So we’ve just returned from Mayrhofen, where the curtain has come down on a cinematic contest of epic proportions.

For anyone who’s unfamiliar with it, the Oakley Jib Vid invites teams of three (usually two riders and a filmer/editor) to produce a 2-minute snowboard film in just over 24 hours. These are then screened in a packed bar and judged by their fellow teams – as well as a panel of impartial judges – according to the following categories:

Riding (max. 40)
Filming (max. 20)
Editing (max. 20)
Creativity (max. 20)

With a prize purse of 10,000 euros, including a whopping 5000 euros for the winning team, the stakes are pretty high. In fact one video dude told me recently that the Jib Vid has become the “Olympic Games for filmers.”

Things were certainly getting pretty serious riding-wise in the Vans Penken Park this year. Once upon a time the event was held in Tignes and attracted a mish mash of seasonaires and part time pros; the films were often amateurish but always fun. Today, if you haven’t got a pair of riders capable of throwing down 1080s and double corks, or an experienced snowboard film-maker behind the camera, you can forget it.

So it proved with the very first film of the night, produced by Richard Prendergast – the man behind the trick tips DVD on the latest issue of Whitelines. He made a splash in 2009 Jib Vid by filming his whole movie in 3-D. This time around he’d gone one better with a Matrix pastiche featuring ‘bullet time’. Remember when Keanu Reeves is kicking ass and time seems to stand still while the camera pans around the action? Well Prendi had made his own multi-camera rig in order to achieve the same effect with snowboard tricks. It was insane. He’d even managed to cast a really convincing Morpheus! Unfortunately this film isn’t live yet but we will post it as soon as it’s available.

The fact that this Matrix-esque flick ended up placing 4th should tell you all you need to know about how high the bar was raised this year. When the results were tallied at the end of the evening it was the Onboard team, led by UK filmer Tom Elliot, who claimed the top prize. Still only 22, Tom is something of a filming prodigy who began shooting the indoor scene in Milton Keynes and now mans the camera for some of the biggest European film crews. This was his second Jib Vid victory. Check out his entry here:

http://mpora.com/videos/htAMZCjPa
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In second place was UK movie veteran Adam Gendle, with Oakley riders Scott McMorris and Tyler Chorlton. Their Team America-style puppet show was, in a word, inspired. Based on audience reaction, and the fact they won both the ‘Most Stoked’ and ‘Most Creative’ prize, it could be argued that their film should really have won. It was certainly the most entertaining. Check it out below and make your own mind up!

http://mpora.de/videos/bXFtbtBaY
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The all British Whitelines/Westbeach film came in 6th, which was pretty damned good considering our trio had never entered the competition before. Scottish filmer Will Nangle looks destined for big things, while the riding of Andy Nudds and Billy Morgan blew away some of the much-vaunted foreign opposition. Billy even attempted what we believe is a world-first triple backflip. Watch it here.

We’ll be posting the rest of the entries as they are uploaded to the tinterweb. In the meantime I’ll leave you with this interesting thought: while the Jib Vid attracts a truly international array of riders these days (including some big hitters from Scandinavia) there were no fewer than five British filmers amongst the top six movies. Not bad eh?