Montreal, December 5, 2011 – The Ride Shakedown presented by Videotron, the country’s most important international snowboarding slopestyle competition, will return to Mont Saint-Sauveur for an 11th edition on March 30 and 31, 2012. As for its American equivalent, it will be celebrating its third year at The Summit at Snoqualmie, outside of Seattle, on March 16 and 17, 2012.

This year, the Ride Shakedown presented by Videotron, much like its American counterpart, will be rewarding its athletes more than ever. The total prize purse will increase from $35,000 to $50,000. As a result, the winner of the main event (jump-to-rail) will now walk away with a check for $20,000.

"We continue to develop our two events that have built up a very good reputation. Our mission is to develop and expose snowboarding, its athletes its lifestyle and everything related to the snowboarding world”, proclaims Patryck Bernier, co-founder of Dizzle Entertainment, producing company of the Ride Shakedown. “Last year, over 25,000 spectators gathered at Mon Saint-Sauveur for the milestone 10th edition”, he adds.

Dominic McKenna, Sales and Marketing Director for Ride Snowboards in Canada, the competition’s title sponsor, is happy with the competition’s visibility worldwide. “It is a well organized event that has grown to become established, credible and notorious. Everyone likes coming out to the Ride Shakedown, be it the athletes, industry people, or the fans.”

Seen as a huge snowboard festival both for the forty-some international athletes and the 80 amateurs, the Ride Shakedown offers a unique competition format where there are minimal constraints on the athletes. The competition includes the mastery of two distinct disciplines: the jump (Big Air) and an original rail feature unveiled only on the first day of competition. Immersed in the heart of the action, the public enjoys an accessible and exciting front row seat.

Quebec native Sébastien Toutant, Ride Shakedown triple champion and X-Games gold medalist, is eager to master this unique course that always impresses by enabling high caliber performances. “Having a new setup every year is thrilling! We’re always looking forward to the unveiling.”

“I always want to compete in the Ride Shakedown, it’s one of my season’s musts”, says Toutant. “It gives me an opportunity to compete in front of my family and friends. I love the atmosphere that’s set by the thousands of people in the crowd. I also like that it is set up to be a friendly competition between athletes and the format doesn’t put too much pressure on us. The competition is really up to par and the increased purse will definitely attract some big names in the world of snowboarding.”

Once again this year, there will be Ride Shakedown qualification events throughout the winter in Quebec and in the USA.  For complete details, turn to our website: www.rideshakedown.com.

The Ride Shakedown, soon in four countries

Introduced to Germany in 2011, the Ride Shakedown is preparing its next leap by heading to Japan in 2013. “Our global expansion continues. We are currently preparing an event for Japan in 2013 and a second edition in Europe, which will also be in 2013”, says Brendan O’Dowd, Dizzle Entertainment co-founder.

“We have had to change our European host resort, which has caused an added delay. Snowboarding is not among the development priorities for the 2011 Garmisch-Partenkirchen stadium managers; they prefer to focus on skiing. For this reason, we have not come to an agreement and will have to pass on the 2012 edition, giving us enough time to find a suitable alternative for the 2013 European event”, says Patryck Bernier.

Partners of the Canadian Ride Shakedown

The 11th Canadian edition of the Ride Shakedown is made possible thanks to the support and participation of Ride Snowboards, title sponsor, Videotron, event presenter, Mont Saint-Sauveur, Empire, Oakley, Coors Light, as well as Rockstar, Shakedown MFG, POP Headwear, Snowboard Canada Magazine and MOOG Audio.

About Ride Snowboards

For passionate snowboard enthusiasts of all ages, Ride represents an uncompromised, fun-at-all-costs approach to life. Founded in Redmond, Washington, in late 1992, Ride hit the market with a vision - to create a snowboard company for the people, built upon technical innovation, superior quality and living the dream. Today, based in Seattle, Ride continues to stay true to its original goals. For Ride, it’s not about being the biggest; it’s about being the best at what they do. Now offering a full range of quality boards, boots, bindings & apparel, Ride has worked tirelessly to maintain its distinct brand identity and has firmly established itself as a leader in the snowboard industry, doing business in 48 countries through its wholly-owned subsidiaries and distributor network. For the latest, visit www.ridesnowboards.com.