FreestyleXtreme Magazine Issue 9 | Page 55

NINE KNIGHTS © DAVID MALAC RIDA Nine Knights Snow A great call by the Nine Knights event organisers meant that skiers were joined by snowboarders for the first time at the legendary Nine Knights Big Air contest this year, which was held at the Mottolino Fun Mountain in Livigno, Italy. After a week of epic shredding by the likes of Halldór Helgason, Sven Thorgren, Kevin Bäckström and Sebbe de Buck, the level of riding at the contest was simply off the hook. The insane level of line choices and creativity that the course allowed, coupled with the rare sight of skiers and snowboarders getting along made this one of the most unique snow contests of the year. Nine Knights Snow Athlete Results: Ski Big Air Luca Schuler Snowboard big air Sven Thorgren Best Style Ski Nicky Keefer Best Style Snowboarding Sebbe de Buck Ruler of The Week for skiing Jesper Tjäder and Christof Schenk Ruler of the Week for snowboarding Highlights of the week: - Sven Thorgren taking top honours in the Big Air comp after throwing a Cab 1260 Roast Beef Shifty Shifty, a Backside Rodeo 540 Nosegrab, and a Frontside Triple Cork 1440. - The ‘Monster Showdown’ between Halldór Helgason and Kevin Bäckström, who were both hucking huge tricks off the biggest transfer lines they could find. - Helicopters always seem to bring out the best in riders, and the heli shoot that went down on day five of the Nine Knights was no exception. The big guns came out and some mind-blowing shots were captured! “It feels so crazy to win today. It was also my first time landing my Frontside Triple and I’m just super pumped.” Sven Thorgren “It feels fantastic to win. Last year I was second and this year I’m first, so it really can’t be better. The jump was perfect and I got to try two doubles… man, it was awesome.” Luca Schuler Sven Thorgren Best GoPro Ski Moment Fabian Bösch Best GoPro Snowboard Moment Seppe Smits O’Neill Unreasonable award! Klaudia Medlová Nine Knights Snow P hotographer Results: Best action shot Markus ‘Fishy’ Fischer Best illumination Alex Papis Best creative angle Alex Papis Best unreasonable Cyril Müller ................. £ Halldór Helgason getting it done !