The 24th Annual US Open wrapped up today with Hana Beaman and Shaun White winning the slopestyle finals and a bag of loot that included $20,000 cash, a Motorola phone, a Nintendo Red Mario Kart DS Bundle and a plane ticket to the next Open event in the contest series – the Burton New Zealand Open. Shaun White officially broke all known snowboarding records when he won the slopestyle event, which was his twelfth consecutive victory this season alone.
After the slopestyle contest, the riders headed down to the awards ceremony to see who would score the Volvos, the Ski-Doos and the first Global Ticket To Ride Tour Men’s Championship title. Shaun’s unbeatable skills and Hana’s two wins at the event earned them the Volvo Most Valuable Rider award and the keys to a Volvo C70 convertible. Up-and-coming riders Chas Guldemond and Ellery Hollingsworth claimed the Ski-Doo Outstanding Rookie Award and each won a Ski-Doo Freestyle Snowmobile. And Matieu Crepel was crowned the Global Ticket To Ride (TTR) Tour Men’s Champion.
“I can’t think of a better way to end the season – to sweep the US Open and win the Volvo,” says Shaun. “I’m glad I did so well and also stoked for the whole Burton team. Let’s party!”
The Open got off to a great start with the revival of the Friday night quarterpipe contest. Several thousand fans braved bitter cold temperatures to watch the riders go for broke on the first quarterpipe at the US Open since 2002. Danny Davis stoked out the judges and the crowd with his wide variety of tricks, including an alley-oop backside rodeo 5, a frontside 9 tailgrab and an air to fakie, winning the first US Open title of his career. Hana Beaman stomped the best McTwist of all the ladies, scoring the top spot on the podium.
On Saturday, the men’s and women’s halfpipe finals drew over 15,000 spectators to watch many of the best riders in the world compete for the first time since last month’s Olympics. Shaun White won his first US Open halfpipe title after his first run, which easily topped his gold medal performance in Torino. Torah Bright also earned her first US Open halfpipe title, impressing the judges with a super technical run that included a switch backside 540.
In today’s women’s slopestyle finals, Hana Beaman stole the show with her Cab 5 to backside 3 to backside 180 to Cab 180. Seventeen-year-old Spencer O’Brien and fifteen-year-old Jaime Anderson took second and third place in the women’s slopestyle finals. And snowboarding superstar Tara Dakides earned a nice chunk of change when she stomped a stylie backflip with a Melon grab, winning the $5,000 Snickers Best Trick.
For the men, up-and-coming rider Chas Guldemond gave Shaun White a run for his money and nearly broke White’s winning streak. But Shaun prevailed with a super smooth run that convinced the judges he deserved yet another victory. Jussi Oksanen earned the third place spot on the men’s slopestyle podium and the $5,000 Snickers Best Trick award for his switch backside 9.
Young rippers Taylor Palmer and Broc Waring braved the enormous 22-foot halfpipe and won the Burton US Open junior jam contest.
With the US Open wrapping up and the pros heading home, Stratton Mountain invites all riders to test their skills in the 22-foot US Open superpipe and slopestyle course from March 27-April 9.
Men's Slopestyle Final Results
1. Shaun White (Burton)
2. Chas Guidemond
3. Jussi Oksanen (Burton)
4. Charles Reid
5. Matieu Crepel
6. Metevz Petek
7. Dustin Craven
8. Nate Sheehan
9. Shayne Pospisil
10. Antti Autti
11. Jeff Meon
12. Markku Koski
13. Rahm Klampert
14. Danny Davis (Burton)
15. Micael Lundmark
16. Shota Suzuki (Burton)
Jussi Oksanen- Snickers Best Trick Switchback Nine (Burton)
Women's Slopestyle Final Results
1. Hana Beaman
2. Spencer O'Brien (Burton)
3. Jaime Anderson
4. Tara Dakides
5. Kimberly Fasani (Burton)
6. Mary Sallah
7. Ellery Hollingsworth
8. Alexis Waite
Tara Dakides - Snickers Best Trick Backflip with Melon Grab
For more info or to download print-quality photos from the event, visit:
usopen-snowboarding.com and click on the ‘Photos for Publishing’ link at the bottom of the web page. Enter the following to access hi-res images: username: usopen06 password: ridestratton