Posts Tagged ‘US Open’

Vail Becomes New Home Of Burton US Open

Monday, July 30th, 2012

By:
TransWorld Business
July 30, 2012

After 27 years at Vermont’s Stratton Mountain Resort, Burton is moving the US Open, the longest running snowboard comp in the world, out west to Vail Mountain Resort in Colorado. The competition’s new venue will make its debut beginning with the 31st edition of the Open, to be held February 25-March 2, 2013.

In accordance with the US Open’s big move from its home mountain of Stratton, Vail and Burton have teamed up to give the event a new feel and vibe that, while staying true to the competitive aspect of the event, aims to make the US Open experiential not only for the riders competing, but for spectators as well.

Greg Dacyshyn, Chief Creative Officer at Burton, elaborated on the new direction Burton hopes to take the US Open: “We really feel like we want to take this event to the next level and really show everyone what snowboarding is all about,” Dacyshyn said at a Burton and Vail hosted tour of the new venue that took place over Wednesday, July 25 through Friday, July 27.

Indeed, touring both the Vail Village and getting up on the mountain itself on July 26-27 to check out what Vail and Burton have brewing for the competition’s Vail debut showed no shortage of plans to revamp the event. The competition course itself will, at least for the first few years at Vail, consist of a halfpipe and slopestyle course that will neighbor one another on Vail’s Golden Peak zone.

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Burton Celebrates 30th US Open At Stratton

Thursday, March 15th, 2012

By
Thu, Mar 15 2012 1:45 am

Action in the halfpipe final: Photo Credit: Transworld Business

 

The 30th anniversary of the 2012 Burton US Open presented by MINI wrapped up last weekend at Stratton Mountain, with more than $100,000 in prizes and a pair of MINI Countryman vehicles awarded to the top competitors. Fresh snow and sunny skies brought out the crowds for the halfpipe competition on Saturday.The beauty of the Open is that it’s an event anyone can win at—and it always has been. While men’s halfpipe winner Shaun White was in and out, coming to the event for just over a 24-hour period and leaving after the awards ceremony in a private helicopter, there was also local rider 20-year-old Benji Farrow (from Okemo, Vermont) who grabbed third and was in the finals for the first time after competing at the Open for six years.

“To do it here in my home state, close to my home town when it turned 30 years old was a nice redemption,” he said, commenting that for the last two years he had been nipping at everyone’s heels.

Women’s halfpipe winner Elena Hight (USA), who knocked out longtime champion Kelly Clarke’s 16-competition winning streak, was in shock about her win, but attributed it to a new trick she’s been working on: the alley oop backside rodeo along with back-to-back 900s.

“It’s a legendary event and to win at the 30th is amazing—I’m beyond happy,” said Hight, who first came to the Open when she was 13.

The weeklong competition was much more than just Saturday’s halfpipe action. The Washed Up Cup kicked off weekend festivities on Friday night. Riders went old school wearing hard boots and maneuvering around gates hitting a kicker at the end. Early Burton competitors like Scott Palmer, Ian Price, and Andy Coghlan came out for the fun, along with many others including Tricia Byrnes and Ross Powers. Some riders used original gear from the era.

“That was about as close as you get to the early days,“ said Todd Kohlman, Burton’s archivist. “Everyone was hooting and hollering and just cheering people on—it was a cool feeling to be a part of that,” he continued, adding that in the initial days of racing downhill, the equipment was in such an early development state that it was a challenge just to make it down the hill.

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