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11
Get Barrelled with Billabong in Mundaka
No comments · Posted by Lauren in Billabong, Surfing
Billabong once again brings us a world class surf event in the form of The Mundaka Challenge to be held in the Basque Country in Spain. The comp has a pretty unique format, with a two month waiting period, officials and surfers will wait for perfect conditions of six to eight feet before going ahead with the one day, invitation only event.
The Challenge brings in some big names of both new school and old school surfing circles. Surfing stars and legends Bruce Irons, Shane Dorian, Dane Reynolds, Mark “Occy” Occhilupo and Rob Machado to name but a few, will be eager to get barrelled at this famous spot in Spain that is known to be one of the best breaks in the world when conditions are right, hence the long waiting period.
Alongside the big names from across the Atlantic, there is set to be plenty of young, local knowledgeable talent on show and the competition will surely be fierce but it is barrel specialist Occy who is tipped to win by fellow competitor Rob Machado, not least because he won the Mundaka Billabong Pro in 1999 on his way to the world title and has a special affinity with the wave. He has a strong case as the competition is judged solely on the best two tube rides of the day. There’s a nice prize fund too, the winner will receive €15,000 in prize money!
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For more information, click here http://www.billabongpro.com/mundaka12/event/the-2012-billabong-mundaka-challenge where you can find links to live webcasts.
9
Billabong Pipeline Masters 2011
No comments · Posted by Lauren in Billabong, Brands, Surfing
The Billabong Pipeline Masters kicked off yesterday 8th December, with the first day of the twelve day waiting period bringing the biggest waves the Pipeline Masters event has ever seen and it was native Hawaiian John John Florence that impressed the most.
Massive swell, wave after wave. © ASP
The last stop on the ASP World Tour for this season and the 3rd and final stop of the Vans Triple Crown competition, the Billabong Pipe Masters which is in memory of Andy Irons, sees eighteen year old Florence leading the Vans stakes and continuing to impress in professional competition – this year being his first time in the elite 34.
2007 Triple Crown Champion Bede Durbidge (AUS) © ASP Cestari
Last years victor at Pipeline Jeremy Flores (FRA), will not be competing in the final tour stop because of injury. The same also applies to Australian Mick Fanning. They have been replaced by C.J. Hobgood (USA), 32, and Adam Melling (AUS), 26.
Don't look back! © ASP Cestari
An iconic and historic wave, the Banzai Pipeline is often referred to as the best wave on the planet. Known for its perfect, heaving top-to-bottom barrels and its close proximity to shore, not only is it the perfect wave for those willing to charge, but also for the spectators on the beach. Yesterday was big. The spectators almost got washed off the beach at one point and there were many near reef wrenching wipe-outs. If yesterday was anything to go by, the rest of the competition is going to be a great spectacle!
Definitely worth watching the live webcast here: http://vanstriplecrownofsurfing.com/billabongpipemasters2011/live-gb/
ASP WORLD TITLE TOP 5 (Heading into Billabong Pipe Masters):
1. Kelly Slater (USA) 63,350 pts
2. Joel Parkinson (AUS) 48,600 pts
3. Owen Wright (AUS) 47,900 pts
4. Adriano de Souza (BRA) 43,700 pts
5. Taj Burrow (AUS) 42,200 pts
VANS TRIPLE CROWN TOP 3 (Heading into Billabong Pipe Masters):
1. John John Florence (HAW) 9,780 pts
2. Adam Melling (AUS) 9,650 pts
3. Michel Bourez (PYF) 8,480 pts
With snow finally falling across the Alps and Christmas drawing closer, here’s a little write-up on our favourite top ten products for this winter and why we like them…(in no particular order)
- The Element P.M.A t-shirt – because everyone needs a little positive mental attitude during the winter especially if you’re in the UK and it’s raining and dark at 4pm!
2. Full Tilt Hot Dogger boots – because if they’re good enough for Tom Wallisch, they’re good enough for us!
3. DC PLY snowboard – because donuts and coffee are two of our favourite things and this board is also excellent value for cash!
4. Shaun White Oakley Airbrake goggles – because they look and feel amazing and the lens’ are the easiest to change.
5. K2 Party Pole – because they are called the Party Pole and we are ready to party! They are adjustable in length and they look awesome.
6. RVCA Wordless C. dress – because you can still wear a pretty dress in the winter and the detail at the back is very lovely.
7. Line Sir Francis Bacon Skis – because they are designed in every way by pro skier Eric Pollard and they ski like a dream!
8. Billabong Anne Flore Marxer jacket – because she’s one of the world’s best snowboarders and we love the dreamy, pixelated print.
9. Nike Vapen boot – because this is a really good looking snowboard boot for the ladies, it is purple and there is a swoosh. That is simply all.
