2009 US Open Final Results

Men's Quarterpipe
1 Scotty Lago (USA) FLOW
2 Daniel Ek (NOR) FORUM
3 Sebastien Toutant (CAN) O`NEILL
Amp Highest Air: Luke Mitrani (USA) BURTON

Women's Quarterpipe
1 Kjersti Oestgaard Buaas (NOR) ROXY
2 Lisa Wiik (NOR) ROXY
3 Elena Hight (USA) VOLCOM
Amp Highest Air: Kjersti Oestgaard Buaas (NOR) ROXY

Men's Halfpipe
1 Danny Kass (USA) GRENADE 93.50
2 Peetu Piiroinen Peetu (FIN) BURTON 91.83
3 Luke Mitrani (USA) BURTON 89.83
Amp Best Trick: Luke Mitrani (USA) BURTON

Women's Halfpipe
1 Torah Bright (AUS) ROXY 96.00
2 Kelly Clark (USA) BURTON 93.33
3 Ellery Hollingsworth (USA) BURTON 87.00
Amp Best Trick: Torah Bright (AUS) ROXY

Men's Slopestyle
1 Chas Guldemond (USA) DC 94.50
2 Sebastien Toutant (CAN) O'NEILL 92.17
3 Scotty Lago (USA) FLOW  90.83
Emergen-C Best Trick: Peetu Piiroinen (FIN) BURTON

Women's Slopestyle
1 Kjersti Oestgaard Buaas (NOR) ROXY 92.00
2 Jenny Jones (GBR) BILLABONG 87.00
3 Chanelle Sladics (USA) O MATIC 93.00

Emergen-C Best Trick: Chanelle Sladics (USA) O MATIC

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Chas Guldemond and Kjersti Buaas
Win US Open Slopestyle Competition

Chas Guldemond and Jamie Anderson Claim $100,000 BGOS Championship Titles

STRATTON, VT (March 22, 2009) - The last day of the US Open proved to be the busiest with junior jam finals, men's and women's slopestyle finals and three major titles being awarded. Chas Guldemond (USA) and Kjersti Oestgaard Buaas (NOR) won slopestyle finals and $20,000 each. Chas Guldemond and Jamie Anderson (USA) are the new Burton Global Open Series Champions, each taking home $100,000, currently the largest single payout in the sport. Scotty Lago (USA) and Kjersti Buaas will be driving new Volvo XC60s after winning the Volvo Most Valuable Rider Awards. And last but not least, Peetu Piiroinen (FIN) was crowned the new Men's Swatch TTR World Tour Champion, claiming $50,000 for his amazing efforts throughout the 2008/2009 TTR season.

Chas rode home with $145,000 today, he had this to say of his win, "I really wanted to do good on the Global Open Series, but I never planned on this. I really appreciate the people above that took care of me, and everyone along the way. This is such a great day."

At the beginning of slopestyle finals, the variable weather conditions constantly switched between sun, clouds, snow and wind. The women got caught in a snow squall during their first runs, but after about 20 minutes, the clouds magically parted and the sun came out. After a sticky snowfall, riders struggled to make it through the course. Jenny Jones put together a solid run, holding on to first place for a while. But it was Kjersti Buaas who took the top spot on the US Open podium for the second time this weekend with a run that included a nosepress on the box, 50/50 to frontside 180, Cab 540 indy, backside 360 indy, frontside 360 stalefish ending with a frontside 720 mute. Kjersti had a very successful weekend at the US Open, earning $13,000 for a win and Amp Best Trick in the quarterpipe competition, $2,000 in the halfpipe competition, $20,000 for winning slopestyle and scoring keys to her second Volvo XC60 of the year after winning the Volvo Most Valuable Rider award at both the Burton European Open and the US Open. Chanelle Sladics earned third place and the Emergen-C Best Trick award for her front boardslide 270 out on the down rail.

"Being the best overall rider meant a lot to me because I strive to be good in the pipe and slope," said Kjersti. "I was trying all season to be good in both disciplines, it makes me so excited. Now people can't just define me as a pipe rider, and that means the most to me."

In the men's finals, the slow course didn't bother Chas Guldemond, who dropped in knowing that he had the $100,000 BGOS title in the bag. While the other riders struggled to gain enough speed to make it through the entire course, Chas won the competition with his first run. His winning run included a frontside boardslide 270 out to a 50-50 backside 180 followed by a switch backside 900, backside 1260, Cab 900 ending with a backside rodeo on the jumps. Sebastien Toutant (CAN) put together a solid run earning second place. And Scotty Lago, who won the US Open quarterpipe competition, earned third place and clinched the keys to a new Volvo XC60.  Peetu Piiroinen earned the Emergen-C Best Trick award for his backside rodeo 720. Chas had the biggest payday of any US Open competitor this weekend, earning $100,000 for the BGOS title, $20,000 for the slopestyle title and $25,000 for earning the Swatch TTR World No. 2 position.

