Contest and Event Highlights - Suzuki Nine Royals 2017

Many of the world’s best female and male skiers and snowboarders came together for the grand finale of the Suzuki Nine Royals at Watles, South Tyrol, Italy on April 1st, 2017. Under a hazy sky, the women and men proved their creativity and technical prowess to the delight of cheering crowds and judges. Over the course of two jam sessions, judges determined the winners using a unique format: a combined score of two technical tricks and one style trick. After a week of photo and film sessions, it was Jamie Anderson (USA, snb), Sebbe De Buck (BEL, snb), Andri Ragettli (SUI, ski) and Coline Ballet-Baz (FRA, ski) who topped the podiums. In addition to their impressive contest performances, the athletes spent the week perfecting their tricks, pushing the progression of both skiing and snowboarding. Andri Ragettli’s world first quad cork 1800 took skiing to an entirely new level while Jesper Tjäder’s (SWE, ski) crazy trick lines across the entire feature put a whole new spin on skiing. Meanwhile, Anna Gasser’s (AUT