The Billabong Air and Style in Innsbruck... it's kinda a big deal. It's a 6 Star TTR event (as highest ranked as they come) and this years showing of big names like Travis Rice, Peetu Piiroinen, Andreas Wiig, Iouri "iPod" Podladtchikov and Torstein Horgmo made it even that much bigger of a deal.

But it was the modest Slovenian kid with the dimples who dropped those "big" names down on the results list and came out on top with the always heartwarming underdog story.

You may not have heard of Marco Grilc but any friend of his, especially any friend of the European type, will tell you that this is a much deserved win for the unassuming Slovak.

Here's the bottom line in results, but for more impact check out the bottom line in video courtesy of TTR (Ticket to Ride) If you can't get your fill here make the jump over to www.ttrworldtour.com for even more eye candy.

1. Marko Grilc SLO 281 Pkt. Switch Backside 1080 Double Corked Mute Grab

2. Peetu Piroiinen FIN 268 Pkt. Backside 1080 Double Corked Mute Grab

3. Andreas Wiig NOR 251 Pkt. Frontside 1080 Double Flip

4. Iouri Podladtchikov SUI 54 Pkt.

5. Eero Ettala FIN

6. Werner Stock AUT

7. Elias Elhardt D

8. Torstein Horgmo NOR

9. Antti Autti FIN 10 Marc Swoboda AUT

11. Chas Guldemond USA

12. Stefan Gimpl AUT

13. Risto Mattila FIN

14. Tim Humphreys USA

15. Travis Rice USA

16. Gigi Rf AUT


This is what Marco did to win:


Here is the overall breakdown:


And here is what Rice did:
For more footy of each rider head over to TTR's profile and scope out all the different edits from one of the biggest nights Innsbruck will see this winter.

Talk about a d*ck tease. It's the middle of July, 90 plus degrees and humid outside, and Absinthe Films chooses now to drop the teaser for the 2009 fall release of their new movie "Neverland".

Chock-full of face shots, white-rooms and bangers, (that accidentally came out sounding like a promo for a porn movie) I think it's safe to say this trailer is here to taunt and tantalize us (still on that porn note...) while we soak up the wife-beaters we're wearing with our own sweat (jeez). That's ok though, with a trailer this good, we'll suffer through it. (really? Honestly, there were the best intentions to keep that clean.)

Enjoy. And remember... we're past the halfway mark of summer. You'll be on snow again in no time. (See that was clean.)

North American Fall Premier Tour:
ClickHERE

This past weekend Snowboarder Magazine held it's inventive new contest "America's Next Top Pro Model" at the summer shredding glacier on Mt. Hood, Oregon in the world acclaimed Windells snowboard park. If you missed our coverage from the first day, pop-in over here to check out some video shorts from the "High-Ollie" and "Best Jibber" contest.

Going into day two of the contest the 20 pro riders, all riding their new insignia snowboards, were tasked with three more on-snow mini-events. This time the schedule for the day started with the "Spin to Win" contest, followed by the "Biggest Air" and then capped off with the carnage-filled, crowd-pleasing "Chinese Downhill".

Rather than force your eyes to go numb by actually reading, go ahead and check out these vids we whipped together. (We're not aiming for quality here, obviously. Our apologies.)

For banger photo coverage you'll have to head over to Snowboardermag.com. It's their signature contest so they have the legit coverage in the works... we were more like the annoying friend of a friend that showed up and out of pity was allowed to hang out.

Spin to Win:



Biggest Air:



For footage from the Chinese Downhill you'll have to wait with bated breath for the official Snowboarder Magazine video edit (coming soon to a website near you). We totally missed it... but we were told that yes, indeed there was plenty of spitting, shoving and carnage. Breaking thru the finnish line first was the unstoppable Fin Lauri Heiskari, followed by American badass Bryan Fox, with another Finnish luminary, Eero Ettala, coming in third.

After shredding the hot snow all day the riders and the crowd moved down the hill to the Windells Campus where the pro's put on their philanthropist game-faces and started hawking their own pro-models to the Windells campers in a silent auction.

Each board sold to the highest bidder, and the money for all the boards was collected and given to the charity chosen by the rider who received the highest bid out of all the boards. That rider who received the highest bid out of everyone was the revered Eddie Wall, who brought in $300 bucks for his Forum pro-model. The auction pulled together a total of $1909.00 that was donated to St. Judes Hospital, Eddie's charity of choice.

With each mini contest, including the five on snow events and the silent auction, the riders stacked up points that went towards determining the overall rider who would win the title of "America's Next Top Pro Model". Throughout the weekend there was an undeniable standout. Lauri Heiskari, on his DC Snowboards XFB Pro board, won the Highest Ollie, Chinese Downhill and Biggest Air contests, and even placed third in the Spin to Win, making him the most winningest rider of the weekend and earning him the crown of America's Top Pro Model. If that's not some bragging rights for DC Snowboards and Lauri's R&D skills than we'd like to know what is.

Besides checking out all of the coverage online, be sure to pick up a copy of Snowboarder Magazine's November issue to see America's Next Top Pro Model in all it's glory with the aesthetics of print.

"Danny Kass, you are still in the running to becoming America's Next Top Pro Model."



Snowboarder Magazine was kind enough to let Grind TV check out their first ever summer contest "America's Next Top Pro Model" held at Windells Camp on Mt. Hood Oregon. Editor Pat Bridges (standing in as Snowboarding's own Tyra Banks) and the entire Snowboarder Mag crew invited a slew of top professional riders up to the glacier with one requirement: they must have a pro-model board coming out this season.



An interesting array of pro's have graced the summer riding camp with their presence this weekend. From MFM to Eddie Wall to Lauri Heiskari to Danny Kass; you've got your contest killers and you've got you're shred-porn stars - and just about every breed of rider in between.



The riders battled it out for two days, earning points during each of the five "mini contests" held up on the glacier. Be sure to head over to Snowboardermag.com to check out the full coverage.


The first contest the riders had to anti up to was a regular old ollie-off.

Okay, so I'm a few days late on this, but 1) it took me a while to regain movement in my extremities after freezing my ass off at the event; 2) I'm a cheap bastard and booked a hotel room without wireless access; 3) I spent all my money on proper slices that I can't get in L.A., a trip up to the Empire State Building's observation deck, and maybe a Guinness or two, so I had to skip the internet cafe, and 4) I was in New York City, bitch! I'm not going to kill time plinking away on a keyboard when I can be immersing myself in that incredible city, even if it is in the winter. Anyway, here are some more pics from the event - check out the rest here.