LUKE WYNEN - Latest From Luke

February 25, 2008

Hello,

I just got back from a great trip to Aspen Colorado, for Aspen Open. I have competed there three years in a row now. I finished 3rd!! My first podium of 2008!! Feels great.

I finally put together a run in competition! Back-to-back 9s. Helped me make the podium. Right after that, I hopped on a flight to North Lake Tahoe and competed in another event. The Jeep® King of the Hill Series, a new event this season.

It was an half pipe event of course. I rode well, landing the back-to-back 9s again and making the finals. I finished 8th. I am pleased with my riding, and all the training over in Europe is starting to pay off. Soon I will be traveling to Canada for the FIS world cup there in Calgary. I will send another update after the event. God Bless and enjoy your week.

Luke

February 19, 2008

Wow, Europe was great! Less crazy than in previous years, but it seemed twice as busy. I competed in three events during the two weeks.

First was the Burton European Open, which was a very hard event. Kind of a good pipe and fun to ride, just tough to go big in and land.

I rode well in practice and landed a new trick for me called a "cab 9." It was personally rewarding. I sketched in my runs from the semi-final to the finals, though.

I was invited to compete at another event called "Rock the Spot" in Bardonecchia, Italy. It was a seven hour bus ride through the night and, bam—we were there!

This event is basically the X Games of Europe. On the final night, 6,000 spectators and live bands were rocking out while we rode. It was SO fun! I made the finals in that event and rode hard all night. It was carried live on TRL of MTV Europe.

After that event I stayed in Bardonecchia for a few days waiting for the FIS World Cup, a daytime event in the same pipe. The snow was softer and that was nice, for sure. I had some bad falls, though, and was really sore for the event.

I rode well and made semi-finals, but just missed the finals by one spot. Bummer, because I missed my last trick. I didn't fall—I ran out of room in the pipe. They still televise the semi-finals though and I got to meet the mayor of Bardonecchia, too. After that it was back home for a little family time.

Luke

January 8, 2008

Hello!!!

It's 2008 and I have had a crazy couple of months, as the season is starting.

In November I started part-time coaching for the Mammoth Mountain Junior Snowboard Team. I love it! So fun to have kids to pour all my snowboard knowledge into. It's two days a week, when I'm home. I have had lots of days on the hill and meeting up with all my snowboard friends. It always feels like the first day of school after summer vacation.

I got some new Giro goggles and love them. Starting to see that program I am a part of blowing up. As for my relationship with Unity Snowboards, we are testing a new series of boards called the ultralite series. It's a real noticeable difference, and I ride a 164, so if you ride a 150-something it should be a feather. They're not ready yet, but close. Oneway Boardshop is busy, so that's good. Check out their shop online: http://www.onewayboardshop.com.

In December I traveled to Colorado for the Breckenridge Grand Prix and some training in the pipe at Copper Mountain. It was a great event. My runs were not perfect though, so... no top spots there.

For my media coverage, The 700 Club aired another show of me... multiple times on many networks. WOW! One hundred and ten million homes. I love that kind of coverage, as I know Stihl loves it, too. It's so nice because it is outside the normal snowboard bubble. I was told by The 700 Club that 1,149 people called in after all the airings and became Christians. Amazing. You never know what kind of impact our lives can have. So to anyone reading this, don't give up on your dreams! Persistence is the key to breakthrough.

I am home in Mammoth for a week and getting ready for the next trip. Europe, here I come. The trip will take me to Switzerland and Italy. Should be about two weeks. I will be updating my blog from the road during that trip, so please check back often. Thanks for checking in with me.

I hope you all had a great holiday season. Have a great start to 2008.

Luke

October 22, 2007

The fall in Mammoth is beautiful! I'm really enjoying the time at home with the family, and getting some training in. Mountain biking, and teaching a class at the local gym for winter conditioning has kept me busy. Time at the park with wife and son has been a real highlight though.

As always, I'm excited for the season as it approaches. It has snowed here in Mammoth a couple of times and the Mountain should open on the 8th of November.

I will be doing some coaching this season with the Mammoth team. I can't wait to be able to help the younger kids, and to give some of my knowledge away. I seem to teach and coach anyway, so it's nice to have an official outlet.

I have another full schedule of the top events in the world, so it will be a fun and challenging season. Last season I placed 4th in six different events, just shy of the podium (always my goal). It's nice to always be in the top five spots, but it's hard, too.

This season I hope to break that 4th spot barrier. If you pray please pray for safety, favor and increased impact for me this season. I thank you for visiting the STIHL site and hope you value a company like these guys, because they are the best at what they do and are supporting and helping many others in their pursuits. That is a cool thing I hope we can all say we strive for.

Thank you for checking in.

Luke Wynen

March 7, 2007

Tamarack Idaho Remember that name, this mountain has a lot of potential. It has been snowing since we arrived, and the Pipe is in excellent condition! WOW the 22 foot pipes are fun, I really like riding them. The Qualifiers were on friday, and I rode well, landing in the 8th place spot overall going to the finals set for the next day. Saturday it was snowing, and as in all snowy events it turned out to be a wax race, We all were having trouble with speed, and I fell in the first run of finals, so with one more run to go, I decided to go for a big and clean run, Hoping to do a frontside 1080 at the end of my run, the run was going great and on the last hit i didnt have enough speed for the ten, so I went with a 900 instead. The run was scored, 39.9 I ended up for the day in 4th so one spot from the podium, still working on that podium spot... If you told me i would have been in forth after the horrible practice i had I would have laughed at you, I fell every run, I had a lot of trouble, but it all came together in the last run.

