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The Canadian great freestyle skier overcomes a crippling knee injury just prior to X Games last year, scores a competition berth from an alternate position, and wins By Pat Schutte
 
Photos courtesy of: Seth Pulford
CORONA, Calif., (Jan. 30 , 2009) – “What and incredible Cinderella story…off the operating table and into the Winter X finals…looks like he’s gonna throw a Rodeo 540 off the Butter Box…OH, he got all of that one!...The normally reserved Aspen crowd – going wild – for this young Cinderella boy, coming back from a huge injury…Looks like he’s got the 900, with grab, lined up over Crossover Canyon, don’t you think?…OH, he got all of that one!...Cinderella boy, tears in his eyes I guess, all of his homies back in Vernon, B.C., now deathly silent as he lines up his last trick, a Switch 1080 off the Money Booter and a shot at the Winter X Ski Slopestyle championsh…IT’T GONNA BE GOLD!!! IT’S GONNA BE GOLD!!! ¬– Monster Energy skier TJ Schiller’s ’09 Winter X Games’ “Cinderella” Ski Slopestyle gold medal performance put to Bill Murray’s famous flower-whacking scene in Caddyshack.
Easily the best ski story coming out of Winter X this past weekend was that of Schiller’s. A torn up knee (ACL) and basically left on the shelf for Winter X 13, Schiller’s crew and sponsors scrambled just to get the 23-year-old in as an ‘alternate’ for the world’s premier winter action sports competition. Once there, and some 40 runs at the Buttermilk Mountain Slopestyle course later, Schiller not only gets in, but he also pulls off maybe the most improbable win of the weekend – wrecked knee and all.
In a hectic planes, trains and automobiles kind of way, we tracked down TJ and got his take on the incredible story he brought to life at Winter X 13.
Monster Energy: Hey man, you been chillin’ that gold medal, putting it on your knee?
TJ Schiller: “(laughter) Nah, not at all. I opted on not going to Vegas (Ski Industries Association trade show) and headed back home (Vernon, B.C.), saw my therapist and hit the gym to make sure my body’s still on point because the season’s not even close to being over.”
Monster Energy: Coming in as an alternate, how did that all shake down – you making it to the qualifiers and such?
TJ Schiller: “I don’t know, really. I was injured last year right before Winter X – and was in for those X Games. Then ended up having my whole season (’08) off, doing crazy vigorous rehab and, uh, I don’t know – thought I’d be in. But kind of just got forgotten, kicked underneath the carpet and I really had to get after it with my sponsors and myself just to get that alternate spot. I was a little bummed, little choked that they kind of forgot about me – but I don’t think they’ll forget about me again”
Injury information:
• Schiller blew out his right ACL in January of ’08, one week before Winter X.
• Following his reconstruction surgery, where they took a piece of his hamstring to re-create his ACL. Schiller was back on the snow, in a coaching capacity with kids at Whistler, B.C., four months later. No jumps, just slid around on skis a bit.
• Home for three months, which made for seven months rehab at that point, Schiller then went down to New Zealand in August, kept skiing – but still no jumping.
• Three more months at home, which made for ten month rehab, and was back on snow this past December, in France, hitting some jumps for the first time.
• Opted out of the first Dew Tour because he’d only been jumping for about 12 days, saying “I wanted my first contest of the year to be an eye opener!” Which, in fact, it certainly was.
Monster Energy: Once you found out you’d be in, what was your goal at that point - win, top five – or just get out of the qualifier to make the show?
TJ Schiller: “Obviously do the run I had in mind. Had a really good idea of what I wanted to do. Had been watching a couple other people’s runs and felt I had a couple different tricks over a couple different features that I thought the judges would be keeping an eye out for. So I just wanted to make sure I skied as consistent as I could, held my grabs as long as I could – go as BIG as I could – and have a big smile at the bottom!”
Monster Energy: What in your eyes allowed you to click and pull the best score?
TJ Schiller: “I think the deciding factor for the judges was my alley oop frontside 9 over the transfer. I did my most difficult trick on the most difficult feature on the course. So I think that’s what sealed the deal.”
Monster Energy: Hey, we noticed you were running some signage supporting a buddy of yours who recently got hurt. Talk that up some and let us know how the Monster Army can get involved.
TJ Schiller: “Yeah, man, one of my best friends – a best friend of all of ours – Riley Poor, an overall good friend and a team manager kind-of-guy to us who was always taking care of us and making sure we made the right choices with our ski careers and that. Last season he actually did become out ream manager for Nike 6.0, also a filmer alongside Simon Dumont. Riley had a really bad accident and is paralyzed from the waist down – and he’s one of our best friends in the world. So we need all the support we can get for him. I’m donating a large part of my winnings to him so that he can get the right rehab and come back stronger than before.”
Monster Energy: Where can we go to step up and help out a bit?
TJ Schiller: Yeah, www.rileypoor.com
Monster Energy: That’s sofa king big of you, man. What’s next on your schedule?
TJ Schiller: “Chill out for the next few days before I’m off to LA for a couple weeks with Poor Boys and Nike 6.0. Then I’ll be doing a trip with Simon Dumont, Jossi Wells – another Monster athlete – and Sammy Carlson right up here in British Columbia. Two hour drive for me, gotta keep it Canadian for a while, you know? Grow a beard so it looks like I have some mountain man knowledge, whatever (laughs). After that it’s straight to the Dew Tour, then after that (pauses), shit, I dunno.
Monster Energy: You going to do some filming?
TJ Schiller: “Oh yeah, lot of filming, lots of powder, backcountry jumps and some spring sessions. Then the last event of the year will be Jon Olsson Super Sessions, a big one over in Europe. Two week filming contest with, for the first time, teams from different countries. So I’ve got Team Canada, bringing a homie of mine from Vernon, Justin Dorey, who’s been killing it all year in the Dew Tour Superpipe - tied with Tanner Hall for the overall lead. Stoked on a homie from my home ski area, Silver Star, kicking tons of ass this year.”
Monster Energy: Right on. Keep it dialed, stomp the landing, live the dream and all that!
TJ Schiller: “Yeah, man! Thanks a bunch to everyone at Monster for all their help this year. I’m stoked on the product, run the Original and am pumped to be representing with you guys.”
Monster Energy supports the sport. Be it freeskiing, rally, insane distance jumping, MX, MotoGP, road racing, supermoto, off-road, FMX, skate, MTB, rock crawling, wake, mini bikes, surf, snow, BMX – name it – the athletes are rockin’ Monster Energy more than anything these days. Check out all the types – Original Monster Energy, Monster Lo-Carb, Monster Assault, Monster Khaos, Monster’s fruit juice hybrid dubbed “M-80,” the party-friendly MIXXD, the ground-breaking Java Monster premium coffee & cream drink line supercharged with our Monster Energy blend, along with the new Monster Energy “Hitman” energy shot. TJ Schiller digs ‘em – so will you. On the ‘Net at www.monsterarmy.com and www.monsterenergy.com
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Abbott places 3rd at Lucerne (Calif.) opener of the ‘09 AMA Hare & Hound Series 
Photos courtesy of: Kinney Jones
CORONA, Calif., (Jan. 29 , 2009) – Monster Energy/Kawasaki’s Destry Abbott, the reigning AMA National Hare & Hound Championship champion, began his title defense this past weekend with a strong showing at the Lucerne (Calif.) opener, placing 3rd despite suffering a career-first two flat rear tires during the contest!
“I’ve really been working hard and definitely felt I had a great shot at winning this race,” said Abbott. “I was really happy to make up the time on the leaders after my first flat and thought I still had a shot at the win. I haven’t had a rear flat in more that five years of racing, so to have two of them in one race was pretty wild!”
The first of eight AMA Hare & Hound races that take place from now through next fall was held in some wild weather conditions at Johnson Valley OHVA in north central California. Abbott said that, coupled with some rain earlier in the week that left the track moist in some parts, incredibly high winds made for some treacherous conditions on some of the mountain sections. “It’s the worst I’ve seen out there,” he said on the wind conditions.
Two kicks at the start to get his Kawi fired allowed some of the pack to charge out ahead of Abbott, but the KX450F soon made up that ground and Abbott was up to 3rd once the mass start funneled down to a single file. Abbott ran the next 12 miles on the tail of David Kamo, with leader Russ Pearson still in sight. At the 18-mile marker Abbott would get past Pearson, then soon realized he had a flat rear tire.
“I couldn’t believe it!,” said Abbott. “I tried to do my best, but Russ knew what happened and went by when I was hitting some rough stuff. I was able to keep a descent pace, but was definitely losing time.”
Riding some 22 miles on a flat rear tire, Abbott came into the pits, remarkably still in 3rd place. A quick change of the rear tire and Abbott was back off after it – about 2.5 minutes behind Pearson. Pulling out in front of Gary Sutherlin and having to chase Ty Davis, Abbott had his work cut out for him – not to mention the winds had picked up even more.
“I was able to catch Ty and he was really cool and waved me by,” said Abbott. “But I was making some mistakes because the wind was so bad. So halfway through the loop I still didn’t know if I was making up any time, starting to doubt myself – until I saw dust a ways up.”
That dust was Pearson and Kamo battling for the lead. With ten miles to go Abbott sensed that he was making up time, and caught then 2nd place Kamo and was working to get past Pearson when – BAM! – another flat tire!
“We jumped this little graded road and the next thing you know my rear wheel is just all over the place,” said Abbott. “I’m like ‘No way! Do I have a flat AGAIN?’” Sure enough it was and Pearson and Kamo were able to pull away, finishing 1-2, respectively, with Abbott limping in – at speed - for 3rd.
Next up for Abbott, and this is big, would be this weekend’s Super Bowl and rooting for his home state Arizona Cardinals. Then it’s back to business in a couple weeks when the AMA National Hare & Hound Championship reconvenes in Ridgecrest, Calif.
Monster Energy supports the sport. Be it Hare & Hound, SX, rally, insane distance jumping, MX, MotoGP, road racing, supermoto, off-road, FMX, skate, MTB, rock crawling, wake, mini bikes, surf, snow, BMX – name it – the athletes are rockin’ Monster Energy more than anything these days. Check out all the types – Original Monster Energy, Monster Lo-Carb, Monster Assault, Monster Khaos, Monster’s fruit juice hybrid dubbed “M-80,” the party-friendly MIXXD, the ground-breaking Java Monster premium coffee & cream drink line supercharged with our Monster Energy blend, along with the new Monster Energy “Hitman” energy shot. Destry Abbott digs ‘em – so will you. On the ‘Net at www.monsterarmy.com and www.monsterenergy.com
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Holland recounts the hyper-tight Snowboarder-X gold medal finals this past weekend at Buttermilk Mountain (Colo.), his upcoming season and Vancouver ‘10 
By Pat Schutte
CORONA, Calif., (Jan. 28, 2009) – Monster Energy drinkin’, green fire breathin’, ESPN Winter X Games Snowboarder-X course destroyer Nate Holland won an unprecedented fourth-straight gold medal in Aspen, Colo., this past weekend – making him the undisputed King of X Games boardercross, a title belt he’s wrestled away from three time consecutive winner and fellow NorCal snow bro Shaun Palmer (1997-’99).
The 30-year-old from Truckee, Calif., nicknamed “Hollandass,” has been unstoppable in big event boardercross events here in the States. Last year Holland won the now defunct Jeep King of the Mountain Series, along with Winter X. And is FIS World Cup efforts through four races this year have been “hot and cold” as he puts it, sitting in 7th place in the standings with five events remaining on that tour.
Winning Snowboarder-X at Winter X tops all that other stuff royally. And about the only thing that would equal his efforts the past four years in Aspen would be a gold medal in the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, B.C. But for now Holland’s again basking in the glow of dominating the world’s premier boardercross event, winning on a thigh-blistering 1:40-plus course in a race that could have gone either way – and almost did as you’ll see.
Note: Might be cool to watch the race first before you read what Nate has to say. Link up:
http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=3857964
Monster Energy: Four-straight golds…has anybody else ever done that?
Nate Holland: “A few people have done the four-peat, but never in Snowboarder-X. (Monster Energy’s) Palmer won three in a row back in the 1990s, so I broke his record. Another record I broke was no one had ever qualified first – then gone on to win it. So that was cool.”
Monster Energy: You didn’t pull the greatest start, but made two key moves coming from 3rd place to take the lead late in the race. Talk about those passes, the first on Graham Watanabe before setting up then leader Stian Sivertzen.
Nate Holland: “Once I got through the opening hairball part of the course where I almost went down (more on that later) I was in 4th place and I’ve been in that position before on long tracks. So I just said to myself ‘Alright, be patient, you know you’ve got the speed to knock these guys down one at a time.’”
Monster Energy: It was about that time when Nick Baumgartner went down, right?
Nate Holland: “Yeah. On the second set of rollers Baum went down which put me in 3rd and I was able to play my game and get behind Graham and start drafting, sucked right up onto him. Then out of turn four I had an opportunity to pass Graham and we clicked boards for a second and I decided that wasn’t really the time – wasn’t generating the whip out of the draft I wanted. So I jumped back in behind Graham and Stian was starting to take off a little at that point.”
Monster Energy: You came up on the option feature then. This is where things started to get real interesting.
Nate Holland: “When we hit that I decided to take a tighter line than I had all week – a really direct line. All that I was thinking was ‘How am I gonna get around these guys?’ Wasn’t thinking about me as much as I was looking to get up there and show them a presence, have them start thinking about me and hopefully they would start making some mistakes and that would allow me to make my passes.”
Monster Energy: At this point you were literally right on Graham’s tail.
Nate Holland: “Going through the option feature (the gauntlet-like corridor between the two Slopestyle jumps) I had a direct line and was able to take Graham, but then had to battle real hard with Stian to keep the inside line without getting disqualified. Pushed on Stian a bit and was able to make the gate, but lost some speed and Stian took off again.”
Monster Energy: Back to the drafting.
Nate Holland: “Yeah. I got back behind Stian’s draft and I knew that there was some turns coming up where I had a chance to pass. Built my speed up and he was a little wide on the turn, where I knifed it and right in the lower section and worked the hell out of the rollers - made it to the next turn in 1st.”
Monster Energy: And that’s all at jacket-flapping speed on a super-long leg-burner course – with still time to go.
Nate Holland: No doubt. I could feel it in my legs during practice and qualifiers. But with the adrenaline I had going in the finals I didn’t even notice it.”
Monster Energy: Was there a point where you knew you’d just won your fourth X Games Snowboarder-X gold?
Nate Holland: “At about the three-quarter point I landed off the second-to-last jump and couldn’t hear any other boards land around me. Then pointed my board towards the last kicker – in a tuck - and I was just thinking to myself ‘Oh my God.’ Flew the last kicker and saw the finish line, then let the celebration begin!”
Monster Energy: As you said earlier, you came thisclose to getting cleaned out on the first turn. What happened there with Jon Cheever?
Nate Holland: “I mean, it’s coming out of turn one, everybody’s gunning for the holeshot and pressed in tight for the fast line. I was a little bit ahead of him (Cheever) and I think he rode up on the tail of my board, broke my board loose and it got a little squirrely and the next thing you know I’m going over a roller and caught a bunch of air where I shouldn’t have, but was able to get my board going in the right direction so I could land on it.”
Monster Energy: One of the favorites, Baumgartner, was in front of you in 3rd, then he went down when he touched edges with Graham. What were you thinking at that point?
Nate Holland: “Um, yeah, it was right in front and to the side of me. They tangled a little bit and Baum went shooting off to the right. I heard a big YELL from him and, basically, I just kept my eyes focused forward at the guys out in front of me and was thinking when I’d have to hit the gas pedal to catch them. But it was definitely one shark out of the tank at that point.”
Monster Energy: When you went through the option feature, were you thinking “This could get ugly” on account of you guys were all bunched together with 20-foot high ice walls just inches away on either side of you?
Nate Holland: “I just knew that it was kind of the halfway point and I’d built speed up in the straightaway off Graham’s draft to start making moves. And when I flew into that canyon, and we were three abreast and all tight, the only thought that was going through my head was ‘Oh man, I hope I’m not forcing this too hard’ – blowing up the other two riders and myself. But obviously it was time for me to start passing.”
Monster Energy: Powerful heelside turn to set up the pass on Sivertzen. Did you scope that line out before the finals?
Nate Holland: “Yeah, actually both of those lines I scoped in inspection earlier that day. Neither were necessarily the fastest lines, but were lines to gain position and gain control of the race at that point. Where I passed Stian, I kind of overturned it to the left and the first two rollers in that five pack were smaller. So when he (Stian) went outside on that roller pack he was dealing with bigger rollers and I was able to work the hell out of my side and that set me up on the left side of the course where I really needed to be to hammer that next turn.” (This move put Holland into the lead for good.)
Monster Energy: That was great. Everyone at Monster Energy’s so stoked. And on top of all that, what a lot of people don’t realize is that you got back to Aspen from an FIS World Cup Boardercross in North Korea (of all places) just in time to start the X Games.
Nate Holland: “That was tough. I never really adjusted (from the time change) all week long. So having Monster as sponsor definitely helped out a lot!”
Monster Energy: What’s up for the rest of the boardercross season?
Nate Holland: “So basically what I have going on for the rest of the season is the U.S. Snowboard Grand Prix in Boreal (Truckee, Calif.). That’s the first stop of the U.S. Championship. Then I’ve got the World Cup stop in Sunday River (Maine) and the guy who places the highest in both those events is the U.S. Champion. That and I’m still in the running for the overall World Cup title.” (Again, Holland’s currently in 7th after four World Cup boardercross events with five races to go.)
Monster Energy: Will the upcoming U.S. Championship decide who’s on the U.S. Boardercross team for the Vancouver Winter Olympics?
Nate Holland: “No. We’ll figure that out between next fall and next December. They’ll have four to five races that’ll be Olympic qualifiers and the four guys that do the best at those races gets to go to Vancouver.”
Monster Energy: Right on, Nate. Again, congrats from everybody at Monster Energy on your unprecedented fourth-straight X Games Snowboarder-X title. Good luck this weekend at Boreal and we’ll catch back up with you here soon.”
Nate Holland: “Thanks, man. It’s cool because I’ve been in Europe like four times this year and Monster’s blowing up big over there. Pumped to be on board.”
Monster Energy supports the sport. Be it boardercross, SX, rally, insane distance jumping, MX, MotoGP, road racing, supermoto, off-road, FMX, skate, MTB, rock crawling, wake, mini bikes, surf, snow, BMX – name it – the athletes are rockin’ Monster Energy more than anything these days. Check out all the types – Original Monster Energy, Monster Lo-Carb, Monster Assault, Monster Khaos, Monster’s fruit juice hybrid dubbed “M-80,” the party-friendly MIXXD, the ground-breaking Java Monster premium coffee & cream drink line supercharged with our Monster Energy blend, along with the new Monster Energy “Hitman” energy shot. Nate Holland digs ‘em – so will you. On the ‘Net at www.monsterarmy.com and www.monsterenergy.com
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Holland wins his 4th Snowboarder-X gold, Hibbert and Burke repeat as three-time champions (Snocross & SuperPipe) and Schiller pulls off event’s Cinderella Story – coming from an alternate spot to win Ski Slopestyle gold
CORONA, Calif., (Jan. 27, 2009) – Led by gold medalists Nate Holland, Tucker Hibbert, Sarah Burke and the remarkable story of T.J. Schiller, Monster Energy’s M-claw logo again went BIG at the ESPN Winter X Games 13 in Aspen, Colo.!
Holland (Snowboarder-X), Hibbert (Snocross) and Burke (Ski SuperPipe) pulled off repeat gold medal performances (four for Holland and ‘three-peats’ for Hibbert and Burke) in decisive fashion this past weekend on the slopes and at the base of Buttermilk Mountain in Aspen, Colo. Add to that a Cinderella Story gold medal from men’s freeskier Schiller in the men’s Ski Slopestyle and Monster Energy athletes brought home an impressive four gold medals, six total medals including bronze from both Mikkel Bang in Snowboard Slopestyle and Colby West in Ski Slopestyle.
“Certainly an impressive weekend in Aspen for Monster Energy athletes to say the least,” said Monster Energy Director of Sports Marketing John Lee. “Action sports fans worldwide were tuned into this event and our athletes stepped up and won some exciting competitions – or crashed out trying. Everyone at Monster Energy would like to congratulate the athletes that represented us this past weekend on winter action sports’ global stage and we wish you the best of luck in your competition efforts around the world the rest of the winter.”
Holland
The 30-year-old Truckee native made a BIG statement in winning his fourth consecutive Winter X gold medal – one that no doubt says he’s the favorite for gold at the Vancouver Winter Olympics in 2010. Crushing his way through the qualifiers, Holland would not be denied in the finals – even though he trailed for much of the contest. Out of the gate in around 3rd place, he gently muscled his way past Graham Watanabe before setting up Stian Sivertzen on a high line prior to the rollers to take the lead – and eventual win, breaking fellow Monster Energy athlete Shaun Palmer’s record for most Snowboarder-X wins.
“Today was pretty much a forced pass,” said Holland of his move on Watanabe. “I took a really direct line through that option feature and got right into the mix. I was able to let my board ride and got Graham there. A little later I took down Stian.
“You can’t win the race in the first turn, but you sure as hell can lose it.”
Burke
Keeping on the slope Monster Energy’s Burke was again masterful in here performance in the women’s Ski SuperPipe. Burke, much like Hibbert and Holland, is in a class of here own, though the gap is closing a bit.
With the amplitude wicked and the energy level pinned at the base of the enormous X Games SuperPipe at Buttermilk, Burke was forced to put it all together on her final run – which she did – to score the close 93.33 to 92.66 win over Jen Hudak for the gold. Burke opened with a grabbed, ten-foot-out 900 on the first hit, then put together consistent tricks throughout the remainder of her run which allowed her to edge out Hudak.
“Both Jen and Jess (Cumming) rode real well and it made for an exciting event for the fans,” said Burke. “Everybody’s stepping up their games and I’m happy I was able to the same and come away with the win. And it was good having the Monster Army there with me!”
Hibbert
Hibbert, 24, who won his first X Games gold medal in snocross at age 15, topped a stacked Snocross field that included Robbie Malinoski, Dan Ebert and Levi LaVallee for his third-consecutive X Games gold in the event.
“I got a good start and was pumped because that’s what I wanted to do – get out clean and get away from all the other guys,” said Hibbert. “And it worked out good. I got out early and pushed hard.”
Those in attendance at Buttermilk Mountain watched in awe as Hibbert pulled away from the world’s greatest snocross racers much like his Monster Energy counterparts Ricky Carmichael and Jeremy McGrath would do to the world’s top motocross racers during their heyday. Fans watching via television didn’t get quite the same effect as they’d be forced to watch the battles for 2nd and 3rd place – which were much more close. But every now and then the camera would catch up to Hibbert and the announcers would go on about how dominant the hard-charging Minnesotan has been and will continue to be.
As for Hibbert, he was casual about his effort – as he always is. “I don’t know how to explain the success, but it’s just been going awesome,” he said regarding not only his X Games gold medal performance, but also his undefeated season thus far on the AMSOIL Championship Snocross Series. “I work hard and I’ve got good equipment, good snowmobiles, good people, sponsors and it all comes together and we get results.”
Schiller
Quite possibly the best ‘feel good’ story emanating from Winter X 13 was that of Monster Energy’s T.J. Schiller. The veteran freeskier, who hadn’t medaled at Winter X since ’05 (Best Trick) and was coming off ACL reconstruction surgery and hadn’t even been skiing much prior to arriving in Aspen as an alternate for the men’s Ski Slopestyle competition, competing only once in the past year.
But Schiller was up to the task. He shook off the rust during practice, turning heads with his smooth descent through the tight and technical Slopestyle course. And as one man’s misfortune is another’s gain, Schiller got the pass into the prelims when another rider went down and was unable to continue. He’d take full advantage of it, rolling through his qualifier in third place and throwing down a 93.0 on his first of three final runs to take the win, which looked like this:
• 360 rail slide to 180 rail slide, 180 off
• Rodeo 540 off the Butter Box
• Rodeo 630 off the Cannon Box
• 900 (w/ grab) across the Crossover Canyon
• Switch 1080 off the Money Booter
“I can’t begin to tell everyone at Monster how pumped I am,” said Schiller. “Thanks again for having my back. This was an unreal weekend.”
Also noteworthy from Winter X 13: Bang & West rock 3rd place in the Snowboard/Ski Slopestyle events, respectively; Peter Olenick slammed hard on the Money Booter; Paul Thacker’s mechanic bailed and Thacker had to wrench for himself; Chris Burandt wasn’t able to pick up on his former gold medal ways in the Snowmobile Speed & Style event; Andy Finch and Louie Vito jammed in the Snowboard SuperPipe, finishing 7th and 8th, respectively; Torstein Horgmo maybe should have won the Snowboard Big Air finals vs. Travis Rice, but the texting public voted otherwise.
Monster Energy supports the sport. Be it skis, boards, snowmobiles, SX, rally, insane distance jumping, MX, MotoGP, road racing, supermoto, off-road, FMX, skate, MTB, rock crawling, wake, mini bikes, surf, snow, BMX – name it – the athletes are rockin’ Monster Energy more than anything these days. Check out all the types – Original Monster Energy, Monster Lo-Carb, Monster Assault, Monster Khaos, Monster’s fruit juice hybrid dubbed “M-80,” the party-friendly MIXXD, the ground-breaking Java Monster premium coffee & cream drink line supercharged with our Monster Energy blend, along with the new Monster Energy “Hitman” energy shot. Everyone running the Monster Energy M-claw logo at Winter X dug ‘em – so will you. On the ‘Net at www.monsterarmy.com and www.monsterenergy.com
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By Eric Johnson
“Yeah, I’d like to be on the box, obviously, and to be able to race with those guys, Reed and Stewart. Tonight I just want to figure out where exactly where I’m at.”
This was Monster Energy/Kawasaki rider Ryan Villopoto talking. It was high noon on Saturday, January 3, 2009 and the 20 year-old was nervous. Sitting in his motorhome with less than an hour before he would take to the track laid out down upon Angel Stadium and begin his first practice session for his highly anticipated debut in the Monster Energy Supercross Series.
After winning three consecutive AMA Motocross Lites National Championships and stunning the world with otherworldly performances in the 2007 and 2008 Motocross of Nations, Ryan Villopoto’s arrival in the elite 450F-based Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series was being hyped to the hilt very much like the rookie debut’s of two great racers who came before him: Ricky Carmichael and James Stewart.
Later that night and after all was said and done, just shy of midnight Villopoto sat in his locker area, slowly undressing. Villopoto had made a few small mistakes in his first 450F main event — hitting the ground over the finish line jump a few laps into the race being the foremost — and was forced to come from behind to finish a hard earned and very respectable fifth. Still, he was not happy.
“Should have, would have, could have, but without a bad start, I think I could have won the race you know?” he said, referring to the fact that heavy favorites Reed and Stewart had knocked each other down, thus handing the win to another rookie rider named Josh Grant. “Obviously, Josh won and Chad and James went down. It was basically given to anybody. I wasn’t there to take that opportunity. It’s the first race and I got it out of the way. Lap times, I know where I’m at. I made a little mistake caused a fall and that kind of stuff, but lap times were really close and that’s positive. Obviously everybody wants to win, but mistakes, man… Everybody makes mistakes and I made two big ones tonight.”
Villopoto regrouped during the week, but things took a turn for the worse at Phoenix where he finished an off-song seventh. Then came a strong fourth place finish at Anaheim II, just one position removed from being permitted to walk upon the podium.
Then came Saturday evening, January 24, 2009 and round five of the series in Houston’s Reliant Stadium. Just shy of 10 P.M. and with 48,277 fans looking on the gate dropped sending the roaring pack rocketing down the stat straight and into the bizarre and treacherous double-apex first turn. While Suzuki’s Mike Alessi grabbed the holeshot, it only took Ryan Villopoto a few corners to go flying into the lead. He would remain out front and leading the way until lap number four when Stewart motored by the young KX450F pilot and into the lead. Concurrently, Reed was slashing his way through the pack, up to fifth place with just Josh Grant and Red Bull Honda’s Andrew Short before him. By lap 11, Reed was into third. He would then pick up second when Villopoto made a small bobble on lap 13. But miscue and all, Ryan Villopoto held on for third and had finally achieved the goal he had set for himself on opening day — he was standing atop the victory podium, flanked by the world’s two best riders.
“I expected to be up there right away,” said Villopoto later that night. “The first two rounds didn’t go the way I wanted them to, and then it was better at Anaheim II – I ended up fourth, just off the box. I wanted to be up there, but I made progress. I’ve made steps forward every week.
“I know I can run with those guys, and my lap times showed it,” he added. “And without that fall, I know I could’ve at least held Chad off for five more laps. Where that five more laps ended up to be – whether it was lap fifteen or eighteen – who knows? But maybe I could’ve ended up with second. But I’m going to keep trying.”
Next stop: #24 Willie Mays Plaza in San Francisco, California. Address of one AT&T Park and round five of the 2009 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series
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Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Christophe Pourcel wins the ESX Lites opener and Monster Energy/Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto scores his first SX podium 
CORONA, Calif., (Jan. 26 , 2009) – Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Christophe Pourcel won the opening round of the 2009 ESX Lites series this past weekend at Houston’s Reliant Stadium and Monster Energy’s Ryan Villopoto scored his first-ever SX class podium (3rd) to lead the Monster Army generals in a very successful operation at round four of 2009 Monster Energy AMA Supercross, an FIM World Championship.
Beginning with Villopoto and the premier SX class, the Poulsbo, Wash., racer stepped up and put his Kawasaki KX450F on the edge and seemed to break loose of the “rookie” moniker he’s been carrying around in 4th place this season – putting in a ride worthy of his multi-time Lites class championships en route to the 3rd place spot on the podium.
“Like anything, a good start helps out, being up front and clear,” said Villopoto. “Had a good race going there until I tipped ‘er over, but thanks to my Monster Energy/Kawasaki team for getting me up there to begin with.”
Having finished second in his heat race to SX class points leader Chad Reed, Villopoto lined up at the main and shot out to the first corner, appearing like he was going to pull the holeshot – only to have longtime rival Mike Alessi snake him to the chalk line. RV quickly made short work of Alessi and took over the race lead for the first several laps. Former champ James Stewart then caught up to RV and the two swapped the lead several times before Stewart got out in front. Comfortably in 2nd, a momentary lapse in concentration later in the contest caused RV to bury the front end of the bike and, unfortunately, allowed Reed to catch him for 2nd.
Said Reed: “Yeah, I got a bit of a gift there with Ryan going down.”
RV was able to remount and hold off a host of other factory-backed SX class veterans to save 3rd place.
In the MX Lites class the series shifted to the East Coast and Monster Energy was led by the Frenchman Pourcel who pulled the holeshot in the main and led it from start to finish – scoring the second career AMA SX Lites win of his career.
“I am very happy to have come back from injury so soon and to be able to win,” said Pourcel. “I would like to thank my Monster/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki team for giving me the fastest bike. I will head back to France now for a while then be back ready to go for the Atlanta Supercross.”
Pourcel’s Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki teammate, Austin Stroupe – who broke his collarbone at about the same time Pourcel broke his in December – had an excellent first weekend on the ESX tour as well. Stroupe put up the fastest lap times of the weekend in practice (51.663 to Pourcel’s 51.701) and won the second heat race by 1.5 seconds over Matt Lemoine. Set to rock the Lites main, Stroupe would tangle with Darryn Durham at the start and come out well behind his teammate Pourcel and the rest of the lead pack. But back quickly to within the top ten (9th) following the first lap, Stroupe would make the top four by lap four – a position he’d hold through the checkers (4th).
Also putting his Monster Energy/Kawasaki in the top ten with Villopoto in the SX class was Tim Ferry, who started 9th and finished 8th. Monster Energy’s Josh Hill (Yamaha) would ride well and finish just outside the top ten (11th) and Monster Energy/Cernic’s/Kawasaki’s Paul Carpenter would place 13th.
