Today´s draw of first-round fixtures for the 6Star World Snowboard Tour Air & Style Beijing 2013 made it clear, that riders will have to show their best tricks right from the start. The competition runs a head to head elimination format through rounds 1 -3 leading into the super final of 4 riders. Top-seeded defending champion Yuki Kadono (JPN/1) encounters Tor Lundstrom (SWE). 2011 Air & Style Beijing champion Ulrik Badertscher (NOR/7) will battle with fellow Norwegian Kim Rune Hansen. 2012 third-positioned Stale Sandbech (NOR/4) is measuring his riding skills with young Chinese He Wei, the first-ever Chinese in an Air & Style competition. Last year´s 2nd-placed Peetu Piiroinen (FIN/3) meets German Ethan Morgan. 2013 Air & Style Innsbruck Champion Eric Willett (USA/2) drew Tim Kevin Ravnjak (SLO) as his first-round opponent.

After the first practice riders showed great confidence in the new set-up of the biggest artificial snowboarding ramp ever built. Stale Sandbech from Norway commented: “The kicker works very good. The broader inrun and landing give us many more options for our tricks. And having that set-up in such an impressive stadium as the Bird´s Nest is just amazing.”

Stale Sandbech is in good company with his opinion. Terminator Arnold Schwarzenegger was deeply impressed with the ramp and the riders´ “crazy” performance, when paying a surprise visit to the training this afternoon. He was especially taken by his fellow US-Americans Eric Willett and Sage Kotsenburg.
Weather forecast for tomorrow is good, with temperatures around 0°C, clear sky and only a very light wind.

Further information is available at www.air-style.com