The 26th Annual US Open went down last weekend, and there was plenty of action on and off the hill. Check out a few of the competition and party highlights from the event below.
SLOPESTYLE- Friday, March 21Shaun White (USA) won his third US Open slopestyle competition and Kjersti Buaas (NOR) took her first US Open title at today’s 2008 US Open slopestyle competition under bright bluebird skies at Stratton Mountain Resort, Vermont. Jamie Anderson (USA) and Jenny Jones (GBR) took second and third respectively for the women and Tim Humphreys (USA) and Charles Reid (CAN) earned second and third place on the men’s podium.
All eyes were on Shaun White, who qualified first from the semi-finals. An interesting thing to note, Shaun arrived at Stratton late Thursday night, and decided at 1:00 am Friday that he might as well enter slopestyle. His last minute decision paid off big when threw down the gauntlet and took first place on his first run, throwing a frontside 270 boardslide, a nosepress to backside 180 out and a Cab 900, backside 900 mute to a switch backside 900 mute ending with a frontside 1080 stalefish on the jump line. Tim Humphries landed in second with a run that included a backside 7, cab 5, frontside 7 and backside 7. Sir Charles Reid equally lit fires with a boardslide 270 out, cork backside 7 nose grab to frontside 7, landing in third.
Standouts in the women’s semi’s included Cheryl Maas’ backside 7 to backside 5 combos, Kjersti Buaas’ frontside 7s, Sina Candrian’s smooth frontside 7s, and Jamie Anderson’s all-around laid back style.
In finals, Jamie Anderson was stomping gap to boardslides at the top, with frontside 5 to cab 5 combo on the kickers. Jenny Jones, who came into slopestyle on top of the standings for the Burton Global Open Series, kept it clean and consistent all day; while Norway’s Kjersti Buaas scored top honors with a solid mix of floater spins and technical wizardry that included a frontside 3 to frontside 7, ending with a boned-out backside 180.
HALFPIPE – Saturday, March 22
In the men’s semis Quebec’s new kid on the twock Charles Reid had double overhead first-hit frontside 10s. The Frends crew was in full effect with Scotty Lago, Luke Mitrani, Kevin Pearce and Mason Aguirre all riding strong; and Jack Mitrani unleashing the first-ever frontflip into the pipe on the run-in. In between heats, even the Sprocking Cat himself, Terje Haakonsen, was spotted poaching laps in celebration of Easter.
In the men’s finals Finland’s Peetu Piiroinen had huge front 10s and alley-oop backside rodeos. Scotty Lago clocked Zune Best Trick and $5,000 with a double cork front 10. Mason Aguirre stuck a backside 5 indy to frontside 10 tail, corked Cab 10, frontside 9, alley oop to frontside 7 for second. VT’s own Kevin Pearce rode strong all day with a third place run that featured a big backside crail into a frontside 10 tail, Cab 10, frontside 9 stale finished with a biggie-sized McTwist.
However nothing short of perfection could topple the Shaun White. Coming off a win at Friday’s Slopestyle, the reigning US Open Halfpipe Champion would once again destroy the competition and end his day with a victory lap. Shaun’s winning run consisted of a first-hit frontside 10 stale to cab 10 into his signature frontside 5 stale, McTwist, frontside 9 with a backside 9 ender—all HUGE and flawless.
In the women’s semi-finals Gretchen Bleiler had first-hit cripplers and Olympic gold Medalist Kelly Clark had massive frontside 7s. Connecticut’s Ellery Hollingsworth impressed with frontside 7 to Cab 7 combos, while Cheryl Maas was uncorking first-hit inverted 7s.
In the best-of-three run finals Torah Bright took the lead early with a run that featured a backside 3 indy, switch backside 7 mute (Winner of Zune Best Trick and $5,000), backside 5, melon-to-fakie with a Cab 7 at the end. Local Olympian Kelly Clark snagged second with a lofty frontside air to backside 5 mute, frontside 5, method, frontside 9 into a big backside air. Gretchen Bleiler rounded out the podium with a first-hit frontside 9, lofty backside air into a crippler, with an indy to frontside 7 and Cab 3 to cap things off.
BIG AIR – Saturday, March 22Saturday night marked the triumphant return of the big air. A true test of commitment, riders had to literally be whisked away from the halfpipe awards ceremony and head straight to Stratton’s main base area for warm-ups. The judges scored on overall impression meaning that if you threw the same trick twice, you were more or less sent packing.
