Stylewars 2009 competition wrap-up

The five-day-long snowboarding festival in Falls Creek, Australia didn’t see the best weather conditions but it didn’t stop riders throwing themselves around the park. Here’s our wrap-up of the event.

Over the five days snowboarders from around the world competed in 2 main events – the Stair Masters, and the Grand Master with more than AUD$15,000 in prize money up for grabs.

Kicking off proceedings was the Stair Masters, a rail event set up in the heart of the Village Bowl at Falls Creek with the crowd being pumped by tunes from DJ Perplex.

Former 2008 Stair Master Charles Reid and Sebastien Toutant (both from Quebec) were riding as though “they were battling for their lives” and in the end, it was both riders who claimed the title of Stylewars Stair Master, sharing the prize money between them.

Mel Simmons was the head judge and said, “This was probably the hardest judging I have ever done, ever. And I have done a lot of contests.”

“I would have preferred to nail it down to three hits (in a battle-style format) but unfortunately due to time constraints, it just wasn’t going to happen.

In addition to top prize of $5000, $1500 was awarded to Best Trick, earned by Mark Sollars from Canada with a flawless frontside 450 to boardslide gapped over the kink rail.

Six riders out of thirty made it to the final, and the other three selected for the challenge were Eric Willett (USA) and Aussie boys Keiran McLaughlin and Tom Pelley who impressed the crowds up against International talent.

Video – Stairs Masters

Grandmaster event

Sebastien Toutant from Quebec, Canada, took out the winning title of the 2009 Grandmaster at Stylewars.

Toutant, 16, has made history as the youngest rider to ever rank number one and is also the youngest rider to ever win the notorious Stylewars snowboard competition, which has been running for seven years.

In claiming the Stylewars Grandmaster title, Toutant takes home a cash prize of $7000.

Second place at Stylewars was taken by Norwegian Mikkel Bang, also 19, who claimed the $1500 prize for Best Trick. He stomped a Switch-Back-12 over the 80-foot jump to land the prize.

After four days of wind-hold which delayed the competition, head judge Mel Simmons commented, “I am so stoked that the weather pulled through for the boys and we were able to come up with a result. They all rode so well, it was absolutely outstanding.”

Representing his home turf, Australian rider Chris DeCampo, 17, rode exceptionally with a mix of stylie 3s and 5s as well as shredding the rails.

It was a long-time coming considering the contest had been on standby for the past several days. Toutant said “It was fun, we had the best weather of the week and we finally got to hit the jump. It was fun with a two-hour jam, where you can do your best runs at the end, so everyone rode really well.”

Event Director Richard Hegarty said, “I am so happy to be able to come up with a result. The riders were having a great time, and considering the conditions we were dealt, the course was really fun.”

Event results:

1. Sebastien Toutant (CAN)
2. Mikkel Bang (NOR)
3. Charles Reid (CAN)
4. Eric Willett (USA)
5. Sage Kotsenburg (USA)
6. Matts Kulisek (CAN)
7. Michael Stanschitz (AUT)
8. Keiran McLaughlin (AUS)
9. Chris Kroell (AUT)
10. Chris DeCampo (AUS)

Video – Grandmaster title

Posted by Brendon on September 2nd, 2009 in Australia and Falls Creek and Stylewars