A little while back we were given an opportunity to attend Nine Knights in Livigno, Italy, as snowboarders were invited for the first time to hit the insane snow monoliths built on Mottolino each spring. Over the course of the week, the five, massive, castle-themed features were sessioned zone by zone, and at the end of the event prizes were given out for "Ruler of the Week", "Best Style", "Big Air" and the best "GoPro moment", all voted on by the riders. There was also a contest running between four invited photographers - Cyrill Müller, Markus "Fischi" Fischer, Alex Papis and Christoph Schöch - for ‘Best Action Shot’, ‘Best Creative Angle’, ‘Best Illumination’ and “O’Neill  Best Unreasonable Shot.”


So while the event does have a bit of a contest portion to it, it's definitely more of an open jam, with the riders spending most of their time sessioning different parts of the build and seeing what kind of crazy shit they can come up with. It's really impossible to explain all the transition and possibilities they built into this setup, take a couple minutes to scan the photos for a better idea of what we were dealing with (Keep a special eye out for all the redirects). Though some well done triples and huge spins were tossed in here and there by Tor, Simon, Sven, Seppe and the like - mainly during the big air event on the final day - everyone seemed psyched on seeking out odd gaps, taking advantage of a unique course and going as big as they possibly could, and spent most of their time doing so.

Now we know many of you may find objection with snowboarders attending a "ski event", and there are times we've echoed that sentiment in similar situations, but we figured we'd attack this one with an open mind. When offered a chance to spend a week partying with your homies and ride some of the heaviest gaps and transitions ever built, sometimes you gotta put prejudices aside and just send it. The riders agreed and some of the world's top rippers made a point of heading to the Italian Alps to see what this whole business was about.

Maybe the course could have used a touch of opening up, as it felt a bit tight and close together at times, but there were definitely plenty of different zones to be hit at once, allowing for our large group to spread out a bit. For the most part, riders and skiers did their own thing. The shapers and organizers were super on top of maintaining everything and if riders thought something was a little too poppy or didn't work for snowboarding, they'd have a crew out working and adjusting right away. Hats off to all the crew and shapers, as well as to Nico and the whole Nine Knights crew who put the event together. It really is one hell of an operation and they crushed it.


There were a few times when an effort was made to combine the skiing and snowboarding sessions or to try to lump the two in together for photos or clips, and if I had one criticism of the event, it would be that approach. I guess I understand what they are going for, but in my humble opinion, that sort of thing holds the event back. To put it plainly, snowboarders generally don't give a damn about skiing. Riders don't want to watch skiing in an edit and magazines don't want to post skiing on their sites. In the end, I think it just limits the exposure a bit.

The group jams and all that worked fine for the most part, it would just be cool to have a strictly snowboard edit with all the massive airs and unique lines that went down over the course of the week. A solid edit made by snowboarders for a snowboard audience would go a long way for the event. There is a lot of footage that will only see the light of day in rider's personal edits, if at all, and a heavy edit goes a lot further than anything I can type in changing the snowboard public's perception of the event as "a ski thing". Just my two cents.









All in all, a huge cheers to the Nine Knights team for having us, putting together a sick event and bringing together some of the wildest snowboarders around for an all-time spring session. And a personal thank you to the staff at the lobby bar - y'all are a bunch of saints. Results are below and we will have a Method TV episode from Nine Knights coming out shortly with footage from the event (and after-party).

Ruler of the Week - Sven Thorgren wins a 2-week Portugal surf trip (This kid is a wild man! Don't let that pretty face fool ya)
Big Air Champ - Sven Thorgren wins O'Neill surf board, wetsuit and party binge in Ibiza
Best Style - Sebbe de Buck wins O'Neill surf board and wetsuit
Best GoPro shot - Seppe Smits wins $2000 USD