British Riders Cut the Mustard for Burton European Open 2007

British and Nike ACG Snowboarders Dan Wakeham, Angus Leith, and Rebecca Cullum have all been selected to compete at the Burton European Open this year. Naturally the trio are all super-stoked, as are we here at Kaos.

The Burton European Open will be held once again in the freestyle mecca of Laax in Switzerland between the 20th-27th January 2007; the comp makes up one fifth of the Burton Open series and promises to be a huge event for all involved with over 450 riders competeing in Mens, Womens and Juniors Halfpipe and Slopestyle. Dan and Angus will be ripping it up in the pipe and Rebecca will be throwing down some smooth runs in the slopestyle.

With $125,000 up for grabs in prize money, it promises to be a action-packed affair. With the Air & Style behind us, this comp looks to be as big, with some of the most talented riders in the world turning up. Last years event was dominated by the Finnish brigade, but this years competition may prove to much with riders such as Nicolas Mueller, David Benedek, Fredi Kalbermatten, and Burton prodigy Peetu Piironen all signed up as well as Shaun White's first outing in this comp. With the first double-corked 1260 being laid down in competition at the Air & Style, look out for big things.

So, whatever you're doing that week, make sure you say a prayer for our kids and wish them well......more to follow

For more info please check the website www.burtoneuropeanopen.com

Nokia Air and Style 2006 hailed as 'best ever'

The first weekend in December this year saw the Kaos team witness the return of the Air and Style competition. This is one of the most established European comps around and attracts the worlds top riders; even the Flying Tomato flew in for his only European date this season.

Among the riders were Hampus Mosesson, Nicolas Muller, Mathieu Crepel, and local hero David Benedek who all represent the Nokia team.

Before they demonstrated their skills in front the of a sell-out 30,000 strong crowd, the team spent half an hour chatting and signing autographs before the dizzzying flashbulbs of the industry's press.

When the time came, our riders did not fail to impress. All succeeded in progressing through the first rounds with the exception of Nicolas, whose first round draw was against fellow team mate and Munich resident David Benedek. The epic battle that ensued saw David stomp his huge double-corked 1260 (a feat never before achieved in competition) to outclass Nicolas whose attempt at a one-footed misty 720 nearly came off, but was talked about for the rest of the evening.

Hampus and Mathieu progressed after toppling Torstein Horgmo and Christophe Schmidt respectively, demonstrating some real flair and old fashioned guts to get through to the semis, where they were beaten by Risto Matilla and eventual winner Travis Rice. Elsewhere David's 1260 proppelled him through to the super final, where a imperfect landing saw him grab 4th place. The standard of this final was illustrated by the omission of Shaun White who didn't manage to even qualify for it, despite landing all his tricks.

Additionally, the rookie comp saw some great demonstration of young talent, with 16-yearold Mikkel Bang of Norway taking top podium place. Furthermore the FMX comp was won by American teenager Wiley Fullmer.

All in all, a great day for the boys from Nokia and Air and Style, with this years event hailed as the 'best ever'. However, there wasn't much time for Nicolas and Mathieu to dwell on their performances as they were soon to head out to Japan to compete in the X-Trail event.

Zoe Gillings Sets The Pace in Kaprun SBX

Rounding off an outstanding weekend for the Nike ACG team, Zoe Gillings has been back on the podium having competed at the SBX Europa Cup event in Kaprun, Austria.

With the World Cup season yet to start, Zoe has been biding her time to get into a competitive race and led the British field over in Austria this weekend. Zoe’s eagerness to get back into race mode was never in any doubt as she posted by far and away the quickest time in qualifying for the knockout stages. She was half a second quicker than her closest competitor in a field that mainly comprised of World Cup athletes.


Zoe eased her way through the knockout stages by winning her first two heats with relative ease.

In the final she set herself a target of getting to the front of the field by the first section of the course in order to save herself from possible injury and tangles with other competitors. When it didn’t fall into place for her she shadowed the front two runners and coasted across the line in third.

The following day had a secondary race but Zoe was rested with her pace having been confirmed and good health in mind.

Zoe’s very much looking forward to the World Cup season kicking off. The next stop is Bad Gastein, Austria on 14th / 15th December for 2 World Cup Events.

Padski Lays It Down in Les Diablerets and Bags Fall Line Cover

Paddy Graham, British Half-pipe champion, has just savaged some of the fiercest competition out there to win the Monster Park Open Jam in Les Diablerets, Switzerland.

… and he’s bagged the cover of Fall Line Skiing this month too!

This is Paddy’s second international slopestyle title, having won the Polish Open last season as well.

Paddy beat off some outstanding competition with a variety of tricks that would have done him proud on a one hit Big Air event, let alone a slopestyle course.

His line off the kickers included a switch cork 7 true tail - switch cork 5 nose - bio 7 rev mute - bio 9 rev mute on the step up.

Paddy travelled to across from Laax having just heard he'd bagged the cover of the latest Fall Line. He also has a centre spread with more stunning shots from his trip to New Zealand in August.

It won't stop there though, on the back of his success over the weekend Paddy has been asked back to Diablerets next week to shoot with Weski Mag. He's also going to fit in the Jib Night in Verbier on 9th December.

Also in attendance was fellow Nike ACG rider Angus Leith, mixing it up amongst the snowboarders. Angus put down some great runs to qualify for the final which was eventually won by Tonton Holland.

Early Season Promise for Dan Wakeham

Dan Wakeham's nerve was tested this weekend by bad luck and poor conditions in Saas Fee for the opening Nokia FIS World Cup Half-pipe of the season. However, Dan can be more than pleased with what he has achieved over the past few days.

The FIS had scheduled a double-header mindful of the fact that this is the only weekend of World Cup competition before the World Championships in Arosa (20th January). This meant the riders had at least two days of competition to look forward to. In the first, Dan had to contend with a disappointing 37th position, having fallen in both his qualifying runs.

However, Dan's second day of competition (Friday) saw him back to form as he put down some really competitive runs in qualifying. In fact, his best score of 33.1 was good enough to qualify him in 3rd place in his heat and guarantee him a spot in the finals on Saturday.

Dan was very much looking forward to going head to head with the likes of Risto Mattilla and Marrku Koski on Saturday but woke to find high winds had closed the mountain. It was a real blow to contend with as Dan had seemingly been guaranteed at least a top 12 finish at the event a day earlier but the results were scrapped altogether with the cancellation of the finals.

Needless to say, Dan is upbeat about his performance. Amongst a highly competitive field he has once again underlined his credentials. According to Dan “it was a good start for the competitive season for me and it has filled me with confidence as I go in to my next event which is the world championships”.