Nissan X-Trail Jam to return to Tokyo this weekend

Many of the world's most talented snowboarders will converge at the Tokyo Dome from December 12 to 14 for the Nissan X-Trail Jam.

In its ninth year running, this Swatch  TTR 6Star event will feature 12 invited pros who will be taking on a selected number of Japanese wildcards in a two-day Big Air and  Quarterpipe battle.
 
With this being the first major Swatch TTR 6Star event of the season,
riders will be putting it all on the line, looking for a slice of both  the 1000 TTR ranking points and the hefty $165 000 USD prize purse. 

Be on the look out for Chas Guldemond (USA) as he seeks to defend his TTR  World No.1 position and keep challengers at bay.

"I know there's a lot  of people going for me, Peetu Piiroinen, Kevin Pearce, all the heavy hitters, they're going to be gunning for it", he said. 

Torstein Horgmo  (NOR) will be aiming for a top result to catapult him into World No.2,  ready to mount a Viking invasion on the recent US dominance of the Tour.
 
2008 Swatch TTR Champion, Kevin Pearce (USA), is currently sitting in World No.11 and will be chasing a big result in Tokyo.  If Kevin can snag a top 10 finish at the X-Trail Jam it will bump him into the TTR Top 6, giving him a jump on his competitors in the chase for back-to-back TTR Tour titles.
 
Everyone is waiting to see if snowboarding's favorite son, Travis Rice  (USA), who was busy producing 'That's It, That's All' last season,  is  going to make some moves and go after the  Swatch TTR crown this year.  A top five finish will launch Travis into the TTR Top 50 giving him a solid start to the season.    
 
The rookie of the contest, Sebastien Toutant (CAN), definitely has a lot  to prove and if he can lock in a top 10 finish it will cement him into the TTR Top 20.  Another pair of riders not to be discounted are the style kings of Finland, Peetu Piiroinen and Risto Mattila, who will be going for broke all season to ensure a Finnish rider finally breaks the national curse and finishes atop  the TTR  rankings.

Full coverage and more info available at www.ttrworldtour.com
 

Top 10 Season 08/09 TTR World Snowboard Rankings as of 28.11.2008
 
Rank         Name              Nation         Results     Points
1         Guldemond, Chas       USA        7         612.01
2         Maurer, Stephan         SUI        7         557.64
3         Korpi, Janne               FIN        6         523.00
4         Reid, Charles             CAN        6         499.93
5         Mitrani, Luke             USA        6         495.37
6         Sörman, Chris            SWE        7         437.80
7         Horgmo, Torstein        NOR        5         432.01
8         Malin, Markus            FIN        4         389.75
9         Uotila, Ville                  FIN        6         386.69
10        Aguirre, Mason          USA         4         370.89