March 4, 2007

Hello! Hello! I just got back from my Trip to Calgary, Canada for a double event world cup. First time for me at COP the Canadian Olympic park, Great Half pipe the guys did a great Job with the 22 foot pipe.

The first event went well I qualified for the finals, set to run that night. The night Finals was a fun time, lots of people out to watch.
I only landed my safety run in the finals so a 6th place spot was great. The next day we had another full blown contest were I qualified again for finals. Excited about that. It means my riding is solid and ready for progression. The night final this time was super warm and a bit windy we almost didn't have the event, I landed my safety run again, and then was ready to go for a podium spot run, but unfortunatly I landed too flat to have a shot so I just went for some fun airs. I have competed in nine events so far this season and am excited to say I have finished around the top 5 in the last five comps. This is good for me and great for Stihl, lots of tv time so anyone readying this I hope you tune in to NBC or VS or OLN to catch some of my runs.

Till the next time take care and God bless!

February 12, 2007

I traveled to Mt Bachelor Oregon for the US Grand Prix, this event was relocated from New Jersey, because of warm weather on the east coast. The event organizers worked hard, but the pipe didn't hold together very well. So it was challenging to avoid the holes on the pipe but I made the finals and rode well, I landed one run in the finals, the other run was a throw away run as I hit most of the holes. The run I landed was scored well enough for 6th place! Which is the Best result so far of 2007. I am working hard to climb the ranks of the pro events. Soon I hope to be on the podium again. I have been making some huge leaps in my riding, but am still working with the amplitude and the finish of all the tricks, but it is coming. Bend Oregon is a great town, and had a great time visiting with some friends and I was also lucky enough to have my family come along. Making my grueling travel schedule a bit more bearable. Next week I'm off to Aspen for another event and look forward to telling you guys and galls all about that adventure. Please look for this event to be on tv soon, on NBC and also VERSUS. I pretty sure you will see my smiling face and the one of a kind STIHL / Unity snowboard.

February 6, 2007

Well I'm into the season now. My riding has been progressing at each event, Europe was a great time in Laax Switzerland, Met up with some friends there in Flims, Switzerland. The Burton European Open went well for me in the semifinals, Qualifying 5th to the finals, then we had some bad weather come in and almost cancel the event, but the Burton guys made a great choice to postpone the event until the following day. Beautiful blue skies and no wind made everybody smile. I had some good runs and my last run was going great maybe a podium run, then I fell on the last hit, when you riding as hard as you can hoping to win the event sometimes you crash and get last in the finals, and that’s what happened. But all is not lost, I still made some money and had all my runs shown on TV in 10 countries in Europe. Good coverage for the sponsors. Well thanks to you, who read my blog, hope you have a great week and look forward to updating you on my trip to Mt bachelor Oregon real soon.

LUKE WYNEN AND OTHER FAMILIAR FACES BACK IN THE PIPE
December 15th and 16th Breckenridge, CO 

The 2007 US snowboarding season kicked off in Breckenridge, CO, on December 15th and 16th with stop one of the Grand Prix, the first major competition of the season on American snow.

The Grand Prix, always a staple of the snowboarding season, takes greater precedence in Olympic years, when the series serves as a qualifier. A three stop series, Grand Prix events will take place in Mountain Creek, NJ and Tamarack, ID, in addition to Breckenridge this season. While Olympic slots aren’t on the line this season, US Snowboarding Team honors are – an honor that extends a rider’s season, providing extra training and sponsorship opportunities. With total prize money of $300,000 in the series, including $14,000 for first place in the halfpipe at Breckenridge, this series might look like a party, but it is anything but. At the end of the season, the male and female rider who have accumulated the most points will be awarded a brand new Chevy Truck from Chevrolet, the event’s title sponsor.

Click the following links for photos of Luke in competition:
http://www.lat34.com/snowboard/rookies_vs_vets_gallery/rkvsvt_luke_wynen
http://www.lat34.com/snowboard/2006_chevrolet_snowboarding
http://www.lat34.com/snowboard/rookies_vs_vets_gallery/rkvsvt_jack_mitrani

December 20, 2006

Hey everyone, I have had a great fall. I had the honor of attending the FFA convention because of STIHL. I had a great time, got to meet many great people, signed autographs until my arm hurt and even had the chance to speed climb a tree. Very cool. I have never seen so many blue coats in one spot. 55,000 people.

As for this season, I am feeling strong, and looking forward to what this season holds. Right now I am in Breckenridge Colorado for the Chevrolet US Grand Prix, the first event in the USA this season.I have been training for a little over a week now. Friday the 15th is the qualifier and finals are on Saturday the 16th. I also have been involved with a new project in Copper Mountain with Woodward camp. They are in partnership to build a snowboard and ski training facility, which i believe will change both sports in the years to come. After this event I will return home to Mammoth, CA for the holidays and will have another update during that time. God bless you all during this special time of year, and enjoy the time with your family and friends.

Luke Wynen

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