Torstein had both backside and frontside 1080s on lock for third; while Chas Guldemond stomped the snot out of a backside 1260 melon, earning him $2,500 for the SoBe Sick Trick award and second overall. However nobody could keep up with Tim Humphreys who spun like a bat outta hell. Switch backside 7, backside 7, backside rodeo 5, backside 10 and frontside 10—Humphreys made everything look easy.
On the women’s side, Cheryl Maas easily took the title with a frontside 3, backside 5 and a perfect backside 7 tail, which would also earn her the $2,500 SoBe Sick Trick award.
JUNIOR JAM – Sunday, March 23
On Sunday, well over 100 of the world’s best mini shredders competed in the US Open Junior Jam. Hailing from across North America, and as far away as Finland, Australia and Switzerland, the riders battled not for a big check or new car, but the chance to ride with the pros in next year’s US Open halfpipe semi-finals.
In the girl’s finals, it was a showdown between Madeline Schaffrick and Arielle Gold, both of Steamboat Springs, Colorado, and Kirby Kelly. All three rippers held it down with a solid mix of 360s, 540s, alley oops, grabs and straight airs. Judging was no easy task but once the smoke settled, it was Kirby in third and Arielle in second, with Madeline snagging the coveted top spot and an invite to next year’s semi-finals.
In the boy’s finals, Ben Ferguson snagged third with a huge run that included a frontside 5 into a backside 5, poked out nose grab, McTwist into a frontside 7. Second went to Switzerland’s Jan Sherrer who came into the finals as the top scoring qualifier and went for broke with a backside 9 to backside 5, backside air, frontside 7, and finishing with a backside 9. However, no one could even compete with Australia’s Scotty James who melted faces with a huge and tech run that featured a backside 9 into a frontside 7, backside 7, frontside 5, backside 5, finishing with an alley oop crippler. Seriously, dudes twice his age who think they’re pro better recognize when he drops in at next year’s semi-finals.
MEDIA FEAST AT THE PENTHOUSEThe Medieval theme took on a different twist at the media dinner where guests were treated to a Mexican feast of beef, chicken and veggie fajitas, rice and beans and tortilla chips with all the fixings. The bar was flowing with Corona, homemade sangria and plenty of Patron. The party kicked into high-gear once Craig Weatherby of Frank 151 began mixing and pouring shots for all. Also amongst the crowd was Mark Borden of Fast Company, Maria Bedevia of Women’s Health, Michelle Lindsay of Paper, Brad Farmer and James Sullivan of Future and Pat Bridges of Snowboarder. The crew from Volvo in Sweden kept things lively with Swedish drinking songs and plenty of Aquavit. And Terje Haakonsen also dropped in for a while.
MEDIA LTR The whipping winds and late Friday night partying did not deter eager media from taking part in a special LTR Saturday morning. Instructors came in from all over the U.S. to teach beginners and more advanced mainstream media to ride and fine tune their skills. This year’s event brought over 40 media and instructors to the slopes of Stratton where they paired up for one-on-one lessons and demoed the latest LTR gear.
No matter what you think about religion, spirituality or whatever – there is something about three days of perfect powder riding, beautiful scenery, inspiring conversations, excellent food and dancing to eighties music that can turn anyone into a believer in something. This past March, Donna Carpenter hosted a group of female international journalists up at Baldface Lodge in British Columbia for three days of heavenly powder riding. Ladies from magazines like Lucky, Maxim, Transworld, Transworld Business, Snowboard Canada, Frequency, 7th Sky, Onboard and Pleasure, pro snowboarders Hannah Teter and Anne-Flore Marxer and EXPN/NBC host Tina Dixon were all along for the ride of their lives.
King Belted-Down jacket featured in Womens Fitness February 2008
Yard Shirt featured and credited in the March edition of highly influential style magazine 'i-D'.
The April issue of Vogue has hit stands and Shaun’s piece looks great. Shaun is photographed with Supermodel Daria Webowy and talks about competing in the Olympics, X games and working out. There are two full page shots of Shaun. Vogue has a circulation of over 1.3 million.
Sport’s Illustrated includes the US Open in this week’s ‘Week Ahead’ piece. Shaun is called out as being one of the athletes scheduled to attend along with his big win at the USO last year. Sports Illustrated has a circulation of over 3.2 million.
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