Over the weekend the Vans Hi-Standard series popped its Russian cherry, hosting a leg of the event in Moscow. It was held at Kant ski resort, which is just a short metro ride from Moscow city centre, which is pretty crazy in itself. It followed the same format as the other Hi-Standard competitions, with the focus being put on cash-for-tricks in big air and rail categories. The Hi-Standard differs to other comps, with a ban being put on any spins over a 720, so riders are judged more for their style than their ability to become a spinning top.
The 100 riders were blessed with sun and blue skies and a large crowd formed around the set up, with everyone getting amped to see some awesome riding. A bunch of the Vans team riders were there to do a bit of riding and get everyone stoked to lay down some heavy tricks. The pro’s turned out from all across Europe – the crowd was pumped to see Sparrow Knox, Cees Willie, Sami Luhtanen, Antti Jussila, Sebi Springeth and Måns Hedberg riding the course and serving up some steaming hot plates of tricks.