Monday Mix - July 22, 2019

Another Monday and another Mix, where this week we get some in-depth stories out of the US SBX and park and pipe camps, check in on Summer Rookie Tour action from Les Deux Alpes (FRA), check out Torah Bright's Mini Shreds session highlights from Thredbo (AUS), and much more!

But first, the bad news...

Dusseldorf big air World Cup cancelled

Starting things off this week with a bigtime bummer, as the FIS Snowboard and Freeski big air World Cup competitions scheduled to take place on January 3-4, 2020 at the ARAG BIG AIR Freestyle Festival in Duesseldorf have been canceled by the organising committee due to a clash with the DFL’s (The German Football League) calendar scheduling.

Unfortunately, the German Football League (DFL) did not consider the application of the football club Fortuna Duesseldorf to play their 17th round match as an away game, outside of the Merkur Spiel Arena. Despite the intensive efforts in the last two weeks from the operator of the venue, as well as the city of Duesseldorf, DFL scheduling dictates that that game must take place at Merkur Spiel Arena on December 21, 2019 - some 10 days before what was to be the beginning of training sessions for the FIS World Cup competitions.

Since the extensive construction work for the large scaffold ramp requires at least two and a half weeks for completion, the ‘home game’ for Fortuna Dueseldorf means there won’t be sufficient time to prepare the venue to host the big air World Cup under perfect conditions and in a safe manner.

Read the full story HERE.

US team busy all over the place, from Whistler to Mt. Hood to the red carpet

Back to the fun stuff...

Lots of news from the US camp this week, starting with the full report from the SBX squads trip to Whistler for their forward-thinking "Rad Camp." Featuring days packed with ziplining, downhill mountain biking, and even a little acting session, the camp lead by US SBX head coach Peter Foley sounded like a heck of a good time. Find the whole story HERE.

Meanwhile, over at Mt. Hood, a crew of US park and pipe riders were locked in for their annual session at High Cascade Snowboard Camp, with their week of riding and progression highlighted by a sunset photo shoot and an overnight stay at the on-hill Silcox Hut at Timberline Lodge and Ski Area.

From their website: "Over a week of U.S. freeski and snowboard summer training camp is in the books and it’s been anything but boring for U.S Team athletes. Thanks to U.S. Ski & Snowboard’s official training partners Timberline Lodge and Ski Area, Windells Camp, and High Cascade Snowboard Camp, skiers and riders were not only able to get multiple repetitions on the amazing terrain at Mt Hood, but athletes also had a chance to unwind, build team comradery, and experience the mountain in a very unique way. From an overnight team BBQ at 7,000 feet to a sunset photo and video shoot, athletes took full advantage of their time on the Palmer Glacier."

Full story HERE.

Finally, although she wasn't named one of Sports Illustrated's "Fashionable 50", Chloe Kim wrapped up an award-winning couple of weeks with a trip to SI's party to fete the athletes known for looking their best away from the field of play. We wonder who else might have got an invite if SI had a few more riders on their radar...

Summer Rookie Tour halfpipe comp goes down at Les Deux Alpes

The always-entertaining World Rookie Tour keeps rolling along into right into summer, with the Summer Rookie Jam halfpipe and big air competitions taking to the slopes of Les Deux Alpes last week, with grom-level rider Chaeun Lee of Korea taking the overall MVP title after winning both the BA and HP competitions for his age group. Read more HERE.

Base NZ Park Attack slopestyle hits Cardrona

We're just over a month away from the start of the 2019/20 World Cup season, with big air action set to go down in Cardrona (NZL) on August 24-25, 2019. In the meantime, Cardrona is warming up with some lower tier competitions, including this past weekend's Base NZ Park Attack slopestyle competition.

While we haven't seen any highlights from the competition yet, Cardrona did post this video of young gun Rocca Jamieson ripping their famed park set-up, which is sweet...

Happy 7/20 Day!

Saturday was July 20th, also known as "7/20 Day" in shred circles, and for anyone lucky enough to still be on board this late into the summer you would have been duty bound to get out there and drop a 720 wherever you may have been riding. Here's a textbook example from Grant Giller (USA)...

Torah Bright's Mini Shreds takes to the slopes of Thredbo

Vancouver 2010 halfpipe gold medallist Torah Bright (AUS) continues to give back to the snowboard community with her Mini Shreds programme, which hit Australia's Thredbo Resort earlier in the month for their annual day of fun and shredding. The full highlight video just came out a few days ago and you can check it out here.

New Ester Ledecka (CZE) interview aims to find out what fuels a champion

A solid interview came out last week with PyeongChang 2018 PGS and Alpine Skiing giant slalom gold medallist Ester Ledecka, and it's definitely worth a read.

From the interview:

If like me you subscribe to the Ester Ledecká Instagram feed, then you’ll see a lady who never stops. She is either training on skis or snowboard, or if there’s sea nearby then she will be windsurfing or playing beach volleyball. I wonder if that bustling, perpetually active lifestyle is one she would prescribe to others.

“I don’t know. I love to move and I love sports, that is the reason why I do it. I don’t think about it in the way that I have to do it, I just want to do it! I think everybody should do the things they love. And to live their lives the way they want, to make their own footsteps – maybe even at the places where no one was in front of them.”

Hiroaki Kunitake (JPN) dryslope stomping

A pretty exceptional example of dryslope shredding from Japan's Hiroaki Kunitake here, putting down this frontside 1080 tail with aplomb at the Toyama Kings practice facility...*heart eyes emoji*.

Ethan Morgan's (GER) DIYX Camp gets underway

Germany's Ethan Morgan has launched another edition of his "Do It Yourself Extreme" camp this past weekend, and we can't wait to see what sort of insanity comes out of this one in clip form over the next few days. With some truly off-the-wall features and a collection of the world's best riders typically on hand for the sessions, #DIYX is a must-watch for your social media feeds.

And that's another Monday Mix in the books! See ya next week, as the train rolls on...