Jan-13, 2003 Flow riders killin’ it at the comps Tuomo Ojalia came in second at the prestigeous Aesthetiker Tour 03 in Gerlitzen, Austria with fellow Finn Heppu Penti taking the number one spot and local hero Wolle Nyvelt in third. On the other side of the Atlantic Max Henault was at it again, placing 4th at the US Grand Prix Big Air in Breckenridge. Max pulled into 4th place with a cab 720 indy grab over the channel gap table top. Not bad for Max’s first Grand Prix event ever. The top 5 results went like this.
1st Tom Flocco, 2nd Chad Otterstrom, 3rd Brent Meyer, 4th Max Henault, 5th Matt Peterson
Dec-22, 2002 Risto Mattila wins Canada Big Air After the Whistler events were cancelled the fis tour moved on to Stoneham where the replacement comps were held. Risto took a clear first in the Big Air event followed by Sami Tuoriniemi and the German Vinni Lueps. Miikka Hast another Flow rider finished in a very respectable 5th place. Both, Risto and Miikka also competed in the HP event with Risto in 4th and Miikka in 6th respectively!
Dec 18, 2002 10th Air & Style in Seefeld Austria
By Olaf Crato
The 10th annual Air & Style started a new era in many ways. The contest format was changed from the ‘spin to win’ motto of the past years to a more style and original trick orinted event. This proved to be a great improvement as it livened things up for the spectators who showed in unprecedented numbers. Also, this time around two Flow riders, Antti Autti and Max Henault were invited to the qualifier for the main event and Tommy Brunner got a special invite to the ‘All Star Event’…
The 10th annual Air & Style started a new era in many ways. The contest format was changed from the ‘spin to win’ motto of the past years to a more style and original trick oriented event. This proved to be a great improvement as it livened things up for the spectators who showed in unprecedented numbers. Also, this time around two Flow riders, Antti Autti and Max Henault were invited to the qualifier for the main event and Tommy Brunner got a special invite to the ‘All Star Event’. Unfortunately Antti had hurt his ankle at a photoshoot the week before and was only able to ride part of the training and then had to throw in the towel after the first contest jumps. Max however, was on fire to show that Marc Andre Tarte isn’t the only Canadian rider who can hold his own among an all star line up. Max proceeded through the qualifier into the main event and then pulled out some truly stylish tricks that landed him in 13th place in the final ranking…not bad considering that he left a bunch of big name riders behind. In the end it was David Benedek who won with a super smooth fs 7 and a handplant on the the rail. he was followed by Shaun White and an ever energetic Marc Andre Tarte. Remains to say that the level of riding was extremely high and the event super well organized…a good sign for the competitive side of snowboarding.
Dec 11, 2002 Risto takes 4th at HP cup in Sweden In another of the FIS’ HP world cup stops in Sweden, some of the world’s best pipe riders battled for a place on the podium. Leading the pack at the number 1 spot, Flow rider Risto Matilla fell in the finals and just missed his spot on the podium by a few points. Magnus Sterner won, followed by John Loenquist and Halvor Lunn.
