UPDATED: The Mpora iPhone App

A post in Mpora, News which was posted on May 22, 2012 by Keltron.

We know it’s been a while since we spoke about the Mpora app but it’s something worth talking about today! We’ve been having a few teething problems with it but after many weeks of tinkering and attaching new streamlined features, we’re proud to announce that there’s an update! Not only does it make it look better, work better and, well, just generally be more enjoyable.

UPDATED: The Mpora iPhone App

The photo above might not look like much but trust us, it’s definitely worth updating! It won’t cost you a penny and you’ll have the best action sports footage in the palm of your hand. Now, if you don’t have the app already then you’re missing out! Head over to the App Store and download this piece of wonder now!

http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/mpora-video/id516605417?mt=8

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Graeme

A post in Skateboarding which was posted on May 10, 2012 by Keltron.

Graeme - Asperger's Syndrome

Asperger’s Syndrome isn’t a very well known disorder as most people only know about it if it affects them. For those of you that don’t know:

“Asperger syndrome (AS), also known as Asperger’s syndrome or Asperger disorder, is an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) that is characterized by significant difficulties in social interaction, alongside restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior and interests. It differs from other autism spectrum disorders by its relative preservation of linguistic and cognitive development. Although not required for diagnosis, physical clumsiness and atypical use of language are frequently reported.”

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SAVE SKATEPARK AMSTERDAM

A post in News, Skateboarding which was posted on May 10, 2012 by Keltron.

SAVE SKATEPARK AMSTERDAM

It’s never good to hear about skateparks closing down but when it’s a park as big and as influential as Skatepark Amsterdam, it hits home that little bit harder. We recently received news that they were going to be evicted and they had this to say about it:


More Skate Videos

It seems that commercialism lands another punch into what the locals really want or need. If you feel like helping out, and we strongly recommend that you do, then head over to their petition website and put your name down. They’re also accepting any ideas you have for campaigning, so if you have any send them here – info@skateparkamsterdam.com

It’s a damn shame.

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Tom Schaar wins gold in Asia!

A post in Events, News, Skateboarding which was posted on May 1, 2012 by Keltron.

Tom Schaar wins gold in Asia!

The name Tom Schaar rings a bell doesn’t it? Well, if you remember rightly, I spoke about Tom recently and how he landed the world’s first skateboarding 1080 over the pond at Woodward. If you didn’t read it, then read it here.

We all knew that this was the start of something special. It only takes one person with one new trick to blow the sport wide open, so it was no surprise that when he landed the 1080, the sport was going to be keeping an eye on him. The great thing about skateboarding is that not every competition has a mega ramp so the 1080 won’t be seen in your local skate park. One event that consistently has the mega ramp is the X Games and most recently, X Games Asia.
It’s one thing to land the 1080 in conditions purpose built for you but he must have been practising hard as this is the trick he took to competition hoping to win the gold. And win it he did!

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Nitro Circus – ‘Wheelz’

A post in BMX, Skateboarding which was posted on April 26, 2012 by Intern.

Nitro Circus is chaos. From its birth in 2006, it has gone through a reality MTV episodic series to its current tour of live shows all across the globe, and has never failed to live up to reputation. I’m sure you don’t need to be introduced to Travis Pastrana and pals though, we have all watched Nitro Circus before! But you might know a little less about one of the stars of the show. Aaron ‘Wheelz’ Fotheringham has an interesting story about how he got into his sport – Wheelchair MX.

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The Science of Airborning – Art of Flight Spoof

A post in Snowboarding which was posted on April 24, 2012 by Intern.

As soon as he blasted onto the scene back in 2001, Travis Rice was not going to go unnoticed. He stamped his entry into the professional snowboarding world with a ballsy back rodeo to bolts on a 110ft gap super kicker at Mammoth Mountain in California. Since then he has tamed more competitions than you can shake a ski at, blessed our world with revolutionary parts in a selection of Absinthe films, and brought us That’s it, That’s all with his long time pal Curt Morgan and their baby – Brain Farm. Their second movie, The Art of Flight, was long anticipated and did not disappoint when the world wrapped their eyes around it, but before we could catch our breath, Rice goes and releases his latest brainchild – Supernatural – throwing the best riders in the world together on a mountainface riddled with custom ‘natural’ features. Phew! He is an impressive fellow. But let’s hope he has a sense of humour…

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Phantom: Ultimate Slow-Mo

A post in filming which was posted on April 23, 2012 by Intern.

