Where: Cardrona, New Zealand

Kazuhiro Kokubo at last year's NZO.

All aboard the Burton Global Open Series train, first stop: New Zealand!

The Burton New Zealand Snowboard Open (NZO) is pleased to announce that the 2010 event will again be hosted at Cardrona Alpine Resort in the Cardrona Valley of Wanaka NZ from August 10-14, 2010.

After a hugely successful return to Cardrona in 2009, the Burton NZ Open is set to raise the bar once again while leaving its mark on the global snowboard scene.

“We are stoked to again host the Open at such a great resort,” says event manager Reuben Yeoman. “The team at Cardrona is 100% behind this event, and their commitment to snowboarding was evident last year. The combined effort is providing riders with the facilities and formats they require to perform at their best, and it’s great to be a part of such a progressive event and global series.”

The first stop of the Burton Global Open Series and also a 5 Star event on the Swatch TTR World Snowboard Tour, the Burton NZ Open will again take Wanaka and the Cardrona Valley by storm. Full event details, including a comprehensive contest and entertainment schedule will be published soon. All updates will be available on www.opensnowboarding.com, where the 2010 New Zealand Open website will launch in the coming weeks.

Where: Calgary, Canada

R: Iouri Podladtchikov, P: Jeff Patterson

For the latest leg of the Burton Global Open Series, riders had to travel up north to Canada, which is sometimes referred to as the US’s largest national park and tourist attraction. With the Olympics just a few days away the Canadian Open might have been a little off the radar for some, but the lineup of riders and their level of shred was pretty impressive nontheless. Maybe the $25.000 prize purse helped a little, too.

Bluebird conditions on Saturday greeted the riders for the pipe semi-finals and finals at Calgary’s Canada Olympic Park. In the end it was Swiss rider Iouri Podladtchikov, who claimed the men’s podium with a banger second run. It consisted of a cab 1080 double cork for starters and was followed by a frontside 1080, a cab 7, frontside 5 and ended with a backside air. This and his recent X-Games silver medal should be boost his confidence enough to shake things up at Vancouver, too…

R: Kendall Brown, P: Jeff Patterson

On the women’s side, New Zealand rider Kendall Brown took the victory with a run that included a lein air, followed by a backside 540 mute, into frontside 540 stalefish, into backside air, finishing with an air-to-fakie.

The next days’ slopestyle finals weren’t quite as blessed weather-wise. Temperatures dropped and heavy fog moved in. Once again, Finnish female phenomenon Enni Rukajärvi could not be topped by anyone and claimed victory. She blew away the competition, scoring a whopping 96.17, nearly 20 points ahead second place finisher, Lisa Wiik (NOR) and third place Sina Candrian (SUI). Enni’s winning run featured a cab-on to boardslide, followed by a gap to 50/50, into a frontside 360, a 50/50 on the downrail, followed by a 50/50 to indy along the wallride, nailing a smooth frontside 360 tailgrab, into a backside 540 indy, finishing with a big cab 720 mute.

R: Enni Rukajärvi, P: Jeff Patterson

Apparently, speed and visibility were big issues for the male finalists. Maybe Canadians Jon Versteeg and Robby Balharry knew how to cope with the local adversities and took home second and third place. However, it was Brett Esser, the second place finisher from semis, who stepped up his game to take home the win. Esser put down a run that started off with a cab-on to back 180 off, followed by a switch 50/50, into a frontside boardslide through the kink, followed by a backflip, to a 180-on to switch backside 180 out, followed by a boardslide to fakie along the wallride. Esser then dropped into the jump line pulling a switch backside 900 mute, followed by a backside 720 tailgrab over the channel, finishing with a massive frontside 1080 tailgrab.

R: Brett Esser, P: Jeff Patterson

Results Halfpipe Women

1 Kendall Brown NZL

2 Sarah Conrad CAN

3 Mercedes Nicoll CAN

Results Halfpipe Men

1 Iouri Podladtchikov SUI

2 Justin Lamoureux CAN

3 Markus Malin FIN

Results Slopestyle Women

1 Enni Rukajärvi FIN ROXY

2 Lisa Wiik NOR ROXY

3 Sina Candrian SUI BURTON

Results Slopestyle Men

1 Brett Esser USA OMATIC

2 Jon Versteeg CAN NOMIS

3 Robby Balharry CAN WESTBEACH

The Women's Slopestyle Podium including some big hats.