A word of warning before I start on this article. If you don't want to hear about how sweet life can be as a pro snowboarder... go back to Facebook and do a search for a Britney clip. If however, you want to see and hear all about one of the greatest rider gatherings in the Southern Hemisphere, read on.

I couldn't get away from the computer until midweek so by the time I got up for the Volvo 28 Stairs comp, all I heard from the entire crew was about this Euro guy that had smashed himself on the biggest jump in Australia, then gotten up to spin one of the sickest 1080's anyone had ever seen. The size of the jump had become the tale of the catfish - it was THIS big mate, 90 foot, 110 foot, someone even reckoned it was up to one hundred sixty feet.

Whatever happened that day, I can't say for sure but seeing Torstein hit the deck and stay down for a good couple of minutes as the crowd shook their heads in disbelief before we watched him run back up the landing and throw some of the techest stuff imaginable to win best trick was one of the greatest things I've ever seen in snowboarding. I say only one of the greatest things because watching a certain brother Jackways step it up in the finals was truly awesome to behold.

(as you can see by Robbie Walkers expression... the Kiwi and Scandinavian imports were killing it!)

The following day brought bluebird skies with an accompanying tailwind which meant an end to sessioning the big kicker but opened the door to the true battle for style credibility. The first session was pretty much a spin-to-win fest with cab 7's and 9's the top picks but the real test came in the afternoon when a cap was placed at the 540 degree mark... any further and riders were immediately ruled out.

Here are some of the results of the boys efforts.

The afterparty was probably one of the best I have ever been to but for photos of that you may just have to check back real soon as hypefoundation.com is still yet to find a picture without Clint Allens arse in the background...