<div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Black Yeti doesn’t stop and in the last weeks travelled all over the world, from <strong>Chile</strong> to <strong>New Zealand </strong>to find the future stars of snowboarding. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The 2018.19 World Rookie Tour season started in the best way with the <strong>South America Rookie Fest</strong> in <strong>Valle Nevado</strong> from the <strong>9th to the 14th of August</strong> and <strong>New Zealand Rookie Fest</strong> in <strong>Cardrona</strong> from the <strong>14th to the 16th of August</strong>, which hosted the best U18 riders in the world.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><strong>2018 South America Rookie Fest</strong></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The 2018 edition was a blast! For one week international riders had the opportunity to enjoy many activities and to discover the incredible <strong>Valle Nevado resort</strong>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Slopestyle competition took place on Saturday the 11th in Valle Nevado snowpark, which was perfectly shaped and ready to host the future stars of snowboarding. The set up consisted of a double rail, a 12 meters jump followed by 15 meters jump and a rail. Once again, the riding level was incredible and athletes showed their best.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The riders who had excellent performances in the rookie category were: <strong>Alvaro Yañez</strong>, who conquered the highest spot on the podium, <strong>Vicente Bañados</strong>, <strong>Gonzalo Baez / Pascal Uranga</strong>, who won the second and the third spots.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">n the grom category, <strong>Lorenzo Machicao </strong>arrived first, followed by<strong> Felipe Bañados</strong> and <strong>Pedro Pizarro</strong>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Finally, besides the competition, riders could enjoy a wide range of activities such as a <strong>freeride</strong> session, a <strong>skate</strong> session at Mall Sport, surfing and a dinner at Santa Pizza, which made this incredible event memorable and gave the young athletes the chance to share their experience and their best moments.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Read the news <strong><a href="https://www.worldrookietour.com/2018/08/21/2018-south-america-rookie-fest-success/" target="_blank">here</a></strong>!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><strong>2018 New Zealand Rookie Fest</strong></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Halfway around the world, halfpipe and slopestyle riders gathered from the 14th to the 16th of August in <strong>Cardrona Alpine Resort</strong> to win qualifying spots for for the 2019 World Rookie Finals, to be held in Kitzsteinhorn - Zell am See-Kaprun, Austria, from the 25th to the 30th of March.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Starting with the slopestyle competition, Japanese riders <strong>Yamada Yuto</strong> and <strong>Cool Wakushima</strong> conquered the highest spot on the podium, respectively in the men and women category, showing an incredible riding level.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Regarding the halfpipe competition, on the 16th of August, World Rookie Tour riders had to face some challenges due to the heavy snowfall. However, despite the difficulties, young snowboarders showed their skills and impressed the Judges.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In the end were the Korean <strong>Joon-Sik Lee</strong> and <strong>Na-yoon Lee</strong> who arrived first and won the halfpipe competition. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Last but not least, New Zealand also hosted the legendary <strong>World Rookie Trip!</strong> European and Asian champions of the previous season had the opportunity to fly to this incredible country and enjoy some days of video and photo shooting and many other activites such as skate sessions and guided tours. More information will follow soon! Stay Tuned!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Read the news <strong><a href="https://www.worldrookietour.com/2018/08/28/2018-new-zeland-rookie-fest-report/" target="_blank">here</a></strong>!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Congratulations to everyone! The Black Yeti can’t wait to see you all in March for the Finals!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><strong>WORLD ROOKIE TOUR PROVISIONAL CALENDAR</strong></div><div style="text-align: justify;">South America Rookie Fest (SS) – Valle Nevado, Chile 9.14 August 2018 DONE</div><div style="text-align: justify;">New Zealand Rookie Fest (SS+HP) – Cardrona, New Zealand 14.16 August 2018 DONE</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Corvatsch Rookie Fest (SS) - Corvatsch, Switzerland 12.16 December 2018</div><div style="text-align: justify;">World Rookie Fest (SS) – Livigno, Italy 12.16 January 2019 </div><div style="text-align: justify;">World Rookie Finals (SS+HP) - Kitzsteinhorn - Zell am See-Kaprun, Austria 25.30 March 2019</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Many other events will be announced soon! Stay Tuned!</strong></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong>If you dream to become a professional snowboarder,</strong></div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong>then your future starts from the World Rookie Tour!</strong></div><div><br /></div>