Started in Tokyo a few years ago, today the X-Trail Jam is the biggest snowboarding competition on the Asian continent and a key event for the few pros privileged enough to be invited.

75,000 people enclosed in a giant refrigerator, the Tokyo Dome. The Japanese public is considered to be the most overly energetic on the world circuit. Welcome to the X-Trail Jam, a 6-star competition on the TTR circuit.

Thirty committed Japanese riders rub shoulders with ten international freestyle stars, including Torstein Horgmo, the Tour's current leader, Kevin Pearce, the very recent winner of Air & Style, Travis Rice, one of the big air favourites, and Terje Haakonsen, the owner of the Tour. The stakes are higher: 1000 TTR points, as the X-Trail competition is rated 6 stars on the circuit, and $150,000 in winnings to take home.

On this occasion, the Tokyo Dome is bursting at the seams. The 75,000 people filling the dome are considered to be the most overly energetic on the world circuit. The riders face off in two events: Quarterpipe and Big Air. The final results of the event are obtained based on the ranking of each rider in both events on Saturday and Sunday. A sure-fire guarantee of an explosive competition.

For some time it has been the newcomers who have run off with all the prizes. At the Air & Style, the three riders on the podium averaged 19 years of age. Torstein Horgmo and Kevin Pearce hope to continue along the same line. After his great run in Munich, the young Mikkel Bang still has not come down from his cloud. He only learned a few days before the competition that he would be replacing Nicolas Müller, who forfeited at the last minute.

As for Travis Rice, after his success last year in Tokyo and his stunning elimination by a hair in Munich, he should be in top form. This year, the list of main guest riders includes: Travis Rice, Terje Haakonsen, Kevin Pearce, Andy Finch, Danny Davis, Risto Mattila, Mikkel Bang, Torstein Horgmo, Mathieu Crépel and David Benedek. The who's who of snowboarding today.

This weekend, the Japanese hero was, without hesitation, Travis Rice. This time, contrary to December 1 in Munich, the crop of new talent could do nothing against his onslaught. The Yankee drove the competition into the ropes with moves that inflamed the 35,000 spectators in the Tokyo Dome. The combined quarterpipe and big air results made Rice the big winner of the weekend: he won the X-Trail Jam, the 1000 TTR points and the lion's share of the $150,000 prize winnings.

On Saturday, the day of the quarterpipe, he was joined on the podium by his compatriots Kevin Pearce and Andy Finch. The next day, the top three riders in the Big Air was quite different. Mathieu Crépel did well, climbing to third on the podium. Travis Rice climbed to the podium for the second time this weekend, this time to second place. He left the victory to Risto Mattila, who pulled off a 1080 frontside tail grab. Also of note was the excellent performance of Danny Davis, who impressed fans and his rivals by imitating his elder Travis by pulling off his own version of the double cork. The combined podium counting towards the TTR ranking was Travis Rice, then Risto Mattila and Mathieu Crépel who took a surprising third place, even more surprising since the quarterpipe is not his specialty.

The Japanese Daisuke Murakami got the biggest air all weekend, flying six metres above the coping during the quarterpipe event. The best Japanese rider last year, Takaharu Nakai, dropped to 7th place in the combined ranking.

The results of this Tokyo weekend shook up the TTR ranking. For the promising Mikkel Bang, it was worth skipping school and making the trip to Japan. The Bangster placed 9th in the Japanese competition and is now 6th in the world, two places ahead of Andy Finch, the world's new #8, who got incredible air in the quarterpipe competition. The battle waged by Kevin Pearce and Torstein Horgmo for Tour supremacy did not disappoint either. We expected a lot from the young American, the winner of the Arctic Challenge last year and recent winner of the Air & Style. He finished here and closed the gap on Horgmo, still the TTR world #1. But the winter has just begun

Results (QP and BA combined) Nissan X-Trail Jam 07

1. Travis Rice (USA)

2. Risto Mattila (FIN)

3. Mathieu Crépel (FRA)

Quarterpipe Results

1. Travis Rice

2. Kevin Pearce

3. Andy Finch

Big Air Results

1. Risto Mattila

2. Travis Rice

3. Mathieu Crépel

Eurosport