Sunday, March 22, 2009
Danny Kass and Torah Bright Win US Open Halfpipe Competition
STRATTON, VT (March 21, 2009) – Epic weather and an impeccable halfpipe greeted 15,000 fans and many of the world’s top snowboarders at the US Open Snowboarding Championships held at Stratton Mountain Resort. No strangers to the top spot on the US Open halfpipe podium, Danny Kass took home his record-setting fifth US Open halfpipe title and Torah Bright earned her third US Open halfpipe title. Bright earned a bonus $3,000 and the Amp Energy Best Trick award for her stylish switch backside 720 while Luke Mitrani claimed his second Amp Energy Best Trick award with a crowd-pleasing switch double back flip.
p: Aaron Blatt
The women dropped in first, and Kelly Clark took the top spot early on in the competition with a frontside air, backside 540 mute grab, frontside 720 indy, Cab 720 ending with a frontside 540 earning an impressive 93 points. It wasn’t until the third and final runs that Kelly lost her hold on first place. Torah Bright’s final run stole the show when she dropped in switch, starting off with Cab 720 indy, followed by a crippler, backside 360 indy, switch backside 720 ending with a backside 540. Kelly had one more chance to top Torah’s amazing 96 points, but she fell on her last run.
p: Aaron Blatt
Torah’s run earned her a coveted spot in the US Open history books, tying Kelly for the most US Open women’s halfpipe titles. “I feel great,” said Torah. “I didn’t realize that I tied with Kelly for the most wins. It feels really good, especially because the US Open is such a special event.”
r: Peetu Piiroinen
p: Aaron Blatt
In the men’s finals, Luke Mitrani was the star of the first runs with his signature switch double back flip. Last year’s Burton Global Open Series champion Peetu Piiroinen’s second run earned him first place for a little while and included a frontside 720, Cab 1080, alley-oop backside rodeo, frontside alley-oop, a frontside 540 ending with a backside 720. But it was the third run when the podium order changed after snowboarding superstar Danny Kass took the first place title with a winning run that included a frontside 1080, Cab 1080, frontside 900, backside 720, ending with a switch alley-oop 540.
r: Torah Bright
p: Jake Stangel
Danny had this to say about his record-breaking fifth US Open halfpipe title, “I feel amazing, I am beyond stoked that this is my fifth win,” said Danny Kass. “It feels great to come out again and put together some runs. I was feeling it today for sure.”
r: Kevin Pearce
p: Jake Stangel
As if the action in the US Open halfpipe wasn’t enough, Santigold, whose album ‘Santogold’ landed at number six on Rolling Stone’s top albums of 2008, took to the stage for a free concert following the awards ceremony.
r: Danny Kass
p: Jake Stangel
After today’s halfpipe finals, riders only have one more chance at tomorrow’s slopestyle finals to earn points towards the $100,000 BGOS title. Currently, Chas Guldemond (USA) and Charles Reid (CAN) are a mere 500 points apart for snowboarding’s biggest single payout. On the women’s side, Jamie Anderson (USA) still has a healthy 5000 point lead ahead of Silvia Mittermueller for the BGOS title.
r: Kelly Clark
p: Jake Stangel
Peetu Piirionen and Shaun White were neck and neck in the Swatch TTR World Tour Champion title race, but with Peetu placing second today in halfpipe he has clinched the 2008/2009 TTR World Champion title. The TTR World Tour award ceremony will happen tomorrow following slopestyle finals where Peetu will be presented with the TTR World Tour Champion trophy and a total of $110,000 will be paid out to the TTR Top 5.
p: Aaron Blatt
The 27th Annual US Open wraps up tomorrow with the junior jam halfpipe competition, followed by men’s and women’s slopestyle finals, after which three major titles will be awarded: the $100,000 Burton Global Open Series men’s and women’s title, the Volvo Most Valuable Rider Award and the Men’s Swatch TTR World Tour Champion award.Saturday, March 21, 2009
Buaas and Lago Win US Open Quarterpipe Competition
STRATTON, VT (March 20, 2009) – The 27th Annual US Open Snowboarding Championships final events kicked off this evening at Stratton Mountain Resort with the men’s and women’s quarterpipe finals under clear skies in front of hundreds of spectators at the Sunbowl base area. Kjersti Oestgaard Buaas and Scotty Lago earned the first titles of this year’s US Open, taking home top honors and $10,000 in cash for their overall impression on the judges after tonight’s quarterpipe jam. In addition, Buaas took home another $3,000 after boosting 16’ and Luke Mitrani launched 25’ and won $3,000 each compliments of Amp Energy for the highest air in the quarterpipe competition.
Kjersti impressed the judges with her big backside airs, air to fakies and going for broke with different grabs. Buaas had this to say about her big win, “It hasn’t really sunk in yet, I never ride quarterpipe, I didn’t know what to expect. I tried to take things from the halfpipe and use them in the quarterpipe, and it really paid off.”
