Prior to the finals everyone had been raving about how Vail’s pipe was one of the best ever built, and after witnessing the finals it’d be hard to disagree. The level of riding, specifically the amplitude these guys and girls were getting, was next level. Shaun and Kelly won – which is no great surprise – but they were both given a run for their money by two kids who represent the future of men’s and women’s pipe riding: 14-year-old Ayumu Hirano and 16-year-old Arielle Gold both were arguably the people’s champions and showed that they’ll be deeply involved in writing pipe riding’s next few chapters. Props must also go to Christian Haller for the best Method of the day that, sadly, we couldn’t find a clip of. We saw it, Hitch, we saw it…

***Warning: Most of these videos contain AWFUL music. Set machines to mute.***

MEN

1 – Shaun White

2 – Ayumu Hirano

3 – Louie Vito

WOMEN

1 – Kelly Clark

2 – Hannah Teter

3 – Arielle Gold

When you’re done you can also watch the Burton US Open halfpipe podium runs.

MEN

1 – Mark McMorris

2 – Torstein Horgmo

3 – Chas Guldemond

WOMEN

1 – Spencer O’Brien

2 – Jamie Anderson

3 – Brooke Voigt

Torstein Horgmo.

Yesterday, Vail played host to the men’s and women’s slopestyle semi finals of the Burton US Open and the riding was predictably heavy. Canadian Spencer O’Brien nudged Jamie Anderson out of pole position on her last run, while Torstein Horgmo blew minds seemingly without even breaking a sweat. [We're working on the highlights of yesterday's action. Check back later to watch how it went down.]

It’s the first time Vail’s hosted this prestigious event – now in its 31st edition – and they’ve constructed quite the slopestyle course to show they mean business. Starting with the MINI jib section – an assortment of rails scattered around a huge wallride feature – the run opens out into three monumental mounds of snow with jumps tagged on their summits. Seriously, we were floored by the scale of the landings, but chat from the riders (and the riding itself) suggested that said landings could have done with being a little steeper – it wasn’t uncommon for people to get the landing gear down, yet get bucked.

Nevertheless, the riding from the shredders at the apex of the slopestyle game was predictably bolts. Women’s slopestyle is often a two-horse race these days, with Jamie Anderson and Spencer O’Brien duking it out for the top spot, and in the semis it was the Canadian who took first blood. Spencer led the women’s field with her winning run that included a frontside boardslide, MINI wallride to gap to frontside lipslide, 50-50 frontside 180 out, switch backside 180 mute grab, and a frontside 360 to backside 540 indy grab. She was also bummed that in claiming the top spot she bumped 14-year-old Japanese girl Miyabi Onitsuka out of the finals, once again confirming she could very well be the nicest person on the planet. Right behind her was Jamie Anderson (USA) in second and Brooke Voigt (CAN) in third. In total, 21 women from 11different countries battled it out on the slopestyle course and the top sixriders will advance to the finals.

Spencer O’Brien

On the men’s side, Norwegian Torstein Horgmo simply made A-grade snowboarding look like the easiest thing in the world. He cruised into first place with a winning run that included a switch backside 270 on, MINI wallride to switch frontside boardslide 270 out, switch lipslide 270 out, switch backside 900 mute grab, and a frontside double cork 1080 mute grab followed by a huge backside double cork 1080 indy grab. Close behind him was Eric Willett (USA) in second and young-gun Yuki Kadono (JPN) – whose first run front 12 attempt was so big we thought he was going to land in Denver – in third. But for all the guys and girls you knew that the handbrake was most certainly on. Come finals on March 1st the level will ratchet up a notch or two. Make sure you tune in.

