Extreme Sports News
Snow Snow Snow…
TA snowboarder opens the door of his snow covered van in Saas-Fee. Heavy snow caused numerous delays for travelers in Switzerland
Record snow falls in Europe and North America mean ski resorts open early
Ski resorts across Europe and North America have opened early this season after heavy snowfall in the last month.
A series of snowstorms since early November in North America and late October in Europe has enabled several resorts to open ahead of schedule.
The Italian resort of Bormio opened a month early after heavy snowfalls at the end of October and start of November, which delivered 50ins to the resort's upper slopes.
Hintertux, in Austria, already boasts 60ins of snow, is expecting a further 30ins over the next few days.
Obergurgl, which is expecting 25ins of snow midweek, is set to open on Friday.
In Switzerland, Zermatt has more than two metres of snow on its upper slopes, while Saas Fee has 75ins. Both resorts expect a further 20ins this week. Geilo, in Norway, has also opened three weeks early with a 25ins base.
More heavy snow is forecast for many resorts across Austria, Switzerland and Italy this week.
Kelly Slater Dampens Ash
The north Cornwall surfer received a wildcard into the World Championship Tour event to face the eight-times world champion Kelly Slater.
Slater has won five of the first eight events on the World Championship Tour circuit and has came runner-up at the last event in France.
Cornwall's Reubyn Ash from Bude
Reubyn Ash met Slater in heat eight of the contest which also pitted him against American Taylor Knox.
Ash, who has won the European, British and English titles in his career finished last in the three-man heat.
The opening round of the contest, which is the ninth stop on the ASP elite tour, was moved to the nearby beachbreak waves at Sopelana.
Slater, who is on course to win the world crown in Northern Spain dominated the heat held in 2-3 feet waves racking up more than 16 points from his two wave total.
American Taylor Knox secured the other available spot in round two with a 6.16 wave tally.
Ash, from Widemouth Bay, near Bude, scored just 3.6 points. He was the only Briton competing in the contest.
Because five full-time ASP World Tour surfers have withdrawn from the event, there are a total of eight non-tour surfers competing - five replacement surfers and three event wildcards.
Those surfers, four of whom are local Basque competitors, will be looking to upset the full-time ASP World Tour field.
Snow Centre brings Alps within easy reach of London
The Snow Centre, which will be Britain's premier indoor ski and snowboarding venue when it opens in April, announced this week that it is to be twinned with one of the most popular Alpine regions for British skiers in a partnership that will deliver substantial benefits to UK-based snow sport enthusiasts.
The announcement was made as the £23 million centre being built in Hemel Hempstead to cover London and the South marked the half-way point in its construction with a topping-out ceremony attended by top world skier Michael Walchhofer, local dignitaries and senior tourism officials from the Austria.
The latest development is another first for the Snow Centre which already promises many unique features that will make it an outstanding Centre of Excellence in snow sports, attracting top skiers at national and international level.
Oskar Hinteregger, Director of the Austrian Tourism Office for Britain and Ireland, said: “We are delighted to announce that the Snow Centre will be twinned with our Otztal region in the Tyrol.
“By strengthening our links like this, we will be able to offer some very exciting opportunities for British skiers and youngsters interested in snow sports.”
Stephen Jordan, Technical Director of the Snow Centre being built by leading construction company Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd, said: "The Otztal region is one of the most popular areas with British skiers and we are delighted to be associated with such a wonderful Alpine destination.
“Not only will we be operating a number of exchange schemes so Snow Centre visitors can benefit from the latest teaching techniques from the Alps, but we also hope to conclude some exclusive holiday deals to encourage even more travel between Britain and Austria.”
The announcement comes shortly after the Snow Centre secured a major link-up with top sports company Head to provide a super-fast kitting out system for skiers and snowboarders using rented equipment , cutting the time it will take visitors to get on the indoor snow slopes.
The topping-out ceremony marks completion of the main structure of the Snow Centre, the only indoor ski centre in the UK to be built on a natural hill.
This will give the Centre the advantage of being able to offer large snow jumps essential for freestyle competitive events which are difficult to achieve in designs where tall steel supports are used.
Building work began in April and Mr Jordan was pleased to report construction was on schedule with the focus now moving to creating the interior and installing four state-of-the-art ski lifts, two each for the 160m (560ft) main slope and 100m (330ft) nursery slope.
The link-up with Otztal means the huge interior walls of the Snow Centre will be decorated with gigantic vinyl panoramic views of the region to add to the Alpine atmosphere which will continue with the stylish apres-ski bars, restaurants and conference facilities at the foot of the slopes.
It is envisaged the Snow Centre will attract 250,000 visitors in the first year and already the venue has been endorsed by the leading snow sport governing bodies including the British Association for Snow Sport Instructors and UK Snow Sport which both intend to hold courses there in 2009 and beyond.
Mr Jordan said: "We are keen to nurture and develop interest in snow sports at all levels, from newcomers to experienced skiers who want to improve their skills.
"We will also be hosting a number of competitive events from the start and our aim is to become a regular fixture in the race calendar attracting top clubs from Britain and abroad."
