Nikita

Nikita Chickita is not over for 2010!  The epic Cardrona Alpine Resort in New Zealand will host TWO Nikita Chickita ski and snowboard freestyle camps for girls only to be held on 8th August and 4th September 2010. 

For beginners and intermediate level riders, girls will meet first thing on the mountain and be treated to a champagne breakfast before hitting up a full day of coaching and riding with Cardrona’s top female instructors and coaches and guest pro female riders hanging and helping out.  Including Olympic halfpipe snowboarder Kendall Brown, X-Games (snowboard slopestyle) competitor Shelly Gotlieb and top freeskier Janina Kuzma. The day will be broken up with a lunch break on the hill, afternoon prize giving and then more bubbly to flow at the Mint Bar in Wanaka for the evening’s downtime. 

Cardrona Alpine Resort known for its world-class freestyle facilities and home to some of NZ’s biggest ski and snowboard championships, is nestled in the Cardona Valley in the heart of the Southern Lakes region of the South Island.  All of Cardrona’s park and pipes will be available to use before the camp heads to Wanaka, just 35km away to party ‘til dawn. 

To get involved just drop into the snowsports centre at Cardrona, 18 Dunmore Street, Wanaka or 35 Shotover Street, Queenstown.  There are limited places already so book early to avoid disappointment!  Cost for the whole day is just $120 to include champagne breakfast, all day coaching, lunch, goodie bag and prizes.  Participants will also get a 50% discount on a full day ticket at the Cardrona resort. 

Thanks to drinks sponsors Lindauer (for the bubbly), Mother energy drink and Base who will be supplying goodie bags.  Expect drink specials on cocktails blended especially for Nikita Chickita later at the party at the Mint Bar in Wanaka too!

With over 150 entries into the Nikita Photoshoot Contest from every corner the globe, Nikita boss Heida Birgisdottir and International Marketing Manager Geiri certainly had their work cut out trying to choose just two girls to participate in the SS11 shoot.  

With the mammoth task ahead, bleeding eyes by the end of it and a top list, the final two girls chosen to join the Nikita crew on the next photoshoot trip in Mexico are..

Laura Diehm from Munich, Germany
…and…
Lynn Vanderhallen from Maasmechelen, Belgium

21 year old Laura spent some time putting together the photos for her entry.  She’s a ‘true Bavarian girl’ at heart, originally from Zittertal, Austria but has spent the last 14 years in Munich.  She works at a big skate shop in Munich and has a French bulldog called Charlotti.  This will be her first trip out of Europe and she’s looking forward to joining the Nikita crew and team as one of the faces of the SS11 catalogue.  

Lynn, 19 years, also sent in some really cool shots of herself that showed how relaxed she’s going to be in front of the camera, it literally loves her!  The dark haired Belgian was pictured in some great landscape surroundings and has been known to traumatize some sheep by running after them.  In good company then.

Watch out for them featured in next spring summer's collection!

NIKITA SENORITAS CAN ENTER THE NEXT PHOTOSHOOT CONTEST

Hola!  Nikita are already planning the next photoshoot for the Spring Summer 2011 look book.  Packing up and heading out from 23rd April 2010, the Nikita crew and team are hitting up North West Mexico.  If you feel you got the look or want to recommend a friend because you think ‘she’s got the look’ like Swedish pop duo Roxette sang in the late 80’s, then now is the time to reveal who you are and rápido!

Nikita are offering two places for two special senoritas to feature as a model in the forthcoming prized look book for next Spring Summer’s streetwear collection.  You will be picked from the piñata, contacted and flown out to join everyone on the shoot.  Only enter if you’re free to travel from 23rd April to 8th May 2010!  

Sophia Metzler (Germany), Angelisa Hollick (Canada) and Stefanie Suchy (Germany) entered the last contest and found themselves on location with Nikita in New Orleans.  Their photos will feature in next season’s Winter 2010 / 2011 look book and you can check out some photos of them on the shoot here - just click to view more photos.

