Words: Alli Sports

Sebastien Toutant came to the slopestyle course today at Snowbasin with one goal in mind - to win his first Dew Cup at the Toyota Championship. After a season of consistent riding, placing second at the both the Nike Open and Pantech Invitational, he used his motivation to stomp a clean and technical run and earn a score of 94.50.

He already had the win in his pocket when dropping in for his second lap through the course, and managed to improve upon his score, starting with a backside 270 onto the first rail, followed by a 50-50 to gap frontside 360 out on the up down rail and a frontside bluntslide 270 out on the cannon. He landed a frontside 1080 double cork on the first jump, ending with a backside 1080 double cork. "This year it was my goal to do well on Dew Tour," said Toutant after his win. "It feels so great to win the Dew Cup."

Coming in second was Dash Kamp, elated to podium in his rookie year on Tour, saying "I'm on cloud nine. This trophy is something I've always wanted!" Spencer Link rounded out the podium in third.

Spencer O'Brien swept the season's women's snowboard slopestyle events and took the Dew Cup with a win at today's final. After falling short in her first lap through the course, she pulled a winning second run that began with a switch boardslide to 50-50 on the gap box, followed by a frontside boardslide on the up down rail and a boardslide to fakie on the cannon.

She tore into the jumps, landing a switch backside 540 mute and frontside 720 indy. Her score of 94.50 put her above the rest of the field by a full 8 points. O'Brien previously won the Dew Cup in 2009, and her success on the Tour this year made for an impressive season. "It feels really good to have the Cup back," she said, following her win. "It feels great, this is by far my best season."

Women's Snowboard Slopestyle Final Results

1. Spencer O'Brien, Canada, 94.50.
2. Enni Rukajarvi, Finland, 86.50.
3. Joanna Dzierzawski, Calif., 80.25.
4. Julianna Brackett, Calif., 73.75.
5. Nicki Slechta, Los Angeles, Calif., 67.50.
6. Sarka Pancochova, Czech Republic, 36.25.

Women's Snowboard Slopestyle - Tour Rankings
1. Spencer O'Brien, 200. 2. Enni Rukajarvi, 180. 3. Sarka Pancochova, 150. 4. Rebecca Torr, 136. 5. Joanna Dzierzawski, 117. 6. Julianne Brackett, 109. 7. Madison Blackley, 79. 8. Nicki Slechta, 72. 9. Jamie Anderson, 72. 10. Celia Miller, 72.

Men's Snowboard Slopestyle Final Results

1. Sebastien Toutant, Canada, 94.50.
2. Dash Kamp, 83.50.
3. Spencer Link, 77.75.
4. Jake Aaronson, 70.50.
5. Gjermund Braaten, 69.75.
6. Sage Kotsenburg, 61.25.
7. Eric Willett, 58.75.
8. Seth Hill, 53.00.
9. Ian Thorley, 40.25.
10. Justin Morgan, 37.25.
11. Mark Hoyt, 25.00.
12. Brandon Reis, 23.25.

Men's Snowboard Slopestyle - Tour Rankings
1. Sebastien Toutant, 330. 2. Gjermund Braaten, 272. 3. Eric Willett, 252. 4. Sage Kotsenburg, 203. 5. Justin Morgan, 199. 6. Jake Aaronson, 185. 7. Dash Kamp, 173. 8. Charles Reid, 138. 9. Chas Guldemond, 128. 10. Spencer Link, 123.

Photo: Trevor Brown Jr./ESPN

The average human being would laugh in your face if you showed them the Winter X Games 16 Big Air jump and told them to straight line into the lip and huck themselves towards the sky. The competitors last night would laugh in your face if you doubted that they would be absolutely sending it without hesitation off said jump.

Under the bright lights, a select group of snowboarding's top riders dropped into an 80-foot step up jump in attempts to earn X Games gold.

The acrobatic contest quickly moved towards, "who is going to land a triple cork" contest with Torstein Horgmo, Sebastien Toutant, Seppe Smits, Eric Willett, and Mark McMorris throwing down their best for the massive crowd.