The world has kind of gone backwards. Back in 1965, Intel co-founder  Gordon E. Moore talked in one of his papers of the idea that technology would double in speed every two years. At the time, many people laughed, but to this day (as far as I know) this rule of thumb has in fact remained true. In the last few years though, video camera technology has become so incredible that it has blasted off the edge of fast into an abyss of slow. Viewing life in realtime is no more, we have entered the age of slow motion. Being able to see every last detail of each stage of everything in HD quality has become something not too foreign to our eyes, and although there are many cameras capable of producing the aforementioned, there is one culprit that seems to have taken the lime-light. Do you know what I am talking about? Course you do. Phantom.

The Phantom Gold has the ability to film in HD at over 1,000fps. It really is mind boggling. And the footage? Eye boggling. Especially when expert Phantom operator Chris Bryan gets caught at Teahupoo on a day to be remembered. Chris says of it:

“This day at Teahupoo – Aug 27th 2011 during the Billabong Pro waiting period is what many are calling the biggest and gnarliest Teahupoo ever ridden. Chris Bryan was fortunate enough to be there working for Billabong on a day that will go down in the history of big wave surfing. The French Navy labeled this day a double code red prohibiting and threatening to arrest anyone that entered the water.
Kelly Slater described the day by saying “witnessing this was a draining feeling being terrified for other people’s lives all day long, it’s life or death. Letting go of that rope one time can change your life and not many people will ever experience that in their life.” “

It has to be seen to be believed, so check it out for yourselves.

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Dew Tour: The New Schedule

A post in Events, Skateboarding, Skiing, Snowboarding, Surfing which was posted on April 17, 2012 by Keltron.

Dew Tour: The New Schedule

If you’re a keen follower of the sports on Mpora then you are going to be more than aware of the Dew Tour and how good it is. Over the past few years, as it grew in popularity, it also grew in tour stops. Last year there were plenty of stops along the way that pulled in huge crowds and made the competition for overall winner incredibly fierce but for 2012, it’s going to be a little different.
They’re classing the stops as Beach, City and Mountain and all of these categories are only having one stop each.

Beach: Ocean City, Md – August 16-19
City: San Francisco, Calif – October 18-21
Mountain: Breckenridge, Colo – December 13-16

For the full story, here’s their press release:

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World’s First Skateboarding 1080

A post in News, Skateboarding which was posted on April 4, 2012 by Keltron.

World's First Skateboarding 1080 Photo: Matt Lingo/Red Bull Content Pool

When this was mentioned to me I was wondering who would be called out as the skater that successfully landed this. Your mind runs through the crazier of the skaters out there and then it wanders over to Tony Hawk (he hasn’t landed anything bigger than a 720 for years) and perhaps Shaun White. They’ve been making a mark on the industry for years so it could be one of them…

Nope. It was neither of them. Which isn’t actually too surprising. As I’ve spoken to many people before, the youngsters in our sports are coming through a bit too fast these days so it’s pretty standard practise for something as ridiculous as this to be claimed by a youngster… which it was.
Skating at the MegaRamp at Woodward West in Tehachapi, California was 12-year-old Tom Schaar. With a Red Bull presence helping create the mega ramp (it wouldn’t be something ridiculous without the help of Red Bull!) he takes a few tries to get it down. There’s also another kid trying it as well but seeing as he didn’t land it, he’ll soon be forgotten within the depths of the internet.

Enough of my jabbering though! Here’s the story behind the epic spin from the boy himself.

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Red Bull Supernatural: Rider’s Eye View

A post in Events, Snowboarding which was posted on March 28, 2012 by Keltron.

Red Bull Supernatural: Rider's Eye View

Red Bull Supernatural is an event that’s been spoken about at Mpora HQ for a while now, mostly about how ridiculously epic it’s going to be. But I just read some news that blew us all away and it should be something that raises your eyebrows too. It turns out that not only will Red Bull Supernatural be one of those events that you don’t forget for a while but it’s going to break out of the proverbial box and bring you something slightly different.

My first warning is that it might be only for you Yanks out there as this pretty much revolves around the screening of the comp on NBC. Don’t take my word as gospel though as I’m sure there are going to be ways to watch NBC in other countries. For everyone that has a smart phone with Shazam, you’ll be pleased to hear that the sports world has teamed up with Shazam to give you the ‘Rider’s Eye View’. But what does that mean exactly?
When the program begins and the riders prepare for their descent of the course, viewers can open the Shazam app on their smart phones and watch the riders riding down the face of a mountain. The TV will show the rider descending but your phone will show you the view that the riders have.

When the app is opened, it will recognise sounds from the broadcast to open up the corresponding video for the users. It’s a smart idea right? Here’s some more info:

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