Conditions of Entry
Senoritas!  Please enter by e-mailing Nikita as many photos / images as you like (to include profile and lifestyle shots) but the total file size must not exceed 2MB.  We need your full name, address, date of birth and contact details included in the e-mail to michelle@nikitaclothing.com before 15th April 2010.  You must be free to travel to the photoshoot from 23rd April to 8th May 2010.  Winners will be announced on 16th April.

* Please note that ALL entrants must be 18 years old or over and have a valid passport.  Your entries may also be showcased via Nikita’s website, Myspace and Facebook

Words by Pia Kaipainen (Nikita Chickita Europe 2010 event organiser)

As the saying goes ‘all roads lead to Rome’. Well on Saturday 10th of April, sixteen Nikita Chickitas took the road to Serfaus where the 4th Nikita Chickita Europe contest took place. Us here at Nikita would like to think that there are many different ways of doing something and Nikita Chickita is our way of organizing an event where competing is totally secondary and having fun together on the slope is what counts! And once again, this was achieved with a day that could best be described by Nikita's own Julia Baumgartner’s words on Saturday afternoon after the event was done and dusted; "For me, it was the best jam session ever!"

But to get a better picture of what took place on Saturday, let's begin with registration for the event that started at 08.30am at Serfaus ticket office. There was a constant flow of girls registering in and everyone was super excited about the day ahead! After getting their lift passes from the lovely ladies at the ticket office and placing their Nikita goodie bags behind the info desk for the day, everyone headed up the mountain to hit the park and warm up under the spring sunshine.

The judges decided that a jam session would be the best format instead of qualifications and finals with the amount of girls enabling that and what could be a more relaxed and fun way of doing a contest than jamming together -  absolutely nada! The shapers of the park had busted their butts off to ensure a top course (a jib line and a kicker line) so big up to the boys for that! As there were no juniors taking part this year, we were ready to let the sixteen ladies go off in Serfaus park!  And off they went!

The level of riding was sick and the judges were super impressed by all the girls. The Chickitas pushed each other as much as possible and this lead to a fantastic atmosphere amongst the riders as well as the crew who were there and in the spirit of things 100%. All the girls did around 6 runs, getting to decide themselves whether they wanted to hit the jib line or the kicker line. Every single girl gave both lines / every obstacle a shot which was fantastic. There were no injuries which naturally made the whole day a happy one for everyone there. Some girls did have some hard slams but nobody gave up, showing true soldier spirit!

The chill area next to the park was full of ‘shiny happy people’, enjoying drinks and BBQ while some received top notch physiotherapy provided by Jan Schröder, whose assistance and calming attitude helping throughout the event was invaluable.

The ladies had so much fun hitting the park that after the judges were ready to decide the TOP 3 riders of the day, they all wanted to continue to ride and who can blame them; it was bluebird and the park was is stellar condition so the session kept going on as long as the last lift call.

The judges, Nikita lovelies (AND super cute and talented as they specifically wrote onto their judging sheets) Julia Baumgartner, Lisa Filzmoser, Maude Richon and Vanessa Waldenhofer faced a tough decision coming up with the final order of the TOP 3, as the level between them was just so close. But a winner was found and this was to be kept top secret until the evening's prize-giving ceremony at the Patschi pub down in the village.  

A crowd of smiley, panda tanned faces took over the après ski in Patschi and around 22:00pm it was time to announce the winners and get them on the podium. With a rain of colourful balloons falling from the roof and raging applauds in the air, the winner of Nikita Chickita Europe 2010 was crowned and this super talented young lady is called ELENA KÖNZ. She was a deserving winner after impressing the judges with a bunch of tricks including a frontside 3, backside 5, switch backside 1, frontside 5 and by trying a backside 7. Well done Elena!! Second place went to Switzerland's NC Swiss Tour finals winner, Isabel Derungs proving also why she was the deserved winner from the Tour, with smooth frontside 3’s, backside rodeo and backside 5’s.  Isabel was also rewarded Best Trick of the day for her whopping backside rodeo. And finally, it was Malin Johansson from Kläppen Sweden (also the winner of NC Sweden, and 3rd in NC Scandinavia) who took third place landing a super clean cab 5 and showing what the Scandinavians are made of with tricks like a switch backside 1 and a huge backside 3.  
 
