Billabong Bro Down
Billabong Bro Down
Presented by Xperia Sony
Smartphone
Snow Park NZ, Wanaka, New Zealand
3rd-4th
August 2012
www.billabong.com.au
www.worldsnowboardtour.com
(Snow
Park, NZ) Saturday, August 4th, 2012: Mother Nature
has smiled upon organisers of the $30,000 Billabong Bro Down
4-star World Snowboard Tour event, with semis and finalists
in all four divisions being decided in good conditions at
Snow Park, near Lake Wanaka in New Zealand
yesterday.
More than 90 competitors representing 15
countries took to the perfectly groomed course that in 2012
features an impressive variety of new obstacles. The drop in
feature leads into a junkyard consisting of a petrol pump
and concrete mixer. From there it’s straight into a down
rail over a container before a daunting triple jump line,
each consecutive jump measuring approximately 40ft, 50ft and
60ft plus. The finish feature is a choice of either a pole
jam or flat box.
Defending event champion, Roope Tonteri
(FIN) of Finland qualified third in Heat 1 of the blue
ribbon Open Men’s division to keep his chances of
back-to-back titles well and truly alive, but the day’s
highest scoring run of 82.00 points out of a possible 100
belonged to proud Kiwi import, Dutchman Stef Zeestraten
(NZL).
Zee’s first run consisted of a switch 270
frontboard, a frontside 720 tail grab, a backside 900 Indy
to switch backside 1080 mute grab on the 60 footer, followed
by a 50/50 backside 180 off the pole jam to finish. The Bro
Down mark’s Zee’s return to competition after suffering
a serious ankle injury in February last year. The injury
required surgery in October, but today’s performance
indicates Zee is definitely fighting fit.
Another Kiwi
rider, Hamish Martin (NZL), a local Snow Park, NZ coach,
also impressed, he was the only rider of the entire field to
hit the big gap to box located on the course’s final
feature and he made sure he did it with style.
The 25 year old has finished well out of contention in the Bro Down the past four years, but today his super tidy run ensured his place in the semi-finals. Swedish duo Tor Lundstrom and Sven Thorgren were the only riders capable of overtaking Martin’s high-scoring first run, the pair managing to leapfrog the Kiwi by just a few points during the last runs of the day, scoring 77.75 points and 77.25 points respectively.
“Stoked, it’s the first time I made the
semis or final in four years so I’m over the moon”, said
Martin. “Conditions were reasonably good, some iffy
moments where you could see some of the big dogs wanting to
get stuff done, but I think they chose to stay on the safer
side, rather than try and give it their all, but everyone
rode real well. Tomorrow is the day, make or break, when
you’ll have to up the anti and hopefully take one, two or
three (on the podium).”
Three local riders from the
Open Women’s division also managed to qualify for
tomorrow’s final with Shelly Gotlieb (NZL), Stefi Luxton
(NZL) and Christy Prior (NZL) all factoring among the top
eight.
Gotlieb made it look easy, qualifying in first on
53.00pts with a run consisting of a frontside 50-50 to
frontside 180 out, followed by a cab 540 then frontside 360,
a backside 720, before finishing with a 50-50 off the pole,
however it was Hungarian Panka Gyarmati (HUN) who recieved
the loudest cheers from the chairlift, pulling a stylish
backflip on the third, and biggest, triple
jump.
“There’s a strong bunch of girls coming out,
all wanting to do a comp and the Billabong is a good one for
them to do. There’s some top riders, some medium, some
starting out wanting to do Slopestyle. I think we’re
looking at a good final day tomorrow weather-wise and I’m
sure we’ll see a good comp,” said Gotlieb.
Local
rider, Tim Herbert (Wanaka) was earmarked for a big result
in the junior men’s and he didn’t disappoint, qualifying
first from 19 starters for tomorrow’s final.
“The
course is real different this year, the park crew have been
getting creative, especially in the top section. There’s
all sorts of new features, they put five days of grooming
into it. Nowhere see that anywhere else except for Snow
Park. The jumps are perfect, couldn’t ask for any better,
I’ve just been back from riding in the States, everyone
knows where Snow Park is on the map and it’s so good to be
back home competing here,” said Herbert.