10. Salomon Brigade helmet – because everyone needs a helmet and this one looks particularly bright.
30
Season kicks off nicely for Jake Terry
No comments · Posted by Lauren in Billabong, Brands, Snowboarding, Winter 2011-12
So, winter is gradually kicking off in the Northern Hemisphere albeit with limited snow in Europe yet absolutely loads to start off the season in the US and Canada. By all accounts the European Alps should be in for a relatively large dump of the white stuff this weekend…
Jake at the O'Neill Rail & DJ Battle in Ice Mountain, Belgium
This season we will be closely following our grom rider Jake Terry (who is also sponsored by Billabong, Dakine and is part of the Flows International Micron Team) and already he’s got off to an awesome start on the competition circuit. Last year saw Jake bagging victories at the British Championships in Laax and The Oakley Grom Games and we hope that this year will be a super successful one once again.
Jake has featured on the podium more than once already since the summer in both the Burton Hi5 Tour, taking 3rd place (behind a sixteen and seventeen year old) at his home dome Hemel Hempstead and in the O’Neill Rail & DJ Battle where he got 3rd in the U16 category.
Jake loving the rails at the O'Neill Rail Battle
This season promises to be an even busier one than last for the thirteen year old who is heading to Laax next week to compete in a half-pipe comp. Then it’s here, there and everywhere for the rest of the winter, next stop Davos for training and then to Livingo for the Protest Rookie Fest.
Good luck Jake!
29
Billabong Surfer Justine Dupont claims ASP Europe Women’s Open title!
No comments · Posted by Lauren in Billabong, Brands, Surfing
At just 20 years old, French-lady Justine Dupont has claimed her first ASP Europe Open title after a strong performance at the ASP 6-Star Billabong Girls Azores Islands Pro event.
Handy on a longboard as well as a surf board, Justine has performed consistently well through the season to cement herself amongst the world’s best female surfers. She is likely to be competing in all major female surf comps across the globe with sponsors Billabong and Nixon, her coach and family right behind her. She is definitely one to watch in the future…
Check out Two Seasons, Billabong and Flow snowboarder Jake Terry hitting this rail at the Windells camp earlier this summer in Portland, Oregon. Jake has had a busy summer, most recently get himself on the podium spot at the Gap Nation comp at The Snow Centre, Hemel Hempstead. He’s also spent time riding in the Netherlands.
Time for a bit of R & R now for Jake before the winter (which mainly involves getting spoilt by his grandparents!) then it’ll be winter again. Two Seasons will be stocking loads of Billabong snow outerwear and Flow bindings this winter, coming soon!
30
Epic Teahupoo – The Best Pro Ever?
No comments · Posted by Lauren in Billabong, Brands, Surfing
Wow! The Billabong Pro has been decided and if we said that there was only ever going to be one winner of this epic stage of the ASP World Tour stop, who would it be? Well, Mr. Kelly Slater of course!
10 Time World Champ Kelly Slater © ASP / ROBERTSON
Still the best surfer in the world at thirty-nine, Slater stormed (literally) to a 47th career victory and back up to top spot in the world rankings yesterday, after the Billabong Pro Tahiti stage which stretched over ten days and was filled with action and drama from day one on the South Pacific, came to a fitting dramatic end.
The Tahiti stage of the ASP World Tour is always one of the best, being that it is one of the best waves in the world but never has it been as big and as dramatic as this! To start things off, event organisers came in for some criticism when it was revealed that Bruce Irons would not be given a free ‘ticket’ to compete in the event. His brother, the late Andy Irons, won here last year and was one of the most prolific surfers in history on this wave. The decision not to include him was later revoked and Bruce had a paddle out with fellow friends and colleagues in between the semi-finals and finals of the event in honour of his brother.
As for conditions, where do we start? On Saturday 27th August the French Government issued a ‘Code Red’ alert for the area which meant that no water patrol boats were legally aloud to operate. This was due to record breaking 6-10 metre swell! Fair enough. It didn’t stop the big wave riders though – a free tow-in session then took place, not part of the competition itself but a showcase of the world’s elite and it was quite incredible to watch on the live web cast, nothing has ever been captured live like that before. It takes some guts to tackle the force of Mother Nature like they did and we were rewarded with some awesome footage. Check out the videos below.
Back to the competition, some of the bigger names on the Tour such as Billabong surfers Joel Parkinson, Taj Burrows and Nike 6.0 athlete Michel Bourez, fell short of the points relatively early in the competition and it was left to the South Africans Jordy Smith and Travis Logie plus Aussies Josh Kerr and Owen Wright to battle it out between them, not forgetting Jeremy Flores, the Frenchman who scored a perfect 20 in his heat on Sunday. Flores, 23, won the first Andy Irons Award which is awarded for the most committed performance of the event. There were plenty of those. Travis Logie suffered some nasty injuries, no falls are small in those conditions, in fact each and every surfer put his life at risk pretty much just by paddling out – twenty surfers and more than fifty non-competitors were treated for injuries in the ten days of the comp.