Noteworthy: Nick Wey (Boost/ampm/Monster Energy/Troy Racing) would run into some rough luck – at no fault of his – in both his heat and the LCQ and would not qualify for the main, marking the first time that’s happened this year to Wey. Monster Energy’s Sean Hamblin (Yamaha) torqued his leg pretty good in practice and tried to gut out his heat race, but had to retire and was unable to answer the bell for the SX class LCQ.
Next up for the Monster Energy-backed Monster Energy AMA Supercross racers is round four of the series at San Francisco’s AT&T Park – and back to the 2009 WSX championship – this Saturday, Jan. 31th.
Monster Energy supports the sport. Be it SX, rally, insane distance jumping, MX, MotoGP, road racing, supermoto, off-road, FMX, skate, MTB, rock crawling, wake, mini bikes, surf, snow, BMX – name it – the athletes are rockin’ Monster Energy more than anything these days. Check out all the types – Original Monster Energy, Monster Lo-Carb, Monster Assault, Monster Khaos, Monster’s fruit juice hybrid dubbed “M-80,” the party-friendly MIXXD, the ground-breaking Java Monster premium coffee & cream drink line supercharged with our Monster Energy blend, along with the new Monster Energy “Hitman” energy shot. The Monster Energy guys running the Monster Energy Supercross series dig ‘em – so will you. On the ‘Net at www.monsterarmy.com and www.monsterenergy.com
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Hibbert’s untouchable in the main event, pulling the holeshot on his Monster Energy/Arctic Cat SnoPro 600 sled and leading through the checkers for 1st place  
Photos courtesy of: Jeff Nemecek
CORONA, Calif., (Jan. 26 , 2009) – One of the most dominant performances at ESPN’s Winter X Games 13 came on the snocross track where Monster Energy’s Tucker Hibbert raced to his third-consecutive gold medal, pulling the holeshot and winning in decisive fashion to continue his undefeated streak in pro snocross racing this winter.
Hibbert, 24, who won his first X Games gold medal in snocross at age 15, topped a field that included Robbie Malinoski, Dan Ebert and Levi LaVallee.
“I got a good start and was pumped because that’s what I wanted to do – get out clean and get away from all the other guys,” said Hibbert. “And it worked out good. I got out early and pushed hard.”
Those in attendance at Buttermilk Mountain watched in awe as Hibbert pulled away from the world’s greatest snocross racers much like his Monster Energy counterparts Ricky Carmichael and Jeremy McGrath would do to the world’s top motocross racers during their heyday. Fans watching via television didn’t get quite the same effect as they’d be forced to watch the battles for 2nd and 3rd place – which were much more close. But every now and then the camera would catch up to Hibbert and the announcers would go on about how dominant the hard-charging Minnesotan has been and will continue to be.
As for Hibbert, he was casual about his effort – as he always is. “I don’t know how to explain the success, but it’s just been going awesome,” he said regarding not only his X Games gold medal performance, but also his undefeated season thus far on the AMSOIL Championship Snocross Series. “I work hard and I’ve got good equipment, good snowmobiles, good people, sponsors and it all comes together and we get results.”
For some more on Winter X right from the brain of Tucker Hibbert, link up to ESPN’s live athlete chat archive: http://espn.go.com/action/news/story?id=3859957
Monster Energy supports the sport. Be it snowmobiles, SX, rally, insane distance jumping, MX, MotoGP, road racing, supermoto, off-road, FMX, skate, MTB, rock crawling, wake, mini bikes, surf, snow, BMX – name it – the athletes are rockin’ Monster Energy more than anything these days. Check out all the types – Original Monster Energy, Monster Lo-Carb, Monster Assault, Monster Khaos, Monster’s fruit juice hybrid dubbed “M-80,” the party-friendly MIXXD, the ground-breaking Java Monster premium coffee & cream drink line supercharged with our Monster Energy blend, along with the new Monster Energy “Hitman” energy shot. Tucker Hibbert digs ‘em – so will you. On the ‘Net at www.monsterarmy.com and www.monsterenergy.com
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Hibbert will be joined by fellow Monster Energy M-claw logo runners Chris Burandt and Paul Thacker who’ll be contesting the snowmobile freestyle events
ESPN Winter Games X 13 blows up this weekend, Jan. 22-25!
 
Hibbert photos courtesy of: Jeff Nemecek Thacker/Burandt photos courtesy of: www.slednecks.com
CORONA, Calif., (Jan. 21 , 2009) – It’s been a decade since a relatively unknown teenager from Minnesota named “Tucker” hit the ESPN Winter X Games scene and blew doors on the competition, mining gold at the unbelievable age of 15 in what’s now viewed as the halcyon days of American snocross racing.
Since then the name Tucker, as in Tucker Hibbert, has become synonymous with Winter X SnoCross gold. Winning the past two consecutive X Games SnoCross titles in Aspen, Colo., Hibbert enters this year’s competition on a tear – going an undefeated 6-for-6 in both the Pro Super Stock and Pro Open classes on the AMSOIL Championship Snocross Series tour. So dominant is Hibbert, now 24, that he’s also won every ACSS qualifiers leading to his main event wins.
But Hibbert would likely trade his regular race season accolades in for another gold at Winter X. Akin to winning the Daytona 500 in NASCAR or the Las Vegas finals in Monster Energy Supercross, SnoCross Winter X gold – which would be his fourth gold medal and an unreal EIGHT total medals – is what Hibbert’s had his sights on since the ground started to freeze up on the 160-acre farm he just bought up in Goodridge.
“It’s cool to say this is my 10th year in a row at the Winter X Games, but it doesn’t seem like that long ago I was only 15 and lining up for my first SnoCross final,” said Hibbert, who topped a field at Winter X Games IV that included not only Blair Morgan and T.J. Gulla, but also Hibbert’s father, Kirk, who finished 5th! “It’s been a long time but I feel stronger than ever.”
At the 2008 Winter X Games’ SnoCross finals, Hibbert, then the defending Winter X champion in the event, was unstoppable. He pulled the holeshot and won his heat race with ease and was everybody’s short list as the guy to beat in Saturday’s main event. In addition, Hibbert ran ESPN’s “On Board” camera, which featured a clear shot of Hibbert, his Arctic Cat sled and the Monster M-claw logo through out the competition, copping some huge TV time for Monster Energy en route to his ’08 SnoCross gold medal.
No doubt keep an eye out for the No. 68 Monster Energy/Arctic Cat SnoPro sled running up front in Aspen this weekend at Winter X 13. And if you’d like to check in with Hibbert, be sure to hit him up on www.expn.com and the Live Athlete Chat this Thursday (Jan. 22) night during the Snowmobile Speed & Style event!
Monster Energy’s Slednecks – Burandt & Thacker
Deep in the heart of Colorado, off U.S. 40 and a bunch of miles from pretty much nowhere lies Kremmling, home of Monster Energy’s Chris Burandt and maybe the biggest pile of wood chips this side of the Rockies.
For the past week Burandt and his Monster Energy teammate, Paul Thacker, have been getting after it on the snowmobile freestyle jumps and coming back to earth in that big pile of wood chips. Yeah, there’s plenty of snow to ride – up in the mountains. And they do their fare share of that with Burandt’s Backcountry Tour company. But now’s the time for some core freestyle training in preparation for the X Games’ Snowmobile Freestyle and Snowmobile Speed & Style events.
A former Freestyle gold medalist (’07), Burandt wadded himself up and out of contention this past year with wrecks prior to and during Winter X Games 12. He’s certainly looking for some redemption – and odds are he’ll find it this weekend in Aspen. “Always a cool time of year,” he said. “Show up with your buds and throw down.”
Thacker, a snowmobile jumping world record holder who joins Burandt on the Monster Energy/Slednecks Invasion Tour throughout the winter on the ACSS stops, has his sights set on the Speed & Style podium as well. “I’ve been spending time in the foam pit, trying to learn some stuff upside down,” he said. “Now it’s time to put it to the snow.”
For more information on the ESPN Winter X Games 13 snowmobile schedule, be sure to hit up www.expn.com
Monster Energy supports the sport. Be it snowmobiles, SX, rally, insane distance jumping, MX, MotoGP, road racing, supermoto, off-road, FMX, skate, MTB, rock crawling, wake, mini bikes, surf, snow, BMX – name it – the athletes are rockin’ Monster Energy more than anything these days. Check out all the types – Original Monster Energy, Monster Lo-Carb, Monster Assault, Monster Khaos, Monster’s fruit juice hybrid dubbed “M-80,” the party-friendly MIXXD, the ground-breaking Java Monster premium coffee & cream drink line supercharged with our Monster Energy blend, along with the new Monster Energy “Hitman” energy shot. Our guys running their sleds at Winter X will be diggin’ ‘em – so will you. On the ‘Net at www.monsterarmy.com and www.monsterenergy.com
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Former WORCS premier class champion (’06), Dietrich leads Monster assault on the Phoenix opener that also features Destry Abbott (7th) and Damon Huffman (9th)  
Photos courtesy of Joe Colombero
CORONA, Calif., (Jan. 19, 2009) – Defending World Off Road Championship Series (WORCS) runner-up, Monster Energy/Kawasaki’s Ricky Dietrich picked up right where he left off, looking for some redemption after losing the ’08 WORCS title to Bobby Bonds by one point at the final round last fall in Taft, Calif.
And Dietrich would find that redemption in Phoenix this past weekend – in a big way – winning the opening round of the popular western off road motorcycle racing series held in Phoenix at Speed World MX Track.
Dietrich, who finished 10th at last year’s WORCS opener, wasted no time in getting up front in the event, racing side-by-side with Bonds in the early stages before catching MX expert Tim Weigand for 2nd and setting his sights on race leader Kyle Summers. But a Summers bike malfunction late in the day would benefit Dietrich as he took over the lead and opened up a gap that nobody could close – giving him the win at the WORCS opener.
“I lost the WORCS Championship in last year’s opener,” said Dietrich. “This year I’m in perfect shape and my Monster Energy/Kawasaki is perfect so there’s no excuse not to win. I’m really happy to take the opener.”
Also making the top ten for Monster Energy/Kawasaki were Destry Abbott, the 2008 AMA Hare & Hound champion, who finished 7th and Damon Huffman, the 2008 AMA Endurocross runner-up (to Dietrich), who finished 9th.
Next up for the Monster Energy/Kawasaki off road racers will be the WORCS’ second round in Adelanto, Calif. (Feb. 20-22).
Monster Energy supports the sport. Be it enduro, SX, rally, insane distance jumping, MX, MotoGP, road racing, supermoto, off-road, FMX, skate, MTB, rock crawling, wake, mini bikes, surf, snow, BMX – name it – the athletes are rockin’ Monster Energy more than anything these days. Check out all the types – Original Monster Energy, Monster Lo-Carb, Monster Assault, Monster Khaos, Monster’s fruit juice hybrid dubbed “M-80,” the party-friendly MIXXD, the ground-breaking Java Monster premium coffee & cream drink line supercharged with our Monster Energy blend, along with the new Monster Energy “Hitman” energy shot. Ricky Dietrich, Destry Abbott and Damon Huffman dig ‘em – so will you. On the ‘Net at www.monsterarmy.com and www.monsterenergy.com
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Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Ryan Morais and Jake Weimer are on the WSX Lites podium; Monster/Kawi’s Ryan Villopoto scores season-best 4th in SX 
CORONA, Calif., (Jan. 19 , 2009) – Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Ryan Morais and Jake Weimer were again the top-placing generals on the Monster Energy AMA Supercross, an FIM World Championship tour, placing 2nd and 3rd, respectively, in the WSX Lites main event. And in the SX class Monster Energy was again led by Monster Energy/Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto who placed a season-best 4th in the premier class main.
Other Monster Energy-backed racers making the top 15 in the main events included: Jason Lawrence Boost/ampm/Monster Energy/Troy Racing), who placed a season-best 4th in the Lites main. In the SX main it was Tim Ferry (Monster Energy/Kawasaki) 8th, Paul Carpenter (Monster Energy/Cernic’s/Kawasaki) 11th, Josh Hill (Yamaha), Nick Wey (Boost/ampm/Monster Energy/Troy Racing) 13th leading the charge. Also noteworthy was Monster Energy/Cernic’s/Kawasaki’s Bobby Kiniry, who won the SX class LCQ to make the main (19th) along with Monster Energy-backed Sean Hamblin (Yamaha) who placed 18th.
In a thoroughly exciting Lites battle at “A2,” Morais grabbed his first-ever Lites class main event holeshot and led the race for the first several laps before getting passed by eventual race winner Ryan Dungey. Weimer, who start back in 5th place, gradually began to move up and caught Dan Reardon to move into 3rd place before setting his sites on Morais. But with three laps to go, while charging, a couple lappers would pinch Weimer off and allow Morais to break free for 2nd. Still, the 2nd/3rd podium effort for the two Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki racers would mark the second time in two Anaheim rounds both have been on the podium.
“It’s good to come out on the podium, salvage some points,” said Weimer. “I messed up a little bit, but was right there on Ryan (Morais). Everybody’s got to deal with that (lapped traffic) and I was third-best tonight.”
The effort for Morais was equally as impressive, if not more considering he was battling an illness that had him sidelined during the week leading up to Anaheim 2. “Felt pretty good in that I didn’t ride all week,” he said. “And that was my first-ever holeshot, which has a lot to do with the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki team and the bike they set up for me.”
Not to be lost in all the podium hype was the effort by Lawrence. Jacked around yet again in his heat race, Lawrence – who posted the second-fastest lap time in practice – was forced to take the LCQ route, which he won with ease to make the main. A lousy gate pick would ensue, though Lawrence would just about dial his YZ250F into the top five – only to run out of real estate on top of the first turn berm. The defending WSX champ battled back hard from the back of the pack to salvage 4th.
In the SX class heat races Villopoto would make the podium in the first heat, placing 3rd to make the main. The second heat race featured a whole slew of Monster Energy-backed racers as Ferry, Carpenter, Hill, Hamblin and Wey – in that order – all transferred from the second heat to the main.
Villopoto pulled an excellent start in the main and came out in 3rd place behind Kevin Windham and Josh Grant. Villopoto rode strong and would hold his ground, staying out front of Anaheim 1 winner, Grant, and Andrew Short to take 4th. Other Monster Energy-backed racers weren’t so fortunate at the start, although all would make up positions with Ferry, Carpenter, Hill and Wey all finishing on the lead lap.
Next up for the Monster Energy-backed Monster Energy AMA Supercross racers is round four of the series at Houston’s Reliant Stadium – and the first round of the 2009 ESX championship – this Saturday, Jan. 24th.
Monster Energy supports the sport. Be it SX, rally, insane distance jumping, MX, MotoGP, road racing, supermoto, off-road, FMX, skate, MTB, rock crawling, wake, mini bikes, surf, snow, BMX – name it – the athletes are rockin’ Monster Energy more than anything these days. Check out all the types – Original Monster Energy, Monster Lo-Carb, Monster Assault, Monster Khaos, Monster’s fruit juice hybrid dubbed “M-80,” the party-friendly MIXXD, the ground-breaking Java Monster premium coffee & cream drink line supercharged with our Monster Energy blend, along with the new Monster Energy “Hitman” energy shot. The Monster Energy guys running the Monster Energy Supercross series dig ‘em – so will you. On the ‘Net at www.monsterarmy.com and www.monsterenergy.com
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Monster Energy’s Robby Gordon is racing his Monster Energy/Hummer in the annual Dakar Rally held this year in Argentina and Chile
!!!NEWSFLASH!!! – Gordon’s into podium position at 3rd place with two stages remaining!
CORONA, Calif., (Jan. 15 , 2009) – With two stages remaining in the 2009 Dakar Rally, Monster Energy’s Robby Gordon has moved into 3rd place overall in the Car division of the famous endurance race being run right now through Argentina and Chile.
 With daily reports on MonsterArmy.com and MonsterEnergy.com, the Monster Army has been able to stay in touch with General Gordon’s efforts halfway around the world in sometimes desolate areas of the two South American countries.
We tracked down a few Monster Army members and got them to fire off some questions to Gordon, which we relayed down to a desert in Chile via satellite phone. Robby picked up and here’s what went down in the Monster Energy Six Pack!
1.) “How’s the Hummer working? Would you rather have your Baja truck down there?” – Tim V., Colorado
Robby Gordon: “The Monster Energy Hummer is working great. Right now, we are only 1 hour, 18 minutes behind the leader and are sitting in third place overall. We can identify every area that we have lost time that amounts to the hour or so that we are behind. The one thing that you can buy is experience. We think that we will be even stronger next year. The Monster Energy trophy truck would not be as competitive here in Chile / Argentina.” 
2.) “Is this Dakar race in South America harder or easier than the one in Africa?” – Kyle P., California
Robby Gordon: “The race started out easier; however, it is has been equally as tough as Africa in the last 5 stages. Finally, we are getting to the terrain that the Hummer was built for, and you can see where our performance has increased in the last couple days.”
3.) “Have you taken your Hummer over any sweet jumps?” – Napoleon D., Idaho
Robby Gordon: “Unfortunately, we got a couple that we didn’t mean to jump. The key to this race is survival - you want to go fast and not break your equipment. We did risk earlier in the Rally when we rolled. You can see the video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOy3RU05AuQ. We got lucky that we didn’t do any significant damage to the Monster Energy Hummer that would have precluded us from continuing the Rally. Keep on keeping on!”
4.) “Do you guys drink Monsters to stay awake during the race?” – Armando R., California
Robby Gordon: “The guys have definitely needed Monsters this year! There are a lot of very long hours and sleepless nights, so they can certainly use the energy boost.”
5.) “What place are you in right now and do you think you can win it?” – Ed W., Ohio
Robby Gordon: “We were fifth yesterday and now we are third today. If we have one more day like today, and we will be right where we need to be. There is still a long way to go. We just need to finish strong and have no problems.”
6.) “Are you using any mad NASCAR skills down there?” – Fraser D., North Carolina
Robby Gordon: “From a driver standpoint, I don’t really use any NASCAR skills for the Dakar Rally. The one thing that the Dakar Rally program has in common with the NASCAR program is the preparation. It is the only way that we can do this and be competitive. It is just like the NASCAR program where you only have a certain amount of time before the next practice, etc. so we just have to be as prepared as possible.”
Monster Energy supports the sport. Be it Dakar, SX, rally, insane distance jumping, MX, MotoGP, road racing, supermoto, off-road, FMX, skate, MTB, rock crawling, wake, mini bikes, surf, snow, BMX – name it – the athletes are rockin’ Monster Energy more than anything these days. Check out all the types – Original Monster Energy, Monster Lo-Carb, Monster Assault, Monster Khaos, Monster’s fruit juice hybrid dubbed “M-80,” the party-friendly MIXXD, the ground-breaking Java Monster premium coffee & cream drink line supercharged with our Monster Energy blend, along with the new Monster Energy “Hitman” energy shot. Robby Gordon digs ‘em – so will you. On the ‘Net at www.monsterarmy.com and www.monsterenergy.com
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Goodridge, Minn. (Jan. 19, 2009) - It’s Tucker Hibbert’s tenth appearance at ESPN’s Winter X Games and the 24-year-old has no sign of slowing down. Hibbert has his eyes set on a snocross gold medal three-peat and has the record to back him up.
Hibbert and his Monster Energy/Arctic Cat have been on a tear on the national snocross tour. He’s won every single qualifier and final and just recorded his 44th national career win. If that isn’t impressive enough, check out his Winter X Games stats. In his nine appearances at the games, he’s stacked up three golds, three
silvers and a bronze medal. In 2000, at only 15, Hibbert burst on the scene as a semi-pro and took home the gold medal by grabbing the holeshot and leading every lap of the final. It’s been a whirlwind of success ever since. Despite a mechanical failure in 2001 and not qualifying in 2006, Hibbert has medaled in every other
appearance at the Winter X Games.
Watch Hibbert and his Monster Energy/Arctic Cat in action LIVE on ESPN Friday and Saturday night. Friday night’s round one of qualifying starts at 7:30 p.m. MT and the final is Saturday night at 8 p.m. MT.
Tucker Hibbert’s Tenth Appearance at ESPN’s Winter X Games
2008: Gold
2007: Gold
2006: Did Not Qualify
2005: Silver
2004: Silver
2003: Bronze
2002: Silver
2001: Mechanical Failure
2000 Gold, Youngest Gold Medalist in WX History at 15
Tucker Hibbert - #68 Monster Energy/Arctic Cat
“I feel really good right now. I’ve been able to get in more testing in Colorado than ever before. The sleds are awesome and I feel really comfortable on them. It’s a good feeling knowing I’m undefeated this season but it’s not a done deal. Everyday I work on getting faster and making myself more prepared so I can be ready for anything that comes up during the race. I work hard and don’t worry about anyone else or things that I can’t control.
It’s cool to say this is my tenth year in a row at the [Winter] X Games. It doesn’t seem like long ago I was only 15 and lining up for my first X Games final. It’s been a long time but I feel stronger than ever.”
Noteworthy: Thursday night, during the Snowmobile Speed and Style event, Hibbert will be doing a “Live Athlete Chat.” During the event, log on to www.expn.com to send him your question.
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MONSTER CREW SET TO UNLOAD ON ASPENOnly one winter happening is significant enough to warrant the convergence of Monster’s entire winter sports ensemble—and that, friends, is Winter X Games.
From January 22-25 the affluent ski town of Aspen, Colorado transforms into a winter sports war-zone. With an Aspen mansion presently filling with world-class athletes, the Monster army has arrived in force. The Winter X Games is well known as a fixed point of progression—this is where the stakes are raised, and new ground is broken.
Morale’s at an all time high around the Monster camp—lets take a quick glance at who’s on deck, who’s riding the dark horse, and which athletes have “gold” written all over them.
SNOWBOARD BIG AIR:
Torstein Horgmo
Last year it was the upset of the event as Torstein toppled big-air legend Travis Rice with a massive switch backside 1260 for gold. Competition will be stiff with Kevin Pierce on a competitive tear, and Travis Rice and Andreas Wiig in the mix, but no one can best Horgmo’s dizzying rotations over a tabletop this season. Providing he stays on his feet, anticipate another gold medal.
SNOWBOARD SLOPESTYLE
Torstein Horgmo
Torstein just beat Shaun White as well as slope technician and countrymen Andreas Wiig at the Winter Dew—he could surely do it again here at X Games. DC Teammate Chas Guldemond is also in the cut, and the two feed off their “friendly” albeit fierce competition.
Raewyn Reid
Calgary’s Raewyn Reid may be a newcomer to the world of winter X, but she’s a rail specialist who's adept in every facet of slope. Following in the footsteps of Calgary native and Monster athlete Leanne Pelosi, Raewyn might be unknown, but she’s also über talented.
Kjersti Oestgaard-Buaas
New Monster recruit Kjersti is a halfpipe specialist by trade, but she’s got some serious chops on the slopestyle course as well. A two time Olympian, Kjersti is the consummate professional and a serious threat in any discipline.
Leanne Pelosi
Girl’s superstar Leanne Pelosi has been focused on filming with Standard Films this season, but she surely has the skill and experience to upset any slopestyle competition, X Games included—if her head and heart is in it.
SKIING SLOPESTYLE:
Jossi Wells
The Southern Hemi’s great hope took a silver medal in slopestyle his first year out. With a ton of technical tricks and well-rounded skills both in park and transition, Jossi is peaking, and with lil’ brother Byron on his heel at winter X this year—there’s little chance he’ll slow.
Colby James West
With a huge bag of switch maneuvers and tons of style showcased through token tricks like his switch seven double nose grabs, Colby James is a serious contender—particularly since he’s stolen the bronze before in slopestyle at winter X.
Peter Olenick
He has three X Games medals and a penchant for going all in—make it or break it style. In short, Peter has all the ingredients for a groundbreaking run and could be reaping the rewards that go along with it.
TJ Schiller
Freeskier phenom TJ Schiller broke out into superstar status at Winter X Games 2006, wrapping up gold in an impromptu “Best Trick” event with a switch 1080 nose grab. Schiller suffered a season ending knee explosion just days before the X Games last year—now he’s back and hungrier than ever.
Sarah Burke
The most prolific and progressive women skier of all time throws huge grabbed 900’s on the slope course as well as in the halfpipe. If she shows up, and throws down, Sarah medals—the girl is that good.
Kristi Leskinen
An X Games medalist and pioneer of groundbreaking moves like the rodeo 720, Kristi has an ultra smooth style and serious skills.
SKIING SUPERPIPE:
Jossi Wells
Jossi has been blowing up literally—he crashed out at the winter Dew Your in Vermont. If he can stay on his ski's, the kid carries major amplitude down the ’pipe with many technical tricks in his armament.
Colby James West
A switch master with an X Games medal on the mantle, Colby has had some disappointing results early season—leaving him hungry for a win mentally, and still in good health physically.
Peter Olenick
Aspen’s hometown hero’s Whiskey Flip is a sick trick. If he can stomp his double flip huge on the first hit, with a seamless run, he could be in the hunt.
Sarah Burke
Burke has owned winter X Games Superpipe with gold and silver annually—if she stays on her skiis, she medals. If she throws that 900 with the height and authority she’s known for, and peppers in some more tech, she slides away with another gold.
SNOWBOARD X
Shaun Palmer
The title of most prolific X Games competitor of all time still remains with Shaun Palmer, not White. With a record six X Games gold medals, more astoundingly he’s has gold in four different sports. After a freak accident that tore his Achilles tendon literally held him out of Snowboard cross for the 2006 Olympics, Shaun has mounted another comeback with a second place finish in an FIS World Cup SBX event in ’08. Look out youngsters—The Palm is back!
Nate Holland
Olympian Nate Holland realized his dream in Snowboard Cross at X Games last year by beating out Olympic gold medalist Seth Wescott and “threepeating”—achieving three consecutive gold medals in snowboard X. Can he break Palmers record and make it four?
SNOWBOARD SUPERPIPE
Andy Finch
Andy has been notably quiet since injuring his elbow in Breckenridge in December. If he’s on the mend, he could surely play the role of dark horse, overwhelming Superpipe kids with his massive amplitude and underestimated tech.
Danny Kass
Danny smashed his shoulder up in Vermont after spilling in the pipe a couple weeks ago—not the best trun of events before winter X. But with seven X Games medals, and two consecutive silvers in the Olympics, plus record-setting US Open Superpipe wins—hurt or not, Danbo is always in contention. And historically, X Games medals are his for the taking.
Louie Vito
Louie skipped the last pipe contest with a minor sprained ankle to be healthy for X Games. And this comp means the world to him, literally—this is where an amazing Superpipe run in (?) got his career going. More technical than the entire field and carrying more amplitude than in years past, Louie has all the tools for medal contention.
Kjersti Oestgaard-Buaas
A seasoned competitor with an Olympic bronze medal to her credit from Torino in ’06, she relies on impeccable style and massive amplitude. Kjersti just finished third in pipe at the Burton European Open and has years of pipe experience to draw upon.
Elena Hight
Young and talented with tight, technical rotations and a wealth of experience, Elena has had the 900 on lock for years—can she pull the first 1080 in Women’s competition? She has some momentum with a third place finish at the first winter Dew Tour in Breckenridge.
So there you have it: Monster’s amassed the baddest skiers and snowboarders and quite simply—we’re here to take it!
ESPN's SportsCenter will include LIVE coverage from Winter X Games 13. ESPN's X Center will follow on Thursday and Friday at 2 a.m. ET on ESPN2 and on Saturday and Sunday at 1:30 a.m. on ESPN 2.
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Monster Energy’s Robby Gordon is racing his Monster Energy/Hummer in the annual Dakar Rally held this year in Argentina and Chile
!!!NEWSFLASH!!! – Gordon’s into podium position at 3rd place with two stages remaining!
CORONA, Calif., (Jan. 15 , 2009) – With two stages remaining in the 2009 Dakar Rally, Monster Energy’s Robby Gordon has moved into 3rd place overall in the Car division of the famous endurance race being run right now through Argentina and Chile.
With daily reports on MonsterArmy.com and MonsterEnergy.com, the Monster Army has been able to stay in touch with General Gordon’s efforts halfway around the world in sometimes desolate areas of the two South American countries.
We tracked down a few Monster Army members and got them to fire off some questions to Gordon, which we relayed down to a desert in Chile via satellite phone. Robby picked up and here’s what went down in the Monster Energy Six Pack!
1.) “How’s the Hummer working? Would you rather have your Baja truck down there?” – Tim V., Colorado
Robby Gordon: “The Monster Energy Hummer is working great. Right now, we are only 1 hour, 18 minutes behind the leader and are sitting in third place overall. We can identify every area that we have lost time that amounts to the hour or so that we are behind. The one thing that you can buy is experience. We think that we will be even stronger next year. The Monster Energy trophy truck would not be as competitive here in Chile / Argentina.”
2.) “Is this Dakar race in South America harder or easier than the one in Africa?” – Kyle P., California
Robby Gordon: “The race started out easier; however, it is has been equally as tough as Africa in the last 5 stages. Finally, we are getting to the terrain that the Hummer was built for, and you can see where our performance has increased in the last couple days.”
3.) “Have you taken your Hummer over any sweet jumps?” – Napoleon D., Idaho
Robby Gordon: “Unfortunately, we got a couple that we didn’t mean to jump. The key to this race is survival - you want to go fast and not break your equipment. We did risk earlier in the Rally when we rolled. You can see the video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOy3RU05AuQ. We got lucky that we didn’t do any significant damage to the Monster Energy Hummer that would have precluded us from continuing the Rally. Keep on keeping on!”
4.) “Do you guys drink Monsters to stay awake during the race?” – Armando R., California
Robby Gordon: “The guys have definitely needed Monsters this year! There are a lot of very long hours and sleepless nights, so they can certainly use the energy boost.”
5.) “What place are you in right now and do you think you can win it?” – Ed W., Ohio
Robby Gordon: “We were fifth yesterday and now we are third today. If we have one more day like today, and we will be right where we need to be. There is still a long way to go. We just need to finish strong and have no problems.”
6.) “Are you using any mad NASCAR skills down there?” – Fraser D., North Carolina
Robby Gordon: “From a driver standpoint, I don’t really use any NASCAR skills for the Dakar Rally. The one thing that the Dakar Rally program has in common with the NASCAR program is the preparation. It is the only way that we can do this and be competitive. It is just like the NASCAR program where you only have a certain amount of time before the next practice, etc. so we just have to be as prepared as possible.”
Monster Energy supports the sport. Be it Dakar, SX, rally, insane distance jumping, MX, MotoGP, road racing, supermoto, off-road, FMX, skate, MTB, rock crawling, wake, mini bikes, surf, snow, BMX – name it – the athletes are rockin’ Monster Energy more than anything these days. Check out all the types – Original Monster Energy, Monster Lo-Carb, Monster Assault, Monster Khaos, Monster’s fruit juice hybrid dubbed “M-80,” the party-friendly MIXXD, the ground-breaking Java Monster premium coffee & cream drink line supercharged with our Monster Energy blend, along with the new Monster Energy “Hitman” energy shot. Robby Gordon digs ‘em – so will you. On the ‘Net at www.monsterarmy.com and www.monsterenergy.com
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In the U.S.A. defending AMA Arenacross Series champion and No. 1 plate holder Chad Johnson (Monster/Babbitt’s/Kawasaki) is in 3rd overall after two rounds 
CORONA, Calif., (Jan. 14 , 2009) – Up north, Canada way, at British Columbia’s Chilliwack Arena the Monster Energy/Thor/Leading Edge Kawasaki team crowned a new champion on the Nex-Trax Canadian Arenacross Championship tour – Monster Energy-drinkin’ Canadian Brock Hoyer in the premier Open class.
This past Friday Monster Energy/Thor/Leading Edge Kawasaki was led by new rider Jeremy Medaglia, who was filling in on the team for series points leader Teddy Maier (out with a broken leg). Medaglia picked up right where he left off in running well on the Monster Energy Canadian Outdoor MX Series, winning both his qualifiers and taking the both Lites and Open main events at the Nex-Trax Canadian Arenacross Championships’ final event.
On Saturday night it was Medaglia’s Monster Energy/Thor/Leading Edge Kawasaki teammate Hoyer who stepped up, winning the Open class after finishing 2nd to Medaglia in both the Lites and Open class on Friday. The win for Hoyer would give him the overall Open class title, hard-fought and at the same time a bit bittersweet in that the overall points leader (Maier) was unable to compete at the final round. Nonetheless he was pretty stoked to be crowned the 2009 Nex-Trax Canadian Arenacross Championship Open class champion.
“I'm super happy how my weekend went,” said Hoyer. “I felt I rode the best I have all series which is great considering I haven't been able to practice at all with all the snow we've had at home. The win gives me a lot of confidence coming into the new season, I know I can take my riding to new levels for 2009.”
Back here in the States after two rounds (four nights of racing) on the nation’s premier arenacross tour – AMA Arenacross – Monster Energy/Babbitt’s/Kawasaki’s Chad Johnson, the defending AX class champion and No. 1 plate holder, is in 3rd place in the standings with 57 points, 30 points back of AX class leader Jeff Gibson.
Johnson, from Rhinelander, Wisc., moved up in the standings this past Friday at Baltimore’s (Md.) 1st Mariner Arena with a 2nd place finish – despite starting from the back row. His Monster Energy/Babbitt’s/Kawasaki teammate Kelly Smith was 8th in the same race.
The following night wouldn’t be so great for Monster Energy’s top AX pilots as Johnson would suffer some mechanical issues and bow out of the main, while Smith would suffer a crash an be unable to continue.
Johnson and Smith return to action this weekend at Dayton, Ohio’s Nutter Arena for round three of 2009 AMA Arenacross.
Monster Energy supports the sport. Be it AX, SX, MX, rally, insane distance jumping, MotoGP, road racing, supermoto, off-road, FMX, skate, MTB, rock crawling, wake, mini bikes, surf, snow, BMX – name it – the athletes are rockin’ Monster Energy more than anything these days. Check out all the types – Original Monster Energy, Monster Lo-Carb, Monster Assault, Monster Khaos, Monster’s fruit juice hybrid dubbed “M-80,” the party-friendly MIXXD, the ground-breaking Java Monster premium coffee & cream drink line supercharged with our Monster Energy blend, along with the new Monster Energy “Hitman” energy shot. The guys grinding it out on the arenacross series’ here and in Canada dig ‘em – so will you. On the ‘Net at www.monsterarmy.com and www.monsterenergy.com
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Congratulations goes out to December 2008's Parting Shots Contest winner Donnie Williams. Check out his winning photo below.
For winning, Donnie's getting hooked up with Peter Olenick's gear!
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Hibbert’s now 6-0 in Pro Super Stock & Pro Open class action after three rounds of AMSOIL Championship Snocross Series racing in the northern Midwest 
Photos courtesy of Jeff Nemecek
CORONA, Calif., (Jan. 12, 2009) – Monster Energy’s Tucker Hibbert did it again and again, man! The Goodridge, Minn., native swept both the Pro Super Stock and Pro Open classes on the AMSOIL Championship Snocross Series’ (ACSS) tour, this past weekend taking it to the competition again at the highly-attended round three of the series held in front of his home state fans at Canterbury Park Raceway (Shakopee). The effort puts him at 6-0 on the season (3-0 in each class) and comfortably leading the ACSS championship chase.
Hibbert opened the competition on his #68 Monster Energy/Arctic Cat sled by dominating the qualifiers and giving him the No. 1 qualifier spot – and gate pick – in both the Pro Super Stock and Pro Open main events.
“It was exciting to race in front of so many fans,” said Hibbert of what the ACSS was calling a “record crowd.” “The Monster Energy/Arctic Cat crew has been working around the clock. They found a way to make my already unbelievable SnoPro run even better. Even though we’re undefeated it’s so important to stay on our game. I know everyone else is working hard so we can’t slow down and we won’t. My confidence is at an all-time high and I couldn’t ask for a better situation to be heading into Winter X 13 (Jan. 22-25).”
After pulling the holeshot and riding a flawless 26 laps to take the win in the Pro Super Stock final, Hibbert lined up for the Pro Open main event. Beat to the first corner by rival Brett Turcotte, Hibbert was able to wrestle the lead from his fellow Arctic Cat racer only moments later. On the 19th lap the race was red-flagged when Robbie Malinoski went down hard. He (Malinoski) was able to walk off the track on his own and Hibbert was at the front of the single-file restart – a spot he held through the checkers. All-in-all Hibbert led 84 laps on the day in securing his 43rd and 44th career wins.
Also noteworthy is the effort Hibbert’s put up to raise money for his injured buddy, fellow snocross racer Blair Morgan. Hibbert’s “Operation Inspiraction 7c” helmet auction is still up for bids on ebay. Bidding closes on Tuesday (Jan. 13) night. Here’s a link so you can check it out for yourself: www.ispiration7c.com
Next up for Monster Energy’s Tucker Hibbert is the Jan. 22-25 ESPN Winter X Games 13 in Aspen, Colo.
Monster Energy supports the sport. Be it snocross, rally, insane distance jumping, MX, MotoGP, road racing, supermoto, off-road, FMX, skate, MTB, wake, mini bikes, surf, snow, BMX – name it – the athletes are rockin’ Monster Energy more than anything these days. Check out all the types – Original Monster Energy, Monster Lo-Carb, Monster Assault, Monster Khaos, Monster’s fruit juice hybrid dubbed “M-80,” the party-friendly MIXXD, the ground-breaking Java Monster premium coffee & cream drink line supercharged with our Monster Energy blend, along with the new Monster Energy “Hitman” energy shot. Tucker Hibbert digs ‘em – so will you. On the ‘Net at www.monsterarmy.com and www.monsterenergy.com
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Horgmo unseats the crowd favorite and holds off Andreas Wiig and fellow Monster Energy boarder Mikkel Bang for 1st overall in Slopestyle!
CORONA, Calif., (Dec. 22, 2008) – Monster Energy-backed snowboarder Torstein Horgmo was the toast of the AST Winter Dew Tour stop at Mt. Snow, Vermont, this past weekend when he upset both Shaun White and Andreas Wiig to take 1st place in the men’s Slopestyle competition at the second round of the inaugural winter action sports tour.
Horgmo exploded on his first of two runs, kicking out the jams in the deep-chilled northeast afternoon with a stomped switch backside 1260 on the run’s last hit – sending the pro-White crowd into a frenzy in favor of what they just witnessed from the young Norwegian rider.
“I had planned my whole run except the last jump,” said Horgmo, who also won the prelims in addition to the Slopestyle finals. “I wanted to see how much speed I had going into it. It’s the biggest jump of the course, but it’s still not really that big for doing a 1260. You need a lot of speed for the 1260 and I need my time to make it feel good and it usually looks good that way too.”
Hot on Horgmo’s trailing edge was fellow countryman and Monster Energy-backed rider Mikkel Bang. The two Norwegians had the Dew Tour’s Slopestyle covered and Bang, who was thisclose to winning the Slopestyle opener at Breckenridge (Colo.), kept the feverous pitch pinned with a run that included: Cab 900, backside rodeo, switch backside lipslide, switch backside 900 and a frontside 1080 off the final hit.
Bang had worked his way into a podium spot with a third Norwegian, Wiig, but was knocked back to 4th place on White’s final run. It was Horgmo’s day, though, as nobody could top his hyper-rotating antics, fueled by Monster Energy. “I’m happy about my riding today. Today was just my moment,” said Horgmo.
Other notable moments for Monster Energy athletes at Mt. Snow included: Danny Kass wadding up in the snowboard Superpipe and jacking his shoulder; Ben Watts, 15, making the prelims in snowboard Superpipe and being the youngest dude to do so; Jossi Wells detonating in both his ski Slopestyle finals runs; Peter Olenick auguring in on his two Whiskey Flip attempts in the men’s ski Superpipe and Breckenridge snowboard Superpipe winner Louie Vito not making the Mt. Snow contest due to a ankle injury.
The Monster Energy women competitors were led by newly-signed Chanelle Sladics, who finished 2nd in the prelims and blazed to a 3rd place finish in the snowboard Slopestyle. Then in women’s snowboard Superpipe, Elena Height rode well in the prelims but sketched a bit in the finals and didn’t make the top six. Overall Height, who finished 2nd at Breckenridge, is still in 4th place, just five points back of Kjersti Bauus (140-135) for the third and final podium spot.
In women’s freeski exhibition competition, Monster Energy’s Sarah Burke would podium in both the Superpipe (3rd) and Slopestyle (3rd) events, with Kristi Leskinen finishing 5th in Slopestyle.
The AST Winter Dew Tour finals take place at Northstar-At-Tahoe (Calif.) on Feb. 19-22.
Monster Energy supports the sport. Be it mountain sports, rally, insane distance jumping, MX, MotoGP, road racing, supermoto, off-road, FMX, skate, MTB, wake, mini bikes, surf, snow, BMX – name it – the athletes are rockin’ Monster Energy more than anything these days. Check out all the types – Original Monster Energy, Monster Lo-Carb, Monster Assault, Monster Khaos, Monster’s fruit juice hybrid dubbed “M-80,” the party-friendly MIXXD, the ground-breaking Java Monster premium coffee & cream drink line supercharged with our Monster Energy blend, along with the new Monster Energy “Hitman” energy shot. Everyone at the AST Winter Dew Tour Mt. Snow round dug ‘em – so will you. On the ‘Net at www.monsterarmy.com and www.monsterenergy.com
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Some clowns broke into Destry’s van and storage shed and ripped off a bunch of trick parts for his works Monster Energy/Kawasaki off road race bike!
Photo: By Joe Colombero
CORONA, Calif., (Jan. 9, 2009) – Hey man, we need you guys to keep an eye out for any trick motorcycle parts (list below) that may show up for sale – or on some kook’s bike – that were stolen early this morning from Monster Army General Destry Abbott’s house in Peoria, Ariz.
“I just want to ask all the Monster Army members to keep an eye out for someone selling or recently purchasing some of these items,” said Abbott. “I was broken into this morning at about 4 a.m. Heard the dogs barking and didn’t think much of it. Luckily I think the dogs scared them off before they took everything!”
Here’s a list of some of the key items Destry lost:
• Showa works suspension (forks and shock). Fits a Kawasaki.
• Four complete Excel wheels (new tires, sprockets, discs) with black rims and silver hubs.
• Two or three sets of stock Kawasaki wheels (complete with tires and everything).
• A stack of new Dunlop tires.
• A long plastic storage bin full of gear (Sidi boots, CTi knee brace, Thor clothing).
Unfortunately, Abbott thinks the morons who stole his stuff also ride on account of they didn’t touch a bunch of stuff that a normal moron thief would have taken.
Anyone with information on what went down is urged to email Destry – totally anonymously – at destry@destryabbott.com There’s a reward from Destry for information and Monster Army will kick down with some product as well.
Monster Energy supports the sport. Be it thief catching, rally, insane distance jumping, MX, MotoGP, road racing, supermoto, off-road, FMX, skate, MTB, wake, mini bikes, surf, snow, BMX – name it – the athletes are rockin’ Monster Energy more than anything these days. Check out all the types – Original Monster Energy, Monster Lo-Carb, Monster Assault, Monster Khaos, Monster’s fruit juice hybrid dubbed “M-80,” the party-friendly MIXXD, the ground-breaking Java Monster premium coffee & cream drink line supercharged with our Monster Energy blend, along with the new Monster Energy “Hitman” energy shot. Destry Abbott digs ‘em – so will you. On the ‘Net at www.monsterarmy.com and www.monsterenergy.com
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Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Ryan Morais makes the Lites podium (3rd), teammate Jake Weimer’s 4th & RV, Hill & Ferry all top ten in SX class  
CORONA, Calif., (Jan. 12 , 2009) – Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Ryan Morais led the Monster Army generals in battle at Phoenix’s Chase Field this past Saturday, bringing home a podium 3rd place finish in a hotly-contested WSX Lites division race that was fronted by his teammate, Jake Weimer (4th), during the first half of the event - round two of Monster Energy AMA Supercross, an FIM World Championship.
Also scoring top ten finishes under the Monster Energy banner were Supercross class racers Ryan Villopoto (Monster Energy/Kawasaki), Josh Hill (Yamaha) and Tim Ferry (Monster Energy/Kawasak), who finished 7th, 8th and 9th – respectively.
In the Lites division Weimer was the fastest racer heading into the heats out of the qualifiers. Winning the first heat race, Weimer parlayed that momentum into the Lites main event and pulled the holeshot and led the race through the first seven laps. But it would be a tricky sand section that would catch Weimer when he lost his balance and stuffed the bike into the sand, going from 1st to 5th in a matter of seconds.
“Just lost concentration for a second and that was it,” he said. “It’s unfortunate because Monster/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki set both Ryan with the fastest bikes out there and we should have both been on the podium – like Anaheim 1.”
One of the riders that got by Weimer on lap seven was Morais. He’d started in 5th place and was closing at the time, used the momentum to slingshot himself up to 3rd and would battle hard with Justin Brayton for the No. 2 spot. Weimer was able to close and the three riders all finished within a couple seconds of each other at the end.
The podium would be Morais’ second in as many races and he trails Weimer on the WSX overall podium, 43-42, with Ryan Dungey leading (45 points).
In the SX class the story of the night was starts – or lack of a good one for the Monster Energy racers in the series’ premier class. Hill led the Monster Army generals with an 11th place start, followed by Villopoto in 13th, Nick Wey (Boost Mobile/ampm/Monster Energy/Troy Racing) in 14th, Ferry in 17th and Paul Carpenter (Monster Energy/Cernic’s/Kawasaki) in 18th. Despite the poor starts the Monster Army generals marched forward, each one of them making up ground and three of them making the top ten – with nearly a fourth, though Wey went down late in the latter portion of the race while in 10th, but would remount and wind up making the top 15 (15th). Carpenter would also improve on his start, making up five spots to finish 13th.
“My starts are really hurting me right now and we're going to work on that this week,” said Carpenter. “I know the speed is there but this track was just tough to make a pass stick. There was a whole pack of riders in front of me and a good start would have put me at the front of the that pack.”
Next up for the Monster Energy-backed Monster Energy AMA Supercross racers is the second installment of the Anaheim (Calif.) trilogy at Angel Stadium, this Saturday, Jan. 17th.
Monster Energy supports the sport. Be it SX, rally, insane distance jumping, MX, MotoGP, road racing, supermoto, off-road, FMX, skate, MTB, rock crawling, wake, mini bikes, surf, snow, BMX – name it – the athletes are rockin’ Monster Energy more than anything these days. Check out all the types – Original Monster Energy, Monster Lo-Carb, Monster Assault, Monster Khaos, Monster’s fruit juice hybrid dubbed “M-80,” the party-friendly MIXXD, the ground-breaking Java Monster premium coffee & cream drink line supercharged with our Monster Energy blend, along with the new Monster Energy “Hitman” energy shot. The Monster Energy guys running the Monster Energy Supercross series dig ‘em – so will you. On the ‘Net at www.monsterarmy.com and www.monsterenergy.com
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Back from Argentina, well, most of them at least, the Monster Energy Robby Gordon Experience contest winners talk about the time they had this past week 
By Pat Schutte
CORONA, Calif., (Jan. 9, 2009) – Some halfway around the world – top to bottom – the Monster Energy Robby Gordon Experience contest winners were traipsing around the latest installment of the legendary Dakar Rally, south of the equator in Argentina, having a blast on Monster Energy’s dime with Gordon and his Monster Energy/Hummer off road race team.
At last count pretty much all the contest winners have returned – sans a couple who are still down there living it up and following Gordon across the Argentine countryside and into neighboring Chile as the challenges for the overall ’09 Dakar Rally title.
But one thing’s for sure for the contest winners on this second of three legs (Baja, Dakar & NASCAR) that make up the Monster Energy Robby Gordon Experience: Everyone’s had an absolute blast.
“I was a little worried with this trip to South America and wanted to make sure that this trip was as good as the contest winners had at the Baja 1,000 last month,” said contest organizer Jason McCormick of Monster Energy. “After the week in Buenos Aires, Argentina everyone left with smiles on their faces and I knew everyone had a real good time. We all did a lot of amazing things in that short week and I tried to mix up a bit of fun with sense for the Argentinean culture.”
McCormick added, as several of the Monster Energy Robby Gordon Experience contest winners will agree to here in a bit, that Gordon himself played a big role in making sure everyone not only felt welcome and had a good time, but that they also felt they were part of the team (hence the term “Experience”).
“Man, we all out dancing in the streets on New Year’s,” said Gordon of he and the contest winners. “Then another night it was my birthday and we all were out partying again.” Gordon paused: “I honestly wasn’t really sure what to make of this when Monster approached me, but it couldn’t have turned out any better. I’m looking forward to having the Monster Energy Robby Gordon Experience contest winners out at a NASCAR race this summer and hope we can put something together like this again.”
Monster Energy tracked down three of the contest winners, including Las Vegas’ Brittnay Burgos, Derek McNamara (Parma, Ohio) and Angela Saxton from Omaha, Neb., who made the trip with her Monster Energy Robby Gordon Experience contest-winning husband, Doug.
Monster Energy: How’d everything go down in Argentina?
Brittnay: “Better than I expected. An amazing experience and a dream come true. Not too many people get to go down there, especially in the racing world. An amazing time and I loved every minute of it!”
Derek: “Oh, man, everything was great. Real good environment. Saw a lot of the racing and festivities. Got to check out the Monster/Hummer real close, stuff like that. Robby Gordon’s team really made us feel like we were part of the program.”
Angela: “Everything was very good. The Hotel accommodations were very nice, well-located and within walking distance to different places of interest.”
Monster Energy: What were some of the highlights?
Brittnay: “We all went as a group to the scrutineering (car inspection) the day before the start and there was TONS of people (see photo) down there, all the local Argentineans and Robby Gordon was up on the podium and he spotted us in the crowd and pointed to us and gave a shout out and after that everyone was looking at us like ‘Who are these people?’ Just cool that Robby acknowledged us like that out in public.”
Derek: “I’d say checking out the sights along the way to watch the racing, the different restaurants and that, the culture. The whole environment was cool. A real good experience. Robby was real nice when we met him down in Mexico (Baja) and this was just an added bonus, really. Spent New Year’s with him and he’s a real down-to-earth guy, same level as you are.”
Angela: “For me the highlight was New Year's Eve. We all have dinner together, the Monster Energy Robby Gordon Experience contest winners and Robby Gordon's crew. It was spectacular. Also, the presentation the day before of the race was fun. It was a long wait before Robby and Andy (Grider, co-driver) got up to the podium, but when they acknowledge that the contest winners, Monster representatives and the wives/girlfriends were there to support the team and it was very nice.”
Monster Energy: Were the locals down there pretty stoked on Monster?
Jason McCormick: “Monster Energy was something new to the people in Argentina. But with Robby and all his support vehicles with the black and green Monster Energy paint scheme, people were asking many questions about it. The Monster Energy Robby Gordon Experience contest winners were all handing out stickers and Robby Gordon autograph cards to the crowds on hand every day. People were dying for more things and I am surprised that everyone was able to escape with their Monster Energy hats and back packs still in their possession!”
Brittnay: “I knew going down there that Monster wasn’t down there yet, but I also saw the reaction to Monster in Baja. I didn’t really expect much, but when my mom and I went to tech (inspection) to wander around and as soon as Robby and the Monster trucks pulled in it got real crowded. Everyone knew about Monster at that point. Robby Gordon and Monster. People would be chanting ‘Monster! Monster!’ So by the time the race actually started they definitely knew what Monster was.”
Derek: “They seemed a little confused at first. Not sure how much Monster is distributed down there. But the further into the week we got, the more familiar they became with the racers, race team and, eventually, the Monster brand. They definitely knew what Monster was by the time we left.”
Angela: “The locals were puzzle with the gear. They will try to trade their hats for ours and were asking "What is Monster?" Definitely, locals wanted to have some t-shirts or drinks or stickers or Monster something – the were pretty excited with Monster.”
Monster Energy: Which was more fun, Baja or Dakar?
Brittnay: “I would say…that’s a tough one…but I’d say Dakar. Mainly because since we got to know the team at Baja, at this point we had a better relation with them and were able to interact with the crew and Robby – more of a family than we were at Baja. Everyone treated us like they knew us for years and we just had an awesome time.”
Derek: “That’s actually a tough question. They were both cool in different ways, you know? Baja we were really close to the action and the ride-alongs were really cool, things like that. But Argentina and the Dakar was a little more laid back and casual – a real good time as well. So I couldn’t put one above the other.”
Angela: “They are completely different. Baja was more rustic and Buenos Aires was more sophisticated. I think it has to do a lot with the kind of cities they are.”
Monster Energy: Are you looking forward to the NASCAR race this summer?
Brittnay: “Yes, looking forward to it very much so. They said we might hit a road course rather than a loop-de-loop, so I’m excited to see where Robby excels at.”
Derek: “Oh, yeah. Definitely looking forward to that one. Close to home but a whole new environment and a totally different experience from the off road vehicles.”
Angela: “I am ready to pack again for NASCAR!”
Next up is the final leg of the Monster Energy Robby Gordon Experience, a trip to California to check out Gordon in action on a NASCAR circuit. Stay tuned to MonsterEnergy.com and MonsterArmy.com for more on the Dakar Rally and upcoming Robby Gordon Experience contest!
Monster Energy supports the sport. Be it Dakar, rally, insane distance jumping, MX, MotoGP, road racing, supermoto, off-road, FMX, skate, MTB, wake, mini bikes, surf, snow, BMX – name it – the athletes are rockin’ Monster Energy more than anything these days. Check out all the types – Original Monster Energy, Monster Lo-Carb, Monster Assault, Monster Khaos, Monster’s fruit juice hybrid dubbed “M-80,” the party-friendly MIXXD, the ground-breaking Java Monster premium coffee & cream drink line supercharged with our Monster Energy blend, along with the new Monster Energy “Hitman” energy shot. The Monster Energy Robby Gordon Experience contest winners dig ‘em – so will you. On the ‘Net at www.monsterarmy.com and www.monsterenergy.com
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The last of three Monster Energy/Kawasaki Triple Crown of Motocross KLX110 mini bike give-aways is underway on RacerXOnline.com
CORONA, Calif., (Jan. 9, 2009) – Monster Energy and Kawasaki are set to give away the last of three brand new Monster Energy/Kawasaki Triple Crown of Motocross KLX110 mini bike to a lucky winner who registers at a chance to win this next month on www.racerxonline.com
With two lucky winners already ripping around on their Monster Energy/Kawasaki Triple Crown of Motocross KLX110s, one last winner will have the chance to turn his backyard into an Anaheim 1 SX with this high-tensile steel frame and a user-friendly 111cc air cooled, two-valve, four-stroke engine. A dirt bike made for beginners, the Monster Energy/Kawasaki Triple Crown of Motocross KLX110 mini bike is a blast to ride for anyone who’s ever had the Jones to throw a leg over a dirt bike.
“The first two bikes ended up with some big time Monster Energy Supercross fans and we expect this last one – with the help of RacerXOnline.com – to make a nice addition to someone’s garage as well,” said Monster Energy’s John Lee. “The Monster Energy/Kawasaki Triple Crown of Motocross was another great success for us and we’re please to be able to stoke out some lucky contest winner with this special edition Monster Energy/Kawasaki Triple Crown of Motocross KLX110 mini bike.”
Kick the Monster Energy/Kawasaki Triple Crown of Motocross KLX110 and go. It’s about that simple. The semi-automatic three speed transmission – complete with a centrifugal clutch – is perfect for youngsters and people new to motorcycle riding. Mix in a few Original Monster Energy drinks, some dirt and a couple shovels and you and your buddies have got a motocross track! Jeans, long sleeve T-shirt, work boots/gloves and a helmet and the Monster Energy/Kawasaki Triple Crown of Motocross KLX110 will deliver the same rush as Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki rider Ryan Villopoto gets at the Anaheim supercross (without the 45,050 sellout crowd of course)!
Note: The Monster Energy/Kawasaki Triple Crown of Motocross KLX110s given away will have the same race-bred bodywork and graphics inspired by the pro race bikes, as well as the KX65 youth racer!
Fans interested in getting in on this smokin’ little Monster Energy/Kawasaki Triple Crown of Motocross Monster Energy/Kawasaki KLX110 mini bike give-away deal can do so by registering to win during the next month at:
Feb (9th deadline): www.racerxonline.com
For more information on the Monster Energy/Kawasaki Triple Crown of Motocross KLX110 give-away, including all the boring rules, regulations and stuff, make a point to check out www.monsterarmy.com and www.monsterenergy.com
Monster Energy supports the sport. Be it rally, insane distance jumping, MX, MotoGP, road racing, supermoto, off-road, FMX, skate, MTB, wake, mini bikes, surf, snow, BMX – name it – the athletes are rockin’ Monster Energy more than anything these days. Check out all the types – Original Monster Energy, Monster Lo-Carb, Monster Assault, Monster Khaos, Monster’s fruit juice hybrid dubbed “M-80,” the party-friendly MIXXD, the ground-breaking Java Monster premium coffee & cream drink line supercharged with our Monster Energy blend, along with the new Monster Energy “Hitman” energy shot. The winners of these new Monster Energy/Kawasaki Triple Crown of Motocross KLX110s will be diggin’ Monster for sure! On the ‘Net at www.monsterarmy.com and www.monsterenergy.com
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Check it out…a bunch of Monster Energy athletes are showing off their recent big fish catches in the latest installment of ESPN.com’s new action sports blog
CORONA, Calif., (January 9, 2009) – Monster Energy athletes Nate Holland, Ryan Villopoto, Paul Thacker and Ricky Carmichael are sharing their latest angling stories and photos with the legions of sports fans over at ESPN.com in the popular website’s latest action sports blog.
Dubbed “The Action Sports Report: Fishy Business,” the Monster Energy athletes, along with our buddies skier Daron Rahlves and motocross great Larry Ward, show off some photos of some pretty impressive fish they’ve landed and tell the stories behind the catch. A bit of a departure from big air and roost shots, the story gives fans an inside look at how today’s top action sports stars spend their time away from the mountains and motorcycles.
Check it out for yourself: http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?id=3818730
Monster Energy supports the sport. Be it fishin’, rally, insane distance jumping, MX, MotoGP, road racing, supermoto, off-road, FMX, skate, MTB, wake, mini bikes, surf, snow, BMX – name it – the athletes are rockin’ Monster Energy more than anything these days. Check out all the types – Original Monster Energy, Monster Lo-Carb, Monster Assault, Monster Khaos, Monster’s fruit juice hybrid dubbed “M-80,” the party-friendly MIXXD, the ground-breaking Java Monster premium coffee & cream drink line supercharged with our Monster Energy blend, along with the new Monster Energy “Hitman” energy shot. Holland, RV, Thacker and RC dig ‘em – so will you. On the ‘Net at www.monsterarmy.com and www.monsterenergy.com
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Hibbert’s 4-0 in Pro Stock & Pro Open class racing as the series turns to Minnesota this weekend for round three at Canterbury Park Raceway
By Pat Schutte, with photos from John Hanson
CORONA, Calif., (Jan. 8, 2009) – Monster Energy’s Tucker Hibbert – clearly the top snocross racer in the world these days – will look to extend his undefeated streak in the AMSOIL Championship Snocross Series’ (ACSS) Pro Stock and Pro Open classes when the series returns to Minnesota for round three at Canterbury Park Raceway (Shakopee) this weekend, Jan. 9-10.
Hibbert, who notched career race wins No. 41 & 42 prior to the holiday break at the ACSS’ Bad River Lodge and Casino National in Ironwood, Mich., has been the standout racer on the country’s premier pro snocross tour this year on his Monster Energy/Arctic Cat machine. His record now stands at 4-0 (2-0 Pro Stock, 2-0 Pro Open) after two races.
Between training, practice and getting his rig ready for this weekend’s big race, Hibbert took the time to check in with Monster Army HQ to give the enlistees the lowdown on what’s up for this weekend and, of course, the upcoming ESPN Winter X Games 13.
Monster Army: Dude, you’re off to a BLAZING start on the AMSOIL Snocross Series. Undefeated in four races. What’s been the key to your success?
Tucker Hibbert: “Hard word, lots of practice, a smokin' fast sled and three cans of Monster before every race!”
Monster Army: Talk about this weekend’s race at Canterbury Park. Middle of winter at a premier horse racing track in Minnesota – you can’t ask for a better venue to race snowmobiles!
Tucker Hibbert: “Canterbury is an awesome venue and a great place to race. We're right in the Twin Cities. There's indoor, heated seating so it's great for spectators. There's always a ton of fans. Plus, it's in my home state which is really cool. Snowmobiling is huge in Minnesota. It's like what California is for motocross. This weekend is really special for another reason. I'm wearing a helmet painted in tribute to Blair Morgan that will be auctioned off starting Thursday night on eBay. All the money goes to Blair and spinal cord research. Arctic Cat is donating up to $1000 so get online and bid! If you're at Canterbury this weekend you can bid at the "Operation Inspiration 7c" booth, too. (Note: Be sure to check out tucker-hibbert.com and inspiration7c.com for all the details.)
Monster Army: That’s so cool of you, man. Speaking of Blair Morgan, he’s been the king of the X Games until your recent run (two-straight Winter X Sno-X gold medals). We’re just a few short weeks away from ESPN Winter X Games 13 (Jan. 22-25). More X Games gold has to be starting to creep into your mind, huh?
Tucker Hibbert: “Yeah, I'm defiantly excited about Winter X. We've working really hard to prepare and already have a couple test trips in. I'm confident I'll be ready to take home another gold for Monster Energy!”
Monster Army: Here’s one from way out in left field. If you were so inclined, how long do you think it’d take you to learn some tricks and compete in the new X Games Snowmobile Best Trick contest?
Tucker Hibbert: “It would take longer than anyone can even imagine. I can do one-handers and one-leggers and half the time I fall off trying that. That's the extent of my freestyle skills!”
Monster Army: Ha, ha. We’ll leave that up to Monster’s Chris Burandt and Paul Thacker! Last question before we let you get back to business here. What happens for you after the snocross season is over?
Tucker Hibbert: “First thing I want to do is move into my new house then it's straight to Texas to ride (MX) with Andrew Short. This summer I'll be racing motocross likes always, doing as much mountain biking as I can fit in and hopefully race cars a little bit, too.”
Monster Army: Right on. Good luck from all the Monster Army members this weekend, Tucker!
Tucker Hibbert: “Thanks. Look forward to seeing some of you guys at the races! Stop by the Monster display and grab some swag and a can of Monster!”
Next up on the ACSS tour is this weekend’s (Jan. 9-10) Air Force National at Canterbury Park in Shakopee, Minn. – site of Monster Energy/Paul Thacker’s world record snowmobile jump! For more information on the ACSS link to: http://www.isocracing.com/
Monster Energy supports the sport. Be it snocross, rally, insane distance jumping, MX, MotoGP, road racing, supermoto, off-road, FMX, skate, MTB, wake, mini bikes, surf, snow, BMX – name it – the athletes are rockin’ Monster Energy more than anything these days. Check out all the types – Original Monster Energy, Monster Lo-Carb, Monster Assault, Monster Khaos, Monster’s fruit juice hybrid dubbed “M-80,” the party-friendly MIXXD, the ground-breaking Java Monster premium coffee & cream drink line supercharged with our Monster Energy blend, along with the new Monster Energy “Hitman” energy shot. Tucker Hibbert digs ‘em – so will you. On the ‘Net at www.monsterarmy.com and www.monsterenergy.com
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  This past weekend, Grouse Mountain was invaded by MGT snowboard camps. The two day, all girls camp was full of good times and high fives, as well as hugs aplenty. The girls were stoked to ride regardless of their riding level and there was definitely progression to be seen.
MGT Snowboard Camp Day 1 Camp got off to early morning start with registration and sign in before the sun even rose! Maybe it wasn’t that bad, and with the low overcast conditions, the sun wasn’t really rising on this dreary morning anyways. Due to road conditions and large line ups at the base of the mountain, some girls missed registration. The weather didn’t get these girls down, though! Luckily, all of them brought goggles too. After splitting up into groups, the girls got ready to spend the morning going over the basics and some brush up over techniques needed to hit the park. I spent most of the morning session riding with Joanna’s group. She was getting the girls comfortable with riding switch and getting their ollies dialed. After a few laps on the Cut, we decided to get into some freeriding. We headed off to the Olympic chair, slashing some pow lines and making the best of the ridiculous amounts of snow Grouse was getting. The girls practiced their technique on little drops and worked on their pop and, after a few laps to get familiar with the terrain, started trying spin tricks and grabs into the pow.  Camper Jenna makes airing out of the up rail look ezee pezee Right before lunch, the camp hit a snag with some miscommunication and lost their lift privilages. Most groups decided that they would get the girls used to the joys of hiking features in the park instead of waiting in the Screaming Eagle lift line. After lunch, I set up in the park with Raewyn’s group and snapped some shots of her campers and some coach/camper Kodak moments… but I used a Nikon Coolpix. The girls really pushing themselves, dialing in nosepresses, 180 ons, boardslides of all varieties and 270 outs.  Leanne gives some pointers Leanne’s group also hit up the park, focusing on the hip. She spent some time working with the campers on backside 180’s. The girls were up for anything. No matter how hard they biffed, they’d get up, hike and try it again. There were a couple bails that would have had me rolling around for a while, but nothing could really get in the way of the eagerness these girls had to up their games. After spending some time on airing, Leanne had her group doing nose picks against the wall of the hip, just for fun.  Leanne gives her group tips on spinning on the hip At the end of the day, the girls headed back to the chalet and said their goodbyes. Those who didn’t have to leave right at 4:30 pm headed into the Theater in the Sky to watch a screening of the new Runway film called See What I See. There were also mini cupcakes that looked so dope, I almost felt guilty eating them. Soon after, I gathered my gear, took a few laps through the park and hit the road to rest up and get ready for day 2.  Joanna's group rocks the air guitar on real snowboards. Courtesy of Sean Hoglin, MGT photog.  Robin and Leanne's groups on top of the Peak. Courtesy of Mr. Hoglin. MGT Snowboard Camp Day 2 As usual, I managed to sleep in through 4 alarms (yes, I have 4 alarm clocks placed in various corners of my room) and had to hustle to get to the mountain. Luckily, the roads were clear and the cloud coverage was high. I decided to grab a digital SLR for the afternoon, as visibility on the mountain was crystal clear. While in the rookie park, I met up with some guys who were over from Belgium to do some filming on the west coast. The riders hand shaped the hip to their liking and used it as a transfer into the untouched powder behind the feature.  .  I spotted Robin’s group riding the lift soon thereafter and decided to get some aerial shots of the park. Fortunately, MGT had worked out the kinks with line priority overnight and the campers got more ride out of their day. The morning park lappers were scarce, as a few of the groups had decided to head to the Olympic chair for some exquisite freeriding. I didn’t get a chance to catch up with them, but heard they were able to get some while it was still fresh. Lesson to be learned here: Play in the powder with it’s tracked before heading to the park.
 Robin and Raewyn spread the love The campers and coaches then head into the chalet for some quick eats and hugs. They were joined by local Dragon Optics and Thirty Two Boots rep Dixon, who did a couple laps with the girls after lunch. If you’re looking to score a limited ed Thirty Two Jacket…you’re out of luck!  Dixon in his rad Thirty Two jacket, as Leanne and Amanda converse...the topic was most likely something about Amanda being a bum model. Sometime between the time I walked into the chalet and the time I walked out, the weather had taken a turn for the worse, with high wind warning and super limited visibility. Regardless of the conditions, I trekked to the rookie park and set up my camera equipent by the box, hoping to get some decent shots, regardless of conditions. The camera was not digging the temperature and snow, so I quickly threw together a weather hood for the camera, as I hadn’t prepared for the horrible conditions. For you budding photog’s out there, here’s how you go about it. You need to be set up on a tripod for this. You make sure you’ve got enough layers on, as you will need your jacket for this. Set up your camera on your tripod, wrap the jacket around the tripod and zip it up, draping the hood over the camera and lens. Most jackets have a zip off hood, with the fronts bottoned down. This is perfect as you can zip off the back and use it as a window to your viewfinder, cause we all know you rarely use the LCD screen to view your shots.  
Voila! Your lens is covered by your hood, but is not in the way, you have a full range of motion on your tripod as the jacket moves with the camera and if you have a flash, you just have to life the hood up a little to access it. If you wanna stay warm while doing this, grab a Session Stargyle softshell with built in mittens! Anyways, back to the event. I was able to get some neat-o shots.  Learning to tweak boardslides  Dialing in 270 onsLeanne shows them how to press a board into a banana Soon after, MGT put on the Jump! Jib! Jam! The coaches called out a trick that you have to stick. The girl who did it with the most style and stuck it got a prize. The girls also had a little fun and wrapped up the event by putting out the call for the most original/creative/wowing/dirty trick. It was pretty dirty, for sure. Some of it was too hot for the internet, unfortunately. 
 Leanne = steeze or Steeze = Leanne?  Joanna sticks a half cab  Raewyn Ried taps box on the spin out  Group picture courtesy of the very talented Mr. Hoglin The day was quickly winding down and everyone headed into Lupin’s for the wrap up. The girls entered their names into a draw and everyone went home with a draw prize. Among the loot was a brand spankin new Burton G Love, a pair of 32 boots, Dragon goggles, belts, travel hoodies, board bags, wallets and make up kits. The campers all had a good time and formed some tight friendships along the way. If all goes well, you may see a former MGT girl’s crew lapping the park in the near future.  Leanne pulls out the death claw as Robin watches her back  Marie tries to explain the purpose of a death claw  The MGT crew giving things away like Christmas is still in session  Raewyn demonstrates the ultra lightness of the 32 Ultra Light cephalopod  Campers conversing  More campers hanging out  Even MORE campers hanging out  Leanne: Hey... I kinda want these gloves  Grand prize winner of the Burton G Love. Now all you need to do is drop some bank on Burton EST bindings so you can actually ride that.  It was good times indeed. You know it's official if it's on the internet or on a shirt. I also ran into park volunteer James Fourty Four Anderson and his buddy in the lodge rocking some retro styles. Just a word of warning, the following picture contains some extremely good looking boys. You gotta have the skills to back up your style and you can find James in some of Charlie’s edits. C-c-c-check it!  Throwing it down like it's 1989. Ironically, that was before they were even born. After everything was wrapped up and Leanne and Raewyn were done with their artwork in Jenna’s copy of the Snowboard Canada Women’s Annual, we headed upstairs to the Observatory and had a few adult beverages such as hot chocolate and discussed some not so serious topics such as the future of genetic research, patterns of genetic inheritance and the real estate market. 
Needless to say, I had an amazingly fun time hanging out and riding with the MGT group. Despite some administrative hiccups, the camp went down pretty well, overall. Hopefully MGT will be back at Grouse Mountain in the near future for all you girls out there that missed out this year. Their next camp is in April, check the site for more details. THE END!
Article source: http://grousepark.com/2009/01/07/mgt-spreads-the-shred/
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MTV Star and Skate Icon Rob Dyrdek and Partners Create: ISX – Instant Scoring eXperience™
Los Angeles, CA - A street skate icon, action sports pioneer and a cutting-edge technology company have come together to create ISX – Instant Scoring eXperience™. This revolutionary new scoring system has the potential to greatly enhance the competitive excitement for both television and live audiences, ensuring live, real-time results for street skating and all action sports.
ISX uses a dial technology developed for live, real-time feedback, combined with a proprietary software and graphic interface. “ISX is a live, instantaneous, trick-by-trick, run-by-run scoring system, right down to the potential for a buzzer beating finale,” says ISX partner, television star and street skater Rob Dyrdek.
“Now, like when Kobe Bryant hits a three pointer at the buzzer, skaters, as well as all action sports athletes, will experience the emotional connection between their competitive achievement and the drama of the moment with the emotional experience of fans watching live or on TV,” Dyrdek added.
The world-renowned street skater will exclusively use ISX for skating as a cornerstone of his upcoming professional Street League, as well as using it as part of his new MTV Show “Rob Dyrdek’s Fantasy Factory,” which premieres on MTV on Feb. 8, 2009, at 8 pm EST.
Dyrdek’s partners include Paul Taublieb, CEO and Founder of Media X International, Inc. (MXi), a pioneer in action sports live events and television production, as well as the originator of the ISX concept. The other partner is MSInteractive, a world-leading technology and research company and developer of the ISX instant-response dial technology and software.
“For the many years I’ve been around such judged events, I’ve always been struck by the disconnect – the athlete is competing and the audience is waiting, waiting, waiting to know what to feel until those scores drop,” explained Taublieb. “No longer. With ISX it’s all happening in the present enhancing the entertainment experience of the core fan and at the same time make street skating and all action sports accessible to the mainstream sports fan.
“We have run full beta tests in real-world conditions with different action sports,” added Taublieb, “and proven that ISX works. The system maintains the accuracy of judging, but makes it instant -- even trick-by-trick -- in freestyle motocross, surfing, on a vert ramp, slopestyle, and of course, street skating.”
The technology behind ISX is built on MSInteractive’s Perception Analyzer® technology, the hand-held dial system used heavily for focus group research, instant responses to presidential debates (as seen on CNN during the 2008 presidential campaign), interactive meetings and television program integration.
“We’re taking our decades of experience in dial-group testing and focus groups and adding the layer of proprietary scoring customization with a dynamic graphic interface tailored to the specific needs of individual sports and formats,” explained David Paull, vice president of MSInteractive. “The data are collected from judges in real time as they enter scores by moving the dials based on what they see and feel.
“We then combine the scores with high-quality visual graphics, telling the entire story of the competition in a compelling fashion which everyone, at the live venue and on television, can understand and in a way which has never been seen before,” Paull added.
“ISX will take the appreciation of what skaters, and all action sports athletes do to a whole new level and you’ll see ISX not only in my new MTV series ‘Rob Dyrdek’s Fantasy Factory,’ but also in my Street League,” added Dyrdek.
ISX is available for custom applications for any judged sporting and reality television event and is entirely customizable to meet the format and structure of both live and televised events of any production.
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When Sean Palmer’s interest in snowboarding waned, the media sighed, “Punk is dead.” And indeed, for a moment, perhaps it was. What no one saw coming was a quiet killer named Danny Kass. Here was the torchbearer, a young lad from the East who listened to the Misfits, and skated with next-level skill, all the while following in his big bro’s pro snow-shredding footsteps. Before long everyone knew he was good, and nobody doubted he might soon be great. But no one prepared for the profound impact he’d make. Now, silver medaling in the Olympics twice, winning the US Open halfpipe four times, and earning seven X Games medals is ridiculous to be sure—but there’s an equally remarkable, far less obvious side to his story. Kass has ushered in a new D.I.Y. movement, proving that you don’t have to sell out or get the hell out—there is another way
READ MORELast Month's Mission Winner Congratulations goes out to last month's 2008 Parting Shots Contest winner Donnie Williams. Check out his winning photo below.
For winning, Donnie's getting hooked up with Peter Olenick's gear!
This Month's Mission This mission is of high importance and participation from the Army is crucial. Now that the new site is here, we need everyone from the Reserves to the Generals to spread the word. It's simple, use the share tool (or copy the embed code) from one of the graphics and promote the Monster Army as much as possible. Check back often as the leader board will change and don't forget to post these everywhere! 
Check out the Mission Page to grab your Digital Stickers.Featured Solider Spotlight This month's Soldier Spotlight is Matt Guntert, a Snowboarder from Mammoth Lakes, CA.
Check out videos and more photos of Matt HERE.
 Featured Monster Army Gear Monster Discharge
Normal Price: $57.75
Monster Army Price: $35.00 Remember, as a Monster Army Community Member, you get a 35% discount (already applied) on all Apparel. Check out the rest of the gear in the STORE.
Featured Energy Product Low Carb Monster? Yeah, we've got it. Go pick one up and submit your feedback HERE
2009 Sponsorship
The 2009 sponsorship season is here! For those of you who haven't applied yet, please do so HERE. Those that have already re-applied and are waiting for a response, please be patient. We are finalizing last minute details to the programs and then we'll be getting to each application. If you're trying to apply or re-apply and it's saying you already have a pending application, check your SAVED APPLICATIONS. Go to Sponsorship--Applications--Saved. |       | |
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Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki team opens the Western Supercross Lites series on a high note, taking the top two spots at Angels Stadium supercross  CORONA, Calif., (Jan. 5, 2008) – Opening the pursuit of yet another championship in its industry-leading SX Lites class race heritage, the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki team – led by Jake Weimer and Ryan Morais – took the top two spots at the first round of the WSX Lites series, round one of 2009 Monster Energy AMA Supercross, an FIM World Championship held at Anaheim’s (Calif.) Angel Stadium.
Topping the charts before a live crowd in excess of 40,000 – as well as a live TV viewing audience on SPEED - was Weimer, who won his second career AMA SX Lites race at Anaheim. Weimer got out fast from the get go and avoided a wreck that collected the defending WSX champ, Monster Energy’s Jason Lawrence and ESX champ Trey Canard, running in 2nd place behind Dan Reardon early in the contest. The Idahoan then put the hammer down on lap three, got past Reardon and led the remaining 13 laps en route to victory.
“Unbelievable – exactly where I wanted to be,” said Weimer. “My goal was to get on the podium. I want to win the championship and didn’t want to throw it away at the first round. To start off by winning? Couldn’t be any better than that. I worked my ass off for this – it’s such a good feeling.”
Charging equally as hard into 2nd place overall was Weimer’s Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki teammate, Morais. The southern California native didn’t pull quite as good of a start as Weimer did, but he made up for it midway through the race and closed strong to give Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki the 1-2 overall at the Anaheim opener.
“I can’t thank Mitch (Payton) enough,” said Morais on the opportunity to race for the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki team. “I’ve been working my butt off and the team’s put in a lot of late hours. It’s a dream.”
Morais pulled the holeshot in the first heat race and wound up 2nd to Weimer in that contest as well, adding that he thought that was the first holeshot he ever pulled in a major pro SX Lites contest. “After that I thought to myself ‘Alright, I can holeshot the main – no problem on this bike.’”
And the plan almost came together before Morais got pinched in tight on the first turn of the main and came out of the pack in around 6th place. From there he said he rode the first few laps smart, staying out of trouble. “People were knocking each other down and I just put my chase on like halfway through, started catching Jake (Weimer) – but got a bit too excited and tightened up,” said Morais. “But to finish 2nd – that takes a lot of pressure off me.”
Next up for the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki team is round two of Monster Energy Supercross at Phoenix’s Chase Field.
Monster Energy supports the sport. Be it SX, rally, insane distance jumping, MX, MotoGP, road racing, supermoto, off-road, FMX, skate, MTB, wake, mini bikes, surf, snow, BMX – name it – the athletes are rockin’ Monster Energy more than anything these days. Check out all the types – Original Monster Energy, Monster Lo-Carb, Monster Assault, Monster Khaos, Monster’s fruit juice hybrid dubbed “M-80,” the party-friendly MIXXD, the ground-breaking Java Monster premium coffee & cream drink line supercharged with our Monster Energy blend, along with the new Monster Energy “Hitman” energy shot. Jake Weimer & Ryan Morais dig ‘em – so will you. On the ‘Net at www.monsterarmy.com and www.monsterenergy.com
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Ryan Villopoto (5th o/a) looks outstanding in his SX class opener while teammate Ferry puts in a consistent ride for 4th place overall at the season’s first SX contest
CORONA, Calif., (Jan. 5, 2009) – The Monster Energy/Kawasaki boyz – Tim “Red Dog” Ferry and Ryan Villopoto – got off to an excellent start to open the 2009 Monster Energy AMA Supercross, an FIM World Championship, season - both managing to keep their bikes on two wheels through the end in a wild, crash-filled season opener at Anaheim’s (Calif.) Angel Stadium.
