2010/11 was Sebastien Toutant aka Seb Toots most successful season so far. The victories at the X-Games in Aspen and the Oakley and Shaun White present Air & Style Beijing 2010 proved of what the 19 year old Canadian is made of. By now triple corks also count to his game plan, whereat the style never comes too short. Who now thinks that Seb is just a pure contest machine should absolutely watch his online part - it's smashing.

He competed at the age of 15 at the US Open and as he stood next to all the big names at the drop-in, Mark McMorris quickly showed what he is for snowboarding: the future. With his victory at the Billabong Air & Style Innsbruck-Tirol in February 2011 and the first backside triple cork 1440 in the history of snowboarding he has confirmed it again. With his victory in slope style at the Burton New Zealand Open he’s already served notice of what to expect from him in the 2011/2012 season.

Once you’ve seen Seppe Smits shredding, you’ll never make jokes about Belgians again. The former Big Air Junior World Champion has done super well at his debut at the Billabong Air & Style Rookie Challenge in Innsbruck-Tirol in December 2009, winning the contest with a Backside 1260. At the Air & Style in Beijing and Munich he impressed with two second places. The smart Belgian is definitely a candidate for the win at the Bird’s Nest in Beijing.

“Wasn’t that the guy who did the first Triple Cork?” - Damn right it is! It is therefore proven that Torstein can spin and cork quite a few times- and on top of that, he makes it looks incredible! He already collected the Big Air title at the Winter X-Games 2001 in Aspen and the slope style overall win at the Winter Dew Tour 2010/11. He concluded that great season with his ender part in the Standard Film production “The Storming”. Now all that’s missing is the Air & Style Ring of Glory!

Nils Arvidsson, whose full name Nils Sture Olov Leopold Arvidsson, is a rather calm character. He’d rather draw the attention with his stylish FS 1440 shifties than with big talk. Mr. Arvidsson is by no means a freshman at the Air & Style, after he competed in last season’s Billabong Air & Style Innsbruck-Tirol and the Nike 6.0 Air & Style Munich. Both times he missed the podium by a hair and finishing fourth place at both. In his part in “Welcome Home II” you can see Nils showcase his talent in the backcountry. Let’s hope he‘ll manage to climb another notch higher, and onto the podium this time in Beijing.

Snowboarding has been in Mikkel’s blood since birth and so naturally he became one of the Burton Groms at a very early age. By now the talent has become a proper grown-up Snowboard-Pro who rocked the 2007 Air & Style when he kicked Travis Rice out in the first round and came second after Kevin Pearce. If he is still as fit as he was at last year’s Air & Style in Beijing the other contestants should be prepared for a fight…and the girls in the crowd for a veeery charming Norwegian. Bang!

Since his gold and silver medal at the X-Games Slope style in Tignes and Aspen 2010 the name Eric Willett should be in everyone’s vocabulary. In 2011 the young man with the curly hair could convince with countless victories as for the win at the US Open Slope style or the first place at the Billabong Ante Up in Whistler. Eric already is one of the favorites at the Oakley and Shaun White present Air & Style Beijing.

Ulrik Badertscher is the first guy who stacked a BS 1620. To fall out of range with his tricks, is the thing which makes Ulrik so special. So it is not surprising that he conjures a massive double front flip out of a pole jam. Maybe one should mention that Ulrik spend almost every school breaks at a circus school which would explain his affinity for fancy Tricks. We are already looking forward for the Ulrik show in Beijing.

When Grilc does something, he does it right. In his first international performance, the junior world championships in 1998, he won the title. In 2009 he just made it into the Air & Style in Innsbruck as a backup rider and went with a perfect Switch Backside 1080 Doublecork all the way to the Ring of Glory. Since then the Slovenian womanizer and party boy has been a solid fixture on the Air & Style riders’ line-up

Sage Kotsenburg comes from a 100% snowboarding family. Not only does he often go riding together with his brother Blaze, but his parents get on their boards as well and manage, film and support him whenever possible. That pays off, because the young American landed a third place in Big Air at the X-Games in Aspen and likewise at the Artic Challenge 2011 in Slope style! Can you believe he’s afraid of heights!?

Even though his name doesn’t sound very German, Ethan is the future of, “made in Germany” snowboarding. After his parts in Isenseven’s “Kaleidoscope” and this year’s Nike 6.0 “The Varpen Session” movie, it is internationally acknowledged that this small guy will go big. In Beijing, Ethan will compete for the third time in an Air & Style competition. Always motivated, always in a good mood, the sympathetic guy from Mittenwald would certainly deserve a win at the Oakley and Shaun White present Air & Style in Beijing

Gjermund is a very ambitious rider who always has a funny catchphrase down pat. At 21 years old, he will be competing at his third Air & Style. Moreover he accomplished a lot in his young career. In 2010 he won the Freestyle.ch and took part in some well-known movie productions like, Isenseven and Standard. Those who want to know what Gjiermund did last season should definitely watch his part in TB 20.

