The crowds came out in warmer weather than expected. Last year we were here it was full on winter, and this time there were no funny furry tank driver hats, but they were still drinking lots of vodka! It’s really fun to do these shows in Russia towards the end of the season. After all my practicing and touring around the USA and Canada, it’s refreshing to still see excited and happy faces. We did two shows that went off well, but there was some trouble on the horizon brewing, literally.

As anyone who hasn’t had their head in a hole knows by now, Iceland had a major volcanic eruption this weekend, and the resulting ash cloud has put a serious dent in European travelers plans, myself included. There are worse things than being stranded in Europe, but hanging out in airports gets old after awhile. Regardless of how frustrated I was, I knew there were thousands of other people trying to get home as well, so I relaxed and had a beer.

I would also like to thank everyone who asked questions on Facebook. I have copied and pasted the answers below.

What mods do you guys do to your sleds so they are ready for freestyle?

I usually put a skidoo mod engine kit on my sled. I also put on a freestyle seat, Fly mini-moto bend handlebars and a Fly 3 inch handlebar riser.

How hard was it to become what you are today? And what are some of the things you did to get where you are?

It was a lot of work there were a lot of years were I had a lot of fun but there was no money and it was very hard for me to pay my bills. I practiced and I love what I do so i just kept working hard and keeping my eyes on the main goal.. winning Winter X games.

How did you start sledstyle and how often do you hurt yourself doing it?

I started because I wanted to be a freestyle motocrosser but I couldn’t make the cut when I was younger. I have been hurt a bunch I broke my left leg tibia and fibula three times. My left ankle three times, dislocated my right elbow and shoulder, broke my jaw, broke my right heal, broke my back, collapsed my lung, and broke three ribs.

What is it like the very first time you hit the ramp? What should I start first, freestyle fmx or snowmobile?

I was really scared to hit the ramp the first time because there had only been three other people in front of me and they all crashed… I started on my bike doing tricks, it was easier to find jumps than ramps at first.

Are you filming for Slednecks 13?

We filmed some in Idaho for X Games and are going to be working more this season on my segment.

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Some 70,000 fans showed up for the show outside the Novosibirsk State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre. “The main statue is of Lenin, who is, from what we have gathered, their George Washington,” writes Tyler Tobin.

First it was Yekaterinburg. Now it’s Novosibirsk. Heath Frisby, Joe Parsons, Isaac Sherbine and the SCS/Red Bull Sledstyle crew are taking Russia by storm—here’s the latest report from the Novosibirsk State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre, Feb. 28, by SCS’ Tyler Tobin.”Novosibirsk, Russia. Revolution on Machines. February 28… RED BULL RUSSIA AND SCS PRODUCTIONS BIGGEST EVENT IN HISTORY!!!”

“Stop 2 on the Red Bull Revolution on Machines tour is complete and let’s just say that history was made in Novosibirsk, Russia. The SCS crew pulled off the biggest sledstyle show to date with 70,000+ spectators in attendance to watch Heath Frisby, Joe Parsons and Isaac Sherbine. The setup was a little bit different than our event in Yekaterinburg: Instead of two ramps with two landings, we mixed it up and built two ramps with one giant landing. Needless to say, the venue and course worked and flowed much better with this new setup, and the crowd definitely enjoyed it. Frisby and Parsons were able to flip side-by-side and you could see it in the Russians’ eyes—they were in complete awe.”

“We had a four round setup with Round 1 consisting of each rider getting a total of 10 jumps. Then the crowd judged the top two to move into a final round. Frisby and Parsons were selected. However, Sherbine definitely did not disappoint and is emerging with some excellent tricks and professional showmanship (even though he did have a pretty nasty get off in practice that ended up totaling a sled). (Thanks again to Rosan Distributing of Russia for providing us with ample Ski Doo equipment to get another sled ready for Isaac.)”

“Round 2 was the Best Trick round and this really started to set the stage for what was in store. Isaac threw an amazing stripper which the crowd screamed for and he was pumped up for sure. It was one of the best strippers I have seen in a long time. Parsons came out second and threw a super flip and a pendulum flip—two of his best flip variation tricks to date, super extended and smooth. Frisby came out third and this is where it got interesting. Instead of a flip variation, Frisby threw something completely new: A one-handed Hart attack to Rock Solid. Steve and our incredible announcer Tim, who was fresh off a trip from Egypt for a surfing competition after Yekaterinburg, was standing next to Steve Miller in the middle of the landing and each of them were amazed and absolutely blown away by the creativity and shear sickness that Heath brought out.”

“Round 3 consisted of Parsons and Frisby each throwing down another ten hits from Round 1, which was again an amazing show. Flip variations, huge extended tricks and classic Parsby showmanship!!”"Round 4 was where history and crowd amazement were made. For all of the previous rounds I had been communicating with the riders down at the production tent so I was unable to get the full effect of what was happening. However, I picked up my video camera and traversed my way up 30 feet of scaffolding where Devin Karr had been shooting photos all night and he told me to get ready for the show. I got the camera out and began shooting and each rider threw down in what we decided on to be a finale/jam session for 10-15 minutes. I am not sure if the crowd stopped screaming seeing two riders jumping simultaneously and throwing the same sick tricks as before. Parsons and Frisby were throwing huge flip variations simultaneously and then Sherbine was right behind them both flipping as well. It was so awesome to witness this in Novosibirsk, Russia, and when it was all said and done the photos and video will prove the statement that this was the biggest sledstyle events to date and we made it happen here at SCS.”