Women’s Slopestyle Semi-Final Results

1. Spencer O’Brien CAN, NIKE, 75.33

2. Jamie Anderson USA, BILLABONG, 74.88

3. Brooke Voigt CAN, 32 SNOWBOARD BOOTS, 70.08

4. Sarka Pancochova CZE, FLOW, 69.53

5. Christy Prior NZL, BURTON, 63.53

6. Shelly Gotlieb NZL, BURTON, 62.00

Men’s Slopestyle Semi-Final Results

1. Torstein Horgmo NOR, DC SHOE CO USA, 87.93

2. Eric Willett USA, VANS, 84.26

3. Yuki Kadono JPN, RIDE, 83.88

4. Mark McMorris CAN, BURTON, 83.43

5. Chas Guldemond USA, ROCKSTAR, 81.25

6. Peetu Piiroinen FIN, NIKE, 80.63

7. Maxence Parrot CAN, O’NEILL, 80.28

8. Stale Sandbech NOR, OAKLEY, 80.03

9. Sage Kotsenburg USA, NIKE, 79.28

10. Ryan Stassel USA, BURTON, 77.23

11. Jamie Nicholls GBR, NIKE, 75.03

12. Darcy Sharpe CAN, MONSTER, 74.98

The 31st annual Burton US Open Snowboarding Championships presented by MINI is excited to announce an impressive list of confirmed riders, all on deck to compete at the sport’s most legendary event taking place in Vail, Colorado from February 25th – March 2nd, 2013. Some of the biggest names in snowboarding are confirmed, including Shaun White, Mark McMorris, Kelly Clark, Jamie Anderson, Iouri Podladtchikov and more, who are all heading to Vail Mountain for the Burton US Open world-class slopestyle and halfpip ecompetitions.

“The US Open is one of snowboarding’s legendary events, and some of my best competition memories are of competing at Vail, so for me, bringing the two together is all time,” said Shaun White. “I’m excited to compete in Vail’s new pipe and see everyone come out for the next evolution of this contest.”

It all gets started on Wednesday, February 27, with slopestyle semi-finals, which will be more exciting than ever now that slopestyle is an official sport at the 2014 Winter Olympics. At the US Open, the best slopestyle competitors in the world are confirmed to compete, including X-Games slopestyle gold medalist Mark McMorris (CAN), 2012 Burton European Open (BEO) slopestyle winner Aleksander Oestreng (NOR), 2012 US Open slopestyle champ Sebastien Toutant (CAN), and World Snowboard Tour overall title holder Ståle Sandbech(NOR), among others. The women’s line-up is equally impressive, with X Games gold medalist and 2012 US Open slopestyle champion Jamie Anderson (USA), 2012 X Games gold medalist Enni Rukajärvi (FIN), Olympian Kjersti Ostgaard Buaas (NOR), three-time BEO Junior Jam winner Ty Walker (USA) and Cilka Sadar (SLO) all confirmed to compete.

The odds on this guy being stood atop the pipe podium at the US Open again this year are high. Photo: Blotto.

On Thursday, February 28, the legendary Burton US Open halfpipe semi-finals begin. The US Open halfpipe rider list is stacked with nine Olympians, including Shaun White (USA), Louie Vito (USA), Greg Bretz (USA), Kazuhiro Kokubo (JPN), Kelly Clark (USA), Elena Hight (USA), Hannah Teter (USA), and Torah Bright (AUS). Also competing are World Snowboarding Championships gold medalist Iouri Podladtchikov (SUI), Queralt Castellet (ESP), Peetu Piiroinen (FIN), Christian Haller (SUI) and 14-year-old halfpipe phenom and 2013 X Games silver medalist Ayumu Hirano (JPN).

Burton Snowboards is thrilled to announce that Seattle-based hip-hop duo Macklemore & Ryan Lewis and singer/songwriter Santigold will both perform FREE concerts at the 31st annual Burton US Open Snowboarding Championships presented by MINI.

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis will kick-off the Burton US Open free concert series on Friday, March 1st following the world-class US Open slopestyle finals at Vail. Known for their electrifying live performances, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ hit single “Thrift Shop” is currently number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for the third straight week.

On Saturday, March 2nd, Santigold will take to the stage for a freeshow following the legendary Burton US Open halfpipe finals. With two critically acclaimed albums to her name, Santigold also created the song “Girls,” which is the lead single for the album Girls Soundtrack, Vol. 1: Music from the HBO Original Series.

The 2013 Burton US Open is the must-attend snowboard event of the season where crowds can watch world-class, Olympic-level snowboarding competitions by day and incredible music acts by night – all for FREE at Vail Mountain in Colorado.

If you can’t make it to Vail to experience the Burton US Open in person, check out live webcasts of the slopestyle semi-finals on Wednesday, February 27th, halfpipe semi-finals on Thursday, February 28th, slopestyle finals on Friday, March 1st and halfpipe finals on Saturday, March 2nd.

For more information on the 2013 Burton US Open and a full list of competitors,follow the hashtag #BurtonUSOpen and head to www.Burton.com/USO

The Burton US Open has long been THE contest to get noticed at.

