Horgmo dominates Stylewars 2007

Falls Creek, Australia, hosted the last major event on the Southern Hemisphere leg of the 07/08 TTR World Snowboard Tour as the TTR THREE(3) STAR Stylewars 007 by Oakley rolled into town. The first TTR Event ever to be held South of the Equator in 2005, the Stylewars was cancelled last season due to poor snow conditions. What a difference a season makes, as the best snow fall in 20 years created perfect condition. A gruelling event that saw two judged sessions a day culminating in the final placings, Stylewars 007 by Oakley created the biggest Hip seen in Australia and the biggest kicker judged in a snowboarding contest. At a stomach curning 36 m flat (140ft), it was the storming Norwegian, Torstein Horgmo who opened up the session and dominated proceedings.



Clear skies, but strong winds hit the first day of judging at the Stylewars 007 by Oakley, seeing the morning session concentrate on the three-feature Slopestyle line, a solid but definitely the smallest of features put on at season’s contest. Horgmo(NOR), Caldwell(USA), Zeestraten(NZE), Koia(NZE) and Tiene(AUS) put on the pick of the action, as the Australian and New Zealand rivalry heated up with the ‘Bledisnow’ Cup, a side event pitting the five best Aussies against the five best Kiwis over the course of the event. While judges were not counting ‘Big Bertha’, the main feature and most imposing feature on the course, Quentin Robbins(NZE) checked it out, stomping a huge b/s 360 before being caught by the knuckle on a cab 5 attempt that closed the kicker for the remainder of the day and put him out of the event with a bruised foot.

Second session brought the hip into play, creating a charge of solid airs and tech spins. Jakko Ruha(FIN), Wyatt Caldwell(USA), Robbie Walker(AUS) and Toni-Markus Turunen(FIN) and Jake Koia(NZE) who lead the charge, pulling in major points for the session.

Day two followed the first, wind still an issue for ‘Big Burtha’, but heavy snowboarding split into morning and afternoon sessions on the Slopestyle then Hip features. In what must be considered a marathon event, it was Jake Koia(NZE) leading the pack at the end of the day, but the Aussies leading the Bledisnow Cup.

Day three, and wind had died down sufficiently to see Torstein Horgmo(NOR) start a session on ‘Big Burtha’ that could only be compared to the legendary Hemsedal photo shoots. Anticipation burnt as Horgmo dropped in and stomped a b/s 3, the largest seen in a judged contest session. At 36 m (140 ft) from take off transition to landing, it was something else again. Horgmo opened a session that saw Jake Kioa(NZE), Stef Zeestraten(NZE), Robbie Walker(AUS) and a handful of others put down one of the most remarkable sessions seen at a contest. But it was Horgmo who started it and finished it stomping a f/s 10, switch b/s 9 and a 540 stalefish to walk away with the best trick, Grandmaster Title and the 550 TTR Ranking points from the Stylewars 007 by Oakley event. Horgmo’s Title moves him into TTR World #3 with Wyatt Caldwell(USA) moving to TTR World #6 and Stef Zeestraten(NZE) moving into the TTR Top 10.



An amazing THREE(3) STAR event and the perfect way to finish up the major events on the TTR World Snowboard Tour Southern Hemisphere leg. The last event in the Southern Hemisphere for the 07/08 season will be the TTR ONE(1) STAR Australian Junior Series event in Perisher Blue this weekend before the Tour heads back to the Northern Hemisphere where the TTR Tour culminates in March at the last TTR SIX(6) STAR event, the Burton US Open of Snowboarding at Stratton, Vermont.

Click the heading for more info on the TTR THREE(3) Star Stylewars 007 by Oakley.