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The Shred Show brings the big guns

TTR five-star sanctioning, $50,000 prize purse for WSSF's opening event
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Massively Hip The Hip Jump from the 2011 Shred Show. The 2012 Hip Jump will be like this one, just bigger.

The snowboarding component of the Telus World Ski and Snowboard Festival is coming full circle this year: it started out as a pro event, evolved into a locals contest, became a fun-first end-of-year event for riders, and now, years later, it's swung back to pro.

The Shred Show presented by Monster Energy is now in its second year, and confirmed in January that it was officially a five-star TTR World Snowboard Tour event — one step down from events like the Oakley Air and Style and Burton US and European Opens, and on par with events like the Billabong Ante Up, Burton New Zealand Open and Burton Canadian Open.

There are two events in The Shred Show that qualified for sanctioning — the Big Hip competition this Saturday night, April 14 at the base of Whistler Mountain, and the Slopestyle on Monday, April 16 in the Nintendo Terrain Park on Blackcomb. Two other events, the second annual Borderstyle on Sunday and now annual Mogul Duel on Tuesday, still fall squarely into the "fun" category. There are also social events through the entire festival, launching on April 13 with Metal Night with Alcoholica at the GLC and wrapping up at Mix Tape @ Maxx Fish with Flipout! and Pump — eight social events altogether.

The Hip Jump — Saturday, April 14

Base of Whistler Mountain at 7:30 p.m.

The highlight of The Shred Show last year was a massive hip jump with a gap in the middle that was built as part of a slopestyle course at the base of Whistler Mountain. Athletes pulled out a full range of tricks over 10 metres off the deck, while clearing a five-plus metre gap between the takeoff and landing. Riders were getting more air than they would get in big air contests.

This year the Hip Jump is the main feature. Expect an even bigger feature and gap for the list of invited riders.

There are 30 men and six alternates on the list, including some of the biggest names in Canada: Antoine Truchon, Maxence Parrot, Matts Kulisek, Whistler Valley Snowboard Club alum Robby Balharry and perennial WSSF champion Craig Beaulieu from the national team, along with local riders like Mark Sollars (Snowboard Athlete of the Year, Pique's Best of Whistler 2011), Jon Versteeg, Andrew Burns and Travis Williams. Out-of-country riders in the mix include Zak Hale, Yale Cousineau and Eric Beauchemin from the U.S., Sami Luhtanen and Ville Paumola of Finland, Mikkel Bang and Kim Rune Hansen of Norway and Will Jackways from New Zealand.

The night gets underway with the elimination round at 7:30 p.m., with the better of two runs counting. The top 10 move into the finals, where the top two of every competitors' three runs are combined to determine the overall winner. The top prize is $15,000, with $6,000 for second and $4,000 for third.

Boarderstyle — Sunday, April 15

Nintendo Terrain Park on Blackcomb, All Day

This was a new event that was tried for the first time last year, combining slopestype and snowboardcross formats with mandatory rails and rotations along the course.

The event is wide open for registration, but only the top 16 riders from the one-run time trial will move onto the elimination finals. Half the field will be eliminated, and then half again until just four riders remain to contend for the title.

Being fast isn't the only way to advance — riders with the best rotations can also advance, so don't expect the riders to keep things safe with 180s and 360s.

Athletes said the event was both fun and terrifying, having never launched off big tables with one or more riders right beside them.

The time trials are at 11 a.m. and the finals run from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m., followed by the awards.

Slopestyle — Monday, April 16

Nintendo Terrain Park on Blackcomb, All Day

This is a standard double black park slopestyle event, with big tables, rails, boxes and other obstacles to put riders to the test.

The field will be similar to the Hip Jump event with a few changes — including the addition of Whistler Valley Snowboard Club star Darcy Sharpe — fresh off a second place finish at the FIS Snowboard World Juniors in slopestyle — and former WVSC rider Andrew Matthews. A total of 30 riders will be at the start.

The qualifiers get underway at 11 a.m. and the finals at 2 p.m. The better of two runs decides which riders advance to the Super Finals, where once again the better of two runs will count.

The prize money is also the same with $25,000 up for grabs — $15,000 for first, $6,000 for second and $4,000 for third.

Mogul Duel — Tuesday, April 17

Davies Dervish, beside Glacier Creek Lodge

Who said snowboarders hate moguls? The brainchild of snowboard legend Danny Kass, this is a fish out of water-style event for snowboarders — a dual slalom moguls competition down a steep, bumpy run with a couple of jumps in the middle to make things even more interesting. Including the Grenade Games events, this will be the fourth year for the contest.

Open to everyone, the event runs from noon to 3 p.m. If you can be on the mountain, it's extremely entertaining — and incredible as well. Check out the YouTube video "16 seconds of moguls with Mark Sollors" to see what it looks like when a snowboarder straightline tail-presses a moguls course.

The Shred Show socials

Around Village, April 13 to 21

The Telus World Ski and Snowboard Festival has a reputation for parties to maintain, and The Shred Show more than lives up to it with special events that continue for more than four days after the actual on-snow competitions wrap up.

• April 13 — Metal Night with Alocholica and Vinyl Ritchie at the GLC.

• April 14 — Swollen Members and Trouble Andrew on Village Mainstage at 6 p.m. and 9:45 p.m. respectively.

• April 15 — Pub Night at Black's Pub with DJ Ernold Sane.

• April 17 — Dubb Night at Maxx Fish with Downlink, Mat the Alien and Guests.

• April 19 — Monster Party and Troutsmen International Club of Leisure's Photo Booth Showdown at Maxx Fish.

• April 20 — Eh! Team DJs Battle at Maxx Fish, with Pump and Illo

• April 21 — Mix Tape at Maxx Fish with Flipout! and Pump.

Vsit www.wssf.com for more.