In the 1990s, it was the contest that symbolised Terje’s absolute domination of competitive snowboarding. The US Open is also where a then-unknown 14 year-old called Kazuhiro ‘Kazu’ Kokubo burst onto the scene back in 2003. And in 2009, it was the contest that saw Chas Guldemond turn up unannounced, blow away the field and usher in a new era of slopestyle riding.

Nokia Rookie Award winner Ayumu Hirano

In short, the list of careers launched at the Burton US Open is long and illustrious. The event has always been completely open to anybody with the skills to step up and make a name for themselves alongside the best snowboarders in the world.

It all helps to explain why at the 2012 event, Nokia introduced the Nokia Rookie Award: a $5,000 prize and Nokia Lumia 800 awarded to the breakthrough male and female talent at this year’s half pipe competition.

Nokia Rookie Award winner Arielle Gold

So how do you determine a ‘breakthrough’ rider? The winners were chosen by an Awards Committee, and presented by current US Open judge Satu Järvelä, whose own wins at the 1995 and 1996 USO half pipe events helped push women’s snowboarding to the next level.

The Committee looked at each competitor’s TTR ranking and scores, rated how progressive their riding was, and examined how far they’d come through the competition.

In the end, two particularly worthy winners were chosen, and Nokia is extremely proud to announce that Ayumu Hirano from Japan and Arielle Gold from the US are the 2012 winners of the Nokia Rookie Award. Get used to those names. If history repeats itself, we’ll be hearing a lot more from them in the coming years.

This week on Jackson’s Hole, Henry Jackson and David Doom take us on a whirlwind tour of the Burton US Open in Stratton, Vermont. Along the way the boys encounter angry car park owners, get snubbed by the sport’s elite and tuck into more fast food than their bodies can handle…

All videos provided by the inimitable TTR.

HALFPIPE

1st Place Men: Shaun White

2nd Place Men: Louie Vito

3rd Place Men: Benji Farrow

1st Place Women: Elena Hight

2nd Place Women: Kelly Clark

3rd Place Women: Ellery Hollingsworth

SLOPESTYLE

1st Place Men: Sebastien Toutant

2nd Place Men: Ulrik Badertscher

3rd Place Men: Seppe Smits

1st Place Women: Jamie Anderson

2nd Place Women: Kjersti Buaas

3rd Place Women: Enni Rukajärvi

Guess what? It’s time for the US Open again, and it’ll be all streamed live and direct to your dingy living-room.

The 30th anniversary of the Burton US Open, presented by MINI, is now underway in Stratton, Vermont, and live webcasts of slopestyle and halfpipe semi-finals, finals and the Saturday Night Jam have begun.

Here are the times to keep in mind:

LIVE WEBCASTS: Central Europe Time Zone 
Slopestyle Semi-Finals, Wednesday, March 7 05:30 pm
Halfpipe Semi-Finals, Thursday, March 8 03:15 pm
Slopestyle Finals, Friday, March 9 03:15 pm
Halfpipe Finals, Saturday, March 10 03:15 pm
Night Jam, Saturday, March 10 12:45 am (Sunday)

Mark McMorris on his way to the finals. All photos: Shem Roose.

Temperatures dipped to a frigid low today at Stratton Mountain, but that didn’t keep the competition from heating up in the men’s and women’s slopestyle semi-finals at the 29th annual Burton US Open Snowboarding Championships presented by MINI. Ten men and six women advanced to the US Open slopestyle finals, which take place this Friday, March 11th.

The big news from today’s competition is that Jamie Anderson qualified in first place, so she has officially secured the women’s TTR World Tour Championship title by amassing the most TTR points for the season. Spencer O’Brien, Silje Norendal, Enni Rukajarvi, Jordie Karlinski and Kjersti Buaas also earned a spot in the women’s slopestyle finals.

On the men’s side, Eric Willett led the field after nailing his first run, consisting of a 270 to boardslide, backside tailside 450 out, Cab double cork 900, tailside 270 out, frontside 900 tail grab and capped with a switch backside double cork 1080. Also advancing to the men’s slopestyle finals are Mark McMorris, Chas Guldemond, Torgeir Bergrem, Jeremy Thompson, Emil UIlsletten, Ulrik Badertscher, Jason Dubois, Janne Korpi and Sondre Tiller.

Yeah Jamie (Anderson)!