In the final Kelly Slater (AUS), beat youngster Owen Wright after scoring 18.43 to his 17.10 and bagged himself $75,000 US first place prize and 10,000 valuable world title ratings points not to mention a reminder that he is still, after ten World Titles, the surfer to beat. Logie and Kerr took joint third.
So, that’s two wins from four starts after the fifth stage of the Tour and Kelly Slater takes the top spot. Can he go all the way, AGAIN? Next stop, another record breaking stage of the comp, New York of all places, this is better than a soap opera!
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18
Scotty Lago leaves Billabong for Nike…
No comments · Posted by Lauren in Billabong, Brands, Snowboarding, Winter 2011-12
Snowboarder Scotty Lago has left long-time sponsor Billabong in favour of the trillion dollar empire that is Nike. Lago announced the news via his Twitter page earlier this week. The snowboarder, who features in the new Art of Flight film that comes to us via legend Travis Rice, has committed to Flow snowboards (Two Seasons will be stocking Flow this winter) for another three years.
It seems the swoosh was just too tempting for Lago who has left behind the likes of Antti Autti, Wolle Nyelt, Jenny Jones and Jamie Anderson on the Billabong team. Whilst there will be a Billabong Lago jacket this season (which will be available at Two Seasons soon) it will be the last for Billabong.
15
Billabong All For One Event a Huge Success!
No comments · Posted by Lauren in Billabong, Brands, Competition, Demo, Snowboarding
On Saturday 9th July, the very first Billabong All For One Comp was held at The Snow Centre in Hemel. The event served many purposes, Two Seasons sponsored rider Jake Terry’s 13th Birthday party, charity fundraising and generally fun times – a demo and competition.
2S Team Boss Jim with Jake Terry
The first half of the day was for progression and lessons, provided by Definition and Grounded. The evening session saw the Billabong All For One comp split into three specific comps – kicker, Billabong rail and most outstanding rider. I watched most of the evening session (whilst waiting for birthday cake) and the standard was high, riders came from far and wide. There were the Tamworth regulars along with Belgian and Dutch riders who were slaying all the features of the set up. The Billabong feature rail got a lot of love and UK superstar Jamie Nichols even turned up!
After the session it was up into the bar for the prize giving, raffle and finally some cake! Prizes on the night had been provided very generously by Billabong, Two Seasons, Salomon, Bonfire, K2, Icon, Skullcandy, Flow, Nitro, Giro, Demon, Project 77, The Snow Centre, DC, Air Hole, Moog Royale, Tall Tees, Adio, NXTZ, Amplify, Westbeach,Burton, Whitelines, SCUK. The night managed to raise £504.00 for the MS Trust and Snow Camp.
Tweeeek it Jake!
The highlight for me was being able to present Jake with his Birthday present from myself and his UK sponsor Two Seasons, we got him a Nixon Newton watch, no expense spared, apart from on the wrapping paper which was a Two Seasons carrier bag (I was in a rush, gimme a break! ). For your information the cake was also great!
Final comp results:
Winners on the kicker
Gold – Mark King (snowboard)
Siver – Callum Welch ski)
Bronze – Jake Binnee (snowboard)
On the Billabong Rail:
Gold – Rich Mcintosh (snowboard)
Silver – Craig Colbron (snowboard)
Bronze – Ronnie Organ (snowboard)
Most outstanding rider of the night:
Cody Hierons (snowboard) he was destroying the park and he had taught all day in the coaching sessions!
Best slam:
Ross Welch (ski) for nearly decapitating Zee (photographer)!
A short Edit form my close personal friend who I taught all he knows (like how to use the auto button) Jamie Durham, from the UK’s best film crew Grindhouse will be out soon, watch this space…
Check out Jake’s blog to keep up to date with what’s going on http://jaketerry.co.uk/
(Words by Two Seasons Team Boss and Snowboard Hardware Buyer James McKenzie-Brown.)
Next week the word of surfing descends on Jeffrey’s Bay on the Eastern Cape of South Africa, for one of the pro’s favourite stages on the ASP World Tour.
Expectations for the wave and the level of competition are high for the Billabong Pro J-Bay, and if past years and comps held at this spot (one of the world’s best waves) are anything to go by then it’s going to go off!
Head to http://www.billabongpro.com/ for more info and keep up to date via twitter @twoseasons and @billabongpro
Check out the video below and feel the excitement building…
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