First but not the winner

Shaun White won the last event of the TTR World Snowboard Tour and with it took over the overall lead in the TTR ranking. Yet he had to hand over the championship title in a bizarre way to a team-mate.

On his home page Shaun White describes Saas-Fee, the winter sport resort situated at 1800 meters in the Swiss Canton of Wallis, as ‘possibly the most beautiful spot on earth.’ Shaun’s perception probably wasn’t only influenced by the charm of the landscape, the gorgeous snow and the spring-like temperatures but also by the results of the contest that took place here on April 19: The 4-Star Snickers Classic & Popcorn Wallride gave the 21-year-old a superior victory at the last stop on the TTR World Snowboard Tour.

The best snowboarder among the guitarists - and the other way around

Not noticeably influenced by jetlag or the late-night guitar session, White felt good on the slopestyle course from the word go: a gap to table feature at the beginning, a carefully chiseled kicker in the middle, and a step-up kicker at the end, inspired him to do tricks that made the competition look pale despite the high-altitude sun. Among them, highlights such as an FS 180 to an inverted cab 9, a BS 9 and a missive cab 1080.

Leading position into the next year

The victory garnered in Saas-Fee gave White a hefty 700 TTR points - even enough to take over first place overall right at the end of the season. The only downer: although he’s allowed to start the new season 50,000 dollars richer and overall first, his Burton team-mate Kevin Pearce remains TTR-Champion 2008. This title had already been awarded after the last 6-Star event of the season, the Burton US Open.