After WST’s event Calendar announcements last week, you could be forgiven for being a bit baffled coming into this season’s competitive snowboarding circuit…

The Air & Style series – of which the Beijing event above is the first – has chosen not to join the fold of TTR’s Elite events, but points gained here will still count in the WSPL (World Snowboarding Points List) that TTR are running this year. Confusing? Just a little.

Another Triple Cork showdown will add to claims that the ‘Style’ element in this competition has been suspended somewhat.

Nevertheless – the show must go on, and so it did in the first of three Air & Style events we will see this winter. At the top end of the judges list was an unfortunately formulaic Triple Cork showdown – which, for many, will be another addition to claims that the ‘Style’ element in this competition has been suspended somewhat.

What was impressive however – other than the fact that many riders can now pull out variations of the trick with unprecedented consistency – is that all three podium spots went to Norwegian riders – with Emil Ulsletten‘s switch back 1440 triple taking the top spot, Stale Sandbech back 1440 triple in second, and Torgeir Bergrem‘s back 1440 triple completing the list.

So that’s one in the bag for Norway (and triple corks) – but it’s all sounding a bit too uniform on the podium for our tastes. As per usual – let us know what you think of this year’s results, and the new TTR system in the comments.

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Full points from each of the rounds can be seen on the handy chart below: