Already infamous for some of the best miniramp skating that Europe has to offer, great music and good times, not to mention the stunning beachside setting, this year’s Off The Wall Spring Classic promised to be epic.

With the cities of Milan, Genoa and Nice all nearby, skaters, press and visitors flew in from all over the Europe to be greeted by the Fiat Freestyle Team cars, who brought them right to the beach in time for a warm up on the ramp before the accolade of ‘Best Miniramp Trick’ was dealt out. One of the first arrivals, Denmark’s Dannie Carlsen took to the ramp quickly, and it paid off as his half cab blunt 360 kickflip out saw him walk away with a 250EUR cheque. As newly crowned Dutch Champ, Daan Vanderlinden’s frontside nosegrind down the spine feature was another winner, as was Chris Gregson’s frontside flip disaster backside revert and a frontside noseblunt backside revert from Mason Merlino saw all four win cash prizes.

As the main contest kicked off the next day, the sun shone on Varazze for the Vans “Off The Wall” Spring Classic. 65 skaters made their way to the beach for the qualifying rounds, and with the bar really raised for this year’s event, places for the finals were hotly contested.

Saturday also saw the skaters session the street course, where once again prizes were given for the best tricks. Italy’s own Jacopo Picozza hit the ledge with a smith grind flip out and a crook nollie flip later on, while Kris Vile (UK) made the most of the handrail with a 270 lipslide, and a nollie inward heelflip down the stairs and Czech’s Richard Tury impressed with a bigspin heel boardslide, feeble flip out and a switch heel backside boardsilde, which earned them all a cool 500EUR each. Killian Zehnder was the fourth to win 500EUR, with a frontside feeble frontside 180 out.

After the skate showdown the focus moved to the Monster Stage, where Italian rapper ENSI opened to the biggest crowd to ever descend upon Varazze. Fellow Italians Extrema then brought their own brand of heavy metal to the stage, getting the mosh pit warmed up for Strung Out, who saw looked out across to thousands of people all head banging. Finally, the evening’s headliners and longtime Vans collaborators Millencolin came out, and with tracks like ‘Happiness for Dogs’ and ‘Penguins & Polarbears’ the whole town rocking out.

Unfortunately the Californian spirit didn’t last, and the next day sore heads were greeted with heavy rain. Despite the best efforts of all involved, the weather is something that could not be influenced and as a result, the finals had to be cancelled.

As the rain was not letting up, the prize giving commenced, with the awards for the ‘Best Trick’ sessions first, followed by cash prizes from the 12,000EUR pot being given to the top skaters from the competition. Dannie Carlsen’s laidback approach and technical skating saw him take the top spot and a cheque for 3,000EUR. Young ripper Aurelien Giraud (FR) came through in second place, and took home an extra 1,800EUR pocket money, whilst Italy’s Ivan Federico was presented with third place and a cheque for 1,600EUR.

In all, Vans’ fifth “Off The Wall” Spring Classic in the beautiful town of Varazze was a massive success, with an unprecedented level of riding, an epic ramp and good times all round, it’ll have provided some stories and great memories for all that were there. Here’s to next year!

The riders of the FIAT Freestyle Team turned the “Wind Tunnel” into a huge pipe for skateboarding and BMX. It happened a few days ago, during a special photo shooting at the Fiat Group Automobiles – Aerothermal PCC Centre in Orbassano (Turin).

Daniel Cardone (skate) and Stefan Lantschner (BMX), for the first time in the history of action sports, have landed their best tricks on the surface of the wind tunnel, used for advanced testing and product development of all the cars of the Group.

For the occasion, the snowboarder Stefano Munari was at the wheel of FIAT Panda 4×4, official FIAT Freestyle Team car.

You can now check the amazing result of this exclusive experience in a “surreal” spot here:

PHOTOGALLERY

Celebrating it’s 5th year of “Off The Wall” spirit, the Vans Off The Wall Spring Classic is proud to present an incredible line up for 2013. Swedish punk rock legends Millencolin headline the event, with Strung Out representing the Californian connection with their melodic punk. These long time supporters of the “Off The Wall” mentality will be supported by home-grown talent in the form of Extrema, with their abrasive flavour of Italian heavy metal, and acclaimed freestyle rapper ENSI.

During the whole event, FIAT Freestyle Team cars FIAT Qubo, Doblò, Sedici and Nuova Panda 4×4, so dynamic, strong and nonconforming just like skateboarding, will take riders and artists everywhere.

Check out the photogallery

A packed program for three days featuring concerts, art exhibitions, live performances and snowboarding based around the best in boardsports culture attracted visitors from all over Europe.

Top moment of the event was the snowboard contest, held in the amazing Nightpark Hinterglemm on an incredible line opened by the FIAT Down Rail Section.

After the two days of competition, the KBR team (Janne Lipsanen & Sami Luhtanen) made it to the first step of the podium, followed by Blue YMC team (Mathias Weißenbacher & Clemens Schattschneider), while GM team (Philipp Gruber & Thomas Minibichler) gained the third place.

The FIAT Freestyle Team was represented by Stefano Munari, who attended the race in tandem with Thomas Feuerstein, snowboarder of the Nitro Team.

FIAT Freestyle Team cars were on site during these days of fun and entertainment. Among them, the amazing FIAT Panda 4×4 Crawler concept car, a special FIAT 500C with sound system acting as consolle for the dj set by Dj Kensei and the original FIAT 500L, customized with the airbrush paintings made by Winter MASH artists.

Check out the photogallery on: Facebook/FIAT Freestyle Team

FIAT Freestyle Team supports Ästhetiker Winter MASH, the big event of snowboarding, music and arts kicking off over the 13th – 15th of February 2013 in Saalbach Hinterglemm, SalzburgerLand, Austria.

The Winter MASH (acronym of Music, Art and Snowboard Happening) is the latest creation by the Ästhetiker crew: a team based snowboarding contest fused with live music and interactive art elements, all combined to showcase the best in boardsports culture.

Plans for a new competition in the Nightpark Hinterglemm have already been drawn up. Two-man teams will battle it out on a creative line starting in the FIAT Down Rail Section, proceeding through kickers, poles, bonks and ending in a blaze of rails and walls, just in front of the main music stage.

Check out the park for the Ästhetiker Winter MASH here

The qualification for the Winter MASH will start on Thursday February 14th. The best four teams qualified will face up against the twelve invited crews in a 16-team head-to-head knockout race. The Super Final will take place on Friday 15th February at 9.10 pm.

The FIAT Freestyle Team will be well-represented by Italian snowboarder Stefano Munari, who will attend the contest in tandem with Thomas Feuerstein, from Nitro Team.

FIAT Freestyle Team cars will be on site during the three days of fun and entertainment. Among them, the amazing FIAT Panda 4×4 Yeti concept car and the original FIAT 500L, which will be customized with the airbrush paintings made by Winter MASH artists.

For all updates about FIAT Freestyle Team @ Ästhetiker Winter MASH:
Facebook/FIAT Freestyle Team
Facebook/FIAT Austria
www.fiatfreestyleteam.com

For schedule and line up of Ästhetiker Winter MASH:
Facebook/AsthetikerWinterMash
www.wintermash.com
www.aesthetiker.com

Take a look at the edit to find out all the “behind-the-scenes” of the journey from the Alps to the Atlantic Ocean, in the search of the perfect shot.

And do not forget to browse the Facebook gallery and “LIKE” your favorite photos: http://goo.gl/drHDA

FFT Picture Awards, in collaboration with: Facciosnao Family, Quiksilver, Nitro SnowboardsRed Bull, TomTom Italy, Sequence Snowboarding.