Americans Sweep US Open Slopestyle
VAIL, CO (March 3, 2016) – The American slopestyle snowboarders reigned supreme at the 35th edition of the Burton US Open on Friday. Kyle Mack (West Bloomfield, MI) scored his first major slopestyle win and fellow Michigander Eric Beauchemin (Grand Blanc, MI) finished right behind him in second. On the women’s side Jamie Anderson (South Lake Tahoe, CA) took home her third-consecutive US Open title and Karly Shorr (Milford, MI) took second.
Anderson’s win was her fifth overall US Open title, and she clinched with trademark style on her first run, which included a tailslide to 270 on one of the bigger rail features and a textbook frontside 720. “I personally try to come out here and see what works for me,” Anderson said of her run. “I try to stay true to what I want to do.”
Shorr took second with a solid first run to earn her first US Open podium. She appreciated the 2016 course, which featured unique lines and options that allowed the riders to be creative. “It was the most fun course I’ve ridden in a long time,” Shorr said after her first run. “Any chance I get to do something different I always try. I actually haven’t landed a run at the US Open in a couple of years so I’m just so thankful.”
The other three American women in the field were unable to put a full run down: Jessika Jenson (Rigby, ID) finished seventh, Hailey Langland (San Clemente, CA) was eighth and Julia Marino (Westport, CT) was 12th.
It was the first time an American man has topped the slopestyle podium at the US Open since Eric Willett (Breckenridge, CO) won in 2011. Mack earned one of the sport’s most-prized titles with a run that included back-to-back triple corks, including a first-in-competition triple cork Japan. Mack, who first competed at the US Open at the age of seven, was thrilled. “It’s been an 11-year journey,” Mack said. “To win here in Vail is amazing–I couldn’t be more hyped. It’s pretty much a dream come true to win this.”
Beauchemin (clad in a head-to-toe Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle outfit) had a nearly flawless run to take second to his good friend. “I’m so hyped for my boy Kyle,” he said. “We’re really good friends so we’ve been riding together for a long time. There are a lot of good riders that come out of Michigan because they love snowboarding so much. It’s crazy – there must be something in the water.”
It was a strong showing for the American men: Redmond Gerard (Silverthorne, CO), fifth; Brandon Davis (Mammoth Lakes, CA), sixth; Chris Corning (Arvada, CO), seventh; Lyon Farrell (Haiku, HI), 10th; Nikolas Baden (Steamboat Springs, CO), 14th; Brock Crouch (Mammoth Lakes, CA), 15th; Chas Guldemond (Reno, NV), 19th; Ryan Stassel (Anchorage, AK), 20th; Eric Willett (Breckenridge, CO), 21st; Judd Henkes (San Diego, CA), 27th; Shaun White (Carlsbad, CA), 31st.
Up next at the US Open are halfpipe finals on Saturday, where Americans Shaun White (Carslbad, CA) and Chloe Kim (La Palma, CA) lead the charge as the top qualifiers.
SCHEDULE
Saturday, March 5 (all times MST)
HALFPIPE FINALS – webcast live on BurtonUSOpen.com
11:10 a.m.-12:30 p.m. – Women’s Halfpipe Finals
1:40-4:00 p.m. – Men’s Halfpipe Finals
TV BROADCAST SCHEDULE
Fox Sports 2 (all times EST)
Saturday, March 5
HALFPIPE FINALS
4:00-6:00 p.m. – Women’s Halfpipe Finals
6:00-8:00 p.m. – Men’s Halpipe Finals
HIGHLIGHTS
· Jamie Anderson won for the women. It was her third-consecutive and fifth overall US Open title. Her first run scored 86.85: frontside lipslide, tailslide to 270 out, backside 180, Cab inverted 540, frontside 720, backside 540.
· Kyle Mack won for the men. His first run scored 89.75: hardway backside 180 to 50-50, cab 270 frontside bluntslide tail, backside rodeo, switch backside 540 melon, frontside triple cork 1440 tail, backside triple cork 1440 Japan.
