Billabong Slope-style 2011 – Qualifiers & Photos

August 5th, 2011


The Course Set up from top to bottom with plenty of eye candy all day for the punters on the chair.

Transfer Snowboard Magazine | Russell Holt

The 10th annual Billabong Slopestyle has kicked off with some of snowboarding’s biggest international names taking to the mountain today during Qualifying at Snow Park, near Lake Wanaka in New Zealand.

With an increase in prize money and ratings points, the revamped four-star TTR (Ticket To Ride) World Tour event has attracted a world-class field of more than 90 entrants across four divisions. (Open Mens, Womens & Juniors guys and girls)

The Slopestyle is the second stop on the 201/12 TTR World Tour and is also the first of its kind on the global calendar since the IOC (International Olympic Committee) Executive Board confirmed the discipline for the 2014 Olympic Winter Games.


Australia’s Nick Wood was one of two young Aussie through to the finals

Among the top qualifiers today (best two runs scored out of 100) were:
Roope Tonteri (FIN) 88.20pts, Keiji Okamoto (JPN) 80.00pts, Scotty James (AUS) 79.20pts, Zak Stone (CAN) 79.20pts and Antoine Truchon (CAN) 78.00pts.

Wanaka rider, Milu Multhaup-Appleton (NZ) was the only local to qualify in the Open Men’s final 16, from a starting field of 52 contestants.

The diverse course features rails, 40ft, 50ft and 70ft jumps and a pretty cool final feature dubbed the “monster volcano”; a channel-gap nipple jump with a giant inflatable Monster can situated in the gap. Perfect for tail bonks and whatever else the riders might try …

Reigning and two-time TTR World Champion Jamie Anderson (USA) qualified easily as top rider in the Open Women’s. Twenty year-old Anderson is recognised as being at the forefront of women’s slopestyle progression and is the clear favourite.

“The setup is amazing, I don’t think I’ve ever seen it this great,” said Jamie.
“I saw a tonne of top riders practicing yesterday. I saw a few double corks, and I was like, ‘What! They’re throwing down!’ … There’s a lot of girls here too, so I think all round it is going to be a good event.”

Anderson flew into New Zealand with her boyfriend for an extended stay down under. The pair are looking to do a road trip to Milford Sound and maybe some heliboarding, but first things first – the Billabong Slopestyle.

However, she will have to overcome a hungry field of local challengers with the likes of 2010 Open Women’s runner-up, Rebecca Torr (NZ), Abby Lockhart (NZ) and Shelly Gotlieb (NZ) in the mix for possible podium finishes.

Organisers hope to crown champions tomorrow (Saturday) with Sunday a second option for finals day – weather permitting.

Spectators and snowboarding fans are welcome to check out the action. If anyone is nearby, there are free buses available to Snowpark from Wanaka. Check out the website for more details and times.

The Billabong Slope-style is presented by Sony and made possible with the support of Monster Energy, Sony Ericsson, Snow Park, DaKine, VonZipper.