In the best conditions that Modena has ever seen, Finnish snowboarding superstar on the rise, Matti Kinnunen, took home the title of the 4Star Nissan Stomp It, in front of screaming Italian fans and European top riders.

In its 15th year, this snowboard event is now on the Swatch TTR Tour for the third year running, and has rapidly grown to a 4Star event.

The corner setup had been perfected, allowing the riders to have enough speed and a solid landing ground. Kinnunen impressed the judges with a solid Double Backside Rodeo 900 and grabbed the top spot in front of Stephan Maurer (SUI) in second and Tobias Karlsson (SWE) in third place. Maurer grabbed the “Highest Air” title and with his first result of the season climbed to the Top 40 in the TTR rankings.

Kinnunen has in the past been flashing his raw talent at a couple Swatch TTR events. Already in 2008, he rode away with a second place at the 3Star Quiksilver Snowjam in the Czech Republic and in 2009, with a win at the 3Star Finnish Open, beating a line up of all-star countrymen. The 22 year old showed serious style and amplitude, and has without a doubt skills and determination to get to the top. With 8000€ more on his bank account and 500 Swatch TTR Ranking points Kinnunen enthuses, “My first time at this event. It has been awesome. The set up is great and the women are beautiful. I will definitely be competing more this season.”

Next the Swatch TTR Tour will be moving on to Austria to on of the early season must see events at the Dachstein Glacier, the 4Star Horsefeathers Pleasure Jam from 13 – 15.11.2009, where the women will also be competing.

Nissan Stomp It Modena

1     Matti Kinnunen      FIN
2     Stephan Maurer     SUI
3     Tobias Karlsson          SWE
4     Gerome Mathieu     FRA
5     Mattias Nyberg     SWE
6     Manuel Pietropoli       ITA
7     Patrik Huber         AUT
8     Giorgio Ciancaleoni     ITA
9     Peter König         SWE
10   Ruggero Naccari     ITA