Enni Rukajärvi, Seppe Smits, Ellery Hollingsworth and Taku Hiraoka pulled out the most creative tricks at the Burton US Open and each took home US $5,000! Watch their hits…

The MINI Creative Use of Space Award entered its final round at the 30th Burton US Open that took place in Stratton, Vermont, last weekend. For the fourth time during the 2011/12 Burton Global Open Series (BGOS), the world’s best snowboarders not only competed for a podium place in the event’s two major competitions: slopestyle and halfpipe, but also for the MINI CUoS Slopestyle and Halfpipe Awards.

SLOPESTYLE

In the women’s slopestyle finals, Enni Rukajärvi from Finland threw a cab 540 mute on the MINI CUoS Slopestyle Feature which resembled a driveway with a garage and a MINI parked out front, which bagged her the MINI CUoS Slopestyle Award and US$5,000. On the men’s side, the award went to Seppe Smits from Belgium for an innovative cab 9 shifty on the MINI Feature. In the halfpipe finals, US$5,000 were given to US rider Ellery Hollingsworth for her outstanding alley-oop Michalchuck and Japan’s Taku Hiraoka for his perfect backside 5 japan.

For the last time in the 2011/12 season, the awarded riders did not only earn prize money, but also collected 25 points towards the final ranking of the BGOS and the MINI Countryman. At the US Open it was time for the final decision: Which female and male riders had collected the most points? In the end, US girl Jamie Anderson and Ryo Aono from Japan were listed on top of the overall BGOS ranking which earned them both a MINI Countryman.

HALFPIPE

Besides the riders, the park designers could also compete for an award. Every park crew at the four BGOS events was given US$5,000 to build a totally unique MINI Feature that was then entered into a competition against the other MINI CUoS Slopestyle Features. At the last stop, the US Open, the most creative MINI Feature was finally picked: The judges unanimously chose the crew from Laax, Switzerland as the winners; they took home an additional US$5,000 as well as the MINI Creative Use of Space Slopestyle Feature Award.

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

The last edit of the haps at Nike’s Vapen Session in Norway is live and direct, and the crew set about sending it in the pitch black. The wallride/pole jam session on the last day is also pretty dope. Peepit.

Hitting a 90 foot jump in the middle of the night might not be on everybody’s mind.

To get the perfect shot the team goes beyond their limits and nails banger after banger in pitch black light.

On the last day after an exhausting week it’s time for pleasure, the team has a fun session on a wallride and Halldor finishes the week with the best trick on the polejam.

To find out more about the boot that inspired the Vapen Sessions go to: nike.com/​vapen

We posted the teaser to this session the other day, Nike’s end-of-season throwdown for its riders in Norway. Now you can check what the team got up to in Part 1 of the highlights. Loving sunset sessions… which in Norway in spring happen around midnight with sunrise not far behind.

First thing’s first – What a spot! Gotta love Norwegian fjords, eh? So after a spot of fjord cruising and fishing, the crew – including Gjermund Braaten, Jamie Nicholls, Silje Norendal, Ethan Morgan, Ellery Hollingsworth, Sage Kotsenburg and Mason Aguirre – set about tearing the kickers with the best backdrop around a new one. Sunset sessions. Banging

See how it all went in Episode 1 of the Nike Vapen Sessions.

Nike did it again. I mean, literally: The second year in a row they took their team of riders to Norway, filmed all the action and produced a teaser. It’s the shiznit!

Every snowboarder dreams about the perfect season ender. In late spring 2011 the Nike snowboard team gathered in beautiful Strandafjellet in Norway for their annual team shoot. Traveling with boats through Viking country Halldor and the full crew where joined by legends like Nicolas Muller and Gigi Ruf for a week of snowboarding in a fun and relaxing way.

The land of the Vikings was also the perfect place to test the new Nike Vapen snowboard boot.

See how this came along in the Nike “Vapen” sessions, a series of videos based on fun, camaraderie and insane snowboarding.

Dude, I love rails THIS much.

How did Douglas Adams put it? “Life… is like a grapefruit. It’s orange and squishy, and has a few pips in it, and some folks have half a one for breakfast.” Whatever that means, it reminds us of our regular This Week in Snowboarding. Once more we have combed the internet in search of the finest flakes of snowboarding dandruff. And we found ‘em!