Scotty Lago was at a loss for words when he learned of winning his Volvo, "Words can't describe how I'm feeling. I am so pumped being the best overall rider at a contest with so much history. Today is my best day I've ever had in snowboarding for sure."

Earlier in the day, snowboarding's up-and-coming groms competed in the annual US Open junior jam halfpipe competition. Thirteen-year-old Arielle Gold took the title for the girls with her technical spin combinations and her impressive amplitude. Tanner Barrett emerged from a field of 83 boys to take the title with his massive frontside 900 tail grab to McTwist mute followed by back-to-back 540s and a tail to slob air.

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Danny Kass and Torah Bright
Win US Open Halfpipe Competition

Luke Mitrani and Torah Bright Win Amp Energy Best Trick

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.
 

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.

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."

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.

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."

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.

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.

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.

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.

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Buaas and Lago
Win US Open Quarterpipe Competition

Mitrani and Buaas Win Amp Energy Highest Air

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.

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2009 US Open Snowboarding Championships

120 Men Compete for Ten Spots in Saturday’s Halfpipe Semi-Finals

STRATTON, VT (March 17, 2009) The first day of the Burton US Open 2009 Snowboarding Championships kicked off this morning amid balmy temps and bluebird skies at Vermont’s Stratton Mountain Resort. A field of 120 men, whom would be whittled to a mere 10 by the end of the day, was registered and raring to go as they took to the 22’ Planet Snow superpipe.

Session 1, heats one and two dropped alternately in a best of two run pre-qualification round. Christopher Waker and Norway’s Stale Sandbech were looking strong from the start but it was Trevor Jacob, spinning to win and placing first in his heat by starting off with a frontside 1080, followed by a Cab 7, into a frontside inverted 5, followed by backside 5, finishing with a front 7.

Zack Black landed the top spot in the second heat with a run that started off with a huge frontside 9 followed by a backside 7, followed by a ridiculous switch backside inverted 7, finishing with a backside air.

Halfpipe Pre-Qualifications Men Session I Heat 1

1 Trevor Jacob USA FORUM
2 Stale Sandbech NOR OAKLEY
3 Jeremy Thompson USA FLOW
4 Hunter Wood USA NIKE6.0
5 Benjamin Farrow USA OKEMO
6 Anthony Donofrio ITA BURTON
7 Sage Kotsenburg USA QUIKSILVER
8 Spencer Shaw USA UNDER ARMOR
9 Scotty Pike USA SMITH
10 Josh Warnick USA BILLABONG

Halfpipe Pre-Qualifications Men Session I Heat 2

1 Zack Black USA ---
2 Christopher Waker USA BURTON
3 Brennen Swanson USA RIDE
4 Daniel Longo CAN ---
5 Paul Brichta USA BURTON
6 Nick Fuca USA RIDE
7 Tanner Barrett USA BUNGER
8 Blake Eddington USA SESSIONS
9 Kyle Mack USA BURTON
10 Nicholas Sibayan USA BILLABONG

The pipe crew performed a quick maintenance, salting and slipping the pipe which was rapidly eroding in the relentless spring sun, and then it was time for the second session of men to drop. Riders like Ben Watts and Nate Farrell were going huge, but Park City’s Drew Brighton finished first with a run that started with a lofty frontside air, followed by a backside 900, followed by back-to-back 7’s, finishing with an alley-oop backside rodeo. Canadian rider Harrison Gray finished first in his heat with a run consisting of a Michalchuk into a frontside 900, followed by a stylish method air, followed by a frontside 720, finishing with a Cab 720.

