![]() Having grown into a well-oiled machine, big-mountain snowboarding seems to be revelling in a period of unprecedented exposure. Then, whether they’re tackling powder, ice or anything in between, they go fast, look for places to jump off things, and put themselves in compromising situations.īig-mountain events may look wild and free, but they’re far from disorganised. Riders typically have a day or two to study the venue and memorise the ideal line, knowing they’ll be scored on line choice, fluidity, air and control (though exact criteria varies from comp to comp). Eschewing the man-made obstacles and freshly groomed pistes of freestyle events, big-mountain freeride contests are held at the apex of some of the world’s most extreme terrain think cliffs, crevasses and bone-breaking rocks. To put it bluntly, big-mountain comps are not exactly a walk in the park. I’m just trying to reconcile my decision to enter this comp, having voluntarily thrown myself to the monster that is big-mountain competitive snowboarding. Competition organisers are wrestling with how to let about a hundred riders cut loose over eighty-inches of fresh snow and not have the whole thing slide. I’m at Snowbird, Utah, in late January, 2010, the site for the first North Face Masters big-mountain stop of the season, and lake-effect snow is funneling buckets of dry powder onto the venue, covering rocks, filling in dry patches, and creating new landing zones everywhere.Īfter a dry start to the season, the twisted irony is that the snow might now be excessive. But will the next generation of pro acrobats venture into the backcountry and away from the park?Īs I squint through the hammering snow to analyse the terrain, the mountain looks as if it is slowly inhaling and puffing up its lungs. An extensive Billabong Bus Tour featuring LINES will be going to major cities and snow resorts in Europe and USA in February-March 07.įor a sneak preview of the teaser, go to mountain snowboarding is thriving in a period of unprecedented support.īig mountain snowboarding is thriving in a period of unprecedented support. The European premiere is to be held at ISPO in Munich. LINES will be released in January 2007 in the USA, at the SIA in Las Vegas and will be submitted for selection at the Sundance Festival in Park City, Utah (USA). LINES is filmed in HD and 16 mm, and also features exclusive archive footage from the early days in Alaska up until today, provided by the most recognized snowboard film companies such as Standard Films and CinemaSeoane. Quinta Films have capitalized on their experience on producing the much-acclaimed TV series to incorporate an artistic and cinematographic twist to the snowboard action.Īccording to Axel: “LINES will take the spectators through a wide range of emotions, from excitement of watching spectacular footage of knife-ridge helicopter drops, steep descents and huge jumps, to laughter brought by classic situations, but also drama with amazing life stories, accomplishments and lost friends.” ![]() “Today, the progression of freestyle snowboarding is coming to a peak and everybody agrees to say that the only possible evolution is to bring technical freestyle into natural terrain, the ultimate form of snowboarding.” LINES shows the evolution of big mountain riding from the late 80’s with the legendary riding of Noah Salasnek, Mike Ranquet or Tom Burt to today’s innovative and technical freestyle brought to the big lines by a new generation of riders (Wolle Nyvelt, Romain De Marchi, Jonaven Moore, Travis Rice) to name a few. ![]() “I’ve always wanted to share what I’ve been fortunate to live and experience for the past 15 years, the magnificence of the mountains and surrounding nature, the friendships and stories, the fears and dangers,” he says. LINES, produced by Quinta Films, in collaboration with Absinthe Films and Billabong, is an intimate and in-depth vision of big mountain snowboarding, its heroes and their lifestyle, as seen through the eyes of one of its most illustrious participants, 1999 King of the Hill and Verbier Extreme Champion Axel Pauporté. “Today, big mountain snowboarding is not just a bunch of old guys doing mellow powder turns but young riders bringing freestyle into big lines” – Axel Pauporté.
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