· Karly Shorr was second for the women. Her first run scored 80.40: front blunt to switch, switch frontside lipslide to regular, frontside 360, backside 180 nose, Cab 540 indy, backside 360 double tail.
· Eric Beauchemin was second for the men. His first run scored 83.50: Cab 450 on 270 off, Cab 180 on 360 off, backside 540 nose, frontside 1080, backside double 1260 indy, Cab double 1260 mute
QUOTES
Jamie Anderson, women’s winner
It felt pretty good … I went a little deep and kinda slapped my hands down, but I’m pretty happy with that. I personally try to come out here and see what works for me; I try to stay true to what I want to do. I love the Open – I’ve been coming for almost 10 years and it’s one of the coolest events of the year.
Kyle Mack, men’s winner
It’s been an 11-year journey. To win here in Vail is amazing – I couldn’t be more hyped. My friends and all the support you get here – to have the whole crowd cheering for you and your friends to hug you when you’re done, that’s why I do it. It’s pretty much a dream come true to win this.
Today has been a roller coaster. It took a lot of stress off landing my first run but then to sit there and watch everyone take their second run was more nerve wracking than I’ve ever seen before. It’s everything to me right now to be able to win and stand on top right now. For me to be on top is unreal.
Karly Shorr
It was the most fun course I’ve ridden in a long time. Any chance I get to do something different I always try. I actually haven’t land a run at the US Open in a couple of years so I’m just so thankful.
Today was definitely one of the best days of my life. This has been a dream of mine since I was a little girl. My brother growing up told me you can do whatever you want in snowboarding, but if you podium at the US Open that’s when you know you really made it. I was really humbled watching all the other girls ride and how good they are; I got a little down on myself, thinking I wasn’t good enough to make it. But I told myself not to think like that, to do what I know that I’m good at and do what I know I can do the best. If they like it, they like it – and they did! Definitely a highlight of my career – it’s up there with Russia. It hasn’t really sunk in yet – it’s very surreal.
Eric Beauchemin, men’s second
I’m so hyped for my boy Kyle. We’re really good friends so we’ve been riding together for a long time. I haven’t had a good year this year – I haven’t really been able to land a lot of runs–so it means a lot to take home second here. There are a lot of good riders that come out of Michigan because they love snowboarding so much. It’s crazy, there must be something in the water.
I got second at the US Open … is this real life right now? It’s crazy.
White and Kim Headline US Open Finals
VAIL, CO (March 3, 2016) – The 35th edition of the Burton US Open is underway at Vail Mountain. Americans Shaun White (Carlsbad, CA) and Chloe Kim (La Palma, CA) took the top qualifying spots in halfpipe on Thursday, leading the charge into the field of six women and 10 men advancing to the final on Saturday. The slopestyle semifinals were canceled due to adverse weather; all athletes will ride in the final on Friday.
Kim continued her dominating season with a top-scoring first run that featured style, technicality and amplitude well beyond that of the rest of the field. Olympian Hannah Teter (Belmont, VT) qualified in third, followed by Kelly Clark (West Dover, VT) in fourth, Arielle Gold (Steamboat Springs, CO) in fifth and Elena Hight (South Lake Tahoe, CA) in sixth.
White has only dropped in to one other competition this season (the Breckenridge Dew Tour in December, which he won), but his time off snow has obviously not affected his level of riding. White dominated the competitive, 32-man field with trademark amplitude and style. Ben Ferguson (Bend, OR) locked down the third-place position followed by 14-year-old Judd Henkes (San Diego, CA) in fourth, Danny Davis (Highland, MI) in sixth, Greg Bretz (Mammoth Lakes, CA) in eighth and Matt Ladley (Steamboat Springs, CO) in ninth.
American women Hailey Langland (San Clemente, CA) and Jamie Anderson (South Lake Tahoe, CA) will lead the charge into the slopestyle final on Friday while Eric Willet (Breckenridge, CO) and Chas Guldemond (Reno, NV) will headline for the men.
