The city of Turin goes in the street again for the third, terrific, episode of the “Torino Street Style” – a mixture of different freestyle sports such as flying disc, bike polo, fixed bikes, mtb, free-climbing, street acrobats, and of course BMX and skateboarding (I had the chance to shoot a bit also in the wonderful Skate Plaza Valdo Fusi, what an incredible place! A sport report will be published in next days).

Travelling 3 hrs by train (Italian trains, if you know what I mean) in a hot a sunny Sunday could have been discouraging but to be honest I was hyped foreseeing the event!

Main location for the event was the beautiful Piazza Castello in the city center, where the 365bmx crew built an amazing park featuring two quarterpipes, a pyramid box, a funbox, and a wallride!

Riders compete for the final on Saturday, and after elimination rounds, only fifteen of them gained a place for Sunday finals. We had there the most talentuos Italian bmx riders: Simone Barraco, Stefan Lantschner,Davide Altobelli,Alessandro Froio,Emanuel Bettassa,Dario Loconte,Mirko Andreani,Stefano Giusiano,Stefano Nicastro,Leonardo Longato,Jan Balugani,Mattia Rocchi,Ludovico Watson,Edoardo Botti, Federico Tralongo (in qualification order).

Competition format was 20 min run and then 10 minutes for the “best trick” for each battery. Riders were already hot (well, maybe also cause the temperature was near 30°C ), but in my opinion they were more focused to perform a good riding than to “win the competition”, and that’s an amazing, less stressing, feeling!

I’ve been impressed by the variation of tricks, each rider rided the park in his own way drawing new lines in each run. I’ve been stoked especially by Mirko Andreani’s 360 out of bound off the kicker, landing in the street…

…Stefan Lantschner’s HUGE kicker to kicker transfer, gapping the quarter…

…Davide “Dadda” Altobelli’s sick 540 over the box, he won the best trick competition with this one…

…and almost any trics by Simone Barraco

After the finals, here’s the result:

- Best Trick: 540 Over the funbox Davide Altobelli

- 1st Simone Barraco
– 2nd Stefan Lantschner
– 3rd Davide Altobelli
– 4th Alessandro Froio
– 5th/6th ex aequo Stefano Nicastro and Stefano Giusiani
– 7th Mirko Andreani
– 8th Jan Balugani
– 9th Emanuel Bettassa
– 10 Ludovico Watson

After some random occurrence (like losing my train ticket and finding it half an hour of desperate research), I had a nice, warm, trip back home with Federico “The Engineer” Tralongo and Simone “The Creative Guy” Barraco. Too bad I haven’t kept the beautiful piece of art the guys created during the travel

Torino Street Style 2012 – 365BMX Contest powered by: 365BMX – Frontocean – Monster Energy – 45Strada.
Thanks to Umbo, Cocis, Fede and Kid,il Butta, Ale and all the guys that made my day there. Pros kids!

More pictures to be published later on Facebook page

Pictures: (c) Stefano Fiorina

Story: Luca Fiora

Sunday February 27a nice contest took place at the Bamboo Park, Ala di Stura (Piedmont, Italy). The fourth edition of the contest saw a lot of skiers and snowboarders who had a lot of fun during the day. Here’s the report of the event with some shots, and who could describe the event better than one of the organizers? Enjoy this nice report written by Luca Fiora!

I have to come home quite early from the party of Friday night…that’s a pity, but I have to wake early tomorrow…there’s the contest! So, even before that the alarm ring, I’m already on the road. A bit numb, but ready for the day.

As I reach the park I notice that there are already riders waiting for the contest, and it’s still 9 o’clock…good! I check the park, I set the sponsors banners and then we open the incriptions and the training. 43 riders are registered. Cool!

We see many tricks, bu the best has yet to come. Riders are having fun, they love the park. In fact there are ten different structures, which range from the 8m kicker and the kink rail 4m+6m for the most advanced riders to the 4m box, 3m kicker and the pool jam for all the others.

At 11,30 the contest begins and music changes. Riding is getting heavy and tricks are huge. The first two runs pass, but in the third run riders show their best. With a rodeo on the 8m kicker Andrea Viglietti wins the best trick section and a Bastard jacket. But also the Superman Frontflip  by Zeno Kastelic on the same kicker and the 2 kamikaze to 50/50 to slide on the kink impressed everyone.

