Southern California is set to host the premier all-female action sports competition when the 2nd Annual S3 Supergirl Jam hits Huntington Beach on July 25 – 27 in conjunction with the 2008 Honda U.S. Open of Surfing. More than 100 of the world’s top female professionals in surfing, skateboarding, and snowboarding will compete in the S3 Supergirl Jam, an event that combines all three sports into one venue over three days.

The 2nd Annual S3 Supergirl Jam is the only large-scale, all-girls action sports competition and lifestyle/music festival. S3 Supergirl Jam is designed to promote and celebrate female strength, independence and empowerment by creating a platform for today’s athletes to compete in multiple action sports disciplines. The event features top female athletes in surf, skate and snow, as well as female bands and a variety of other activities. This year’s S3 Supergirl Jam will see elevated levels of competition, increased prize purse, and broadened appeal for spectators.

New to the S3 Supergirl Jam lineup this year is the Supergirl Junior Pro surfing competition. Officially sanctioned by the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP), the Supergirl Junior Pro will be held on Saturday, July 26, and will crown the event’s best 19 year-old or younger female surfer in North America. The Women’s Junior Pro has launched many young women to the heights of the surfing world, and the Supergirl Junior Pro will continue that tradition.

“DC Comics’ Supergirl S-shield is the universally recognized symbol of strength and leadership and creates a powerful symbol for today’s action sports girl, the ‘actionista,’” said Karen McTier, Executive Vice President of Domestic Licensing and Worldwide Marketing, Warner Bros. Consumer Products. “The young women involved in action sports are the embodiment of what Supergirl stands for - power, creativity, intelligence, independence. We are thrilled to offer these inspiring athletes a much larger and more exciting competitive experience this year.”

With nearly $60,000 in total prize money on the line, the competition is expected to be intense, the excitement electrifying, and the event an unparalleled experience for action sports fans and young female athletes worldwide.

2008 marks the second year of the S3 Supergirl Jam and again it is hosted by a committee of four renowned ‘actionistas’ including Olympic medalist and top professionally ranked snowboarder, Gretchen Bleiler (Toledo, Ohio); inline skating’s Fabiola da Silva (São Paulo, Brazil); skateboarding’s Lyn-Z Adams (Cardiff-by-the-Sea, Calif.); and surfing’s Kassia Meador (Oceanside, Calif.).

When asked about her involvement, Bleiler stated, “The Supergirl event is helping raise the profile of women’s action sports and provides young girls the opportunity to see some of the top athletes in the industry.”

The event is located on the beach, just south of the Huntington Beach Pier, in Huntington Beach, Calif. (Yes, there will be 15 tons of snow on the beach in July.) Adding to the excitement of the three separate surf, skate and snow contests, the event will also feature vert and bowl skateboarding competitions along with inline skating rail jam best trick contests. More than 100,000 spectators are expected to attend the three-day event, which is free to the public each day.

“ASA Entertainment creates action sports events all around the world, and we are pleased to present the S3 Supergirl Jam for the second year in a row and make it a bigger, better, and more entertaining competition,” said ASA Entertainment CEO Rick Bratman, producer of the S3 Supergirl Jam. “We are thrilled to be hosting the 2008 event in conjunction with the U.S. Open of Surfing, as it creates an opportunity for more people to see these amazing female athletes competing at the highest skill levels, and witness the significant progression of women in action sports.”

“I think it’s fantastic that the Supergirl Junior Pro will be part of this year’s U.S. Open,” adds Brodie Carr, CEO, ASP. “Over the past few years, we’ve seen the staggering results of athletes who excel within the ASP Pro Junior Series, and with one of the biggest events in the U.S. hosting this summer’s event, it should be a great development for female surfing within ASP North America.”

The three-day event schedule includes:

* Friday, July 25 will feature a skateboarding bowl jam contest, as well as free skateboarding clinics for girls of all ages.
* Saturday, July 26 line-up showcases the Supergirl Junior Pro surfing contest; skateboarding bowl and vert ramp best trick contests; inline skating rail jam best trick contest; and the skateboarding street prelims.
* Sunday, July 27 highlights will include the snowboard rail jam contest; skateboarding street competition finals; and vert ramp skateboarding demos.

Keeping with the spirit of Supergirl empowerment, the S3 Supergirl Jam will also offer an interactive village of female-inspired activities, autograph sessions, exhibitions, clinics and a musical line-up of female bands. Live concerts will cap each day’s activities.

