Nike ACG Team Blog : News from the snowbard team

Mirjam has just dropped me a line from down under where she has just taken second place in teh NZ Freeskiing Open in Snowpark.

A big well done from the whole team to her as she continues to get the top results from around the globe.

On Friday the Semi-Finals and the Finals of the Australian Open went down. The course setup was not bad but it was very challenging! The slope where the course is located is kinda flat on the upper part so it was a totally speed challenge througout the contest.

The setup was: A straight downrail, a straight flat box, a smaller kicker and a little roller jump followed by a bit kicky about 14 m kicker and the biggest about 18m jump.

I did pretty good in the semifinals and qualified as 14th for the finals with fs boardslide to fakie to switch BS on the rails and bs Rodeo 5, cab 180, fs5 mute tailbone and cab9 melon on the kickers.

My best run in the Finals was sw bs7 , cab 180 , fs9 to hoodie in front of eyes and cab9 to fs edge scorpion in the middle of the last jumps landing.

So i got 15th in the end and i have to say iam stokd that i didn't hurt myself on that cab9. It was a really difficult park to ride.

Also the tempratures in Perisher Blue are already climbing while the sun is burning down from the bluebird sky. What didn't make it easier to get the speed at the flat part of the course.

I'm off to Falls Creek tomorrow. I'm going for the legendary Stylewars there which is happening from Monday till i guess Friday. I really look forward to that one while it is an invitational and is more like a big Season than a contest!

So big shout out from Aussieland! Saw more Raodkills then alive kangoroos. ;o) Hehehe It's beautiful Down under.

Greets Rudi

P.s.: I also had a shot at the second page of the Camberra Times Newspaper this Friday (On the slopstyle day) which i attached. Its a big Newspaper down here! Eeeooohhhh

BUSC held a rail Jam in Bristol city centre last Saturday which went down with a bang. Real snow and a custom rail were brought in to the delight of the riders and along with some banging tunes, bar and a good crowd it made for a great night. There was a load of cash to give away for the best tricks and £100 for the overall best skier and snowboarder.

Everyone was really stoked on the comp and even though the weather wasnt great everyone including the crowd had a great time.

Hopefully we can do it again next year.

G

The Elk, not one to miss out on an event, joined a team of British students out in Tignes last month to become an honourary member of BUSC (the British University Snowsports Committee). Unfortunately the weather was dire, with 200kph winds which meant the glacier was closed for half the week. With a bit of imagination, and more than a couple of snowflakes in resort, the BUSC crew (the Elk included) came up with numerous activities to keep them amused - the Yeti Bar being a major feature...naturally

Gary is down in NZ now and was competing in the NZ Open superpipe contest. He managed to finish 12th which is not bad considering he has been relaxing on a beach for the last month and not training. Hopefully this is the start to another successful  winter for the big man.

G

I got here to New Zealand a week a go to ride with the ACG team. It’s been really nice. It was guite stormy for the first days but now bluebird for the past three days.
It was crazy long flight to come here though, exactly 40 hours of travelling and 29 of them in the plane. Helsinki-London-Bangkok-Sydney-Christchurch-Queenstown. Longest travelling for me ever.
We have a nice house here close to Wanaka town for the team and two rental cars to get up to the mountains and to the Snowpark. They do not have prober heating on these houses and it has been really cold days inside and outside.
It is winter here now when we still have summer in Europe. Otherwise it doesn´t feel any different to be on the otherside of the globe. It is pretty fun to think that my home is otherway round on the otherside. What an amazing place this globe is. There are penguins here about three hours drive away from Wanaka. I really want to go see those when we’ll have a day off from riding.
Riding has been really fun again after summer. They have really good park here with quarterpipe, pipe, kickers and a rail line. All in good shape but icy. And not much snow out from the park for the freeriders. Liftlines are really long on mid days which is not that cool so it is better to ride on early mornings and late afternoons.
Mati bought a book about the old Maori culture that has been really big here but we did not see any Maoris here yet which is sad. The British have really taken over this country back in the days. Kiwis are nice though. Now I even know it is not because of the fruit why people in New Zealand are called Kiwis. Kiwi is a national bird and they do not have wings if I can trust my colleagues from Finland.
One more week to go and then back to northern side of the globe. Here are some pics from the trip so far. Take it easy, Jukka