With the heaviest snowfall in the European Alps for over 10 years and a contest and filming schedule to match, it’s been a BUSY winter so far, with all of our snow team chasing snow, shots and medals all over the world. With less than a week to go before Winter X Games Europe in Tignes, France, here’s a roundup of what’s been going down in 2012…

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Burn At XX Games Tignes is coming, and with burn sponsoring both the live event and the ‘Real Snow’ backcountry video contest, there’s a lot to be getting excited about.Burn are bringing the Real Snow backcountry to Europe, which is a real first and an exciting new dimension to the Xgames that allows backcountry riders like Gigi and Mathieu to take part and try to win a coveted X medal. 8 of the world’s best all-mountain freestylers will submit a short video clip showcasing their skills where it counts most – in the backcountry. Be sure to look out for the video parts that dropped on 21 February at facebook.com/burn.

Meanwhile, at European X Games live event in Tignes (14 – 16 March 2012) we have Staale Sandbech and Ulrik Badertscher entering the Slopestyle contest, and Arthur Longo and Mat Crepel in Halfpipe. Hopes are high…

stAAle: ConstAnt evolution

Burn ChinA #1 Burn ChinA #2

Staale Sandbech started the new year in style at the 6* O’Neill Evolution contest in Davos, Switzerland, as he qualified for the final round in first place. With poor conditions on finals day, Staale once again proved why he’s one of the most exciting riders in the world right now and always a good bet for a podium finish.Check out Staale’s ‘training’ session: http://vimeo.com/35109165

Aljosa ‘Jojo’ Krivek, burn’s Slovenian young gun had a great trip to the 5* TTR Nanshan Open in China this month. After a highly technical run, Jojo finished in 5th place, a great result that put him into 10th place in the TTR global Slopestyle rankings, and earned him a trip to the TTR World Championships in Oslo, the best result of his career so far. Go Jojo!

Spanish team skater Ignacio ‘Nacho’ Morata has also been on a trip to China. But unfortunately he’s had mixed luck too… “It`s been pretty good, but yesterday I took a gnarly slam. I got knocked out for a little bit, huge headache, my whole left arm is messed up, especially my shoulder and wrist. Such a disaster... “trying my best i got the worst”

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snowpArk rAlly

stAAle: norwegiAn MetAlWhile you and I were busy opening presents/getting drunk/getting married over the xmas holiday, Staale was busy searching out and sliding down the handrails of his home city, Oslo. Unlike so many others riding at the very top competitive level, it’s great to see Staale fit filming projects into his packed schedule.

Watch out for Staale’s movie, dropping soon at facebook.com/burn

The first two rounds of the burn Snowpark Rally are complete, and we’re happy to see that the standard of entries has been really high. Burn Units mentor Gigi presented the video mission and has been busy leaving comments on the entries. Mission 1 theme was ‘silhouette’ – lots of scope for creativity and a staple of every good Photo Annual. Check out this stunning image that deserves a spot in the final – think it looks a bit like a flame?

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innsBruCk Air & style 2012February 3rd & 4th saw the Innsbruck Air & Style go down as one of the most spectacular contests of all time… and of course burn was there in full effect!Friday night saw the burn Fire & Steel rail contest take place where 20 European rail talents warmed up a very cold night with some very hot riding! After a 45-minute jam session, the 8 best riders went head-to-head for a place in a 4-man final. After a dramatic tie-break battle between the top two riders, eventually it was Swedish burn rider Noa Gadelius who took the top spot against Iceland’s Gulli Gudmondsson… congrats Noa!In Saturday’s main event, all eyes were on burn riders Werni Stock, Staale Sandbech and Ulrik Badertscher. However, while the crowd were definitely screaming loudest for our boys, unfortunately the judges weren’t… But hey, that’s contests for you, and all three guys rode well and made us proud! And, with our Human/Machines themed burn zone and burn can obstacle being the two most visible things in the stadium, burn’s presence was unmissable.watch the rail session: http://tinyurl.com/7skxztm

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Burn river juMp 2012 goes off!February 20-24th saw the whole Burn Units team converge in Livigno, Italy for the Burn River Jump contest.With regional burn team riders from Italy, Hungary, Romania, Poland and Slovenia joining in the action at this TTR 5* Slopestyle and Big Air contest, this was a fantastic team spirit-building event!

On the contest level, it also saw another fantastic performance for our two Norwegian rippers Ulrik Badertscher and Ståle Sandbech. Ulrik, who won last year’s on-mountain Slopestyle contest, rode amazingly on both days, finishing in 2nd place in both disciplines! Staale also rode brilliantly, but was a little unlucky to just miss the podium, finishing in 4th place in both events. Big respect to both guys.

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gigi: supernAturAl snowBoArderWhile the big-air gladiators battled it out in Innsbruck, Austria for the Air & Style contest presented by Burn, an Austrian snowboarder by the name of Gigi was far away in Canadian British Columbia, for an entirely different kind of contest: The Supernatural presented by Travis Rice. Here, all-mountain video stars Travis Rice Gigi and Nicolas Müller performed ‘contest runs’ on a natural mountainside, augmented with wooden structures and fresh powder snow to create a course that was indeed ‘super-natural’. Travis, the event creator and all-round contest/powder machine, pulled an incredible 1st run that had everyone else battling for 2nd place. And, with a run that confirms his role as Burn’s most iconic rider, it was Gigi who stepped up with a run that combined speed, flow, creativity and above all, style to gain silver. Congratulations Gigi!