Red Bull knows how to take care of their riders. Whether it's a private pipe in boonies of Colorado, or a full-on training camp in New Zealand, Red Bull puts the time and money into preparing their athletes.

The first day of the 2010 Red Bull Performance Camp set off earlier this week with uber shreds getting down in dirty in Wanaka, New Zealand. The aim of the game is progression, and from the looks of the riding all of the riders are going for it down south.

Here's the first taste of what's popping off in NZ with Red Bull.

Words: Red Bull
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.

Photo. Scotty James.

'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, the athletes could 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.

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.


Photo: Spencer O'Brien

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

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.