MOJO PICON from aritzaranburu.com

(Source: Pietro l.Franca)

On the back of a stunning week, the two riders met in an explosive semi-final that saw King Kelly emerge victorious with a score of 15.10 pts to 7.83 for Jérémy Florès.

The 3rd place marks a superb start to the season for Jérémy Florès, and 2012 is already shaping up to be a fine year for the Frenchman. Jeremy Flores (FRA), 23, posted two massive wins today over lethal rookie John John Florence (AUS), 19, and form goofy-footer Owen Wright (AUS), 22. The young Frenchmen dissected the Bells walls with unmatched precision, but a priority interference in his Semifinal bout with Slater would see Flores bundled out with an Equal 3rd.

"I'm disappointed with the result," Flores said. "I feel like I was surfing really well and I didn't agree with the interference call. That's surfing though so I just have to brush it off and focus on the next one."

In the final round, the American Kelly Slater displayed his full range of talent with a full-rotation aerial that earned him a magnificent 10/10. The legendary natural-footer backed it up moments later with an 8.07 to take the lead, but would only hold it briefly after an assault from Fanning.

"I was moving around trying to get active and I was just finding my feet," Slater said. "I knew Mick (Fanning) was going to be real patient. I knew he got that start and then I tried to talk to him and he put his serious head on and pissed me off, so I thought I'd throw a big rotator on him and it wasn't enough. That was pretty exciting for me. Even when he had the 9 and 8-something, I had a feeling I was in it. I felt like something good was going to come my way and it started to. I had one more chance and that was about it. I knew it was going to be a bit of a struggle with the waves out there, with the long intervals and long lulls, but that's just the way it goes."

America's 11-time World Champion Kelly Slater, meanwhile, qualified for the final where he found himself up against Australia's Mick Fanning. The Aussie finally edged a tight contest, winning by just 8 tenths of a point (18.80pts to 18.07 pts for Kelly Slater).

Slater's Runner-Up finish moves him back to the No. 1 spot on the ASP World Championship Tour ratings.

In February 2012 the Quiksilver team including, Nathan Phillips, Toby Donachie, Luke Dillon, and team manager Spencer Hargraves hit up the North Shore.  Will Bailey was photographer of choice as the team shot a range of lifestyle and action shots for Carve Magazine.  Whilst that was all going on, he also whipped up a short edit of the boys.... check it out: 

 https://vimeo.com/39696064

Quiksilver Friend's "I Am Giant" will be performing live at The Camden Barfly on Friday 13th April 2012.  Come check them out. 

Watch out for ticket and limited edition Quiksilver 'I Am Giant' t-shirt giveaways on our quiksilver facebook page.

Tickets are £6 online and available to buy now www.hmvtickets.com/performances/14029/book

Catching up with Travis Rice at Baldface in beautiful British Columbia, check out this compilation of some of the best POV moments from the Red Bull Supernatural competition.

From March 28^th to 31^st, the Quiksilver Spring Battle celebrated its 10^th Anniversary at Absolut Park Flachauwinkl in Austria. For the very first 5Star TTR Event of the TTR World Snowboard Tour 2012/2013 some of the world´s best snowboarders travelled to Absolut Park Flachauwinkl to go for the heavy total prize purse of 50.000 US Dollar and up to 850 points for the TTR Big Air Tour Ranking 2012/2013. For the second time in a row, previous year´s winner Seppe Smits from Belgium took first place on the podium. Finnish rider Nuutti Niemelä became second before the American Eric Willett. Clemens Schattschneider was the best Austrian rider who made it up to the 5^th place.

First 5 Star TTR event 2012/2013 with innovative video judging system

For ten years the Quiksilver Spring Battle has made a reputation as one of the most popular snowboarding events in Europe. An accomplished combination of the premium setup at the perfectly shaped Absolut Park with an innovative video judging system has been thrilling riders and spectators at this year´s 5 Star TTR Big Air snowboard competition. In the Qualification round on Thursday, all riders were showing off on the perfectly shaped 22 metre Big Air kicker, even if the weather conditions were getting worse due to strong winds. With the actual start list it was hardly surprising that double corks and 1260´s have been stomped even in the first round. The best ten competitors advanced to the subsequent Semi Finals. Together with ten invited riders out of the TTR Top 10 World Tour Ranking, they kept on pushing it to the limits, ignoring the upcoming storm in the Semis. The Finals were supposed to go down on Friday, 31^st of March but had to be in the true sense of the word blown off in last-minute. The ten best Semi Finalists were automatically nominated for the final Video Judging on Friday Night. They had the opportunity to pick their favorite run for the Video Juding, which was conducted on a video screen from different viewing angles.

