Over 60 local and international Snowboarders and Skiers participated in the annual Ultimate Ears Winter Whip Snowboard and Ski Festival in Lesotho last weekend.
Southern Africa’s premier snow sports event, the Ultimate Ears Winter Whip Snowboard and Ski Festival, takes to the Afriski Mountain Resort slopes for its 6th year.
The 2019 Ultimate Ears Winter Whip Snowboard and Ski Festival saw perfect bluebird day conditions over the four day event (25-28 July) at the Afriski Mountain Resort in Lesotho. Over 60 local and international Snowboarders and Skiers participated in the Slopestyle competition with Anthon Bosch and Amy Kawanishi winning the Pro Men’s and Ladies categories respectively.
Action kicked off on the Friday night with the newly added Red Bull Rail Jam that took place at the bottom of the slope on a perfectly manicured, floodlit rail garden. The hour and a half jam session saw riders showcase their best skills on a variation of rails on offer. Japan’s Shotaro Koyama impressed the judges with his dialed Backside 360 off the Pole Jam/ Cannon to take win.
Saturday saw the main Slopestyle event take place on the resort’s Kapoko Park course that included a mix of rail and box features in the top section before leading into the last two kicker platforms. With the park offering fun and technical options, competitors were able to progress through their runs in the jam style contest.
The future of South African Snowboarding was showcased the Juniors division. Newcomer, Sinjin Caromba was impressive through the park and scored himself 3rd pace. Local Lesotho rider, Sekhola Ramonotsi, improves every time he rides and was on form this year with bid Straight Airs and 50-50 Shifty’s on the Butter Box to take 2nd place. Kyle Benade upped his game and put down Method Airs, Nose Gabs and Indy Grabs to take home the win.
It was an all out Lesotho battle in the Junior Ski division with Tabang Mabari taking the win. Sekhola Ramonotsi, competing in both the junior Snowboarding and Skiing divisions, took another podium finish in 2nd place, and Makoko Kabai finished in 3rd place.
Event organiser, Ryan van der Spuy commented, “It was an incredible four days on the snow showcasing the best of Southern Africa Snowboarding and Skiing action. Witnessing international stars mixing it up with our local heroes marked a proud moment in the event’s history. Local snow sports is in a good place and a big thank you goes to all involved in making the Ultimate Ears Winter Whip possible, especially our event partners; Ultimate Ears, Red Bull, Zappa, GoPro, GoneSkiing, VonZipper and DC Shoes.