The best jibber of the day was Mary Luggen who rocked the park with some serious moves, like her frontside 180 to 50/50 on the rails.

So here are the TOP 3 RESULTS and a shout out to all of the other ladies who took part on Saturday:

1. Elena Könz
2. Isabel Derungs
3. Malin Johansson

4. Conny Bleicher
5. Mary Luggen
6. Diana Sadlowski
7. Fanny Vuagniaux
8. Katrin Wegschneider
9. Karin Hofer
10. Tania Bukhari Benz
11. Nicole Sommerauer
12. Sandra Graf
13. Karin Zimmerli
14. Simone Twelkemeijere
15. Mona Hueber
16. Daniela Landerer 

The winning trio were bombarded with some amazing prizes from K2 snowboards, DaKine, Sector 9, Les Ettes, Dragon and naturally some rocking Nikita gear plus some reading for summer from our media partners Cooler and Onboard. Heida gave out the prize cheques along with her son Frosti and congratulated everyone with huge hugs.  Elena took home a hefty prize cheque worth of €1000, followed by Isabel with a cheque for €500 and Malin €250.

The celebrations of the winners and everyone who took part in the event went on until the early morning with The Cuban Brothers' downright funky DJ Kengo Oshima and local DJ talents. Off the roof fun it was!

HUGE THANKS goes to our sponsors K2, DaKine, Sector 9, Les Ettes, Dragon, Onboard and Cooler. Also big ups to the local crew in Serfaus, we could not have done it without all your support and help - you all rock!! Thanks to Patschi, Kengo from the Cuban Brothers, Reini from Serfaus Marketing, Mexx and the lovely shaper boys, thanks EVERYONE who came to be part of the best event this season!

Thanks Nikita crew and thanks Jan - this event was the sum of us all!  Hopefully next year the juniors will come and flash off their skills and of course all the lovely ladies coming back that took part this year - as well as all ladies who like to join in the fun and ride!

See you in 2011!!

Well done to all that turned up in the sun fest that was Serfaus at the weekend, it really couldn't have been better all round!  Here's the winners:
 
1. Elena Könz
2. Isabel Derungs
3. Malin Johansson
 
Best trick (BS rodeo) - Isabel Derungs
Best jibber of the day - Mary Luggen

We'll add the full report in the next couple of days......

Love
Nikita Crew

We’re counting down to 10th April when the next edition of Nikita Chickita Europe hits the slopes at Serfaus, Austria.  The quiet resort will be awash with friendly female snowboarders looking to ride on the groomed slopestyle course, in order to win the top prize of 1000 Euros, a one-year Nikita team rider sponsorship and a whopper bag of goodies.  Pre-registrations have been coming in and will continue to be open until Thursday 8th April 2010, but you can still just turn up and register to take part onsite at Serfaus Ticket Office from Friday 9th between 15:00 – 17:00pm and on Saturday morning between 08:00 – 09:30am.

Riders: We are looking forward to welcoming back the likes of Agnieszka Rusin, Cilka Sadar, Diana Sadlowski and Elena Könz adding to the cross-section of quality European riders already confirmed to head over from the depths of Switzerland, Czech Republic, Slovenia, UK, Spain and home country Austria to compete.

To join in and register all you need to do is e-mail michelle@nikitaclothing.com – please supply your full name, age and date of birth, contact telephone number, address and e-mail.  Any riders with sponsors please state who they are.  It’s an open invite and all ages are welcome.  The contest is split into womens and juniors (under 16’s).

In it to win it: The first three placed women and juniors will receive a huge bag of products from Nikita and this year’s sponsors, plus the top three placed women will also receive:
1st - €1000 and a one-year Nikita sponsorship
2nd - €500
3rd - €250

Judges: This year’s judges will include the effervescent Judge Julia (Baumgartner) as head judge, first-time guest judge and new outerwear team signing Lisa Filzmoser and Nikita Chickita Swiss Tour event supremo and team rider Maude Richon.  They will be looking at a number of things in order to crown the champion of 2010, including style, moves, amplitude and attitude!

Course: This year’s course will consist of a rail line and kicker line.  The rail line will include a double kinked box, down flat down then stairs to down rail or a picnic table, alternatively the stairs to down flat rail or down rail up pipe (bowl) or double kinked rail and wall.  The kicker line will include a combo of either 10m or 14m kicker, or a combo of either 11m or 16m kicker then up pipe (bowl) or double kinked rail and wall.  Check out www.2high.at for the Serfaus Park.  

Patschi Party:  Again this year the infamous party will be taking place at the Patschi bar.  Last year’s was memorable to say the least and has been the talk of the town since we left and they’re looking forward to welcoming us back again!  Thanks to K2 Snowboarding, who will be sponsoring the party this year and kindly paying for all to enjoy some drinks at the bar, so those taking part, make sure to get your share!  You’ll be shaking everything you got to the Cuban Brothers outfit, live in Serfaus to entertain you!  Check them out – www.thecubanbrothers.com

Event Schedule: Saturday 10th April 2010
08:00 – 09:30 – Registration at Serfaus Ticket Office
09:00 – 10:30 – Open practice on the slopestyle course
10:30 – Riders meeting on the mountain at the Chill Out area next to the course
11:00 – Qualifying Heats (Womens and Juniors)
12:30 – 13:00 – Lunch break and course re-shape
13:00 – 13:50 – Juniors Finals
13:50 – 14:00 – Course re-shape
14:00 – 15:30 – Womens Final
21:00 – Prize Giving and party begins!! The Patschi Bar

Sponsors: We’re stoked to announce this year’s sponsors for NC Europe 2010.  These special brands and the people behind them are kindly providing some top notch loot as part of the booty you can win this year.    
                 
Womens and Juniors podium placers will get
- K2 will be kitting out the women’s winner with a new VaVaVoom Board, 2nd with Cassette Ltd Bindings and 3rd a pair of Scene Boots
- Dragon will be providing a brand spanking new pair of goggles to each of the women’s and juniors winners
- Sector 9 will be providing a complete skateboard set up each of the women’s and juniors winners
- Dakine will be kitting out the 1st place women’s winner with the Leanne Pelosi Team Helo Pro Dlx backpack (plus Leanne Pelosi Gloves), 2nd will get the Girls Heli Pro Dlx (plus t-shirt) and 3rd the Girls Heli Pro (plus sunglasses case), whilst Juniors will get; 1st Girls Mission Backpack (plus gloves), 2nd Goggle case (plus t-shirt) and 3rd Sunglasses case (plus wallet)
- Les Ettes are making sure all the winners smell their best with the new Love-ette perfume, a favourite of Lisa Filzmoser who is fronting the new campaign
 
Thanks to Cooler and Onboard Magazines for being this year’s sponsors, we appreciate your continued support!

Watch last year’s video here www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmUQjzLJ5jM

Pia Kaipainen, Nikita’s European Marketing Manager headed to Norway to give us the low down on the event.  Here's her report:

The train ride through the mountains from Oslo to Geilo on Friday already set the mood sky high for the upcoming weekend. Slowly passing views to fjords and mountain ranges were breathtakingly beautiful. Arriving in Geilo even the warm spring sun came out, lighting up the resort and making water drip from the rooftops. Geilo's multitasking man in everything to do with snowboarding, Rune, picked me up from the train station and off we drove to the traditional Norwegian cabins he had arranged for the whole bunch coming to the Nikita Chickita contest.

All girls stayed in groups of about 7 in houses that were directly located next to the mountain.   After settling down, everyone gathered for some dinner at the local pizzeria where the registration was also held. After getting goodie bags packed with everything from Nikita beanies to beauty products, the girls (and some boys too) hungrily finished off plate after plate of delicious pan pizza. Yummy! By 9pm everyone had a full belly and a tired but happy smile on their face - it was time to hit the hay and sleep. Saturday was gonna be a full on, action packed day for everyone! It was snowing heavily when we headed back to the cabins and everyone was sleeping with their fingers crossed to have some sun the next day... 

