Shaun White & Elena Hight Win Halfpipe Titles at the 30th Burton US Open

Stratton Mountain, VT,  March 11, 2012. Shaun White (USA) and Elena Hight (USA) won the 30^th annual Burton US Open halfpipe competition today, taking home $25,000 each and one of the most coveted titles in snowboarding.

It was a day that will go down in history for many reasons – the weather was perfect, the competitions came down to the wire and record-breaking crowds descended on Stratton to be a part of the landmark 30^th anniversary of the US Open.

Both the men’s and women’s competitions were nail-biters, with the podium switching up constantly throughout the finals. In the women’s contest, Elena Hight had an unforgettable day as she earned her first-ever US Open championship title and was the first rider to break Kelly Clark’s 16-competition winning streak. With only 3/10ths of a point between Elena and Kelly, it was a very tough call for the judges to make. In the end, Elena won with a score of 86.50 and a run that included back-to-back 900s, a trick combination she’s struggled with over the past year. Rounding out the women’s halfpipe podium was Ellery Hollingsworth, who came in third.

“I’m really happy with the whole weekend – the pipe and weather were amazing,” said Elena. “I haven’t been at the Open for a couple of years, and it’s great to come back and embrace the 30^th anniversary of the event.”

The men’s halfpipe final was undoubtedly one of the best in recent memory, with past US Open champions like Danny Kass and Shaun White battling it out with top riders like Louie Vito, Iouri Podladtchikov and Danny Davis. Shaun White was the first rider to drop, and in true form, he was unbeatable from the start. Shaun’s first run earned him his fourth US Open halfpipe title and included a method, frontside double cork 1080 stalefish, Cab double cork 1080 melon, frontside inverted 540 stalefish, backside double McTwist 1260 ending things with an alley oop backside rodeo.

“Coming to the 2012 Burton US Open was amazing,” Shaun White said. “It was great to see Jake and be a part of this historical event. I’m proud to take home this victory.”

The rest of the men’s halfpipe podium wasn’t decided until the last runs, with both Louie Vito and Benji Farrow earning second and third place respectively after run three. Danny Davis and Danny Kass were also crowd favorites and both gave everyone plenty to cheer about.

In addition to the US Open halfpipe titles, several other major awards were given out today. Iouri Podladtchikov (SUI) and Kelly Clark earned the 2012 Burton Global Open Series halfpipe championship titles (each worth $25,000). Jamie Anderson (USA) and Ryo Aono (JPN) won the MINI Countryman. Ellery Hollingsworth (USA) and Taku Hiraoka (JPN) won the halfpipe Creative Use of Space awards, presented by MINI. Arielle Gold (USA) and Ayumu Hirano (JPN) won the first ever Nokia Rookie Award worth $5000 each.  

The 2011/2012 TTR World Tour also came to a close today at the 6Star Burton US Open. After a gripping season full of countless highlights, Iouri Podladtchikov (SUI) and Kelly Clark (USA) have clinched the TTR Halfpipe World Tour Champion titles and Stale Sandbech (NOR) and Cilka Sadar (SLO) have been awarded with the TTR Overall World Tour titles.

Next up is tonight’s ‘Night Jam’ and tomorrow’s ‘Junior Jam’, then the 30^th anniversary of the US Open will be in the history books. If you missed the US Open finals, highlights of winning runs and full webcasts will also be available for on-demand viewing at www.redbull.com/snowboarding-live

For classic US Open photos, event highlights, quotes from the legends, and the boards beneath the riders, be sure to download the US Open History iPad App on iTunes.

2012 US Open Competition & Entertainment Schedule
Saturday, March 10 – 7:00 pm - The Night Jam, under the lights in the main base area
Sunday, March 11 – Junior Jam

Men’s US Open Halfpipe Final Results
1. Shaun White (USA) 90.44 - $25,000
2. Louie Vito (USA) 89.38 - $14,000
3. Benji Farrow (USA) 86.00 $6,000

Women’s US Open Halfpipe Final Results
1. Elena Hight (USA) 86.50 - $25,000
2. Kelly Clark (USA) 86.19 - $14,000
3. Ellery Hollingsworth (USA) 80.56 - $6,000

High-res photos from the 2012 US Open will be available at:
www.opensnowboarding.com in the Press section of the US Open website
Username: bgospress
Password: bgospress
Photo Credit: Jeff Patterson

For more information on the US Open, head to www.opensnowboarding.com or call the US Open Media Room at (802) 297-4820.

Follow our line at facebook.com/burtonsnowboards and twitter.com/burtonsnowboard hashtag #burtonopen.

Thanks to the following partners who provided generous support to the 30^th anniversary of the Burton US Open: MINI, Nokia, Mountain Dew, Stratton Mountain Resort, Mitch by Paul Mitchell, 3M Thinsulate™, Contour, Shiseido, G-Shock and TTR Pro Snowboarding.

For additional photos, click here.

Media Contact:
Melody Pfeiffer
melodyp@burton.com
Burton Snowboards
415-297-9590

About the Burton Global Open Series
The Burton Global Open Series events are the pinnacle snowboarding events of the season. Founded by Jake Burton, the Opens have grown from grassroots events to a global competition series, attracting tens of thousands of spectators and riders from around the world. Since the beginning, the Opens have been driven by riders, for riders evolving with snowboarding and riders' needs over the years. With events held in New Zealand, Europe, Canada and the United States, the Opens set the standard for snowboarding events around the globe.

About MINI
The MINI brand is represented by 1,320 dealers in more than 90 countries. Since 2001, over 2 million MINI, MINI Convertible, MINI Clubman and MINI Countryman models have been sold. As the presenting partner of the Burton Global Open Series, MINI will be supporting the renowned snowboard manufacturer for the second year in 2012.

About TTR Pro Snowboarding
TTR Pro Snowboarding is a new breed of sports governing body made up of a professional network of events, athletes, nations and industry partners. TTR has been built upon the sport's core values and unique culture with the goal of making snowboarding the most recognized progressive sport in the world.  The overall objective is to uphold the progression of snowboarding by providing fair and open competition environments, including innovative judging and ranking systems, that allow for athletes to develop from rookies into world-class athletes. A non-profit organization, the TTR owns and operates the TTR World Snowboard Tour, the TTR World Ranking System and the World Snowboarding Championships. At the end of each TTR World Tour competitive season, TTR awards World Tour Champion titles in each of the following categories: Overall, Halfpipe, Slopestyle and Big Air.