The Air & Style is a

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

snowboard Snowboards are boards where the user places both feet, usually secured, to the same board. The board itself is wider than most skis, with the ability to glide on snow."snowboarding." Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. 17 Mar ...

contest first held in

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; bar, Innschbruck, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian ) is the capital of Tyrol (state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

in 1994 and now held annually.

History

Charly Weger and his snowboard photographer friend Andrew Hourmont first started the Air & Style Contest in Innsbruck. They only expected some hundred spectators but more than a few thousand showed up to see a single Straight Jump from each rider. From there on, it developed into one of the most influential snowboard challenges today. Until 1999, the sponsorship exploded and over 45,000 visitors witnessed the last Air & Style in Innsbruck, when six people died after the show when everybody tried to leave at once and the exits could not funnel the masses. The contest had to move and the

Bergisel The Bergisel is a hill (746 m) that lies to the south of Innsbruck, Austria, in the area of Wilten, where the Sill river meets the Inn Valley. The word's first syllable ''Berg-'' doesn't correspond etymologically to the German word ''Berg'' with ...

stadium was renovated. In Seefeld, a place near Innsbruck, five other contests were held until in 2005 it found a new home in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

where it expanded its program with Freestyle Motocross. For February 2008, the contest returned to

, and will presumably stay there for the following years. Also, three skateboard contests have taken place in Innsbruck and Seefeld, even won by

Tony Hawk Anthony Frank Hawk (born May 12, 1968), nicknamed Birdman, is an American professional skateboarder, entrepreneur, and the owner of the skateboard company Birdhouse. A pioneer of modern vertical skateboarding, Hawk completed the first documen ...

in 1999. After the end of the ''International Snowboarding Federation'' in 2002 the contest joined the newly formed '' TTR World Tour'', and Air & Style

is now a 6Star event on the World Tour, whilst Air & Style

held a 5-star status until 2009 when it was given a 6-star accreditation. In 2000, the prize money was over 250,000 US dollars (including an Audi A3). On February 2, 2008, an Air & Style

quarterpipe A half-pipe is a structure used in gravity extreme sports such as snowboarding, skateboarding, skiing, freestyle BMX, skating, and scooter riding. Overview The structure resembles a cross-section of a swimming pool, essentially two concave ra ...

event was held in Innsbruck in addition to the Straight Jump in Munich. Kevin Pearce won the event, which made him the first winner of two Air & Style competitions in one season. The organiser has announced that this event will from now on also be held annually as a TTR 6 Star event.http://www.ttrworldtour.com/events/6star-events.html TTR 6Star events On December 4, 2010, the first edition of an Air & Style overseas went down in Beijing, China with Sebastien Toutant taking the win. Moving the event to the

Bird's Nest Stadium The National Stadium (), also known as the Bird's Nest (), is an 80,000-capacity stadium in Beijing. The stadium was jointly designed by architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron from Basel-based architecture team Herzog & de Meuron, pr ...

in the following year it will go into its fourth consecutive season in 2013. On December 8, 2012, Mark McMorris and

Yuki Kadono is a Japanese snowboarder who competes in the slopestyle event. Born in Miki, Hyōgo, Japan, he competed for Japan at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, qualifying for the final of the slopestyle event and finishing 8th overall. Kadono won t ...

landed the first ever triple corks at an Air & Style event. On February 1 and 2, 2013, the Air & Style celebrated its 20th birthday with a special two-day event. On Friday, the burn Style Session witnessed a return to the roots of snowboarding with legends hitting the jump like Haakonsen, Gimpl, Iguchi, Basich, Rüf and many more. The winner of the burn Style Session was Marko Grilc. On February 2, the birthday Air & Style 6-star event saw the first triple corks landed at an Air & Style in Innsbruck.

Eric Willett The given name Eric, Erich, Erikk, Erik, Erick, or Eirik is derived from the Old Norse name ''Eiríkr'' (or ''Eríkr'' in Old East Norse due to monophthongization). The first element, ''ei-'' may be derived from the older Proto-Norse ''* ain ...

was the winner of the birthday Air & Style edition. Select Air & Style events now also feature musical performances be globally and locally renowned artists. The performances are interspersed with the sporting competition cycles. Innsbruck's 2015 snowboard event featured the likes of Sum 41 and Rudimental.

Chronology

Big Air competitions

* 1. Red Bull Air & Style, January 17. 1994, Innsbruck, Winner:

Reto Lamm Reto Lamm (born 1970) is a former snowboarding champion from Switzerland. He was born in Samedan and educated at Zuoz boarding school. He was a professional snowboarder, Halfpipe, Freestyle Big air, from 1989 until 2000 Winner of the first A ...

* 2. Red Bull Air & Style, December 19. 1994, Innsbruck, Winner:

Ingemar Backman Ingemar Backman (born 1 April 1976 in Gällivare, Sweden) is a professional snowboarder famous for setting the world record highest air out of a quarter-pipe (8.5 metres) in Riksgränsen, Sweden in May 1996. He participated in the 1998 Winter Ol ...

* 3. Red Bull Air & Style, December 9. 1995, Innsbruck, Winner:

Terje Håkonsen Terje Håkonsen (born 11 October 1974 in Vinje, Norway) is a Norwegian professional snowboarder. He is considered one of the most influential snowboarders in the history of the sport. In the book ''The way of the snowboarder'', Rob Reed wrote that ...

