O`Neill Evolution in Davos

The O’Neill Evolution is living up to its name more than ever for 2009, with the 6-star TTR event evolving to push the boundaries of freestyle snowboarding in a way never seen before.

Inspired by the heights to which the riders fly in the world-class quarterpipe at The O’Neill Evolution every year, the idea of playing with and defying gravity has paved the way for its advancement.

Ice sculptures will adorn the kickers and start gates of the new slopestyle course, live music from top bands will be integrated into the heights of the actual course, and its original evening-time format attracting thousands of spectators, ensure that as well as being one of the most challenging and creative events on the TTR World Tour, it is also about getting out there and enjoying the experience.

One of the most obvious developments within the O’Neill Evolution is the introduction of a world-class 5Star slopestyle course, which will replace the halfpipe format and sit next to the world-renowned 6Star quarterpipe at the base of the Jakobshorn in Davos.

O’Neill is excited to welcome back Claes Hoegstrom who will once again lend his expertise to the shaping and construction of the quarterpipe as well as to a slopestyle concept, focusing on flair and originality.

As one of only six 6-star TTR World tour events this year and with one of the most inspiring setups on the tour as well as an impressive $100,000 prize purse and highly coveted TTR ranking points, the O’Neill Evolution continues attract the best riders in the world as one of the leading snowboard freestyle events on the planet.

The top 10 riders from the Swatch TTR World Snowboard Tour will be invited to the 6-star O’Neill Evolution in addition to 6 wildcard invitees. These 16 riders will meet the 16 qualifiers from the open qualifications. The seeded riders will be announced during the coming weeks.

In a break from the norm, The O’Neill Evolution will be using a new heat system – based on that of a surf contest. 4-man heats will start in the round of 32 snowboarders, and from the round of 18, this will be down to 2-man heats to determine the finalists and the winner. Changing over to this K.O. system will guarantee an exciting contest with a clear undisputed winner.