Active Action Sports

2008 Billabong XXL Global Big Wave Awards

Active Sara — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 14:21:00 GMT

The 2008 Billabong XXL Global Big Wave Awards are quickly approaching and will take place April 11 in Anaheim, California. There was an enormous amount of big wave rides this year so the competition will be tough. Check out the video below to see the nominees and let us know how you would rank them.

This is the order of nominees in the video:

2008 BIGGEST WAVE NOMINEES

Grant Baker (South Africa)
Cortes Bank (off California)
January 5, 2008

Tyler Fox (California)
Ghost Tree, California
December 4, 2007

Brad Gerlach (California)
Ghost Tree, California
December 4, 2007

Vincent Lartizen (France)
Belharra Reef, France
January 4, 2008

Mike Parsons (California)
Cortes Bank (off California)
January 5, 2008

RIDE OF THE YEAR NOMINEES

Michael Brennan (Australia)
Shipstern Bluff, Tasmania
January 14, 2008

Carlos Burle (Brazil)
Ghost Tree, California
December 4, 2007

Shane Dorian (Hawaii)
Teahupoo, Tahiti
November 1, 2007

Manoa Drollet (French Polynesia)
Teahupoo, Tahiti
November 1, 2007

Ian Walsh (Hawaii)
Teahupoo, Tahiti
November 1, 2007

What do you think? How would you rank the nominees?

To see the nominees for other awards go to 2008 Billabong XXL Global Big Wave Awards.

Vonn's Road to History

Active Sara — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 19:24:43 GMT

At age three, Lindsey Vonn put on a pair of skis at a local mountain in Minnesota for the first time and she has been making a name for herself ever since as an elite member of the U.S. Ski Team.

She began racing at age seven and by nine she was competiting in international events. At the age of 14 she became the only American female to win the Trofeo Topolino contest in Italy. In her first year of top-level competition, 15-year-old Vonn placed in numerous NorAm events. At the age of 18, Vonn raced in both slalom and combined in her Olympic debut, with her best result placing her sixth in slalom.

Vonn climbed up onto the World Cup podium for the first time in her career at the age of 20. A year later she attended the World Championships in Italy, taking fourth place finishes in both downhill and combined and a ninth place finish in Super G. She finished the season ranked sixth overall in the world.

At age 22, Vonn was set to compete in her second Olympic Games as a top hopeful for the Women's U.S. Ski Team. Unfortunately, this would not be her year. During a training session, Vonn crashed and was evacuated by helicopter to a local hospital. Vonn returned to the Games, despite a bruised hip, and finished eighth in Downhill, seventh in Super G, and fourteenth in Slalom.

Later that year, Vonn won silver in both downhill and Super G at the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships in Are, Sweden. She also finished third in the women's 2007 World Cup Downhill and Super G before a knee injury ended her season early.

This past season, 23-year-old Vonn returned to the slopes ready to make history and that is exactly what she did. Her latest Downhill win in Crans-Montana, Switzerland last Saturday, made her the most succesful American in Downhill history and set a new record for World Cup Downhill victories by a U.S. skier with ten. The previous record was held by Picabo Street in 1996 and Daron Rahives in 2006.

Furthermore, Vonn just recently captured the overall World Cup title in Bormio, Italy. Fellow American, Bode Miller, took the title for the men. The last time American's won both the men's and women's overall titles in the same year was in 1983.

It was a very successful season for Vonn and we should expect to see many more victories and possibly some more historical moments as she continues to represent the U.S. Ski Team.

For more information about Lindsay Vonn check out the Official Lindsay Vonn Website.

Heikki Sorsa's One Footed Frontside 360

Active Sara — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 20:15:07 GMT

As it turns out for Heikki Sorsa, he will return to Finland with only street credit for the one footed frontside 360 he threw over the 65 footer on the last hit in the Winter X Games 12 Slopestyle competition. According to the judges, the rest of his run simply wasn't clean enough to score him the points he deserved for throwing such a creative trick. Sorsa will go down in Winter X history despite the fact that he only finished 5th overall.

