Ticket to Ride (World Snowboard Tour)

Founded by Terje Håkonsen and industry innovators in 2002, the Ticket To Ride (TTR) World Snowboard Tour is a non-profit, rider-driven organisation that aims to represent the progression of snowboarding. To create a clear rookie-to-pro structure, the TTR World Snowboard Tour is based on global grass root and key independent freestyle snowboarding events. Events are rated via a 1-through-6 Star system, with points allocated accordingly, a 6 Star event holding the highest. Any rider participating in these events, from up-and-coming to professional, will earn TTR Ranking Points and a position on the TTR Ranking List presented by Swatch. The top male and female rider is crowned Ticket To Ride (TTR) World Snowboard Tour Champion.

The TTR official website contains basically all anyone would want to know about the tour. The site includes rankings, schedules, pro rider bios, news, and a media section, among other things.

Ranking

TTR Men's TOP 5

TTR Women's TOP 5

Tour Explanation

The Swatch TTR World Snowboard Tour is a collection of Independent Freestyle snowboarding Events acting under one common Tour Flag. The Swatch Ticket To Ride World Snowboard Tour, or simply 'TTR' has witnessed rapid growth since its inception, revitalising competitive snowboarding whilst establishing its credibility as a globally recognised tour. The TTR Tour spans a 10-month competition season including top rated Snowboarding events taking place across four geographical zones. The 2006/2007 tour, launched at the TTR FOUR(4)STAR Abominable Snow Jam, Timberline, Mt. Hood, USA, included an expanded Southern Hemisphere leg before heading back into the Northern Hemisphere’s winter.

The original TTR format, started in 2002, has been solidified through a combination of refinements, and additions including the 05/06 season's introduction of the TTR Star Tier system, its own Ranking System, the launch of the TTR Web Site, and a Women’s specific tour. With these additions in place, 91 results were recorded from 4 formats: Slopestyle, Halfpipe, Quarterpipe, and Big Air. 1435 riders from 37 Nations competed, each receiving World ranking recognition for the 2005-2006 season. The two TTR World Tour Champions, Shaun White (USA), and Torah Bright (AUS), both of whom laid claim to historical inaugural titles, increased tour interest across the board resulting in increased media exposure, increased rider applications, and more events applying for accreditation.

The Star Tier system

The star tier system changed from a pyramid structure to its current linear model. The change allowed more events to enter the Tour in TTR ONE(1)STAR through TTR SIX(6)STAR accreditation levels. Initially three TTR SIX(6)STAR events were accepted, one per Northern Continent, the Tour now features an enlarged programme though all Star Tiers. See 2007-2008 Contest Season

Required Results

The amount of results required to achieve maximum points earning potential is 6 posted results. Due to many events offering multiple formats, riders may be able to maximise their points earning potential at as few as 3 events.

The TTR points accumulation system attempts to respect and support rider and industry needs, allowing top tiered contestants to fulfill film/photo, and sponsorship commitments during the season whilst still enabling riders to compete for the World Title.

Geographical Reach

The Tour's geographical reach expanded in the 2005/2006 season. Additional events in the Southern Hemisphere, Asia, Europe, and North America has provided increased exposure for the Tour, and the opportunity for more riders to compete.

2007-2008 Contest Season

Part of the remit of the Swatch TTR World Snowboard Tour is to try to ensure that the standard, and diversity of events represented on the Tour remains consistent, and appropriate to each star level rating. To fulfill this objective, every event wishing to participate must apply for accreditation each year it wants to be included. The 2007/2008 tour has granted accreditation to six SIX(6)Star events, eight FIVE(5)Star events, and nine FOUR(4)Star events, including the three major Southern Hemisphere events.

TTR SIX(6)STAR

• Air & Style, Munich, Germany
• X-Trail Jam, Tokyo, Japan
• O’Neill Evolution, Davos, Switzerland
• Burton European Open Snowboarding Championships 2008, Laax, Switzerland
• The Oakley Arctic Challenge, Oslo, Norway
• Burton US Open Snowboarding Championships 2008, Vermont, USA

TTR FIVE(5)STAR

• 4th Burton Abominable Snow Jam, Timberline, USA
• Burton New Zealand Open, Snow Park, Wanaka, New Zealand
• Air & Style, Quarterpipe Contest, Innsbruck, Austria
• The Honda Session at Vail, Vail, Colorado
• Nissan X-Trail Nippon Open, ALTS Bandai, Japan
• Ästhetiker Wängl Tängl, Mayrhofen, Zillertal, Austria
• World Superpipe Championships, Park City, USA
• Chevrolet Grand Prix, Killington, Vermont, USA

TTR FOUR(4)STAR

• Garnier Fructis Australian Open Snowboarding Championships 2007, Perisher Blue, Australia

2006-2007 Contest Season

TTR SIX(6)STAR

• Air & Style, Munich, Germany
• X-Trail Jam, Tokyo, Japan
• O’Neill Evolution, Davos, Switzerland
• Burton European Open, Laax, Switzerland
• Burton US Open, Vermont, USA

TTR FIVE(5)STAR

• O’Neill Pro Freestyle, Avoriaz, France
• Chevrolet Grand Prix, Mt Bachelor, Oregon, USA
• Crans Montana Champs Open, Switzerland
• Nissan X-Trail Nippon Open, Japan
• The Arctic Challenge, Oslo, Norway
• World Superpipe Championships, Park City, USA
• Ästhetiker Jäm, Wängl Tängl, Mayrhofen (Zillertal), Austria

TTR FOUR(4)STAR

• Abominable Snowjam, Timberline, USA
• Burton New Zealand Open, Wanaka
• Burton Australian Open, Falls Creek
• Stylewars, Falls Creek, Australia
• X-Box Big Day Out, Val-d’Isère, France
• Billabong World Junior Pro, Leysin, Switzerland
• Budrider’s River Jump, Livigno, Italy
• Slopestyle Alts, Japan

Competitors

Snowboarders who have competed in the tour include:

Men:
Andy Finch
Antti Autti
Danny Davis
Danny Kass
Keir Dillon
Kevin Pearce
Mason Aguirre
Mathieu Crépel
Nicolas Mueller
Pat Moore
Risto Mattila
Scotty Lago
Shaun White
Steve Fisher
Terje Håkonsen
Torstein Horgmo
Travis Rice

Women:
Cheryl Maas
Elena Hight,
Ellery Hollingsworth
Gretchen Bleiler
Hana Beaman
Jamie Anderson
Jenny Jones
Kelly Clark
Torah Bright

References

• Official Homepage of the Swatch TTR World Snowboard Tour

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