Natural Double Cork 1080s. Congrats Tom Wallisch – pushing the bar again and again.

Couple other notes on the video: 1) All the action goes down in the first 1:15. 2) Don’t forget there’s an option on the YouTube video window to watch this in HD. 3)  Can someone fill me in on why the announcer exclaims, “Oh Papi!!”?

Once upon a time (in 1991), the first ever Extreme Skiing Competition went down in Valdez, AK.  Glenn Plake, Scot Schmidt, & Mike Hattrup were the judges and the conditions, per usual, were pretty lousy.

This is an interesting look back into the world of freeskiing in 1991.  And it’s funny to see what a goofy spokesperson freeskiing had back then:  Mike Hattrup.

Check out this footage from Jackie Paaso’s last competition of the 2010-2011 season. This footage comes from The Rodal Challenge in Norway. Take a ride with Jackie as she meticulously picks hew way down the technical course, making sure to log as much vertical airtime in as possible along the way. Enjoy.

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