The S3 Supergirl Jam is produced by ASA Entertainment, the leader in action sports event and television production, whose properties include the LG Action Sports World Championships. Its events are broadcast nationally on a host of networks - CBS, Spike, VERSUS and Fuel TV. ASA’s 2008 S3 Supergirl Jam including the Supergirl Junior Pro will air as part of a 60-minute program on both network and cable television, with live streaming taking place on Go211.com. Please stay tuned to asaentertainment.com or check your local listings for more details.

For more information on the S3 Supergirl Jam, visit www.asaentertainment.com.

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Thanks to HuckMonkey.com for the front-row footage of the Qashqai finals that went down in London on the weekend. Bonus points for anyone who can recognize and name a rider.

Direct Link --> http://www.rip.tv/video/view/9289

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Age: 20
Hometown: Santa Rosa, California
Setup: Hardtail 5.5 inch slopestyle bike and a 7 inch trail bike
Sponsors: Versus Cycles, Spyder, Camelbak, Gravity, X-fusion, SDG, Shimano, Bell, Nike, Skullcandy

So you’re in Austria right now. Doing what?
After the finals for the Qashqai in London A-Rev and I came to stay with Niki Leitner. We are staying with him for two weeks for some more contests. This coming up weekend we’re all driving to the Austrian King of Dirt contest in Linz and the week after we are going to 26Trix in Leogang.

The last year has been a pretty big one for you: Drop In tour, lots of sick footage, contest circuit, new sponsors… how do you plan to progress over the rest of the 2008 season?
I didn’t plan any of last year so I’m going to just keep riding my bike and see how things turn out.

So what’s the story with you and Drop In… how did you end up getting on the bus in the first place?
There was a couple of open spots on the bus and Geoff (Gullevich) told the guys at Rip that I wanted in and it all just came together.

Photo: Jay Sinclair

You and A-Rev were kind of like “Team Cali” on the trip last summer… do you still get to ride with him ever?
Most of the time I ride its with A-Rev. “Team Cali” lives on, we’ve been traveling through Europe together for all the contests.

Best memory from Season 5?
There are so many good ones but the best would have to be when we got to the old Rampage site and it was raining so hard. We thought we wouldn’t be able to ride but when the rain stopped we all built the sickest jumps and lines and had the best day of riding on the whole tour.

Do you still have your dragon-slaying sword?
I don’t know what you’re talking about…

Is there anyone who was on the bus you know you could never live with, and why?
Corey is the man but I could never live with him, because he is the all-time dirt bag.

Romo described your Canadian Bacon off the drop this season as “the coolest thing on the whole tour”. How do you work yourself up to flip stuff like that? Are you just so comfortable with your back-flips that you don’t think about it?
Thanks Romo. I just imagine myself landing it and it gets me confident that I will.

(check out episode 11 below to see the footage)

Direct Link --> http://www.rip.tv/video/view/3461

You were in the finals of the Nissan Qashqai series on the weekend. How nervous do you get before your runs? How did your final run go?
I’m sure you’ve heard it before but the wind was horrible. Half of the riders couldn’t complete their runs the way they wanted during qualifying because the wind was so bad. The more contests I ride the less nervous I get at each one.

Photo: Alan L. Davis

What was the craziest thing someone pulled off during Qashqai?
Greg Watts did a back-flip double bar spin and landed with his bars backwards and hit the next jump and tried to half bar spin out. Also when Trond 360d the biggest jump in Munich.

What’s your worst injury story?
My chain came off when I was riding in Whistler one year. I went to pedal off a drop and there was no chain so I went straight over the bars to my head. I was out for a minute or two and couldn’t remember much for the rest of the day.

How supportive is your family of your riding? Do your parents ever tell you to “get a real job?”
My parents ride so they like what I do. This year they are coming up to Crankworx to check it out for the first time.

Who or what got you into biking in the first place?
I live in an area where a lot of people ride and we have good places to ride.

Are you planning to pull out any surprises for Krankworx this year?
Wouldn’t you like to know!

Photo: Alan L. Davis

How much training do you do in the off-season, or do you get to ride all-year-round?
I don’t really call it training I just ride as much as possible all-year-round.

If you had to pick one rider who has inspired you the most, who would it be?
Kirt Voreis

Got any advice for the kids who want to be where you are?
Just ride as much as possible and have fun with it!

Fill in the blanks:
On my ipod is… random
The best mtb movie of all time is… Evolution
The best spot I’ve ever ridden is… the top secret trails
My favorite trick is… combo tricks
The next trick I’ll nail is…. tabletops
Mtb footy: rock or rap?… depends on the part

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