SATURDAY

You are a Park City local? Well, the guys in the weird Paradise teaser are. Do you speak Polish? Great, neither do we. Luckily, this jib edit from Czarna Góra requires no Slavic skills. TWS digs out MFM, LeBlanc, Wittlake and Forgash in the classic Burning Bridges. Kalle Ohlson now rides for Artec. Shaun White wins silver at the X Games vert contest, and here’s why. And: Oh Frankie, what did you do this time?

SUNDAY

The excellent Ducksjen teaser has been released. Again the Same is a decent shred flick from Estonia. The Almost Cool teaser is, well, almost cool. Camp of Champions recycle last year’s footage. The Angry Snowboarder recycles a shred classic – Smell the Glove. Cyrus Morgenstern is an eight-year-old rider. Why do we not want to meet his mother? Terje is a jibber now!

MONDAY

We post yet another Right Brain Left Brain teaser. Fisheye Friday gives you insights into the Aussie shred scene. Why it gets published on a Monday we don’t know. Here’s a Camp of Champions Best Of Edit. And here are Baw Baw’din episodes 2 & 3, straight from the Southern Hemisphere.

His cable tie fetish became an increasing problem for everyone.

TUESDAY

We post the highlights of the Australian Dew Hut Jam. It’s All About Snowboarding hails from Italy. Yobeat posts a nice Mt Hood party edit. If you don’t own it yet, get yourself a Banshee Bungee! The Rome Local Gnar video contest judging is on, and if nothing else the rider intros are worth watching. Regular Camber? Reverse Camber? Eero Ettala doesn’t give a fark.

WEDNESDAY

Torstein Horgmo talks triple corks. Jess Kimura talks Peep Show.  The US warms to the dryslope idea. Snowboarder Magazine posts a good Spin to Win edit. The Dew Tour goes Superpipe. Erik Leon shreds some summer slush. Ellery Hollingsworth shreds Northstar-at-Tahoe. Luke Mitrani joins Volcom. LeBlanc and Bell have the blues. Dryslope riding is so gully. Someone goes riding in Idaho. In summer. And: Todcast the Movie is coming up!

"What's the difference between peanut butter and jam?"

THURSDAY

The HCSC Session 5, the legendary Videograss Session, is out. The NZ Open will introduce a live scoring system. Trouble Andrew writes a terrible song. Down Under is stepping it up with the Red Bull Performance Camp. Twice.

FRIDAY

We interview Andreas Wiig and Pat Moore. Nick Visconti shreds pow in Chile. The House of 1817 crew shreds Mt Hood. Includes various off-hill antics. This is what shredding in Argentina looks like these days.

That’s all for this week. Have a good weekend everyone, and don’t forget: Morphine is one helluva drug.

Every now and then we have to look into a disappointed female face. Don’t worry, this is not a sexual confession type of post, it is about the amount (or lack) of female snowboarding on our humble web offering. We are always trying hard to get more interesting girls stuff out to you, but we are kind of dependent on what people send to us.

So naturally we were pumped to hear that Gatorade are doing some sort of web tv show with US rider Ellery Hollingsworth. Peep the first sick episode of “Ellery Rides All Day” – part 1 of some shredding at Northstar-at-Tahoe.

More and doubtlessly better information at www.ElleryRidesAllDay.com

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.

We’re all incredibly excited for the first Euro X Games and whether they will blow us away as the legendary mother event in the US.

During the women’s Snowboard SuperPipe elimination yesterday it was riders who were almost blown away literally, fortunately the winds slowed down during the day though and Torah Bright proofed she’s worth every ounce of her Olympic gold medal by scoring way above the other contestants without even pulling the bad boys. But also Ellery Hollingsworth impressed with huge back-to-back 7s as well as Sophie Rodriguez, who brought a whole school of kids to support her. Together with Kjersti Oestgaard Buaas, Mercedes Nicoll, and Kaitlyn Farrington they make up the finals on Friday.

FULL RESULTS:

1. Torah Bright
2. Ellery Hollingsworth
3. Sophie Rodriguez
4. Kjersti Oestgaard Buaas
5. Mercedes Nicoll
6. Kaitlyn Farrington
7. Cilka Sadar
8. Ursina Haller
9. Linn Haug
10. Elena Hight
11. Sarka Pancochova
12. Anne-Sophie Pellissier
13. Mirabelle Thovex
14. Sina Candrian
15. Cheryl Maas

More information on: winterxgameseurope.com