Shaun White and the 2013 XGames Run

The Flying Tomato gets some boss elevation!

Shaun White is the boss man when you talk Superpipe. 6 Gold Medals at the Xgames prove this. His runs are clinical, super extended and he gets more elevation than a airliner! Take a look at his run to the Gold in this year's Winter XGames...

Meet XGames Gold Medalist - Mark McMorris

Mark McMorris may only be 19 years old, but that has not stopped him from becoming one of the biggest names in Snowboarding in a very short time. The Red Bull athlete won the Slopestyle Gold at this year's Winter XGames in amazing style and also just got pipped for the Gold in the Big Air, putting him on top of the leader board in my books!
Born and raised in Regina, Saskatchewan, McMorris reflects on how his unique upbringing paved the way to a successful career as a professional snowboarder.

Winter XGames 2013 Wrap Up!

What an XGames! As I predicted it was the Triple Cork show, with both Ski and Snowboard Slopestyle and Big Air dominated by the big trick. But, there was lots more on offer to, check out some of the highlights from an epic XGames...

After so many epic moments it would be really difficult to choose my Top 3, but I got to say after much debate it had to be these three! Shaun White winning a 6th Superpipe Gold Medal, the insane stomp Triple Cork by Horgmo in the Big Air and Henrik Harlaut going massive in the Ski Big Air. Check em out...

Winter Xgames 2013 - Day 1

Day 1 in Aspen and we have already had some crazy action in both Snowboard Super Pipe and of course the mayhem that is Snowmobile Freestyle. In the first final of 2013, it was Red Bull superstar, Levi LaVallee, who stormed the final to win yet another Gold! Check out his winning run...

The Snowmobile competition was pure carnage behind Levi with some monster crashes. Check out the worst ones...


Also on the menu for Day 1, was Mens Snowboard Super Pipe Elimination and all eyes were on the "Flying Tomato", Shaun White, to see what he was bringing to the party in 2013. He was highest out of the Pipe at 5.8m and scored enough in his first run to get through (Lucky to, as he flunked his second run)...


There was also way more going on as per usual at XGames, so check out the Day 1 Highlights...

The North Shore Saffas - Spex, Frog and Vani G, Episode 1

Frank "Frog" Solomon and Josh "Vanilla Guerrilla" Redman discuss life and stare in each other's eyes on the bike path. (Photo: Spex)

The "Late" Season starts and already the Pacific Ocean has obliged with one great North Shore swell pumping through over the weekend. There to greet it are a pack of Saffas (South African Surfers) living on the North Shore for the next 2 months chasing waves, photos, results and respect. What really makes me super stoked about it, is that they are some of my best buds! Enter the crew of Sacha "Spex" Specker, Frank "Frog" Solomon, Josh "Vani G" Redman, Andrew "Roosta" Lange, Grant "Twig" Baker and Ant Fox. These guys are there to ride and document the North Shore, surf some competition and ride the dream.

Over the next few weeks they and other other South Africans will join Spex on my radio show to fill us in on what has been going down. All the stories, the drama and the results! So keep an eye on this here blog and the Monday Radio show on 2 Oceans Vibe. In the meantime here are 2 videos of week 1 on the Shore!

Frog & Josh 808 week 1 from Sacha 'SPEX' Specker on Vimeo.

Waimea Bay from Damien robertson on Vimeo.

Winter XGames 2013 Aspen, Starts Today

Its that time already folks! Aspen is full to the hilt with the best winter X athletes on the planet ready to kick it up and take down the Winter XGames Gold. Here in SA we can watch on ESPN, so make sure you don't miss out starting tonight at 22:00.

Big calls for this year are seeing a Triple Cork in the snowboard comps and a double backflip in the Snowmobile jumps! I am frothing!

Schedule:

The Friday Mix - Perfect Jbay, Bodyboard Slab and Sanoe Lake Bikini

Welcome to my Friday Mix with a very surf orientated vibe this week. We start with Beautiful swell lines at the world's best right hand point, Supertubes. Straight up after this is the mental slab, The Tand, being charged by the local West Coast crew or bodyboarders. We finish off with an older, but still very hot, video of surfer and bikini model, Sanoe Lake. Enjoy!

The Friday Mix with Captain Kai - Xgames, Dane Reynolds & Ultimate X

Welcome to the Friday Mix for this week and what a mix it is. First up the long awaited GOPro video from Ultimate X - we still waiting for the 3D edit - followed by Dane Reynold's highlights from the Quik Pro at Snapper. He did not make Round 4, but hells he did some amazing surfing before being knocked out. Lastly, the king of Superpipe, Shaun White, takes another XGames Gold in France at the European Winter XGames. Shaun posted an almost perfect 98 on his first run to take the victory!



 

 

XGames Real Snow 2012 - Mental Snowboarding

Every winter the good people at X Games run the "Real Snow" Snowboarding competition. Some of the world's best Free riders submit their video sections for the competition and we mere mortals get to vote for the best. The winner takes all and the X games Gold. This is some of the most gnarly urban snowboarding I have seen in a long time!



Skull Candy team rider, Dan Brisse, took the Gold. Check out his section...

The Best of Winter X Games 2012

WOW - that's my first response at this year's Winter X Games. There were so many firsts from Shaun White's perfect 100 score in the Men's Superpipe leading to his 5 Peat, also a first. Then there was the first ever Snowmobile Frontflip for Gold and let's not forget that horrible double backflip attempt that ended in tragedy. Here is the "Best of' video for 2012...



All of these amazing rides, runs and wins were not enough to take my number 1 highlight, which in 2012 went to one man, Mark McMorris. He became the first person to win double Gold at Winter X, by taking out both the Slopestyle and Big Air events. First up was the Big Air where he pulled the first ever Triple Cork in competition...



After the highs of this win, Mark decided it was not enough and he had to ride one of the biggest and cleanest Slopestyle runs of all time. Check out the incredible scale of the giant rail transfer, followed by huge airs over the kickers. All of this added up to the Gold for Mark...



An amazing event and I cannot wait for the Summer Games of 2012!

Winter X Games 2012 - Worst Wipe, Justin Hoyer Snowmobile Crash

Ok, so there were many major wipes during the course of this year's Winter X Games, but this one had to hurt the most. Justin Hoyer, attempting the double backflip on his Snowmobile, gets the rotation all wrong and nose dives it to getting rolled over. He tries to get up and walk away, but clearly more damage than he thought. Good news is, he has been discharged from the hospital.

Shaun White rides a perfect 100 point ride gets the X Games Five Peats

The flying tomato, Shaun White, proves that he is the best Pipe rider in the world at X Games 2012, with a perfect 100 point ride. This took the gold for Shaun which also meant he took the first ever X Games Winter Five Peats. (Meaning he has won the Superpipe Gold 5 times now.) Those not clued up on Snowboarding may wonder why he got a perfect score for this run. Its simple, huge elevation (Take a look how far out the Pipe he is on his first setup air.), two perfect double corks (Meaning he is rotating off axis) and an absolutely flawless run, with no wobbles or sketches. The man is the king! For more X Games madness check out their YouTube.

First ever Snowmobile Front Flip at the Winter X Games 2012

Winter X Games 2012 has been full of huge results and momentous occasions, but this must be one of the biggest! The first ever Front Flip on a Snowmobile in competition, by Heath Frisby, won him a Gold Medal. I will have all the highlights from the Games during the week for you!