So here are the winners:

SKI:

1) Zeno Kastelic

2) Luigi Bresciano

3) Tazio Kastelic

SNOWBOARD:

1) Andrea viglietti

2) federico bertoglio

3) Michele Garelli

So there’s the prize-giving, there’s something for each of the 43 participants. Finally, a good beer all together!

Hey guys and girls, we’ll be waiting for you for the 5th edition!

Big thanks to the SPONSORS:

Bastard, Electric, Monster, All Season, Transfer, Moana Shop, Alpi Bel di Ala, la BolaBola, All Riding e Babambuest Crew.

Take a chair. Sit down. Grab Your favorite drinks, turn off a quiet tunes on the radio. Breathe deeply. Now start reading, slowly.
Here we have the gotha, là crème de la crème, lè non-plus-ultra, the machines, the rails slayers, the gap erasers, and I really could go on for a long time without running out of words!

It’s not just one sick rider here. THEY’RE TWO. THEY CAME FROM ICELAND. WE GOT HELGASONS BROTHERS!!!!

Hi Halldor, hi Eiki, so stoked to have your words on Candiesmagazine.com, thank You for giving us some of Your time! First question, pretty easy, let’s introduce yourself: How old are You, and when did You start riding?

Halldor:
Age: 19
Started riding: 9 years old because i saw Eiki ride and it looked like a lot of fun so i tried it and haven’t stopped since

Eiki:
Age: 23
Started riding: 1999 because I was skateboarding before and i could not skate on the winter so i bought a snowboard and got hooked right away

What about Your sponsors and hook ups?

Halldor: Nike 6.0, Oakley, Monster, Skullcandy, Hoppipolla headwear, Neff gloves, Frontline, Blue tomato, kaleidoscope skateboards, 7-9-13

Eiki: Rome, Oakley Outerwear & Eyewear, Skullcandy, Hoppipolla Headwear, Neff Gloves, Blue-Tomato, DVS, 7-9-13, Frontline and Kaleidoscope skateboards

I know You started shredding because it was a good alternative to skateboarding during long Icelandic winters. Well, how much of Your riding style and techniques comes from skateboarding now?

Halldor: its hard to say, i started skating before snowboarding so i was actually more focused on that in the beginning and then after some years snowboarding started taking over. Skateboarding helped out a lot with my snowboarding and on how i look at things and try to find new stuff to do on your snowboard

Eiki: When I was skateboarding I was mostly skating rails and curbs and when i started riding snowboarding then rails were the thing that got me most hyped. Now i have started to do some flips on my snowboard as well like, kickflip, varial flip and 360 flip so i guess that’s pretty skate influenced.

I saw some funny clips edited by yourselves, with nice tunes and great montage. How many time do You spend doing this kind of “nerd-stuffs”? Do You like it quite strongly or editing and
electronic music are just ways to kill the time between a session and another?

Halldor: Its actually a friend of ours that is doing our blog Helgasons.com, his name is Johannes Brenning and he has pretty much been doing all the edits and he is killing it hehe

Eiki: Its fun to do your own stuff but now we have johannes Brenning doing all that kinda stuff for us for our blog so we can just focus on our riding.

Thinking at Your past seasons I get so many highlights I can’t count on. But from Your side, what has been the best moment so far in Your snowboarding careers ‘til now?

Halldor: thats a really hard question,  i think one of the biggest highlights for me was to get the chance to film with Standardfilms, that was awesome

Eiki: I think it was when I went to the states for the first time filming with the Rome guys for No Correct way

You’re surely two of the most talented riders actually. It’s stunning how You kill it  on mega kickers but also going big on nazi street rails. How do You manage to build these sick skills on so different terrains and structures?

Halldor: haha thanks a lot, my advise is just to ride as much as you can and enjoy it and be stoked. Try to progress a lot and don’t stop trying new tricks because its always a sick feeling when you land a new trick

Eiki: We are just enjoying being on our board with our friends and try to have fun in every situation thats the best way to learn new stuff

Are You part of a crew? Or maybe You have a bunch of friends with whom You love to ride the most?