Halfpipe Pre-Qualifications Men Session II Heat 1

1 Drew Brighton USA DC
2 Nate Farrell USA GNU
3 Ben Watts USA BURTON
4 Petja Piiroinen FIN BILLABONG
5 Bryan Daino USA SIMS
6 Joseph Mensch USA FLOW
7 Nils Mindnich USA BURTON
8 Austin Schweyher USA SMS
9 Theodore James (TJ) USA BURTON
10 Carter Smalley USA BURTON

Halfpipe Pre-Qualifications Men Session II Heat 2

1 Harrison Gray CAN BURTON
2 Skyler Thomas USA NITRO
3 Derek Livingston CAN ICARUS SKATE &
4 Connor Leach USA OAKLEY
5 Tyler Troy USA TEAM SUMMIT
6 Tim Humphreys USA FLOW
7 Tyler Emond USA ---
8 Dylan Bidez USA FLOW
9 Anthony Wolf CAN ICARUS SKATE &
10 Taylor Gold USA BURTON

Halfpipe Qualifications Men

1 Stale Sandbech NOR OAKLEY
2 Zack Black USA ---
3 Harrison Gray CAN BURTON
4 Jeremy Thompson USA FLOW
5 Tyler Emond USA ---
6 Nate Farrell USA GNU
7 Trevor Jacob USA FORUM
8 Derek Livingston CAN ICARUS SKATE &
9 Christopher Waker USA BURTON
10 Tim Humphreys USA FLOW

The US Open action continues tomorrow with men’s slopestyle prequals. 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.

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Slopestyle Men's Prequalifications
- Day Two of the US Open

STRATTON, VT (March 18, 2009) The second day of the 27th annual US Open saw a field of 121 men vying for 40 spots in Friday's slopestyle qualification round. Of those 40, only ten will move on to Sunday's semi-finals where they will face invited riders like Chas Guldemond, Shaun White, Tim Humpreys, Charles Reid, Risto Mattila and Sebastien Toutant.

It was another warm day at Stratton Mountain as the first session of men's pre-qualifiers dropped into Snowpark Technology's slopestyle course that featured a gap to down, flat box, up rails, and four kickers. Riders like Sage Kotsenburg, Drew Brighton, and Spencer Link were looking solid but Greg Bretz was untouchable. Both of his qualifying runs scored well over his next closest competitor, his second run scored a whopping 82 points, he started off with a frontside boardslide on the box, followed by a boardslide switch-up on the box, into a Cab 540 mute on the first kicker, followed by a big and clean backside 720 nosegrab, followed by a frontside 720 tailgrab, finishing with a backside 900 mute.

Slopestyle Pre-Qualifications Men Session I
1 Greg Bretz USA FORUM
2 Spencer Link USA DC SHOE CO USA
3 Ryan Hryckiewicz USA SKYLER THOMAS
4 Jeremy Thompson USA FLOW
5 Sage Kotsenburg USA QUIKSILVER
6 Zak Stone CAN K2
7 Eric Beauchemin USA DC SHOE CO USA
8 Drew Brighton USA DC
9 Ulrik Badertscher NOR NIKE ACG
10 Jacob Aaronson USA DSM INC.
11 Zeppelin Zeerip USA GNU
12 Josh Sherman USA O MATIC
13 Broc Waring USA NIKE6.0
14 Carson Pippin USA ---
15 Sean Ryan USA FORUM
16 Danny Garrity USA GNU
17 Davis Johnson USA SALOMON
18 Bryan Daino USA SIMS
19 Joacim Nyhaugen NOR BATALEON

Although the skies darkened and the rain began to fall in the afternoon, the second session of men were undeterred and took to the course for prequals. Christian Haller, Ryan Stassel and Jake Knigge were holding it down, but Petja Piiroinen, younger brother of Peetu, killed it with a clean run that started off with a 50/50 on the downrail, followed by a 50/50 front 180 out, into a Cab 900 mute on the first kicker followed by an awesome backside 720 melon, into a big frontside 720 tailgrab, finishing with a backside 900.

Slopestyle Pre-Qualifications Men Session II
1 Petja Piiroinen FIN BILLABONG
2 Jake Knigge USA GNU
3 Christian Haller SUI BURTON
4 Ryan Stassel USA BURTON
5 Mark Hoyt USA LIB
6 Mark McMorris CAN O´NEILL
7 Silas Hatch USA BURTON
8 John Murphy USA ANALOG
9 Michael Goldschmidt USA MARY JANE
10 Jeremy Cloutier CAN ROSSIGNOL
11 Jack Kyle USA ---
12 Josh Warnick USA BILLABONG
13 Wes Walsh USA OAKLEY
14 Scott James AUS DC
15 Joe Mango USA RIDE
16 Paul Brichta USA BURTON
17 Skyler Thomas USA ---
18 Merrick Joyce USA K2
19 Hunter Wood USA NIKE6.0
20 Hans Mindnich USA BURTON
21 Derek Livingston CAN ICARUS SKATE &


The US Open action continues tomorrow with women's halfpipe qualifiers. 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.

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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

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