Slopestyle will start Friday morning at 9:30 a.m. (MST) on Vail Mountain’s Golden Peak custom slopestyle course. Check out the course preview with U.S. Team member Hailey Langland.
HIGHLIGHTS
· Chloe Kim qualified first in halfpipe for the women. Her first run scored 94.25: backside air, frontside 540 Indy, McTwist, frontside 720, Cab 720.
· Shaun White qualified first in halfpipe for the men. His first run scored 92.12: backside air, frontside double cork 1080 melon, Cab double cork 1080 melon, frontside 540 stalefish, backside 900 Japan, frontside 720 tail.
· The Burton US Open is the longest-running snowboard competition in history; 2016 will mark it’s 34th rendition.
· The 2016 Burton US Open offers a total prize purse of $45,000.
SCHEDULE (all times MST)
Friday, March 4
SLOPESTYLE FINALS – webcast live on BurtonUSOpen.com
9:40 – 11:10 a.m. – Women’s Slopestyle Finals
1:40 – 4:00 p.m. – Men’s Slopestyle Finals
Saturday, March 5
HALFPIPE FINALS – webcast live on BurtonUSOpen.com
11:10 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. – Women’s Halfpipe Finals
1:40 – 4:00 p.m. – Men’s Halfpipe Finals
TV BROADCAST SCHEDULE
Fox Sports 2 (all times EST)
Friday, March 4
SLOPESTYLE FINALS
1:30 – 3:30 p.m. – Women’s Slopestyle Finals
8:00 – 10:00 p.m. – Men’s Slopestyle Finals
Saturday, March 5
HALFPIPE FINALS
4:00 – 6:00 p.m. – Women’s Halfpipe Finals
6:00 – 8:00 p.m. – Men’s Halfpipe Finals
QUOTES
Ben Ferguson
Practice went pretty good but I haven’t ridden halfpipe in quite a while, so practice this morning was the first time I did all my tricks. I did the first run, thought it was pretty solid and that I was probably going to make it in with that one. I was stoked, super-pumped, really happy, just a bunch of relief. And then Scotty James went right before me and bumped me down a spot and I was like, forget that. I just went for it again and put a pretty good one down and then I was second. The pipe is really good and we got good weather today; hopefully we get good weather for finals. It’s sick to come here and make it to finals, I’m stoked.
Holland Wins Olympic Test Event
BOKWANG, South Korea (Feb. 27, 2016) – The American snowboardcross men dominated at the official Olympic test event for the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Games, where Nate Holland (Squaw Valley, CA) took the win and Nick Baumgartner (Iron River, MI) was third. Lindsey Jacobellis (Stratton Mountain, VT) made the women’s final, finishing just off the podium in fourth.
Holland has had great success in his snowboardcross career, including seven X Games gold medals, but it was his first World Cup win in four years, when he won at Veysonnaz, Switzerland. It was a big win for the 37 year old, who was sidelined for the first part of the season with injury.
“This season’s been brutal for me,” Holland said. “I sprained my pelvis in December and basically sat on a couch for a month so I’m not the strongest I’ve been and I still have some hip pain. It’s a long injury but I just have to wake up early and get the bones moving–once you’re in the gate all that goes away.”
Baumgartner overcame a low qualifying result to make it all the way to a World Cup podium for the 12th time in his career.
“Today was unbelievable,” he said. “I started out wearing bib 34, so I wasn’t super stoked on my time trial. I didn’t get to pick my lane all day. I only got the outsides, but I think I was winning every heat going down the first straightaway after turn one. I had great starts. Are you kidding me? I’m 34 years old–to beat these young kids at starts? That’s exactly what I wanted. I trained all summer for that and it’s paying off. I couldn’t be more stoked.”
By all accounts the 2018 Olympic event is sure to be an exciting one, as the athletes are very happy with the course, which is big with lots of passing opportunities.
“This venue kicks a**,” Holland said. “The slope is perfect, the jumps were big and there are some tactics and strategy involved. I like courses that are big and wide open with strategy–it makes you think a little more versus a holeshot scenario. And I’m stoked to see that this hill has the DNA of tactics, big jumps and fast speeds.”