International Podium and local Superstars in the top 10

Again, previous year´s winner Seppe Smits could not be beaten. Despite tough conditions due to strong winds, the Belgian convinced the judges and audience stomping a clean Cab 1260 Mute Grab over the Big Air kicker. Seppe won the Quiksilver Spring Battle for the second time in a row. Beside honour and glory, he took home 15.000 Euro prize money and 850 TTR points counting towards the 2012/2013 season. Nuutti Niemelä from Finnland was close on his heels and became second with the same trick, a Cab 1260 Mute Grab for which he was rewarded with 9.000 Euros. The American Eric Willett took 3rd place on the podium with his Frontside Doublecork 1080 Mute Grab, that brought him in 5.000 Euros of prize money. Finnish rider Ville Paumola missed the podium, but raked in 2.000 Euros for the 4^th place. Clemens Schattschneider was the best Austrian rider in the final round, reaching 5^th position. He took home 1.500 Euros as well as Markku Koski from Finland for his 6^th rank.

Another Austrian snowboarder, Michael Macho, became 7^th before Max Buri (SUI), Jan Necas (CZE) and Sven Thorgren SWE). They all got rewarded with 1.000 Euros each for their spot in the Top ten of the Quiksilver Spring Battle 2012.

After the prize giving, FM4/Texta DJ Dan took the tiller for the FM4 Club Aftershow-Party at  the ceremonial hall of Flachau. Riders and party people celebrated the 10th Spring Battle Anniversary properly until the break of dawn.

You can be sure that Kolohe Andino was laying out his T-shirt and boardshorts just so on the eve of the Quiksilver Pro. And that Parko didn't sleep well, stirring every hour to check the clock, "Is it morning yet?" And surely, in the weeks before the 36 men and 18 women converged on the Gold Coast of Australia, every last one of them went back-to-tour shopping at their sponsors' warehouses. Each of their boards whiter than the next.

It's like returning for a new school year. Old friends. New classmates. Plenty of beautiful, tan people and parties to distract you from your work. There's hope. Every competitor is equal first and all they have to do is stay there to become champion. A fresh start. There are butterflies. Expectations. Excitement. Hype! This could be their year to become popular. To become valedictorian. To finally, if those refs would stop making those bullshit calls, go all the way and win state.

So welcome back. Take your seat. Or stand. Pay attention (but there is no need to take notes). It is our pleasure to present to you the class of 2013. — Taylor Paul

From March 28th to 31st, the Quiksilver Spring Battle is going to celebrate its 10th anniversary at Absolut Park Flachauwinkl in Austria. Making a decade, the popular snowboard event will be upgraded to 5 Star TTR level. International snowboard stars such as Air & Style Beijing winner Ulrik Badertscher, Ville Paumola, Mathieu Crepel and previous year ́s winner Seppe Smits have already confirmed their attendance. Aiming for a total prize purse of 50.000 US Dollar, they will have to defy strong local riders like Herbert Thaler and Mathias Weissenbacher in their home resort. Even the best international skateboarders will gather for this event in Flachauwinkl, showing off with their outstanding transition skills in the skate session. The FM4 Club Aftershow Party will be hosted by popular FM4 DJ Dan (Texta/FM4) and with the Asymbol Art Show an international art exhibition is going to stage the ART OF FLIGHT collection during the Quiksilver Spring Battle 2012 in Flachauwinkl.

Quiksilver Spring Battle 2012 – one of the first TTR World Tour Events 2012/2013
As one of the first 5Star events of the TTR World Snowboard Tour 2012/2013, the Quiksilver Spring Battle 2012 attracts a great number of international riders. Beside the heavy prize purse, up to 850 points can be earned for the TTR Big Air Tour Ranking, already counting towards the 2012/2013 season ranking. The Quiksilver Spring Battle is unique for its combination of top riders attending with a high-class setup in the perfectly shaped Absolut Park Flachauwinkl and an innovative Video-Judging System.

"Cash for Tricks" Skate Session
While snowboarders will be competing on the Big Air setup of the snowpark, the international skateboard elite is going to get together at the Absolut Park ́s chill house on Wednesday to rake in some prize money for the best tricks in the transition of the local mini-ramp.