Halldor: filming with Factorfilms and Standardfilms have let me get to know so many people, thats been a really cool. but my favorite riders to ride with are Eiki and another icelandic friend called Gulli Gudmundsson. When i ride with them it feels just the same as when we started riding 10 years ago, so its always mellow and we push each other in a good way

Eiki: I like riding with my brother halldor and gulli gudmundsson, when we ride together we always get so much stuff done and good times

Seems like You’re great friends, more than “just” brothers. How do You feel riding, partying, doing stuff together? Do You feel sometimes under pressure looking Your bro going so huge, or it’s something that give You just more hype to push the limit?

Halldor: I always enjoy riding with Eiki, i looked up to him since i started snowboarding, and as i said before, we push each other in a good way. The best film trips of the season are always when we are riding together.

Eiki: We have the same idea of riding so when we are together we push each other to get our tricks so thats super good

Your baggage of tricks is not really believable. What’s your fav at the moment, the one You’re stoked doing it first try? And well,  are you practicing something new also?

Halldor: haha thanks a lot, one of my favorite tricks on rails at the moment are just normal bs tails to regular. On jumps is always fs 360, but yeah i have some ideas on tricks i want to do. I’m not going to claim anything, we will just have to see how it turns out

Eiki: Thanks! my favorite trick right now on rails is fs noseblunt and on jumps its always a backflip. I am always thinking about new tricks but i don’t wanna give them away so you will just have to wait and see hehe

Riders interviews are often scarce of culture. So break up the ante – Your fav book, Your fav film, and Your fav song of all times!

Halldor: To be strait up, i don’t have a favorite book since i pretty much never read. Watching TV is so much easier. My favorite film at the moment is the other guys. My favorite song of all time is Teddy Bears STHLM – Yours to keep (after i saw it in afterlame)

Eiki: I have never read a book, my favorite movie right now is anything with Will Farell and my favorite song is jeffersons airplane – White rabbit

Predict the future a bit. Where are we going to see the Helgasons in ten years from now?

Halldor: haha hopefully still snowboarding, doing what we are doing now but trying to step it up. Hopefully we will be able to have our blog Helgasons.com as the main focus.

Eiki: i hope that we will just be riding and chilling on the beach in between doing stuff for helgasons.com

What does it mean to be a pro nowadays? Do you ever think it’s becoming too stressing or challenging? Or in the end it’s really the big fun that everyone who’s out of the business imagine?

Halldor: thats something that i really don’t think about, even though i’m sponsored and getting paid i still just try to do what im stoked on all the time. I try to think about how got to where I am in the first place and that was just by snowboarding. So that doesn’t change at all. I think if you just think about your snowboarding and have goals on your own you want to live up to, then its all good.

Eiki: Its definitely goes way more time in sitting in an airplane and surfing the airports than actually being on the board, but thats something that you have to do if you wanna have a full video part.

I just love Your video parts. I ‘m sure  tons of people actually do. Which videos have You rocked the last season?

Halldor: Last season it was Pirates (Hooked) and Standard films (The Storming)

Eiki: I Have a part in Pirates (Hooked) and Standard films (The Storming).  I also started filming for my video part in the new Rome movie called “The Shred Remains” that’s coming out for the 2011/12 season.

Have You ever been to Italy? If yes, where? If not, any plans? We have to set up an Helgasons Fan Club Collective here

Halldor: haha no i have actually never been there, would be stoked to go there though, but i cant say that i have it planned out yet. I usually don’t plan much at all, just wait and see what happens.

Eiki: I was ones riding in the alps in Austria and we rode over to Italy just to say that we have been there haha, Hopefully one day I’ll get the chance to go to Italy and film

Your life is fully packed of riding and stuffs – filming, watching videos, travelling, sessioning – whoa, I’m so jealous! But could You think at Your lives without snowboarding? Have you ever thought at a “plan B” for the Helgasons?

Halldor: i haven’t really thought that far. I guess I’d take all my money and live in Bali and chill like there was no tomorrow if I for some reason couldn’t snowboard any more.

Eiki: I don’t know what i would do with out snowboarding? i would probably be working somewhere trying to earn money to live

Well mates, thank You very much for Your time! Last line is Yours, feel free to add anything You want!

Halldor: Thanks a lot for the interview – Hells yeah Italy!

Eiki: Thanks everybody…

Thank You Eiki, Thank You Halldor!

Be sure not to miss any news from this super stylish kids! Stay tuned to www.helgasons.com (over 1‘500‘000 views in the last 12 months, they’re superstars now!)