VILLE UOTILA TAKES HIS FOURTH CONSECUTIVE 4STAR GRANDVALIRA TOTAL FIGHT TITLE

GRANDVALIRA, ANDORRA– MARCH 27TH, 2011: Andorra saw some exceptional snowboard action as the 4Star Grandvalira Total Fight presented by Burton and Coca Cola brought a relaxed and progressive springtime slopestyle contest to the Pyrenees. The 8th edition of the Total Fight gathered a solid crew of international and local riders to enjoy the perfect springtime slopestyle setup to fight it out for the $25,000 USD prize purse and a maximum of 500 Swatch TTR World Ranking points. The finals took place on Saturday, March 26th, 2011, and Finland’s Ville Uotila took his fourth consecutive Total Fight Title and the ”all-Finn” podium saw Valtteri Paunonen in second place and Nuutti Niemelä in third.

TOTAL FIGHT “KNOCK OUT“ BATTLE
The El Tarter terrain park setup was in top shape, and though the spring time conditions created a bit of a challenge due to speed issues, the riders powered through and, in fact, enjoyed the course along with its challenges. Nuuttti Niemelä commented, “The course was challenging because of the speed of the snow, but the park was amazing and different this year with the x-shaped kickers and the transfer.” The two-run open qualification round on Friday narrowed down the field to the top 16 riders who went on to the knock-out finals. The final four had a grilling three run super-final where Ville Uotila had to really give it his best to take his fourth Total Fight title. His winning run included a switch backside 900, backside 540 followed by a switch frontisde 900 mute grab. Ville now sits TTR World No. 53 and was ecstatic and eager to celebrate saying, “I love this event because its the last of the season and the weather is always amazing, I love the spring conditions, and the park is always amazing. I always come back because I love the mellow atmosphere.” Fellow Finns Valtteri Paunonen took second place and Nuutti Niemelä came third moving into World No.45.

MANY 4STAR EVENTS ON THE HORIZON
This has been a busy weekend for 4Star Swatch TTR events with the 4Star Battery Catfight going down in Levi, Finland and the Quiksilver Showdown Over the City in Vancouver, Canada. Next up is the 4Star USASA Nationals, with halfpipe and slopestyle formats on the 2nd through to the 12th of April 2011 at Copper Mountain, USA. Austria will see two more 4Star events, the Quiksilver Spring Battle taking place in in Flachauwinkl starting on the 30th March 2011, and a week later the 4Star Protest World Rookie Finals will put on a display of up and coming talent in Iscgl. The last 4Star event of the TTR Season will be the all-girl Billabong Flaunt-It at Sierra-at-Tahoe, USA on April 9th, 2011. Keep up to date on ttrworldtour.com, with the latest news, photos and videos from TTR events.