Snow Sports Director Peter Silver Gillespie has close ties with leading ski schools in Austria and the Snow Centre will have a team of 150 instructors to provide tuition at all levels including its own Snowsports School which will be geared up to provide the best in all-round coaching.
The centre's 30m (98ft) wide main slope means 150 skiers will be able to enjoy the hill at the same time, again cutting any waiting times and leaving the nursery slope free for 100 people to take part in lessons at the same time.
Fun is always high on the agenda and the Snow Centre will also have a large play area and activities such as tobogganing and tubing.
While the interior will have a breathtaking decor depicting an Alpine scene, the exterior will be far more under-stated and in keeping with the surrounding area including a 72,000 sq ft "natural roof" planted with sedum which will form a "living crown" on the elegant building.
Watch Nokia Freestyle CH live on Mpora TV this weekend
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The world's best snowboarders, freeskiers, FMX riders and skateboarders are descending on Zurich this weekend to battle it out for the 110,000 Dollar prize money. This year the organisers have really upped the ante, the Big Air kicker will stretch 8 meters to a whopping 36 meters while the skateboard Half Pipe leaps 60 cm to a massive 4.6 meters. An incredible field of snowboarders including big hitters like Torstein Horgmo, David Benedek, Andreas Wiig, Scotty Lago, free skiers, FMX pilots and skateboarders will be competing before the stunning backdrop of Lake Zurich.
Times of the event.
Friday 26 September 19:00 - 22:00 CET
Saturday 27 September 14:00 - 22:00 CET
Sunday 28 September 14:00 - 18:00 CET
Jesus Surf Classic 2008
The 16th running of the 'Jesus Surf Classic', was held over the weekend of 13th and 14th September in near perfect conditions. The semi finals and finals on the Sunday saw light winds and solid 4ft swell, in bright and sunny conditions. Croyde bay once again was the venue for this long running and very successful event organised by Christian Surfers UK.
The 'Jesus' due to its increasing popularity was split again this year between the traditional event at Croyde, and the Jesus Longboard Classic to be held at Polzeath over the weekend of October 19th and 20thth. With entries restricted to 140 contestants the event filled up very quickly, especially as the surf forecast improved as the week running up to the event went on.
Conditions for the seven categories started off on Saturday morning with a slight off shore wind and sets of around 2ft, and bright warm sunshine. With two peaks running throughout the day, progress was swift, and by the end of the first day all categories were run to the semi final stage.
As well as a very busy schedule in the water on Saturday, activity around the contest site and marquee were equally as busy with a 'big move' skate contest taking place on Christian Surfers mobile skatepark.
Sunday dawned with very light winds and an increasing groundswell, especially on the incoming tide, which saw some outstanding surfing in all the age categories, as Croyde offered up some low tide classic conditions.
The Youth event ( Under 14 ) had the highest number of entrants so far with 32 entered, which is a great pointer to the health of the future of British Surfing. The final was between 3 Cornish based surfers, and a travelling competitor from Bournemouth. In a tight final Miles Lee-Hargeaves from Bournemouth took the title ahead of Bude's Jobe Hariss, and Newquay surfers Harry Timson and Sam Harwood.
In the Junior Women's division ( Under 18 ) there was a new name on the trophy with Sophie Sainsbury from Port Isaac winning ahead of Tassy Swallow, Gabbi Rowe and Croyde's Karma Worthington.
Josh Daniel from Hayle, was 4th in the cadets ( U16 ), just beaten by Newquays Tom Good, but the division was won by Croyde local Alex Baker, ahead of Toby Donachie, who was surfing in 3 events all weekend.
In the Men's Junior (U18 ) final Stuart Campbell surfed really well to hold off Toby Donachie in 2nd, Jack Whitefield in 3rd and Marcus Lascelles in 4th.
The women's final saw Beth Mason improve on her 2nd place last year, by winning, with some great power surfing. She was pushed all the way by Sophie Hellyer in 2nd, Tassy Swallow in 3rd and Karma Worthington.
The Masters final ( Over 35's ) saw some new names in the final with some great surfing throughout, this year saw Bude surf Paul Barlow taking victory, ahead of Mike Plackett, Steve Harvey ( Just back from France the day before ) and South Wales Rob Poutney.
The final event of the day was an amazing final between 4 top class surfers in the Open Final. Travelling New Zealand surfer Luke Hughes did well to reach the final, but ended up 4th behind Lyndon Wake, in his first Jesus Surf Classic final. Top two places went to the Ash brothers with Reubyn peaking in the semi final which saw a near perfect wave by him where he pulled an insane aerial 360, then followed it up with 4 big turns. He just failed to defeat Joss, who retained his 2007 title and his £250 cheque with a mixture of power surfing and aerials throughout the heats.
With over 100 Christian Surfers volunteers supporting the event there were lots going on throughout, and the marquee area was the venue for the presentation on late Sunday afternoon. Joss thanked the Organisers for putting on 'another great event' and Phil Williams ( Contest Director ) thanked God for an amazing weekend of waves, sunshine and a great atmosphere between all the competitors and helpers.
Just after everything had been dismantled the heavens opened and it rained for 8 hours, what great timing !
