I went to Austria in January for the European Roxy Chicken Jam to see what the girls were rocking this season. So if you’re needing some inspiration before you go out on the mountain, watch this.

After making it through Winter X snowboarding slopestyle qualifiers on Saturday, Roxy rider Kjersti Buaas was one of a select group of six girls to advance on to the final. Luckily a looming storm held off just long enough for sunny skies and smooth corduroy conditions for Sunday’s main event . Some of the highlights of the contest include Kjersti’s stylish frontside 360 stalefish, Jenny Jone’s flawless frontside 720 indy and Janna Meyen’s cab 900 attempt (she came down just a little backseat). Unfortunately Kjersti over rotated her frontside 720 and missed the podium by one spot, but on the bright side her over rotation was so smooth that I’m pretty sure she’ll be landing front 900s very soon (maybe even a 1080?). All in all, the event was strong showing of the progression of women’s snowboarding slopestyle- keep it up ladies!

If you missed the action, check it out here at ESPN 360.

I rolled out of Salt Lake City Wednesday afternoon, headed to the Winter X Games in Aspen, Colorado. After struggling through a snowstorm and too many close calls on the slippery roads, I had to play it safe and get a hotel in Grand Junction for the night. Thursday morning the skies and roads had cleared as I cruised into Aspen just in time to witness the best women’s skiing slopestyle event I’ve ever seen. Last year was the first time the X Games gave the skier girls a chance to compete in slopestyle (even though it’s their best event) but sadly the girls had to ride during a blizzard which kept them from really showing their stuff. This year both the women and the sun came out shining. The girls threw down powerful runs with loads of 540s, switch 720s, and 900s.

Roxy’s own Sarah Burke pushed X Games organizers for years to get a women’s skiing slopestyle event, in last years snowstorm-slopestyle she broke her back (literally) trying to prove the girls had a right to be there, and this year she pushed women’s skiing even farther, trying a 1260 on the Moneybooter (I’m pretty sure this is the highest rotation any woman in action sports has ever tried in competition!). Big props to Sarah and all the girls for such an impressive performance. And in case you missed the action, see it here at ESPN360.
Later in the day as the sun was setting the women’s snowboard superpipe qualifiers were just getting started. Roxy rider and reigning X Games superpipe champ, Torah Bright, opted out of this year’s competition due to an injury, but our Norwegian shredders, Lisa Wiik and Kjersti Buaas, threw down some strong runs. New this year are chips in competitor’s bibs that measure amplitude and speed (so futuristic!), so I can say for certain that the likes of Kjersti and Kelly Clark were consistently going more than 12 feet out. Unfortunately, both Kjersti and Lisa had some wobbles that kept them from advancing to finals. Good job to all the competitors- I was stoked to see so many grabbed stylish spins, technical flips, cab 9’s and huge airs!

Stay tuned for more as tonight Sarah must protect her X Games superpipe crown, and tomorrow Kjersti and Lisa get their chance in the slopestyle course.

Hi everybody! This is Amber Stackhouse from the snowboard team. I woke up this morning to fresh snow in the mountains here in Salt Lake City, so if that’s any indication, it looks like it’s going to be a good snow season. While I’m not ready to say goodbye to summer weather just yet, I’m definitely looking forward to playing on my snowboard soon.

So in honor of winter’s early arrival, here’s a teaser for the new Refreshments snow team video series we have. Refreshments will be dropping all season long starting in November, featuring the likes of Torah Bright, Erin Comstock, myself, and Kjersti Buaas, as well a new batch of rising Roxy stars.

I helped make the videos, so if you have any questions or comments I can personally answer them for you.

Enjoy the show!

Click to subscribe to Roxy Refreshments (our new snow podcasts for this season!)