The day of the Nikita Chickita Scandinavia 2010 opened up in stunning sunshine so it was worth it to spend the night sleeping all tangled up! Breakfast was served at 08.30 at the mountain hut next to the lifts and then it was time to head to the park for a warm up. The snow was good and the park was in superb shape. The course included a flat down box, a banana box and a flat rail plus three jumps and a jib at the end.  While the Nikita crew set up some banners, tents and sun umbrellas on the bottom of the course, the girls rode and got to know the course. The sun was shining, music was banging and excitement was in the air!  After some warming up, it was time to kick start the contest.

There were 40 girls altogether at the starter gate, ready to push the best out of themselves and support their fellow sisters in achieving the same. Nikita riders Cecilia Larsen and Thea Stenshagen were all set to score the girls and see who would be continuing into the finals from the qualification runs. We had juniors ripping and having fun alongside a bit more experienced and older gals - all having a great time together. 15 girls made it to the final which was due after a quick lunch on the mountain. We witnessed a BS 3, FS 5 and a switch BS 1 from Dina Treland, BS 3, an indy grab and a BS 540 from Anette Bandidos Andersen followed by a switch BS 180, FS 360 and BS 360 from Malin Johansson. It was Dina who bagged the winning jackpot with her great variation of tricks and smooth style. 

Deciding the TOP3 was more than a struggle as all of them had some outstanding runs and showed real talent. But the decision had to be done and this is the final result: 

1. Dina Treland
2. Anette Bandidos Andersen
3. Malin Johansson 

The rest of the girls placing from 4th -10th were: 
4. Hanne Kauko
5. Silje Johnsen
6. Martina Nicile Naess
7. Erika Kolbert
8. Alexandra Unger
9. Christina Kolbu
10. Emilie Wilberg

Best Junior prize went to Emilie Wilberg and Best Trick was nominated to Anette Bandidos Andersen. 

The busy girls that they are, both 1st and 2nd placed winners already had other commitments for the weekend of the Nikita Chickita Europe so it was Malin Johansson from Sweden who got the golden ticket to go to Serfaus, Austria. And she definitely deserved her ticket; the difference in points for the top 3 girls was extremely tight. So, grattis Malin!!  

The day ended at Rune's new boardshop in Geilo where there was a rail jam in the front yard of the shop and inside a mini ramp for the gals to skate on. What an awesome setup! And after a packed day full of physical action the brain hard-drives were activated too with a little quiz. The teams were divided between the houses the girls stayed at and the winning team took home a big bag full of sweets and snacks.  Here are the results of the rail jam: 

1. Dina Treland
2. Louise Blanc
3. Hanne Kauko
4. Thea Stenshagen
5. Gro Engebakken

After the prize giving ceremonies, photoshoot sessions and using a good dose of energy throughout the day, everyone was pretty exhausted and the bus ride to the cabins were full of giggles and red cheeks. As Ice Cube says: it was a good day! 

The weekend of fun was finished off with a mellow photoshoot session on Sunday, along with a BBQ on-hill and a fierce snowball fight. When it was time to go home, the girls were stoked after an amazing weekend at Geilo. Everyone went home with new friends, new experiences and much laughter! 

Nikita would like to send BIG thanks especially to the Response Crew (Pål Wahl, Ailin Hårklau, Hege Ringard, Kent Willy Nilsen) & the photographers Remy Eik from Playboard Norway mag and Otto Alsaker Prestmo as well as Rune from Snowboardtrener.no. Also, tusen takk goes to Electric and Aeriel Seven for prizes, Playboard as media partner, Coca Cola for drinks and Geilolia for a fantastic park. And not to forget all the wonderful girls who took part in the event - many thanks for being there! At the event site we had a whopping crew of 69 people taking part to make this event happen and as fun as it was - that's deserves big applause!  Same time next year!   

All photo credits: Otto Alsaker Prestmo