Scotty Lago wowed the crowds by pulling out every trick in the book and scored points with his clean style and lofty airs. Lago spun frontside and backside, throwing down tricks like a frontside 720 truckdriver and a corked back 540. “I really wanted to do well,” said Lago. “The jam format was awesome. I have been coming to the US Open for 13 years and this is the first time that I have been on the podium, I’m so excited.”
Daniel Ek of Norway took 2nd for the men and Sebastien Toutant (CAN) placed 3rd, taking home $5,000 and $2,500 respectively. For the ladies, Lisa Wiik (NOR) placed second and took home $5,000 and Elena Hight (USA) won $2,500 for third.
After an insane night of riding, the quarterpipe crowds were treated to a free RJD2 show, whose songs have been featured in no less than five snowboard videos.
Tomorrow, all eyes will be on the halfpipe where top riders like Shaun White (USA), Torah Bright (AUS), Kelly Clark (USA), Peetu Piiroinen (FIN), Kevin Pearce (USA) and Danny Kass (USA) will compete for the prestigious US Open halfpipe title, $20,000 in cash and valuable BGOS and SWATCH TTR points. A free Santigold concert in the Sun Bowl area of Stratton Mountain Resort will follow tomorrow’s halfpipe awards ceremony.
Kjersti impressed the judges with her big backside airs, air to fakies and going for broke with different grabs. Buaas had this to say about her big win, “It hasn’t really sunk in yet, I never ride quarterpipe, I didn’t know what to expect. I tried to take things from the halfpipe and use them in the quarterpipe, and it really paid off.”
Scotty Lago wowed the crowds by pulling out every trick in the book and scored points with his clean style and lofty airs. Lago spun frontside and backside, throwing down tricks like a frontside 720 truckdriver and a corked back 540. “I really wanted to do well,” said Lago. “The jam format was awesome. I have been coming to the US Open for 13 years and this is the first time that I have been on the podium, I’m so excited.”
Daniel Ek of Norway took 2nd for the men and Sebastien Toutant (CAN) placed 3rd, taking home $5,000 and $2,500 respectively. For the ladies, Lisa Wiik (NOR) placed second and took home $5,000 and Elena Hight (USA) won $2,500 for third.
After an insane night of riding, the quarterpipe crowds were treated to a free RJD2 show, whose songs have been featured in no less than five snowboard videos.
Tomorrow, all eyes will be on the halfpipe where top riders like Shaun White (USA), Torah Bright (AUS), Kelly Clark (USA), Peetu Piiroinen (FIN), Kevin Pearce (USA) and Danny Kass (USA) will compete for the prestigious US Open halfpipe title, $20,000 in cash and valuable BGOS and SWATCH TTR points. A free Santigold concert in the Sun Bowl area of Stratton Mountain Resort will follow tomorrow’s halfpipe awards ceremony.
Friday, March 20, 2009
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Halfpipe Women’s Qualifications – Day Three of the US Open
STRATTON, VT (March 19, 2009) Over 50 women took to the halfpipe today for qualifications amid variable weather conditions at Stratton Mountain Resort on the third day of the US Open in Vermont. Only five lucky ladies would earn spots in Saturday’s semi-final competition where they would face riders like Olympic Gold Medalist, Kelly Clark, X-Games Gold Medalist Torah Bright, and TTR World Champion Jamie Anderson.
Canadian Open halfpipe winner Palmer Taylor was boosting, Kendall Brown threw down some solid runs, Cilka Sardar and Elizabeth Beerman all looked solid, earning their places in Saturday’s semis, but it was Norwegian Linn Haug that took the top spot with her first run that started off with a big frontside stalefish, followed by a clean method, followed by a frontside 540, into a McTwist, finishing with a nosegrab.
Result
Halfpipe Qualifications Women
1 Linn Haug NOR BURTON
2 Elizabeth Beerman USA DC
3 Cilka Sadar SLO ---
4 Kendall Brown NZL ROXY
5 Palmer Taylor CAN BURTON
The US Open action continues tomorrow with men’s and women’s slopestyle qualifiers, the invitational quarterpipe competition and concert featuring RJD2. The US Open is the last 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.
The 2009 US Open halfpipe, slopestyle and quarterpipe action can be seen on NBC, Sunday, March 29 from 1:00-2:30 p.m. EST. If you can’t make it to Stratton, watch all of the semi-finals and finals live on March 21 and 22 on Go211.com, where webcasts and highlights of the competitions will also be available for on-demand viewing once the event concludes.
Burton would like to thank Stratton Mountain Resort, Volvo, SoBe, Go211.com, Paul Mitchell, Virgin America, GORE-TEX®, Corona, Emergen-C, Shiseido, R.E.D., ANON, Analog and Gravis for their support of the US Open. For more information on the US Open, head to www.opensnowboarding.com
Photo Credit: Jake Stangel
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