It was McMorris who earned the winning score and his first X Games gold medal by stomping a gigantic backside triple cork mute 1440 even though Torstein Horgmo was giving him a run for his money earning a perfect score of 50. However, his overall score wasn't enough to take down Mark. To round out the podium, McMorris' fellow Canadian Sebastien Toutant snagged the bronze with a clean double cork cab 1260.

The 2012 Big Air finals demonstrated the level of progression that snowboarding has reached. These riders are hungry and dedicated - providing excellent shredding and impressive competitions.

Photos courtesy of O'Neill

Plain and simple, Sebastien Toutant destroys the park. At only 19, Seb Toots is already dubbed a freestyle snowboarding phenomenon and rightfully so. This French Canadian became the first-ever rookie to claim the ever-coveted Winter X Games gold in slopestyle in 2011 since Travis Rice in 2002. Impressive and satisfying, Toutant conquered a giant goal that he had set for himself. He's been sponsored since he was 13 and has pretty much been a force to be reckoned with ever since.

Fluid style, fearless mentality, almost always a guaranteed stomp after every trick, and a bright future ahead of him, Toutant is only getting better with age. Last year, Seb joined Mark McMorris and Torstein Horgmo in history by stomping a triple cork 1440. If that's not extraordinary enough, this teen also dropped a full breakthrough video part that is simply insane. If you haven't caught on yet, we're pretty hyped on this kid.

With Winter X Games 16 directly upon us - we wanted to get an inside glimpse into the madness behind this shredder. He's looking to defend his title of Winter X slopestyle champ and we're guessing that it's highly likely that he'll pull it off. He also nailed second in Big Air last year and will be looking to throw down in that event on Friday night as well. To cruise with Seb during his time at X Games, keep up with the O'Neill Experience - a bundle of videos put together that follow this Canadian throughout his competitions, interviews, and media appearances.

First episode below:



"The behind-the-scenes content at www.oneillexperience.com will include daily interviews with Seb, footage throughout the Games' venues, and interviews with fans. The campaign will also feature other O'Neill riders, including popular backcountry snowboarder Celia Miller, 10-year-old skiing phenom, Aspen Spora and David Wise, who will be competing at Winter X in Skier Halfpipe. Additionally, Seb will provide insight into his upcoming competitions, including tricks and strategy. Head cameras and small microphones will be used to offer viewers a more personal perspective." - O'Neill

Check out 15 random factoids you might not know about the shredder below and be sure to watch men's slopestyle finals going off on Saturday night. Keep your eye on this kid - he's sure to rock your socks off.

1) My favorite part about Montreal is the city. It's so nice to be able to film street rails during the winter at home.

2) My favorite mountains/park to take laps in are Keystone and Breckenridge. They are the best two parks ever.

3) Three things I can't live without while traveling are my phone, my sunglasses and my computer.

4) My favorite events to compete in are the Winter X Games in Aspen and Ride Shakedown.

5) The worst injury I've ever had was a broken ankle.

6) Although I've ridden with Jeremy Jones before (fellow team rider), I've never ridden a big mountain line with him and would like to one day.

7) I don't ride with music, but music is a really good way to make me want a ride. Hip hop or anything with a good beat is always good.

8) The best part about competing in the 2014 Olympics in Sochi to me would be just to be part of a new event and meeting new people will be such a good experience.

9) Winter X Games in 5 words: Creativity, Xtreme, crowd, fun, exposure

10) My favorite go-to trick is either a backside 720 or frontside 540.

11) I've had bling in my ears for about three years.

12) New Zealand is my favorite place to travel. Just cause everything is different and beautiful.

13) The reason I got started with slopestyle instead of halfpipe is because my home resort had really good jumps and rails.

14) I got my first sponsor when I was 13 years old.

15) I say "Yeah, hell yeah" way too often.

Apparently, a little off-season has nothing on Jamie Anderson and Mark McMorris...er, do they have an off-season? Let me rephrase, they both came in enormously hot to the first major contest of the season and it seems as though they didn't skip a beat from the end of last season to this beginning of this one.

