This one here is the biggest shout out to all competing photographers at the Suzuki Nine Knights 2012. All of you guys have done an amazing job taking photos and helping us to make the event unforgettable. Thank you so much Nate, Tim, Louis and Alo! I owe you big time…Throughout the five days the invited photographers tried to get their best shots in 4 different categories. They had to hand in their favourite two shots on friday night:
And the winners are:
- Best Action…congrats Louis Garnier!
Rider:Gus Kenworthy
- Best Black & White/Sepia…congrats Tim Lloyd!
Rider:Gus Kenworthy
- Best Creative Angle…congrats Louis Garnier!
Rider: Roy Kittler
- Best Lifestyle…congrats Alo Belluscio!
Riders: Davide & Raffa Cusini
Important: Those shots can only be published on www.nineknights.com! They can notbe copy pasted to other websites!!!
Check out all the other submissions for the Suzuki Nine Knights Foto Contest:
1. Nate Abbott (USA) (who came second 3 times)
Best Action 1:
Rider: Tom Wallisch
Best Action 2:
Rider: Jossi Wells
Best Black&White/Sepia 1:
Rider: Lolo Favre
Best Black&White/Sepia 2:
Rider:
Best Creative Angle 1:
Rider: Jossi Wells
Best Creative Angle 2:
Rider: Russ Henshaw
Best Lifestyle 1:
Rider: Lolo Favre
Best Lifestyle 2:
Rider: Paddy Graham
2. Tim Lloyd (UK)
Best Action 1:
Rider: Roy Kittler
Best Action 2:
Rider: Bene Mayr
Winner Best Black&White/Sepia 1:
Rider: Gus Kenworthy
Best Black&White/Sepia 2:
Rider:
Best Creative Angle 1:
Rider: Roy Kittler
Best Creative Angle 2:
Rider: Ben Valentin
Best Lifestyle 1:
Riders: Fabio Studer, Oystein Bråten, Luggi Brucic & Alexander Aurdal
Best Lifestyle 2:
Riders: Alexander Aurdal, Fabio Studer, Luggi Brucic & Oystein Bråten
The 4th edition of the Suzuki Nine Knights was a phenomenal week for athletes, media and spectators alike. The exceptionally beautiful feature, “Il Castello” provided the perfect venue for some seriously awesome videos and photos. A progressive Big Air competition and raging after-party ensured that everyone went home with a big smile on their face.
On invitation by Marker Völkl athlete Nico Zacek some of the world’s best freeskiers turned up to the picturesque Italian town of Livigno for a week of photo and film shoots on the imaginative and huge castle feature built on the slopes of Mottolino Fun Mountain. The Suzuki Nine Knights Big Air contest, recently declared an AFP Gold Level event, attracted the likes of X Games medalists Tom Wallisch, Russ Henshaw and Kai Mahler, current AFP Overall Ranking leader Gus Kenworthy, European Red Bull athletes Paddy Graham and Bene Mayr as well as local heros Raffaele and Davide Cusini.
The chosen few…
A week of unpleasant weather predictions made for an apprehensive mood at the start of the week. However, once everyone had a chance to check out the feature the vibes improved to all out stoke! “The feature is super sick,” said Smith Optics athlete Gus Kenworthy, “there are a lot of different options, a big jump in the middle, two massive hips, two quarterpipes with a gap option, a canon rail, and a bunch of other rail options!” What more could you want in one feature?
Colby James West
The conditions were far from ideal at the start of the week with wind and snowfall making it difficult to session the castle as hard as possible. However, after the weather gods dumped forty centimeters of new snow on Mottolino, the clouds finally parted allowing for the definite highlight of the week: Big Thursday!
Nico Zacek on the Hip
Big Thursday started with a sunrise shoot, with everyone up on the hill by 6:30 hitting the main jump feature with the octo-copter hovering above and ecstatic photographers clicking away. A short nap and some food was followed by an epic heli shoot and all the riders throwing down, with up to five of them jumping the feature at one time. A sunset session followed with some unreal cloud formations providing the perfect backdrop for unsurpassable photos and video footage.
Paddy Graham
As it started getting darker numerous lights all around “Il Castello” were turned on, making the whole construction look even more spectacular. The riders proceeded to jump well into complete darkness as the lights continued to change colors, much to the delight of the photographers looking for different ambiences. Yes, Thursday was a very long and productive day for everyone involved and they were happy to have a more relaxed day on Friday while some additional riders had a chance to practice on the jump.
MVP of the week: Roy Kittler
Countless spectators turned up to the Big Air competition on Saturday, keen to see all the talented riders display their impressive trickery. Flat light and sticky snow made things a little difficult, however everyone threw down regardless, with Kai Mahler in 1st place, Gus Kenworthy in 2nd and Jonas Hunziker in 3rd. Kai impressed the judges, narrowly edging out Gus Kenworthy with a massive double cork 1080 tweaked mute grab and a superb double cork 1260 double japan grab to shifty.
Fabio Studer
After the Big Air contest the competitors and media contingent headed down to the valley for dinner, the week’s photographer and riders awards presentation and of course the highly anticipated after-party. At the award show the four invited photographers presented their best images from the week, with every photographer judging each other’s work. The photos were seriously sublime and the vocal audience made sure the work got the deserved applause. Louis Garnier won the awards for “Best Action” and “Best Creative Angle”, Tim Lloyd won the award for “Best Black & White” while Alessandro Belluscio won the “Best Lifestyle” award. A special mention should be made of Nate Abbott who placed second in three of the categories.
Tom Wallisch
Following the photography presentation a highlight reel of the week was shown and it was time for the riders to do some judging of their own. Tom Wallisch who had been charging every feature all week won a custom Suzuki Nine Knights iPad for “Best Overall Big Air”. An all expenses paid trip to the Oktoberfest in Munich thanks to Power Balance went to Lolo Favre who took home the “Best Style” award for his crazy rodeo 540 screamin semen. The award for “Best Rail Rider” went to Gus Kenworthy who won a pair of Dotz rims for his incredible ninja jibbery. “Wanna be a Knight” video qualifier Roy Kittler won the “Most Valuable Player” award for going hard all week and stomping some sick bio 1260 blunt grabs. After the awards everyone headed into town for the after-party powered by Sweet Protection and downdays.eu, a fittingly awesome ending to a crazy week at the first Italian edition of the Suzuki Nine Knights at Mottolino in Livigno.
Bene Mayr
Congrats to all the athletes and photographers and see you next year!
After a great week here at Suzuki Nine Knights in Mottolino, Livigno we are slowly but surely starting to wrap things up. Most of you guys know by now the result of our Big Air competition on saturday: Kai Mahler (SUI) takes the win in front of Gus Kenworthy (USA) and Jonas Hunziker (SUI).
Yesterday the legendary Suzuki Nine Knights Soccer Invitational went down. It is a long tradition and as usual it was a blast for everyone. Six highly motivated teams were competing against each other and everybody wanted to win.
