Words and photos by Will Radula-Scott

Always hyped to head back to Laax for an event and what better event than the 3rd stop of the Vans Hi Standard series in Europe. Having just come off the back of the Chamrousse stop the weekend before and Russia a few weeks earlier it was safe to say we were in for another wild one! As soon as we started to bump into to everyone involved as we arrived at the Riders Hotel it was clear that this weekend was gonna be sick. Vans had a ton of their riders in attendance including Lucas Baume, Sebi Springeth, Gian Sutter, Nikita Sehk, Ivika Jürgenson, Markus Keller, Kas Lemmens, Alek Ostreng, Klaudia Medlova, Kevin Trammer, Maxi Preissinger, mini shredders Nico Bondi and Mia Brookes as well the Yawgoons boys (Marcus, Dylan, Brian and Brenden) caming over from Rhode Island!

We timed the weather pretty good too, all having a free day to shred on Friday and a nice amount of fresh pow waiting for us on the hill. After a full day shredding with a bunch of the vans team riders we headed to the Freestyle Academy for a skate before joining 30+ Vans family and media for an excellent vegetarian dinner at the Riders Hotel. Last by not least, we headed down stairs to the club where we were greeted by Lucas at his very own ‘Drink Sexy’ bar for Gin & Tonics, basil infused shots and anything else he felt like making. 

The following morning feeling a little hazy it was time for the main event so we all headed up to check out the plaza style set up the park crew had created specifically for the event that sat next to a decent size kicker. There was also the BBQ getting lit up along side the boot test area and plenty of deck chairs to chill and watch the riders jam. First up was a session on the kicker and it quick to see the standard of riding in Laax, no matter what age was so high! After a break for some burgers the rail jam got started and there were tons of lines riders could take as the tight set up meant hitting one feature straight into another.  As the Yawgoons were present there was also a special ‘Yawgoons inspired’ feature, a metal corrugated pipe with a pole jam coming out the end of it, giving all the riders a challenge when the jam was focused solely on it for the last part of the day. 

In the end, after all the riding, and a ton of cash handed out on the spot for stylish tricks, it was locals Celia Petrig and Dario Burch that took home the MVP titles and earn themselves a trip to the finals in Brighton at the end of the month. 9 year old ripper Nico Bondi also took home the ‘Best Trick’ award. 

Then it was back down to Indy Bar for some ‘rehydration’ and some live music playing outside. Once fed and feeling like we wanted to just pass out after just too much fun we somehow ended back downstairs in the club of the Riders Hotel and once getting served for Gin and Juice until 4am in the morning from the one and only Yung Doli. 

Video Recap by Theo Acworth:

Thanks everyone at Vans, Laax and the Riders Hotel for an killer weekend. We would love to do it all over again at the final European stop in Madonna, Italy on the 21st March, though this Corona Virus outbreak may mean it has to be cancelled for precaution. So fingers crossed it can still go ahead.