Did you see Heikki Sorsa's one footed frontside 360 in the Winter X Games Slopestyle competition? What'd you think? Check it out below. Do you think he should have scored higher and finished above 5th place?

Men's Slopestyle Finals

1. Andreas Wiig, 92.00
2. Kevin Pearce, 88.33
3. Shaun White, 83.33
4. Eero Ettala, 82.66
5. Heikki Sorsa, 77.00
6. CHas Guldemond, 76.33
7. Mikkel Bang, 68.66
8. Mason Aguirre, 63.66
9. Mathieu Crepel, 43.00
10. Jussi Oksanen, 42.00

White Dominates SuperPipe in Winter X Games 12

Active Sara — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 01:17:39 GMT

World-class athlete, Shaun White, put on a world-class performance in last night's Snowboard SuperPipe Men's Final to close out Winter X Games 12 in true X style. Despite the snow storm that moved into Aspen during the competition which slowed down riders and lessened their visibility, White still found a way to throw down one of the best runs in X Games history to win the gold with a score of 96.66.

White's final run included a huge Lean Air, a flawless McTwist, a clean Frontside 1080 into a Fakey to Forward 1080, Front and Backside 900s, and - to finish it off - a Frontside 1260 at the bottom of the pipe. In true X games fashion, White went bigger than ever before by ending his run with an improbable 1260. White admitted later that he had been practicing the four spins since last season and knew he was ready to throw it down for the fans.

White's gold medal in last night's SuperPipe tied him up with Tanner Hall, one of the most influential skiers of his generation from Kalispell, Montana, with seven first place finishes at the X games.

OFFICIAL RESULTS
Snowboard SuperPipe Men's Final
Winter X Games 12
Aspen/Snowmass, Colo. - Jan. 27, 2008

Name / Bib # / Hometown / Score

1. Shaun White / 347 / Carlsbad, Calif. / 96.66
2. Ryo Aono / 324 / Matsuyama City, Japan / 88.00
3. Kevin Pearce / 343 / Norwich, Vt. / 85.66
4. Mason Aguirre / 300 / Mammoth, Calif. / 84.33
5. Kazuhiro Kokubo / 377 / Sapporo, Japan / 83.00
6. Antti Autti / 329 / Rovaniemi, Finland / 82.00
7. Danny Kass / 337 / Portland, Ore. / 81.00
8. Iouri Podladtchikov / 384 / Zurich, Switzerland / 73.66
9. Gary Zebrowski / 388 / Papeete, Tahiti / 65.00
10. Elijah Teter / 385 / Belmont, Vt. / 52.33

Volcom - Pushing the Limits

Active Sara — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 18:02:00 GMT

Have you ever wanted to make history? Have you ever wanted to be the first to do something? Well, here is your chance. It's been over a month since Volcom announced it would give away $10,000 to the first surfer to successfully execute and document a 'kick flip' and the contest will continue to run until a winner is crowned. Although there are numerous videos floating around the internet of documented attempts, there has still been no sign of a surfer landing a "proper, above-the-lip" kickflip, as Volcom describes it.

In order for the kickflip to count, the surfer must launch in the air, flip the board with their front foot, and cleanly land and ride out of the wave. There is to be no towing, grabs, wakeboards, boogie boards, trays, shoes or dolphin-assistance. Yes, you read that correctly-no dolphin assistance.

It is only a matter of time before Volcom hands over a big check to some lucky surfer who's been stomping waves, not for the money, but for the feeling that comes with being the first ever surfer to document a kickflip. This is an extremely difficult trick, but surfing will always be a sport where limits are pushed. Volcom is simply adding a little extra motivation for surfers all over the world. What are you still doing reading this? Grab your board and start paddling out. It's time to make history!

Go to Volcom Kickflip-Off Contest for official rules and entry forms.