Canadian Open coverage rolling in!

Holy Chinook! Day Two Cut Short at Burton Canadian Open

A Chinook, a phenomenon well known to Calgarians, affected today’s events on the second day of the first annual Burton Canadian Open. On tap this morning were men’s slopestyle pre-qualifications, session one and two, narrowing a field of 100 to 40 by the day’s end. 15 riders from session one and two and the top 10 scores thereafter were to move on to Friday’s slopestyle qualification round. However, Mother Nature had other plans.

Temperatures soared to nearly 15°c, the unseasonably warm weather attributed to a Chinook, rapid winds originating off the Pacific coast that warm as they drop down the eastern side of the mountains. Although the air temperature was reminiscent of a spring day of riding, the strong winds reaching 64 km/hr proved to be a challenge for the riders and judges alike.
At the start of session one, the guys were going big and throwing down in the slopestyle course which contains rails, boxes, kickers, and a whimsical feature- a mushroom cap. Canadian Will Lavigne came out on top in session one with a run that started off with a switch backside 50/50 to backside 180 out on the flat down, followed backside 270 to board slide 270 out on the street rail, into a backside 540 on the first kicker followed by a switch backside 540, pulling a lipslide 180 on the down rail, and ending with a 360 slide on the mushroom.
The winds proved to be too much by the end of practice for session two, resulting in the day’s competition getting cut short. The action continues tomorrow with men’s session two slopestyle pre-qualifications in the morning followed by women’s halfpipe qualifications in the afternoon.

Results
Slopestyle Pre-Qualifications Men Session I
1 Will Lavigne CAN Rome
2 Eric Willett USA Smith
3 Mark McMorris CAN O`Neill
4 Matt Belzile CAN K2
5 Jed Anderson CAN Salomon
6 Logan Haubrich CAN DC
7 Josh Warnick USA Billabong
8 Zak Stone CAN K2
9 Teddy Karlinski USA K2
10 Ryan Hall CAN Clyde
11 Joseph Hills CAN ---
12 Andrew Matthews CAN Westbeach
13 Jeremy Cloutier CAN Rossignol
14 Jon Versteeg CAN Nomis
15 Dwayne Wiebe CAN Rossignol

Food Network's "Dinner Impossible" Starring Chef Spencer O'Brien

Spencer's showing off one of the "special" ingredients for the challenge - we weren't exactly sure what those were?!?

Spencer meeting Chef Robert to give him his challenge and offer her help.

Spencer hard at work! Just winning the X-Games silver medal during Slopestyle finals and now on the grill.

Food Network's Robert Irvine is ready for any challenge – on his popular series Dinner Impossible. Robert is challenged to overcome culinary obstacles and deliver a delicious meal before his time runs out. With new challenges from this exciting, fun-loving chef, viewers will see if Robert can make dinner, possible. His X-Games challenge: feed 500 athletes with the help of our very own, Chef Spencer.

No Age Tour With Burton Luggage In Tow

LA-based, weirdo rippers No Age are beating the recession by embarking on an Australian tour with Burton luggage in tow. Of course, we asked them to bring back some small, exotic animals in their Wheelie Subs.

Shaun graces the cover of the February 2009 issue of Fast Company!

The ten page cover story reveals how Shaun’s creativity and authenticity have allowed him to become a success in the youth market. Senior Editor, Mark Borden, outlines how Shaun’s performance at the Olympics and his decision not to follow in the footsteps of previous Olympic success stories paved the way for his unique business strategy, allowing him to regulate his image and only work with companies he truly connects with. Shaun’s relationship with Burton is a key element to the story and it highlights how Burton allowed him to begin designing his own gear, opening the doors for him and Jesse to create a solid line of outerwear and hardgoods. Specific products from the men’s and women’s White Collection are pictured and Jake and Greg D are both quoted in the story. The story is highlighted in the table of contents as well as in the letter from the editor.

Fast Company has a circulation of 742,000.

Photo District News features Burton athletes and photographers in their December issue!

WWD features Burton in the ‘WWD Intimates Undercurrents’ trend piece.

The Crowd Sublimation crew is featured as part of the ‘black & white’ intimate spread. WWD has an influential circulation of 47,000.

Canadian Open Underway

The first day of the much anticipated inaugural Burton Canadian Open 2009 Snowboarding Championships kicked off this morning under partly cloudy skies at Canada Olympic Park in Calgary, Alberta. A field of 48 men, whom would be whittled to 20 by the end of the day, were registered and raring to go as they took to the 22’ superpipe.

The oldest rider, 62-year-old BGOS veteran Dick Schulze (USA) was first to drop followed by the youngest rider of the day, 10-year-old Jack Collins (CAN). The majority of the field was made of up local legends like Jed Anderson and Josh Duncan; in addition Canadians like Harrison Gray, Daniel Longo and Trevor Niblett. Representing the Bahamas was Olympic team rider, Korath Wright, feeling the weight of a nation on his shoulders.

Heat one and two dropped alternately in a best of two run qualification round. Highest scoring run of the day was landed by Daniel Longo on his second run which started off with a frontside 720 melon, into a Cab 7 mute, followed by back-to-back 900’s, finishing things off with a stylish air to fakie. Drew Brighton out of SLC placed first in his heat with a run that started with a big frontside air, into a backside 900 tailgrab followed by back-to-back 540’s, finishing with a crippler 720.

The top 10 finishers in each heat move on to Saturday’s semifinals where they will face world-class riders like Brad Martin, Jeff Batchelor, Dustin Craven, Charles Reid and Jack Mitrani.

The Burton Canadian Open action continues tomorrow with men’s slopestyle prequals. The Canadian Open is the fourth stop on the Burton Global Open Series and offers riders the chance to earn points towards a male and female championship title, each worth $100,000, currently the largest single payout in competitive snowboarding.

If you can’t make it to Calgary, watch the semi-finals and finals live on Go211.com, where webcasts and highlights of the competitions will also be available for on-demand viewing once the event is over.

Results

Halfpipe Qualifications Men
Heat 1
1 Drew Brighton USA DC
2 Trevor Niblett CAN Trace Apparel
3 Chad Oliver USA Burton
4 Kyle Thomas CAN ---
5 Josh Warnick USA Billabong
6 Tanner Davidson CAN Forum
7 Robby Balharry CAN Westbeach
8 Nick Saar CAN ---
9 Matthew Pasutto CAN Waffle Cone
10 Gerald Austman CAN ---

Halfpipe Qualifications Men
Heat 2
1 Daniel Longo CAN Salomon
2 Jed Anderson CAN Salomon
3 Harrison Gray CAN Burton
4 Christopher Waker USA Burton
5 Sage Kotsenburg USA Quiksilver
6 Ryan Rausch CAN Ripcurl
7 Josh Duncan CAN Sentury
8 Ryan Hall CAN Clyde
9 Jeremy Page USA ---
10 Peter White CAN ---

Sam Spiegel Chooses Burton Luggage for World Tour

We caught up with Sam Spiegel of super group N.A.S.A.
at Burton Los Angeles the day before he embarked on a world-wide tour. What was he grabbing? Burton luggage of course. Even though Mr. Squeak E. Clean will be playing all over the world, you can the duo that is N.A.S.A. at this year's 10th annual Coachella Festival.

(UK) SPORT / 30 JAN 09 CIRC 317 209

Having been invited out to attend the BEO '09, Sport ran a double page spread and a cover mention surrounding the prestigious event. The article spoke favorably of the event as well as notable Burton riders Shaun White, Kevin Pearce, Danny Davis and Kelly Clark. This is one of a number of Burton related pieces intended to run throughout the year.