People who don‘t have mountains in their front yard due to the geographical conditions of their home country often develop an especially great love for winter sports. This definitely applies to the Brits, especially to Jamie Nicholls. Halifax just isn’t Verbier or Whistler, so he learned on a dry slope and didn’t know for years that you usually snowboard on the snow. He’s an all-rounder who can present a whole list of contest results. In 2011 the young Brit won the Ride Shakedown in Garmisch Partenkirchen Last year he made his appearance at the Billabong Air & Style Rookie Challenge in Innsbruck- Tirol; however this year in Beijing he will compete for the first time for the Ring of Glory.

You might think being labeled the next big thing in snowboarding by the legend himself, Terje Haakonsen, would have been quite a lot of pressure for Staale. But it was no problem for this young Norwegian who started winning titles, the kind that grownups dream of winning, when he was only sixteen. With the third place in slope style at the New Zealand Open in August 2011 he proved how serious he is.

Torgeir Bergrem is an all-round talent and never hits the slopes without his ninja suit. Besides, he is always up for every kind of joke and sometimes it happens that he jumps off a cliff into a glacier lake just because his team manager utters that Torgeir wouldn’t dare. The 20 year old Norwegian already participated last season for the first time at the Air & Style Rookie Challenge and also won this thing. Just qualified for the top 16 in the super finals he ended up achieving the sixth place.

Since his victory at the World Rookie Finals 2010, Roope Tonteri is a solid component within the international contest circuit. When reviewing the great accomplishments this 19 year old has already achieved, like his win at the European open slope style 2011, it is almost unbelievable that Roope referred to himself as lazy. Roope is defiantly one of the top riders who will be up front in Beijing!

Kevin Backstroem is one of Sweden’s most promising winter athletes, and though his style is often compared to Mikkel Bang, he truly puts on his own show. It all started when he was a 3 ½ year old boy and stood on a snowboard for the first time. It probably doesn’t hurt when your dad is a snow-cat driver and a kicker shaper either! The 19 year old Swede is invited for the second time to the Air & Style in Beijing. At last year’s training session he broke his arm right before the competition and wasn’t able to ride. We hope that this year it will all go well.

It’s not always easy to be compared with your older brother, especially when he’s one of the best snowboarders of our time. But regardless, Petja Piiroinen makes his way and has already achieved some proper results at the age of 20, not the least of which was being crowned FIS Big Air Champion in 2011! Stay tuned to see how the young Finn will perform at his first appearance at the Oakley and Shaun White present, Air & Style Beijing.

At fifteen years of age Yuki is the youngest rider in the competition field. He is Japan's rising talent in big air and slope style and he proved this with a second place at the Ride Shakedown in Snoqualmie USA. We wish Yuki great success with his debut at the Oakley & Shaun White present Air & Style 2011.

Mr Koski is not only a god of style and a nice guy but he is also Air & Style "old school" material. He rode his first Air & Style before most of his competition hadn’t even touched a board. And yes, It was back in ’98 when the slogan at Bergisle was "Air and Pipe!" Markku still rides at the elite level, and he proved it last season in Munich. We wish the best of luck to the all-round Finnish talent.

The name An Tae Hwan might be unknown to most of the snowboarding fan crowed outside of Korea. Nevertheless the 24 year old An counts as the Korean aspiration in Big Air and slope style. In his home country he is already on the podium at almost every contest and yet it is time to face the international elite. We wish good luck to An Tae Hwan at his first Air & Style.

A country that has such an abundance of mountains as Austria is sure to produce tons of pro-riders . For example Clemens Schattenschneider, someone Austria can definitely be proud of. Really proud! Cause "Clemi" didn't just come ninth at the Billabong Air & Style Rookie Challenge 2011 but also rode into the finals beside the really big names at the 2011 O'Neill Evolution. But his favourite mountain is still Stuhleck. So much love for his home country will certainly pay out at his appearance at the Oakley & Shaun White present Air & Style Beijing 2011.

Charles grew up snowboarding in Mont-Tremblant, Québec. And started skiing at the age of three then got his first snowboard at five years old. He started doing local events at 8 years old and got international events experience at 15 during the US Open and came in 4th.