A full list of
points and qualifiers is provided below. Please note
starting line-ups for the finals differs to the rider order
below.
The 4-star TTR rated Billabong Bro Down event
offers $30,000 in prize money, along with some insane prizes
from presenting sponsor Sony, at the top of the heap is a
Sony NEXF3 single lens kit camera.
Snow Park NZ is widely
regarded as the best location for international teams and
athletes to train in their off-season, along with the cream
of the Southern Hemisphere’s top riders - making the Bro
Down one of the most hotly contested Slopestyle events
anywhere in the world.
The Billabong Bro Down is
presented by Sony Xperia and supported by Sony, Mountain
Dew, Skinny, Von Zipper, Dakine, The Edge, DVS, Snow Park NZ
and TTR.
Rider’s scores are judged out of a 100, with
separate judges focusing on individual tricks as well as
overall impression. Each rider is allowed a practise run and
two x judged runs. All riders who competed this week earn
points towards the World Snowboard Tour Slopestyle Ranking
list and the Overall World Tour Ranking
list.
Women Slopestyle Finalists & Day 1
Results
1. Shelly Gotlieb (NZL) 53.00pts
2.
Rich, Jess (AUS) 52.25pts
3. Walker, Ty (USA)
49.25pts
4. Gyarmati, Panka (HUN) 47.50pts
5. Konz,
Elena (SUI) 44.00pts
6. Luxton, Stefi (NZL)
43.75pts
7. Prior, Christy (NZL) 41.00pts
8.
Szumovski, Christine (AUT) 36.00pts
Men's
Qualification Ht 1 - Top 11 advance to semis (field
increased due to no shows)
1. Zeestraten, Stef
(NZL) 82.00pts
2. Walsh, Jay (NZL) 79.50pts
3.
Tonteri, Roope (FIN) 78.50pts
4. Farrow, Benji (USA)
78.25pts
5. Kadono, Yuki (JPN) 74.00pts
6. Parrot,
Maxence (CAN) 73.75pts
7. Comber, Ben (NZL)
72.50pts
8. Truchon, Antoine (CAN), 68.25pts
9.
Genannt, Vincent (GER) 65.50pts
10. Staveley, Cameron
(AUS) 64.25pts
11. Kulisek, Matts (CAN)
64.00pts
Men's Qualification Ht 2 (9 riders
advance to semi-final)
1. Lundstrom, Tor (SWE)
77.75pts
2. Thorgren, Sven (SWE) 77.25pts
3. Martin,
Hamish (NZL) 72.25pts
4. Roy, Michael (CAN)
72.00pts
5. Tanaka, Yoh (JAP) 71.75pts
6. Catton,
Elliot (CAN) 71.25pts
7. Ciccarelli, Michael (CAN)
67.75pts
8. Niemela, Nuutti (FIN) 66.00pts
9. Wood,
Nick (AUS) 62.50pts
Junior Girls Final Results
(presentation to take place Saturday arvo)
1.
Fitch, Alex (AUS) 37.22pts
2. Turnbull, Biba (AUS)
35.50pts
3. Brunton, Fiona (NZL)
16.50pts
Junior Boys Finalists & Day 1
Results
1. Herbet, Tim (NZL) 76.00pts
2.
Rayward, JJ (NZL) 72.25pts
3. Nicholson, Tyler (CAN)
71.25pts
4. Humphreys, Asher (USA) 68.50pts
5. Moran,
Silas (USA) 59.75pts
6. Garcia Knight, Carlos (NZL)
55.00pts
7. Gardner, Drayden (USA) 54.25pts
8. Waki,
Yahiro (JPN) 46.50pts
Billabong Bro Down Final
Day Event Schedule:
Saturday 4th
August:
Men’s, Women’s and Junior Finals.
Bro Down after party featuring Auckland’s infamous DJ
set The ARC and NZ's premier hip hop
crew of the moment The HOME BREW
CREW.
Transport
Free buses are
available to Snow Park NZ from Wanaka on competition
days.
Depart: “Cheapskates” in
Wanaka at 8am & 10am
Return: from Snow
Park NZ at 5pm
Additional buses provided for Woolshed
after-party, following competition at 11pm and
12am.