Slopestyle finals at the 2011 Burton New Zealand Open shut down yesterday after a picture perfect day at Cardrona Alpine Resort. Things started off a little sketchy with multiple competitors knuckling the money booter at the end of the course however, the riders got into their grooves and began to spin to win.

The girls saw no surpises. I mean, who really likes change? Nobody. So, in typical Jamie Anderson fashion, she pulled a solid run and won. Kjersti Buass rolled into the second-notch spot, with Jordie Malinski rounding out third. And although one of the top qualifiers Shelly Gotlieb did not find herself in the top three - she did catch the crowds attention by hucking herself in an attempt to try two double backflips. Desperate to win? Maybe. Ballsy and awesome? Yes. We applaud her for her effort to push the
limits and keep everyone on their toes.

Boys will be boys. By that I mean, throw double cork 1080's. The top contenders were all flipping and spinning their way to the top in a heated battle. Slopestyle monster Mark McMorris was victorious with Sebastien Toutant hot on his heels and Stale Sandbech landing in third.

For more details and an up-close and personal account, head over to SNOWBOARDER Mag to hear from T-Bird who announced at the event cause let's be real here, I wasn't actually there.

Top TTR trick videos below:

It's honestly like winter never really left. The first event of the Swatch TTR World Tour just invaded Whistler, BC over the first weekend of July and the riders already set the bar at a ridiculous level.

The 5Star Billabong Ante Up Big Air event saw what we all could expect to see - 1260s and double corks up the wazoo. With major talent like Chas Guldemond, Eric Willett, Seb Toots, and Seppe Smits all going for the win, the motivation to go big was apparent. Eric Willett ended up in the top spot, followed by Sebastien Toutant, and Dash Kamp in third.

Full TTR recap below:

Whistler, B.C. Canada, July 1, 2011: American rider, Eric Willett, took the first 5Star Big Air title of the 2011/12 TTR World Tour season at the second annual Billabong Ante Up competition held atop Whistler Mountain in Canada. The sun was hidden behind the clouds for most of the day, but riders put on a great performance for the crowd of spectators at the top of the mountain where Sebastien Toutant (CAN) came in a close second behind Willett and Dash Kamp (USA) took home third place.

The Ante Up started out with a qualifying round of 30 snowboarders in the early afternoon that was whittled down to 10 men for the finals. The start list was packed full of riders who are usually super consistent on big air kickers like Seppe Smits (BEL), Chas Guldemond (USA), Gjermund Braaten (NOR) and Roope Tonteri (FIN) but they just couldn't seem to put their landing gear down on the 90-foot gap jump. This opened the door for Eric Willett who took numerous podium spots at Big Air and Slopestyle competitions last season and for Sebastien Toutant who won the Ante Up last year. Eric Willett landed a smooth switch backside double cork 1260 to take $20,000 USD for his win today. Sebastien Toutant was awarded $12,500 USD for landing a Cab double cork 1260 and Dash Kamp walked away with a cool $8,000 for his backside double cork 1080.

Willett is already looking forward to the Southern Hemisphere leg of the tour and had this to say about his win: "I'm stoked. It's always weird to come out here in July and do a competition in the middle of summer, but it's really fun and crucial to come out for the start of the season and get those points especially with the new ranking system to get the big air points. I'm pumped to head down to New Zealand with this confidence booster."

All 32 riders who competed at the Ante Up earned ranking points that will count towards the all-new TTR Big Air Tour Ranking list and will also count towards the TTR Overall Tour Ranking list, as well.

With the 5Star Ante Up wrapped up and winter on the rise in the Southern Hemisphere, riders will soon make the trek down to New Zealand for the 5Star Burton New Zealand Open where the first slopestyle and halfpipe results will be registered for the TTR Slopestyle Tour Ranking list and the TTR Halfpipe Tour Ranking list. Riders will also have the opportunity to hit the 4Star Billabong Bro Down (ss), also taking place in New Zealand, and the 4Star Stylewars (ss) event going down in Australia. Keep up-to-date on all TTR World Snowboard Tour happenings at www.ttrworldtour.com.