Introducing: The Burn Units

NEWS UPDATE 5/12/2011: We're so stoked to tell you that at Oakley Air & Style Beijing on Saturday, our man Ulrik 'The Wildman' Badertscher won first place at the famous Bird's Nest Stadium in front of 13,000 fans. Congrats, man. Not only that, he also scooped the Best Trick with a double rodeo 1260. He got 10,000 dollar bills for his hard work. Check out his Ring of Glory.

burn unit and fellow Norwegian Ståle Sandbech snatched third place on the podium, knocking out Canadian favourite Mark McMorris in the process. He made it arguably the best burn unit performance at such a huge event. With that third place he's now leading the TTR World Snowboard Tour rankings. We've got a feeling it's gonna be a huge year for the burn units.

You can check out a video of the whole event or watch Ulrik's trick over on extreme.com. Next stop? Air & Style Innsbruck in February.

2011/12 - RESULT HIGHLIGHTS:
Ulrik Badertscher: 2nd place Budapest Fridge, 1st place Oakley Air & Style Beijing + Best Trick
Ståle Sandbech: 3rd place Oakley Air & Style Beijing, 3rd place NZ Open

Welcome to the page for the burn units snow team. Read all about the crew below and check interviews with them and the other burn riders here.

HUMAN / MACHINES:

The next video shoot from the elite burn units snow team is HUMAN / MACHINES. Featuring the all-star cast of Gigi Rüf, Arthur Longo, Ståle Sandbech and Mathieu Crepel it was filmed in the wild backcountry of Riksgränsen in Sweden, Folgefonna in Norway and Snowpark in New Zealand by Johannes Östergård.

The question today is whether the evolution of snowboarding - from the humble hand-shaped jumps to today where the top snowboarders require huge and perfectly sculpted features to try the latest tricks - is a positive. And it's this big issue that the burn units approach in HUMAN / MACHINES.

Gigi and Arthur go back to basics, whilst Mathieu and Ståle embrace the mechanical age to create the ultimate kicker. Watch the full video above, and marvel at their skills in making and doing.

MORE ABOUT THE TEAM:

GIGI RÜF:

Arlberg local Gigi, 29, is a true snowboarding icon. With over a decade of standout video parts with Absinthe Films and Pirate productions, last year's release of his solo film Project 9191 confirmed his creative prowess, fulfilling a unique snowboard vision through multiple film mediums and an original soundtrack.

MATHIEU CRÉPEL:

Few professional snowboarders are lucky enough to ever earn the titles or even have the life experience of Mathieu Crepel(26). Passionate environmentalist and surfer, Crepel's talent and dedication are nothing short of legendary.With a long and successful contest career including a FIS World Halfpipe tour bronze and European X-Games silver, Mat is now emerging as one of the best big-mountain freestylers in the world, as his ender section inTB20 by Standard Films proves beyond a doubt.

ARTHUR LONGO:

Arthur Longo, 21, is France's hottest rider. After winning one of snowboarding's biggest prizes at The Arctic Challenge in 2009 and representing his country in Vancouver at the 2010 Olympics, Arthur went on to deliver the first of what is sure to be many legendary video parts in this season's Pirate Movie Production Hooked and Bottom line. However it is Arthur's all around riding ability and inimitable smooth style and insane amplitude that raises eyebrows the world over.

STÅLE SANDBECH:

He may still be a teenager, but Ståle Sandbech (pronounced Stor- leh) has already achieved more at the start of his career than most pros could hope for by the end. At 15, he was already being tipped by Terje Haakonsen, snowboarding's greatest icon, as the next big thing. Today, at 18 he is an Olympian, current and junior world Slopestyle champion and at time of writing, TTR World Tour number one. Accolades aside, Ståle has a captivating energy which he takes to the mountain every time he straps into his bindings.

WERNI STOCK:

Werner 'Werni' Stock is one of Austria's most progressive freestyle riders, having honed his talents on the famous slopes of the Zillertal Valley. Big tricks on big kickers are his speciality, something he demonstrated with great ease last winter after securing silver at the Big Air in Stuttgart in January, followed by bronze at the Innsbruck Air & Style.

ULRIK BADERTSCHER:

Ulrik 'The Wildman' Badertscher is the latest addition to the Burn Units team, and currently one of the most exciting riders on the planet. In a contest circuit dominated by robots performing identical contest runs, Ulrik is a breath of fresh air, pulling unique tricks and improvising his line, every time. This spontaneity and talent just earned Ulrik 1st place at the Oakley Air & Style in Beijing, and we’re pretty sure there is plenty more where that came from.

THE BURN UNITS represent the pinnacle of the Burn snow program and be an aspiration for all regional teams which are currently being put in place across Europe. Gigi, Werni, Mathieu, Ståle and Arthur will serve as mentors for this home-grown talent, which as they develop, will feed into the elite European team.