Monday Mix - August 5, 2019

Welcome to this week's edition of the Monday Mix, where we check in at the season-opening South American Cup competition in La Parva (CHI), watch JJ Thomas (USA) tell the story of Shaun White's (USA) road to his third Olympic halfpipe gold medal, fall out of an airplane with Mark McMorris (CAN), experience the perfect day with Sarka Pancochova (CZE), and much more!

South American Cup season opens with La Parva slopestyles

The first of this 2019 FIS Snowboard South American Cup (SAC) competitions went down this past weekend in La Parva (CHI), and while we'll have a more thorough recap in the coming days, we can tell you that the big winner of the weekend was Chile's own Inaqui Irarrazaval Lopez, who took back-to-back wins with top performances in both Saturday and Sunday's competitions. Check it out his beauty backside 1080 here...

The perfect day with Sarka Pancochova

Snowboarding, skateboarding, and surfing all in one day, in the middle of summer? Sounds too good to be true, but Sarka Pancochova (CZE) made it a reality last week in Oregon (USA), hitting the glacier and the skatepark with Anna Gasser (AUT) before motoring over to the coast with her fiance to finish off the day by catching some waves. #goals, for real.

Anna Gasser christens diving platform in Austria

Anna Gasser had a busy week to close out July and open August, going jetboating in BC, taking part in Pacochova's perfect day mentioned above, and making it back to Austria in time to have the honour of the first jump at the reopening of the renovated Millstatt diving platform. Done up in mermaid bodypaint, the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic big air gold medalist Gasser laid out this perfect backflip to officially reopen the structure that was originally opened in 1930.

Mark McMorris jumps out of a plane

Two-time Olympic medallist Mark McMorris (CAN) has spent more time up in the air than most people on earth, but last week he took it up a notch by jumping out of a plane with Burton Snowboards owner Jake Burton Carpenter...

McMorris also posted this video of a few clips shot last season at Australia's Thredbo Resort, just to remind us all of what an absolute technician he is on any sized feature...

JJ Thomas talks Shaun White's third gold in TEDx Talk

2002 Olympic halfpipe bronze medallist and current US team coach JJ Thomas hit the TEDx Talk stage in Colorado Springs back in May to talk about the journey in coaching Shaun White to his third Olympic halfpipe gold medal at the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games.

White's feat is one that's unlikely to ever be matched and, coming as it did just months after a devastating injury that nearly ended his career, the story of how the then 31-year-old was able to not only return to riding, but end up taking Olympic gold is truly one of the greatest in snowboard history. Now, with perspective from Thomas, the man who was with him every step of the way, the story takes on new life.

Shaun White drops a double line with Tony Hawk

Speaking of Mr White, here he is dropping an incredible double line with Tony Hawk at Hawk's private vert ramp...

SBX rider Sina Siegenthaler doing double corks on the airbag

18-year-old Swiss rider Sina Siegenthaler is on the cusp of becoming a full-time rider on the snowbord cross World Cup, with five World Cup starts and already two top-10 results to her credit. As it turns out, she's a bit of a force in the terrain park, as well, with this video of her getting all the way around on a double backside rodeo at the BangerPark airbag in Austria proving that in a big way...

Woodward Copper keeps the dream alive

You don't need a lot of snow to have a lot of fun, and over at Woodward Copper they're keeping the fun going in the Pipeline park by whatever means necessary, as this incredible drone shot shows. With just a couple of football fields' worth of snow surrounded by that Colorado greenery, there's still plenty of god riding left to be had at the last week of summer camp...

Ladina Jenny arcs some turns at Swiss alpine camp

Meanwhile, it looks like there's still lots of snow up high in the Alps, as Swiss alpine rider Ladina Jenny posted this video from Zermatt last week, where her and her teammates recently wrapped up their first on-snow camp in the leadup to the 2019-20 World Cup season.

Marko Grilc has his own mini snowboard army

Slovenia's Marko Grilc claimed his first and only World Cup win a little under nine years ago at the London (GBR) Freeze big air World Cup, but these days he's focused on raising the next generation of the world's best, ripping park laps with his two children down in Australia and posting adorable clip after adorable clip. With a dad as talented as Grilo teaching them, these two are going to be a force to be reckoned with in no time...

Scotty James' mom, the supercoach

Sticking with the wholesome family content here, Scotty James (AUS) posted this video of himself recieving some halfpipe tips from his mom last Wednesday, and we can see now how he's managed to win three consecutive world championships halfpipe gold medals.

Seriously, though, how sweet is this?

A moonlit serenade with Lindsey Jacobellis

Arguably the greatest snowboard cross rider of all time, Lindsey Jacobellis (USA) has long been one of the most fearsome competitors on snow on her way to claiming six world championships gold medals and Olympic silver. However, it turns out she's got a soft side, too, as this lovely rendition of the Breakfast At Tiffany's classic "Moon River" can attest too. Beautfiul.

Whew, that was a fun one. Thanks for reading and we'll see you back here next week!