The Swiss event freestyle.ch has always been a crystal ball for the upcoming snowboard season. And if you judge by the big air superfinals, which went down this Sunday, 26 September 2010, this season we will get to see a lot from the four riders who made it into the finals. In the end it was Gjermund Braaten who took victory in a bedazzling competition consisting of two technical jumps of each rider. Both Gjermund and the Canadian prodigy Sebastien Toutant showcased near perfect backside 12 double corks – with Gjermund adding a pinch more style in execution and landing. No wonder Gjermund is the current TTR tour leader. See our embedded short clip for what he had to say about the contest (and how to pronounce his name correctly). Peetu Piiroinen stomped a perfect back 10 double cork in his first jump but bailed in an attempt to outdo himself with an even more technical trick. Norwegian Stale Sandbech came in fourth after failing to stomp a cab 12 twice.

The semi finals earlier that day had already seen some insane riding. Early into this second stage of the contest he broke the back 10 double cork spell (which every rider and their uncle seemed to go for in the qualifications on Friday) with a clean front 10 double lean grab. Seb Toots set his mark with a back 12 late cork.

Marko Grilc entertained the crowd by showing a different trick in each of his five attempts, which was welcomed by many after seeing a bit of a trick monotony the day before. Unfortunately he yet lacks some of the confidence that had made him a serious contest threat all over last season and could not advance further. Local hero Iouri Podladtchikov displayed a great back 10 double, but combined with his style rating it was not enough to get past the aforementioned finalists.

Apart from the snowboard action there was obviously a lot more going on at the freestyle.ch. FMX, skateboard and freeski were apparently quite the rage, too. Skier Tom Wallisch won the peculiar ‘Crossover Session’, a mix of all four sports. Whatever. The music acts Calip and The Fabry Project got the crowd going on Satuday – Even though the entire day saw heavy rains and exceptionally cold temperatures. And there was a lot more to keep you entertained: The brand village, interactive ‘action zones’, a micro scooter demonstration (yay!), various food stalls and whatnot. If it hadn’t been for the weather on Saturday this would have entered history books as yet another magnificent freestyle.ch. But the riding was it anyhow! We can’t wait to see the tricks and style mastery applied to a slopestyle course…

Final Result Snowboard Big Air

1 Gjermund Braaten NOR
2 Sebastien Toutant CAN
3 Peetu Piiroinen FIN
4 Stale Sandbech NOR
5 Marko Grilc SLO
6 Iouri Podladtchikov SUI
7 Christian Haller SUI
8 Elias Elhardt GER
9 Eric Willett USA
10 Ethan Morgan GER
11 Werni Stock AUT
12 Gian-Luca Cavigelli SUI
13 Markku Koski FIN
14 Heikki Sorsa FIN
15 Tim Humphreys USA

More information under www.freestyle.ch.