NZ Open Kicks Off This Week

TTR Burton New Zealand Open 2010 Promo >>

First major contest of the 10/11 Season is ready to unleash hell, so here’s what it’s all about plus some of last year’s footy and some stuff from the Billabong Ante Up.

After all the airbaggery going on at the Red Bull Performance Camp, you can be sure to expect doubles every which way, and then some. Here’s the TTR’s skinny:

Now in it’s eighth year, the BNZO, which runs over 5 days and offers a NZ$50,000 prize purse, consists of both Slopestyle and Halfpipe. All comers can battle it through pre-qualifiers and qualifiers running Weds 11th and Thurs 12th August, for the few available spots to compete alongside the elite riders who are seeded directly to the semi-finals stage. The semi-finals and finals of Slopestyle run on Friday 13th and Halfpipe on Saturday 14th August. Official training for the event starts Tuesday 10th August.

The competition has attracted a multitude of top riders, with the confirmed rider’s list reading like a who’s who of the snowboarding world; Norwegians Tore Holvik, Stale Sandbech, Ulrick Badertscher, current Swatch TTR tour leader Gjermund Braaten, and recent US Open Slopestyle champion Mikkel Bang; Canadians Justin Lamoureux, Charles Reid, Mark Sollors and Mark McMorris; Americans Chas Guldemond, Sage Kotsenburg, Matts Kulisek, Jack Mitrani and Louie Vito; Japanese rippers Kazuhiro Kokubo, Ryo Aono, Daisuke Murakami and Kohei Kudo; Seppe Smits (BEL), Christian Haller (SUI), Marco Grilc (SLO), Roope Tonteri (FIN), and top New Zealand riders Stef Zeestraten and Jake Koia.