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Posted on Wednesday September 15th at 3:51 p.m.
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As the athletes settled in, adjusting to the new time-zone, groomers at Snowpark worked tirelessly building a unique playground that would await the riders early the next day. With sunny, spring-like conditions, the progressive set-up would help enable the worlds top snowboarders to push their limits and the progression of snowboarding to a new level
‘The jump is sick, speeds good if you just go straight, it's getting better now too'- Scotty James (AUS) after trying a double backside rodeo
With identical step-up jumps, one with the bag jump - a custom built air filled landing pad that lets athletes get comfortable progressing their riding and technical tricks. Leading the charge was US rider Pat Moore acting as a coach / mentor, once he had the speed dialled in it didn't take long for the other riders to get amongst the action.
Scotty James
Southern Hemisphere riders Scotty James ( AUS ) and Jacob Koia ( NZ ) along with Greg Bretz ( USA ) were amongst the first to hit the step-up, after initial jumps all three were into the doubles. The coaching team was on hand to offer advice, going over key points for each rider to work on, helping progress the athletes to new levels.
Greg Bretz
Mark McMorris
Pat Moore
Sebastien Toutant
Spencer O'Brien
Wojtek Pawlusiak
Not to be outdone by the guys, Spencer O'Brien ( CAN ) stepped straight up and threw down backside rodeo's. The session started to heat up as riders got their ‘shred legs' back and became comfortable hitting the feature.
‘Today was awesome, it was a good meet and greet day, everyone came in from either not riding all summer, or riding quite a bit, everybody was just taking their own time and enjoying it. This is my first time using the bag jump, it's so fun for sure, I don't know, there's nothing like it. I am really happy with how it's going.' - Pat Moore
Wrapping up the first day, athletes returned to a wind-down session at the gym and a meet with the coaching team to go over the action and plan for Day 2 of the Red Bull Snowboarding Performance Camp - a new day for progression.
Day 2
An eerie cloud layer blanketed Snowpark with an all enveloping cold calmness, greeting the athletes on day two of the Snowboarding Performance Camp in Wanaka, New Zealand. Undetered by the misty conditions, the riders were straight out of the bus and onto the lift, eager to pick up where they'd left off the previous day.
Mark McMorris
The bag jump was now familiar territory, proving itself as a perfect training platform providing a soft touchdown every time, enabling athletes to develop new tricks and push their snowboarding to higher levels. Today, the sky was the limit.
The grooming team at Snowpark had worked through the night smoothing out the run-in and fine tuning the takeoff, with the cooler temperatures overnight the step-up jump was crisp and running fast.
Pat Moore
Sebastien Toutant
Sebastien Toutant
Seppe Smith
Spencer O'Brien
Wojtek Pawlusiak
Canadian rider Sebastien Toutant was quick to get the action underway throwing down switch double back flips and fellow Canuck Mike McMorris was chucking cab 12 doubles. Iouri Podladtchikov ( SUI ) was ripping from the moment he touched the snow, guinea-pigging the other step-up jump before anyone had noticed, following with a stomped, smooth backside rodeo on the previously unridden feature.
Another rider who took the opportunity to step into new territory was Wojtek Pawlusiak (POL). After ripping the rails all morning he took it to the step-up and threw down his first ever double flip with major style and pop!
"My first time on the air bag and I can't really say how stoked I am, it's like I can't really find the right words to describe the feeling, I don't know... I'm just like, Wahoo... the happiest person in the world I guess... yeah!" - Wojtek Pawlusiak
The weather that had threatened all day made a complete turn in the afternoon with the sun bursting through the cloud layer to reveal crystal blue skies. The riders made the most of the pristine conditions and what ensued was a full-on assault of double variations with every type of grab thrown in for good measure.
You could feel the dynamic energy in the air amongst the entire team of riders and coaches, everybody stoked from the session that was taking place, everybody feeding off and supporting each other, a day where the progression of snowboarding was taken up yet another notch.