XGames 2012 - Day 2, Moto X Step Up & Best trick

Red Bull's Ronnie Renner on his way to a new world record and XGames Gold.

On Day 2 of Xgames 2012 I found myself back at the iconic Staples Center for Moto X Best Whip, Step Up and Best Trick. The whip comp is fun and some of the guys were doing massive whips, but the voting system was definitely flawed as they relied on the audience to vote. Twitch had a huge following in the crowd and that made him the winner. I reckon Cam Sinclair was the best guy by miles, but hey, the system chose it's winner. (Important note that their has been a lot of questions hanging over the judging at this XGames and much discussion that it is all rigged. More on this at a later stage.)

The big surprise for me was how amazing the Step Up competition was to watch live. Normally I am not that taken with this event, but live it was a whole new ball game. I was sitting right in front of the kicker and I can tell you those guys are going Cheech and Chong high. Ronnie Renner had a huge battle with Matt Buyten and ended up with not only XGames Gold but a new World record at 48 Feet High. It was amazing.

After all that excitement it was time for the Best Trick Competition. These guys put everything on the line for 2 runs, most pulling first time tricks. There were plenty of spills and plenty of new tricks. Taking the Gold though was Australian, Jacko Strong, last years winner.  Jacko pulled off a soild body varial combo for Gold. Freestyle winner, Taka Hagashino came in second with an all new Rock Solid Backflip to no Hander. Another amazing event!

 

Poor Clinton Moore just missed making this 720 attempt, then had his bike attack him after the wipe...

 

XGames 2012 - Day 2, Massive Rally Cross Crash

Toomas Heikkinen crashes big during a RallyCross practice session. Talk about needing some extra speed to clear the jump.

 

XGames 2012 - Day 2, Bob Burnquist takes 4th Gold at Big Air

Bob schooled the crop of youngsters, some as young as 11 years old, it simply beggars belief. But the old warrior waxed on with some dominating skating in the final, even carrying a pretty serious injury. Bob is now the King of Big Air!

Xgames 2012 - Day 1

Ok, so as most of you know by now, I have been gallivanting around California for some time now. The primary reason was to cover the XGames in all their glory. Turns out ESPN decided not to give me my press pass (To say I was disappointment was a severe understatement.), but life goes on and luckily I still managed to secure tickets for a couple of events.

I just got back to my hotel after the first of those and it was a big one. The Moto X Freestyle competition was mind blowing. Most of the talk was about Travis Pastrana not being there, but I can tell you that all it meant was that the young guns had their opportunity and two of them took it. Levi Sherwood was commanding and oh so smooth. He came in for the Silver, but I can tell you it was dam close. The man of the night however was the first Japanese Podium finisher in XGames history. Taka Hagashino blew minds here tonight and won the Gold with his first run! I watched him fly above my head (Managed good tickets for this one.) Check out the Gold winning run...

Also today were the Big Air Elimination for the skaters and while I could not watch them live, I got to watch most of show inside the Staples Center on the big screen. Some huge action including two massive 900's. This competition is going to get mad!  Mitchie Brusco and Tom Schaar both pull off 900s in the Skate Big Air Eliminations. These guys are kids, Mitchie is 14! Wild I tell you, just plain wild!

Tomorrow is another day and I will be at all the Moto X action including Step Up, Best Whip and Best Trick. Judging by tonight's action, the Best trick is going to be off the hook. A massive thank you to Red Bull South Africa again for all their help! You guys are awesome.

The Friday Mix - Distant Shores Trailer, Erzberg Enduro and California Summer Surf

Welcome to my Friday Mix, fresh from the hi speed bandwidth of the West coast of the USA. It has been a trip having such unfettered and fast internet access and I have been making the most of it. First up check out the trailer for Surfer Magazine's "Distant Shores" film, which will be free to download shortly. Then we have the highlights video from the Red Bull Erzberg Rodeo, the craziest enduro race on the planet. Next up I thought I would show you some summer waves in California, though I have yet to find waves this fun, as the June Gloom bites and the swell continues to be tiny. Enjoy the mix...


 
 

The surf session that has changed all the rules! Fiji Freight Trains 2012

They will be calling it the session and the day, that what was possible in paddle surfing, was rewritten. Sound epic and grandiose? Well it was...

Twig, Kelly and John John have called it that and they are the three surfers whose judgement on things ridiculous in surfing, I trust the most. Just watch the video from the water and understand what I am harping on about...



Then back it up with these angles. Your jaw on the ground yet?

Super Amazing Slow motion Skate Flips

This video is worth a watch. Incredible skating in super slow motion, to a kick ass funky track. You will be happy. The video has caused a mini storm online, as Skrillex tweeted it out and some liked that and some did not, such is the web....

Uncommon skateboarding tricks in super slow motion. Filmed at 1,000 frames per second with a Redlake N3 high speed camera. Since skateboarding trick names are defined by common usage and these tricks are not very common, some of them don't have well-established names. So here are my best guesses as to what they should be called:
Kyle McPherson -- nollie dolphin flip (AKA nollie forward flip)
Cameron Carmichael -- backside 180 casper flip (?) (or bs 180 hospital flip)
Jerrod Skorupski -- nollie heelflip bs body varial
David Case - nollie 360 shuv underflip (AKA nerd flip)
David Case - frontside shuv underflip (AKA kiwi flip)
Dustin Blauvelt - hardflip pretzel
Dustin Blauvelt - Merlin twist (switch front foot impossible fs 180)
Dustin Blauvelt - nollie heelflip indy grab
Shane Anderson - early grab frontside 180 fingerflip (?)
Jovan Pierson - pressure hardflip (?)
Jovan Pierson - ?? I don't know what this is, I just call it a Jovan flip
Erick Schaefer - backside pop shuv underflip
Tim Hamp - Nollie pressure hardflip (?)
From: http://www.youtube.com/user/ashomskyhttp://www.youtube.com/user/ashomsky

Thanks to Funky Notes for the music. This song is called Never Knew.
http://soundcloud.com/funkynotes Funky Notes

The Friday Mix - Cheerleader's Bikini Shoot, O"Neill Wake the Line, Intentio Trailer & Hall of Meat

It's your Friday Mix with the best bits and bobs of video from the web this week. First up you have the O'Neill Wake the Line from Germany, then it's the new surf film trailer, called Intentio, followed by a gnarly skate wipe with Thrasher Magazine's "Hall of Meat" and finally a little eye candy and the Miami Dolphin's Cheerleaders shooting their 2013 Bikini Calendar (Warning, the music on this one may drive you mad, but the visuals are great.)

 

 

 

Massive Cloubreak Free Surf on Day 6 - Volcom Pro Fiji 2012

Bede Durbidge winning the 1st of only 2 heats surfed on Day 6. After this the Free Surf began... (Photo:ASP)

The massive swell arrived as expected, but the contest only lasted 2 heats, with Bede and Kai Otton winning the heats and moving into Round 3. The ASP made the call to wait for today to start Round 3, which will probably go down at Restaurants. Once the tour had puled out, the hordes of big wave charges were out there, with some of the more core Tour surfers joining the fray in solid 15ft Cloudbreak. Luckily the contest left the live feed running and we got to watch a rare free surf in giant waves. Enjoy the video...

 

BMX from the Air - Sebastian Keep & House Park

What an incredible Bowl.

I love this video. it has some a mellow rhythm to it. Having said that, it also make me a little depressed as we don't have anything like this park in South Africa. It looks like the architects incorporated it into the building design. It's like a piece of sculpture!

Bas Keep's Day At House Park from Attack & Release on Vimeo.