Tomorrow holds no shortage of action at the US Open, as the top men and women take to the halfpipe for semi-finals.

If you can’t make it to Stratton, check out four days of live webcasts starting today on burton.com or metacafe.com. The US Open, presented by MINI, will also air on ESPN2 on March 13 at 4:30 p.m. EST.

2011 US Open Competition & Entertainment Schedule
Thursday, March 10 – Halfpipe Semi-Finals
Friday, March 11 – Slopestyle Finals; The Jam Finals & FREE ‘Flosstradamus’ show
Saturday, March 12 – Halfpipe Finals & FREE performance by ‘The Sounds’
Sunday, March 13 – Junior Jam

Emil Ulsletten on the jib section of the course.

Well, here’s all the fine print from Saturday’s event as seen from the TTR point of view.

The TTR Men's Top 5 as seen by Laura Austin

It was another superb day in Stratton, Vermont for the 6Star Burton US Open halfpipe finals. The pipe was in perfect shape, the rider list was full of talent and the riding level was high making for some intense competition. Kazuhiro “Kazu” Kokubo (JPN) was the men’s halfpipe victor of the day and Kelly Clark (USA) took the win in the women’s competition. After Saturday’s pipe finals wrapped up, Peetu Piiroinen (FIN) was officially crowned Swatch TTR World Champion and the men’s 2009/2010 TTR Top 5 is now set in stone.

Kelly Clark on her way to the 2010 US Open title. Photo: Shem Roose.

The Last Major Pipe Event For The Men, One More To Go For The Women
It was a heated battle in the halfpipe today with some amazing riding by both the men and the women. The women dropped into the pipe first and Kelly Clark was the definite standout with her signature smooth style and high amplitude. She was able to seal her fourth US Open halfpipe victory with a run that included a huge frontside air, backside 540 mute, frontside 720, Cab 720 mute and ended with a frontside corked 900. It was a close call for the second and third place finishers with Kaitlyn Farrington (USA) taking the second position and Ellery Hollingsworth (USA) in third.

The men’s competition was jam packed full of action with Japanese style master, Kazu Kokubo, putting together an amazing winning run consisting of a frontside 900 melon, chicken wing McTwist, frontside 1080, Cab 1080 and a frontside double cork 1080. Louie Vito (USA) came in a very close second place throwing three consecutive double corks in his first run. And, Iouri Podladtchikov (SUI) also put on quite the display with a run that included a Cab 1080 double cork and a 1260 double cork.

Peetu Piiroinen with the TTR trophy. Photo: Laura Austin

The Swatch TTR World Tour Top 5 Finalists
Peetu Piiroinen took the top spot on the Swatch TTR Tour for the 2009/2010 season and today he officially walked away with his second consecutive TTR World Champion trophy. “This is special. I am the first guy who won the TTR twice” said Piiroinen. “Next year maybe for the third time. It is just incredible.” Not only does he get to bask in the glory of this prestigious title, but he also was awarded with $50,000 USD for his amazing effort throughout the super busy season.

The rest of the TTR Top 5 finalists also walked away with some major cash and incentives. After his third place finish today, Iouri Podladtchikov, secured the World No. 2 position taking $25,000. Markus Malin (FIN) took fourth place in the pipe today which was good enough to bump him into World No. 3 earning him $15,000, young Norwegian rookie Gjermund Braaten didn’t make it to finals in today’s event but, with his arsenal of great results throughout the season, he ended up in World No. 4 and was awarded $11,000. Janne Korpi finished in fifth place today which gave him the World No. 5 spot and is now $9,000 richer. All of these athletes will also receive automatic invites to all major TTR events for the 2010/2011 TTR World Tour Season.

One More Major Tour Stop Forthe Women
With the Burton US Open wrapped up, the women will travel across the U.S. to Mammoth Lakes, California for the 6Star Roxy Chicken Jam, the final major women’s event of the season. Even though she didn’t make it to halfpipe finals today, Finnish newcomer of the season Enni Rukajärvi was able to move into the tour lead overtaking Sina Candrian (SUI) who was bumped down to current World No. 2. Lisa Wiik (NOR) remains in World No. 3, Sarka Pancochova (CZE) stays in World No. 4 and Cilka Sadar (SLO) is sitting in World No. 5. The women’s TTR World Champion title is still wide open for all the ladies mentioned above as they get ready for the final major event of the season.