American Alex Deibold (Boulder, CO) placed 5th in the big final, Robert Minghini (Snowshoe, WV) placed 12th out of the small final, Hagen Kearney (Telluride, CO) was 18th, Mick Dierdorff (Steamboat Springs, CO) was 28th and Jonathan Cheever (Saugus, MA) was 32nd.
The American women were very close to making the podium. Though she didn’t get the start she wanted, Jacobellis made the final and was in a good race position until she cased the last double coming into the finish. It looked like Faye Gulini (Salt Lake City, UT) was going to make the final, winning the lead-up heat until she knocked boards with someone. She finished ninth out of the small final. Meghan Tierney (Edwards, CO) finished 12th and Rosina Mancari (Anchorage, AK) was 16th.
The next stop of the snowboardcross World cup tour is in Veysonnaz, Switzerland March 4-6.
HIGHLIGHTS
· Nate Holland won. It was his first World Cup win in four years, his 16th career World Cup podium.
· Nick Baumgartner was third. It was his 12th career World Cup podium.
QUOTES
Nate Holland
Today went killer, it’s always different to show up to a hill you haven’t raced, you never really know what to expect. But this venue kicks ass–the slope is perfect, the jumps were big and there are some tactics and strategy involved. I like courses that are big and wide open with strategy–it makes you think a little more versus a holeshot scenario. And I’m stoked to see that this hill has the DNA of tactics, big jumps and fast speeds.
I took two training runs and and there was more passing in my second training run than any race I’ve ever been in. Once I knew that, I knew what to expect and it got crazy in there today, ollie-ing over people and…I just get better and better in the heats and ended up in a drag race for the finish with Pierre (Vaultier) and I just rode my snowboard faster.
This season has been brutal for me. I sprained my pelvis in December and basically sat on a couch for a month so I’m not the strongest I’ve been and I still have some hip pain. It’s a long injury but I just have to wake up early and get the bones moving–once you’re in the gate all that goes away.
It feels great to be back and on top of the podium because it was a slow start to the season and I was happy to show up here and see a course I like and that it is going to be the Olympic venue in two years.
Qualifying did not go well. I was 35th. It’s really windy here, they have windmills here for a reason. So I knew going into finals I needed to clean up my riding and that the wind played a factor but you can win out of any gate on this course, you win the course at the finish line, not at the start gate.
Nick Baumgartner
Today was unbelievable. I started out wearing bib 34, so I wasn’t super stoked on my time trial; I didn’t get to pick my lane all day, I only got the outsides, but I think I was winning every heat going down the first straightaway after turn one. I had great starts. Are you kidding me? I’m 34 years old–to beat these young kids at starts? That’s exactly what I wanted. I trained all summer for that and it’s paying off. I couldn’t be more stoked.
Korea is awesome. It’s so cool, everyone’s so stoked to see us, everyone’s so pumped. I like that. I like to feed off that energy. When I came down, you see my passion. I like to wear it on my sleeve. I’m excited and I’m screaming and it’s because I love what I’m doing and I’m fortunate to be able to do this.
Peter Foley, Head Snowboardcross Coach
It’s a super cool course with big jumps. The draft plays a gigantic part in this course, so it’s really rare for someone to get the holeshot and get out front for the whole race. Nate, Lindsey, and Baum are all so good at pack racing and it’s so close the whole time, so it’s pretty exciting.
We didn’t know at all how this event would be–we didn’t have a good picture of it. So we were super excited when we saw it. Alex, Mick and Bobby came in the day before everyone else and got to be testers. The first time people saw it they were scared–the jumps were giant, but it ran super good.
Lindsey didn’t get the start she wanted and so she was dealing with traffic the whole time but she was still in the hunt for the podium until she cased the last double and that kind of crushed her.
Faye and Lindsey were running 1-2 in the round before last, but then Faye knocked boards with someone; she was so close to making the big final.
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