“All of us at SCS would like to take the time to individually thank all of people and companies that made this event possible. First, Red Bull in Novosibirsk and all of the employees that came from Moscow headquarters truly were a huge help and their efforts are greatly appreciated. Second, the production company Modific out of Moscow made a gigantic effort to make the setup and look of everything extremely professional and we are grateful to Gleb and his crew for working day and night on setup. Lastly, we would like to thank and give support to Joe Parsons. Steve informed me that he has not seen Joe ride that good yet. Steve also told me that Joe rode better in Novosibirsk then he did at X Games!! Keep up the great riding Joe, but also each rider rode above and beyond what we could have even expected!!”

“On a lighter much funnier note, we had a little mishap occur during the day before the event. While we were all working on the landing and preparing the final touches to it we all decided to have shovel racing down the face. However, it was not normal shovel racing. We decided to stand on the face of the shovel and try to ride it down like a board or some odd thing that is more than likely to cause some form of injury. One of our colleagues Markass was the last to attempt and he was against the whole idea entirely because he says to us that when he does stupid things he usually gets hurt (and that is what happened). Our peer pressure got the best of him and in his attempt to ride down he managed to break his ankle. Needless to say, we got a good laugh out of it and look at it with fond memories, but our condolences go out to Mark and his infamous right boot!! We are all with you buddy!! He told us that the ambulance ride (or shall I say ride in an empty box van) and hospital that asked for no information was quite the memorable experience!”—Tobin

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Riders Joe Parsons, Heath Frisby, Daniel Bodin and Isaac Sherbine are touring Russia at the moment with the SCS/Red Bull Sledstyle crew. The tour—”Revolution on Machines—is modeled after a show in Moscow from ’05, but this time it features three stops, including Yekaterinburg and Novosibirsk. Here’s the report from the Feb. 21 demo—attended by an estimated 25,000 fans—in Yekaterinburg, from Tyler Tobin of SCS.

“The SCS Crew once again proved that there are no limits as to what can be done, or better yet, where it can be done. We were given the distinct opportunity of continuing the excitement of Red Bull Sledstyle, once again, on an international stage. Red Bull Russia came to SCS with the proposal of continuing the famed events known as Revolution on Machines. This time they wanted to have multiple stops in cities that were reminiscent of historic Russia. Both sides worked diligently to make events happen and the first stop already has, and it was a HUGE success.”

“February 21, Yekaterinburg, Russia. Lenin Square. A central location in the middle of the city that is a historic area—Red Bull thought it would be the perfect stage for the sleds and riders to throw down on. For this event we had Frisby, Parsons and Sherbine, and Daniel Bodin made the jaunt from Sweden to throw down as usual.

The SCS crew worked day and night in preparing a course that had an element that had not been used or attempted at any other course in sledstyle history: a river gap. The Red Bull people came to Steve Miller and proposed putting a ramp and landing that would have part of the river in the middle which then leads to a reflecting pool. He knew the idea was innovative and creative and we designed the course to highlight this feature. Once the course was complete, the stage was set and the riders were ready to get the show started.”

“Unfortunately, we had a few complications along the way. Parsons and Frisby were incredibly ill a few days prior to the show and were unable to throw down to their full potential. Frisby was able to ride and did throw a huge flip over the river gap which made the crowd of nearly 25,000 scream! Parsons, on the other hand, was unable to ride the full event. He threw down a few tricks but his sickness got the best of him. Needless to say, he was still looking as smooth as ever despite being sick as a dog.”

“Isaac Sherbine, aka Big Sticks, threw down and did not miss a beat. Bodin was unable to figure the correct setup in his sled and struggled with feeling comfortable. However Bodin gave his all and it was noticed by the fans and the crew. All four riders put in some excellent tricks and crowd pleasing antics. We must extend our great appreciation to Rosan Distributing for providing the riders with all new 2009 Ski-Doo 600RS snowmobiles. The riders were grateful for being provided such great equipment.”

“It was truly a site to see, being that this was my first time in Russia doing events with the entire SCS crew. I was in absolute awe as to how excited these people were. The event ended up being a HUGE success. The riders did an incredible job for not having any practice prior to the event! The SCS crew enjoyed their time in Yekaterinburg and the Red Bull people truly treat us with class and style. We want to thank everyone at Red Bull Russia for all their efforts.”

“The next stop will be in Novosibirsk, which is an amazing city. Stay tuned for the next write up after the next event—25,000 to 50,000 spectators expected!”—Tyler Tobin

History has been made once again. This time it was in one of the most historic sites in the world. The RED SQUARE of Moscow Russia. Red Bull/SCS/ Slednecks and the riders made it happen once again!! 35,000 people and an incredible backdropof the St. Basils cathedral and the Kremlin towers. The media coverage for this event was amazing. TV coverage all across the world and the written media is still coming out! ESPN the magazine, Slednecks, Rath, MSN/NBC USA Today, LA times, Mosow Press and the list goes on and on. We hope that this will show that the sport freestyle Snowmachining is growing. One SCS/ Parts Unlimited/ Sledneck/ Red Bull event at a time! The riders list had many of the heavy hitters and some new riders as well. Justin Hoyer took 1st place, with Heath Frisby following in 2nd and finishing off the podium spot was Chris “Big Air” Burandt. The SCS built course was littered with wood chips due to lack of snow yet once again. However the water pits and riders made it happen regardless. “We all came here to ride on the Red Square no matterwhat” said Kourtney Hungerford, who dislocated his shoulder during the event, due to reoccurring injury. Daniel Bodin from Sweden was in 1st place after qualifying runs, but crashed in final run due to sled issues and finished 6th. The Kremlin, Moscow, Red Square and the 35,000 spectators will never forget that Snowmobiles were the 1st motorsports event to happen on the Historic Red Square. SCS wants to thank all the riders, entire crew and Kremlin for this amazing event and for their efforts towards the sport . We are hear to stay!.

For more info on the event check out www.redbull.com