Already, across the globe we’re seeing resurgence in transition riding in a multitude of different forms.

Events like the Red Bull Double Pipe are turning transition riding into the Frankenstein’s Monster of halfpipe creations, albeit a more beautiful one; edits from crews like Warp Wave are taking the art of edge control – the essence of transition riding – and applying it to the whole mountain; and you only need to see some of the lines taken at Nine Knights to realise that ‘tranny finding’ is firmly planted in the current scene.

Most recently, Danny’s 4th iteration of the Peace Park project flexed its angular muscles. When you consider that the inception of the project was ‘just’ a pipe with rails added to the lip, we can begin to see how far this train of thought has progressed recently.

When you think of the most progressive and respected riders in snowboarding, a large majority of them learnt their trade pumping transition. Riders like Terje Håkonsen, Nicolas Müller, Jed Anderson and Jake Blauvelt all come from pipe riding backgrounds, whilst big mountain heavyweights Jeremy Jones and Xavier De Le Rue, come from racing and boardercross heritage respectively – both of these disciplines require edge control of a scalpel wielding surgeon.

All of the aforementioned, and many, many more are now pioneers in their various aspects of snowboarding, but the thing they all have in common is that they can ride a snowboard. They know exactly what their snowboard is doing under their feet, whether it’s navigating AK chutes or Anchorage car parks. Jed Anderson, who many would call the rider of a generation when it comes to urban riding, filmed a backcountry section that defies out naming of him as an ‘urban’ snowboarder. But Jed had a troubled path in the stunt ditch world, leading to him bowing out from the competitive circuit, which goes to show that although rookies have an enthusiasm for pipe, it’s a complex fire to keep burning.

Luckily for young riders keen on competitive transition riding stronger lines are beginning to be carved out. Laax hosted the 10th Ice Ripper World Rookie Fest back in January with over 85 riders across the girls’ and boys’ categories taking to the Crap Sogn Gion to test their mettle on the world’s longest pipe. In the words of one of the organisers “Transition snowboarding is some of the most fun you can have on a snowboard, and there needs to be more of it. Especially when it comes to getting kids stoked on it”.

But rookie riders aren’t just limited to pipe when it comes to transition riding anymore. The meteoric resurgence in banked slaloms has been pivotal in generating a new wave of riders that can pump transition, and love to do so.