Young lords of the boards

The new crop of World Snowboard Federation (WSF) young talents fought to be crowned World Rookie Champion at the Swatch TTR 4Star Protest World Rookie Final in Ischgl, Austria, on April 18. Roope Tonteri (FIN) stomped his way to first place and was bestowed the title of Champion.

At the Swatch TTR 4Star Protest World Rookie Final in Ischgl, Austria, Roope Tonteri was crowned World Rookie Champion on April 18. Also on the line was a filming session with Pirate Movie Productions, one with Aesthetiker Crew and a photo-shooting with Onboard Europe giving young riders the opportunity to step onto the stage and earn international recognition. Tonteri was closely followed by Kevin Backstrom (SWE) in second place and Eskil Korneliussen (NOR) in third. Michaela Davis-Meehan, the only Australian in the starting field, stood up to her female competitors and took home the victory for the girls.

Due to unfortunate weather conditions on Friday, qualifications and finals were held together on Saturday in a three-run format. As the best two runs counted, the riders had to show a variety of tricks increasing the intensity of the event and ensuring the onlookers witnessed some amazing feats. The springtime sun shone brightly upon the slushy course as the rookies stepped it up in front of a large end-of-season crowd. The Ischgl snowpark consisted of jumps from eight to 20 meters, boxes, rails, and a wall ride, providing countless opportunities for the riders to get their shred on and showcase creativity.

‘I’m happy to be World Rookie Champion,’ Tonteri said after he learned about his win. ‘The riding was good today and I’m stoked that another Finnish rider is champion after Peetu Piiroinen won the TTR Tour this year.’ Tonteri, who gave good performances at many other World Rookie Tour and TTR events this year, moves to world number 105 in the Swatch TTR World Rankings.

Some of the nicest tricks of the day were thrown down by Darek Bergmann (CZE) who finished fifth with a run including a frontside 7 with super nice crail grab, followed by Kevin Backstrom with a frontside 1080 followed by a tailbonk to 360 out on the Red Bull Obstacle and by Austrian shred talent Luca Schranz, who surprised everyone with some one-footed action on the kinkrail and the following kicker. Props also have to go out to Teddy Koo (JAP), who took out the 2Star North Face Korean Rookie Fest and finished in Ischgl in fourth position. Throughout the contest the level of riding was of professional standard and everyone will be watching as these newcomers erupt onto the professional world of snowboarding in coming seasons.