* 4. Quiksilver Air & Style, December 7. 1996, Innsbruck, Winner: Fabien Rohrer * 5. Quiksilver Air & Style, December 6. 1997, Innsbruck, Winner: Jim Rippey (Quarterpipe:

) * 6. G-Shock Air & Style, December 5. 1998, Innsbruck, Winner:

* 7. G-Shock Air & Style, December 4. 1999, Innsbruck, Winner:

Stefan Gimpl Stefan Gimpl (Leogang, October 31, 1979) is a professional snowboarder from Austria. His specialty is the big air and he is the only rider so far who has won the Air & Style Contest three times in a row. In 2006 Stefan gimpl won his first ...

(Quarterpipe Male: Trevor Andrew, Female: Pauline Richon) * 8. G-Shock Air & Style, December 9. 2000, Seefeld, Winner:

(Corner Male: Mike Michaelchuck, Female: Pauline Richon) * 9. Nokia Air & Style, December 15. 2001, Seefeld, Winner:

(Corner Male:

Markku Koski Markku Koski (born 15 October 1981) is a Finnish professional snowboarder from Sievi. He is well known within the snowboarding community for his consistent showing in half-pipe competitions and for his video parts with Standard Films. Ko ...

, Female: Pauline Richon) * 10. Nokia Air & Style, December 14. 2002, Seefeld, Winner: David Benedek * 11. Nokia Air & Style, December 11./12. 2003, Seefeld, Winner: Shaun White (Freestyle Motocross:

Nate Adams Nathaniel Adams (born March 29, 1984) is an American professional freestyle motocross rider and extreme sports athlete. A resident of Temecula, California, he attained national fame when he won the Freestyle Motocross World Championship in 2 ...

) * 12. Nokia Air & Style, December 11./12. 2004, Seefeld, Winner: Shaun White (Freestyle Motocross:

Ronnie Renner Ronnie may refer to: *Ronnie (name), a unisex pet name and given name * "Ronnie" (Four Seasons song), a song by Bob Gaudio and Bob Crewe *"Ronnie," a song from the Metallica album ''Load'' *Ronnie Brunswijkstadion, an association football stadium ...

) * 13. Nokia Air & Style, December 3. 2005, Munich, Winner: Hampus Mosesson (Freestyle Motocross:

) * 14. Nokia Air & Style, December 6. 2006, Munich, Winner: Travis Rice (Rookie Challenge:

Mikkel Bang Mikkel is a Danish and Norwegian masculine given name. It may refer to: *Mikkel Ødelien (1893–1984), Norwegian soil researcher * Mikkel Aaland (born 1952), award-winning American photographer *Mikkel Andersen (disambiguation) *Mikkel Bødker (b ...

, Freestyle Motocross: Wiley Fullmer) * 15. Nokia Air & Style, December 1. 2007,

, Olympic Stadium (Munich), Winner: Kevin Pearce (Rookie Challenge : Tim Humphreys, FSX: Daniel Bodin) * 16. Air & Style, November 29. 2008, Munich, Cancelled due to last minute sponsorship pullout. * 17. Billabong Air & Style, December 5. 2009, Innsbruck, Winner: Marko Grilc (Rookie Challenge:

Seppe Smits Sebastien "Seppe" Smits (born 13 July 1991) is a Belgian professional snowboarder and World Championship medalist. Smits was born in Westmalle and started snowboarding at a serious level in the winter of 2006–2007, competing in the Europa Cup ...

) * 18. Oakley & Shaun White Present Air & Style December 4. 2010, Beijing Winner: Sebastien Toutant * 19. Billabong Air & Style, February 5. 2011, Innsbruck Winner: Mark McMorris * 20. Nike 6.0 Air & Style February 12. 2011, Munich Winner:

Peetu Piiroinen Peetu Piiroinen (born 15 February 1988) is a Finnish snowboarder. He is a three-time Olympian representing Finland in snowboarding at the 2010 Winter Olympics, 2014 Winter Olympics and 2018 Winter Olympics. Peetu made the finals in all 3 Olympics ...

* 21. Oakley & Shaun White Present Air & Style December 3. 2011, Beijing Winner: UIrik Badertscher * 22. Billabong Air & Style, February 4. 2012, Innsbruck Winner:

* 23. Oakley and Shaun White Present Air & Style, December 8. 2012, Beijing Winner:

* 24. Billabong Air & Style, February 1–2, 2013, Innsbruck Winner:

* 25. Air & Style, December 7, 2013, Beijing Winner:

Sven Thorgren Sven Thorgren (born 4 October 1994) is a Swedish snowboarder who competes in slopestyle. He started snowboarding when he was seven years old. He practiced every day after school on a small mountain called Väsjöbacken. Thorgren qualified for t ...

Quarterpipe competitions

* 1. Billabong Air & Style, February 2. 2008, Innsbruck, Bergisel Winner: Kevin Pearce (Runner up:

Scotty Lago Scotty Lago (born November 12, 1987) is an American snowboarder. He is the 2004 world quarterpipe champion and winner of a bronze medal at the 2010 Winter Olympics. Career Lago has been riding since 1996. He is sponsored by Hudsen Collective, ...

) * 2. Billabong Air & Style, January 31. 2009, Innsbruck, Bergisel Winner: Colin Frei

Skateboard Competitions

* 1. Air & Style Skate Contest, August 19, 1999, Innsbruck, Tivoli Winner:

* 2. Air & Style Skate Contest, June 9, 2000, Innsbruck, Hafen Winner: Lincoln Ueda * 3. Air & Style Skate Contest, December 15. 2001, Seefeld, Olympic stadium (combined with snowboard contest) Winner: Sandro Dias

References

External links

Air & Style official website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Air and Style Snowboarding competitions