After wowing everybody at Friday’s season-opening press day and putting up some eye-catching lap times in practice, Villopoto – the 2007 WSX champ and three-time defending outdoor MX Lites champ – began his SX class legacy in perfect order, winning the first heat race at Anaheim 1 over Monster Energy/Kawasaki teammate Ferry.
“Yeah, I was pumped with that,” said Villopoto of his heat race win.
In the main event Villopoto ran into some difficulty early, starting the race around 10th place before falling back to 13th by lap four. But he didn’t hang out there long, mounting a charge that would have him clicking off faster laps as the 20-lap contest wore on before finally working his way up to 5th overall in his first-ever 450cc class main event.
For Ferry it was a typical, consistent workman-like effort aboard the Kawasaki KX450F. Nothing flashy, just head down and charging – winning some key battles against fellow veteran racers Ivan Tedesco and Heath Voss and holding off a hard-charging Villopoto for 4th overall.
“Fans got to see a pretty wild race tonight,” said Ferry. “I was pleased to stay out of all the trouble and make the top five. And I’m happy for Ryan (Villopoto). He rode real well in his first SX class heat and main. Anaheim 1’s always crazy and I’m glad it’s out of the way and I’m looking forward to racing in Phoenix this weekend.”
Next up for Ferry, RV and the Monster Energy/Kawasaki team is round two of Monster Energy Supercross at Phoenix’s Chase Field this Saturday.
Monster Energy supports the sport. Be it SX, rally, insane distance jumping, MX, MotoGP, road racing, supermoto, off-road, FMX, skate, MTB, wake, mini bikes, surf, snow, BMX – name it – the athletes are rockin’ Monster Energy more than anything these days. Check out all the types – Original Monster Energy, Monster Lo-Carb, Monster Assault, Monster Khaos, Monster’s fruit juice hybrid dubbed “M-80,” the party-friendly MIXXD, the ground-breaking Java Monster premium coffee & cream drink line supercharged with our Monster Energy blend, along with the new Monster Energy “Hitman” energy shot. Red Dog & RV dig ‘em – so will you. On the ‘Net at www.monsterarmy.com and www.monsterenergy.com
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Lawrence leads a Monster Energy assault that features top performances from Nick Wey and Paul Carpenter as well in the season’s first supercross clash  CORONA, Calif., (Jan. 5, 2009) – Monster Energy’s Jason Lawrence (Boost/ampm/Troy Racing) fought back from an early race crash to place 5th in the opening round of his WSX Lites title defense – round one of Monster Energy AMA Supercross, an FIM World Championship – this past Saturday night at Anaheim’s (Calif.) Angel Stadium.
Lawrence, running a Monster Energy decaled Yamaha YZ250F, opened the WSX season in a huge way – winning the second of two Lites class heat races by two seconds over Australian Dan Reardon. With a prime gate pick for the main, Lawrence dumped the clutch as the gate dropped and looked for a moment like he’d grab the holeshot, settling instead on about 4th place coming out of the first turn.
On the gas and up into 3rd place heading into turn two, Lawrence had it pinned all the way into the corner. But in the tacky dirt his rear tire hooked up more than he’d expected and, instead of kicking around, it ended up taking out ESX champ Trey Canard – and Lawrence in the process.
“Canard, man, I saw him and there was nothing I could do – totally my fault,” said Lawrence. “Honestly he’s the last person on the track I wanted to do something to. So it’s unfortunate.” 
Lawrence got up and was able to get going again (as did Canard), but was well back in the pack – not to mention having to get back into race mode after taking some time off. Given all that, Lawrence’s lap times got faster as the race progressed and he was within less than a half second of the contest’s fastest lap time by Ryan Dungey (1:02 to 1:02.4). Lawrence would get by Jeff Alessi and Justin Brayton before catching and passing a fast Ryan Sipes with two laps to go for some valuable WSX championship points with the 5th place finish.
“Luckily I was able to get those guys – that was huge,” added Lawrence.
Flying the Monster Energy colors in the premier SX class to top ten success were Nick Wey (Boost/ampm/Monster Energy/Troy Racing) and Monster Energy/Cernic’s/Kawasaki’s Paul Carpenter. Neither rider pulled that great of the start (both outside the top 15), but used their veteran experience to make up time quick and consistently. Wey, who was in 14th after the first lap, would reach the top ten midway through the 20-lap contest. He’d hold that position and end up 9th.
Carpenter would have to fight his way to the top ten from even further back in the pack (17th out of 20 racers after the first lap), but did so quite well as the defending Monster Energy Supercross top privateer. “My bike worked awesome,” said Carpenter. “I just couldn’t get my starts down all night, which is something I need to work on. I felt really good going into the main event and I know I should have finished better. There are a lot of races left, though, and I know we’ll be up there.”
Other Monster Energy-backed racers making the main event included: Josh Hill (Yamaha) 16th and Bobby Kiniry (Monster Energy/Cernic’s/Kawasaki) 18th.
Next up on the 2009 Monster Energy Supercross tour is round two at Phoenix’s Chase Field this Saturday.
Monster Energy supports the sport. Be it SX, rally, insane distance jumping, MX, MotoGP, road racing, supermoto, off-road, FMX, skate, MTB, wake, mini bikes, surf, snow, BMX – name it – the athletes are rockin’ Monster Energy more than anything these days. Check out all the types – Original Monster Energy, Monster Lo-Carb, Monster Assault, Monster Khaos, Monster’s fruit juice hybrid dubbed “M-80,” the party-friendly MIXXD, the ground-breaking Java Monster premium coffee & cream drink line supercharged with our Monster Energy blend, along with the new Monster Energy “Hitman” energy shot. JLaw, Wey, Carpenter, Hill & Kiniry dig ‘em – so will you. On the ‘Net at www.monsterarmy.com and www.monsterenergy.com
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 By: Brian Papworth
As morning broke over the newly constructed terrain park setup at Louie Vito’s former training grounds Mad River Mountain, in Bellefontaine, Ohio the temperature peaked at a balmy 68 degrees. With clouds in the sky and rain in the forecast, the question arose, would contestants show up on a day better fit for flip flops? The answer came loud and clear midway through registration when the first hundred pack of bibs were gone and the line was still out the door. The 2008 Louie Rail Jam eclipsed last year’s record number of contestants by over 20%.
The fourth annual Louie Vito Rail Jam went down this past weekend with tropical temperatures, plenty to eat and drink and a huge crowd of all ages either competing or spectating at Ohio’s largest snowboarding event of the season at Mad River Mountain, in Ohio.
What a great event with no entry fee, except for a donation of a nonperishable food item or paper product. All donations went to St Vincent DePaul’s Food Panty an agency that serves those in need in Logan County. The nearly 200 competitors came from as far away as California.
With over 300 curious Louie Vito fanatics in attendance the awards ceremony had the feel of a huge party instead of a competition. Music was provided by Skratchmatik from Dayton. Winners were awarded outerwear, headsets, and boards as well as the grand giveaway, an all expenses paid trip including airfare to Windell's Snowboard Camp for the coming summer. At the very height of the excitement Louie decided to raffle off a Kicker digital stereo system and a Louie Vito signature snowboard. Raising over two thousand dollars and enough food to feed several families for months to come the Bellefontaine St. Vincent DePaul Society was again thrilled to be a part of what is turning out to be their biggest fund raiser.
It was obvious to all who attended this wonderful event why it has become even more successful each year. Louie is an example to hundreds of kids of what can happen with hard work, dedication, God-given ability and a community support system that rivals none! As dozens of kids flocked around this charismatic young man, it was clear they had chosen a great role model. Louie posed for pictures, signed the latest Snowboarder Magazine, gave riding tips and appeared to know each individual—although highly unlikely given the great number of people who clamored for his time. He looked like the Pied Piper, although his entourage consisted of kids as well as moms and dads! Cameras flashed, prizes were given away in excess and a charity was thrilled beyond words. This event will continue to grow, thanks to Louie and his generous sponsors. This was an example of a 20-year old young man, wise for his years, showing us all how to give back and remember where we came from.
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On the eve of ’09 Dakar Rally start, Monster Energy Robby Gordon Experience contest winners take in the incredible sights in and around the Argentine capital 
Photos courtesy of Jason McCormick
CORONA, Calif., (Dec. 29, 2008) – While the Monster Energy Off Road Team was busy taking care of the last-minute details just prior to the start of the 2009 Dakar Rally, you’d think the Monster Energy Robby Gordon Experience contest winners might have a wrench in their hand or map laid out over the hood of the Monster Energy/Toyo Tire/Hummer plotting strategy?
Heck no! They were all out gallivanting across the Argentine countryside, taking in the all scenery and local South American flavor that they could before tomorrow’s early a.m. Dakar Rally starter wake up call.
 Check out these photos. We’re thinking Robby Gordon didn’t get to “experience” this much fun since his arrival to Buenos Aires. Monster Energy Robby Gordon Experience contest winners started the day rolling - by train and then bus - way out into the countryside to catch a river trip that included horseback rides and a pretty crazy zip line! Then it was back to civilization where they scoped out this wild above-ground cemetery – similar to those you see in New Orleans.
That evening it was dinner and drinks and an authentic “tango” dance display before calling it an night on a big day of fun for the Monster Energy Robby Gordon Experience contest winners.
More of the same today (we’ll have a photo report later). And then it’s ‘lights out’ before the start of the big race tomorrow!
Monster Energy supports the sport. Be it Dakar, rally, insane distance jumping, MX, MotoGP, road racing, supermoto, off-road, FMX, skate, MTB, wake, mini bikes, surf, snow, BMX – name it – the athletes are rockin’ Monster Energy more than anything these days. Check out all the types – Original Monster Energy, Monster Lo-Carb, Monster Assault, Monster Khaos, Monster’s fruit juice hybrid dubbed “M-80,” the party-friendly MIXXD, the ground-breaking Java Monster premium coffee & cream drink line supercharged with our Monster Energy blend, along with the new Monster Energy “Hitman” energy shot. Robby Gordon and the Robby Gordon Experience contest winners are diggin’ ‘em – so will you. On the ‘Net at www.monsterarmy.com and www.monsterenergy.com
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Corona, Calif., based company again fronts the highly popular American stadium-based off road motorcycle racing series beginning this weekend in Anaheim, Calif.
CORONA, Calif., (Dec. 31, 2008) – The reigning king of all extreme sports will again have a decided Monster Energy flair as the No. 1 by volume energy drink company in the United States returns as the title sponsor of Monster Energy AMA Supercross, an FIM World Championship, for the 16-round 2009 competition season beginning this weekend in Anaheim, Calif.
First hitting big in at the Los Angeles Coliseum in 1972, stadium motocross – then dubbed “Super Bowl of Motocross” (which was shortened to supercross) - has since become the most widely attended and widely viewed form of action sports on the planet.
And since the energy drink revolution hit, Monster Energy has been in the forefront of involvement with supercross and many of its athletes. Names like McGrath, Carmichael, Stewart, Villopoto, Ferry, Langston and Lawrence are all synonymous with the M-claw logo, as are major teams like factory Monster Energy/Kawasaki and Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki.
“Monster Energy’s built its foundation on the sport of motocross and we see the title sponsorship of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series as the pinnacle of our action sports competition series involvement,” said Monster Energy’s Director of Sports Marketing, John Lee. “We welcome our second year as the premier sponsor of supercross and look forward to seeing the legions of loyal fans out at the races across the nation, enjoying the action and sampling the Monster Energy product at every stop along the way.”
Tapping into supercross’ energy at every level, Monster Energy’s fast-growing “Monster Army” (www.monsterarmy.com) extends the supercross experience with an online action sports community and social networking effort that unparalleled in the industry. With roots in skateboarding, core snow sports, surfing, BMX and the like, the Monster Army widens the already sizable demographic that supercross has built over the past four decades.
“The sport of supercross, though mainly based here in the States, is considered a global property in terms of its scope,” said Lee. “Monster Energy recognizes this and, as we work to distribute our product line to all points on the planet, we’ll no doubt enjoy the great acceptance of supercross within the action sports and motorsports communities and the additional brand awareness it will deliver for Monster Energy around the world.”
2009 Monster Energy Supercross Series
Date City/State Venue
Jan. 3 Anaheim, Calif. Angel Stadium
Jan. 10 Phoenix, Ariz. Chase Field
Jan. 17 Anaheim, Calif. Angel Stadium
Jan. 24 Houston, Texas Reliant Stadium
Jan. 31 San Francisco, Calif. AT&T Park
Feb. 7 Anaheim, Calif. Angel Stadium
Feb. 14 San Diego, Calif. Qualcomm Stadium
Feb. 21 Atlanta, Ga. Georgia Dome
Feb. 28 Indianapolis, Ind. Lucas Oil Stadium
Mar. 7 Daytona Beach, Fla. Daytona International Speedway
Mar. 14 New Orleans, La. Superdome
Mar. 21 St. Louis, Mo. Edward Jones Domes
Mar. 28 Toronto, Canada Rogers Centre
April 4 Jacksonville, Fla. Jacksonville Municipal Stadium
April 18 Seattle, Wash. Qwest Field
April 25 Salt Lake City, Utah Rice Eccles Stadium
May 2 Las Vegas, Nev. Sam Boyd Stadium
Monster Energy supports the sport. Be it SX, rally, insane distance jumping, MX, MotoGP, road racing, supermoto, off-road, FMX, skate, MTB, wake, mini bikes, surf, snow, BMX – name it – the athletes are rockin’ Monster Energy more than anything these days. Check out all the types – Original Monster Energy, Monster Lo-Carb, Monster Assault, Monster Khaos, Monster’s fruit juice hybrid dubbed “M-80,” the party-friendly MIXXD, the ground-breaking Java Monster premium coffee & cream drink line supercharged with our Monster Energy blend, along with the new Monster Energy “Hitman” energy shot. Everybody running the 2009 Monster Energy Supercross series will be diggin’ ‘em – so will you. On the ‘Net at www.monsterarmy.com and www.monsterenergy.com
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MATT GUNTERT
SPORT: SNOWBOARD
LOCATION: MAMMOTH LAKES, CA
CHECK OUT HIS PROFILE
Monster Army: Guntert how are you buddy?
Matt Guntert: Doing great, loving the snow here in Mammoth, California.
Monster Army: You're from NY, Now living in Mammoth, tell us about where you are from and your home mountain.
Matt Guntert: Well yes I am from NY and also from a small town called Lassellsville. Back home the closest mountain to me was Royal Mountain about a 10 minute drive from my parents house. It was about a 800ft. mountain with one jump and one rail. The only time I could ride at my home resort was Saturday and Sunday, those were the only days the resort was open!
Monster Army: Its seams like all the kids from the East are fearless and are killin it. Is it because your used to riding ice?
Matt Guntert: Put it this way, If you practice and practice on ice or sloppy set ups on good and legit features your gonna kill it.
Monster Army: How does that compare to the snowboard Mecca you live in now?
Matt Guntert: Snowboarding today is extreme everyday you turn on the tv and watch Danny Kass or Torstein Horgmo throwing some crazy double back or 1260. Growing up on the east made me appreciate the west coast so much more. Practicing on icy slopes and death rails has made me into the rider I am.
Monster Army: What do you miss most about NY?
Matt Guntert: My Family
Monster Army: What do you like most about cali?
Matt Guntert: Where do I start? I would simply say Mammoth!
Monster Army: Tell us about your game plan for 2009.
Matt Guntert: My Plan for 09 is to travel and do as many contests as I can. When there are no contests to be shredded up I will be in the backcountry and the streets filming.
Monster Army: Any recent accomplishments?
Matt Guntert: I have just picked up my first snowboard sponsor by Tyrant Snowboards. As far as contests go I have done a couple so far this year. 3rd at the Rome Prejibulation at Boreal and 3rd at the 2nd annual Coogan Kelly Rail Jam. Plus about 60+ days of riding on the season!!
Monster Army: Favorite flavor of Monster Energy?
Matt Guntert: I would have to say their is two flavors I really like. Original Green Moonster and Mean bean of course!
Monster Army: Any advice for all the up and comer Monster Army Shredders.
Matt Guntert: Say focused and ride hard. Do as many contests as possible and never let a fall or gaper incident bring you down. Other that always have fun when you ride and Monster is a great company to ride for. And always Go Big or GO Bigger!!o
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