SNOWPARK, New Zealand (August 6, 2007) - The 07/08 Burton Global Open Series officially begins this week with the fifth annual Burton New Zealand Open taking place at Snow Park NZ. Friday’s slopestyle competition and Saturday’s halfpipe event will draw top international riders like Mason Aguirre, Kelly Clark, Keir Dillon and Kevin Pearce to compete against over 230 riders from 16 different countries. Here’s what sets New Zealand’s largest winter sports event apart from the rest:
First event in the 07/08 Burton Global Open Series
The Burton New Zealand Open is the first event of the Burton Global Open Series, which features competitions in Australia, Canada, Switzerland, Japan and the USA and awards the largest cumulative prize purse in competitive snowboarding today. The event is also part of the international Ticket to Ride Series (TTR).
International Riders
Over 230 competitors from 16 countries: Australia (7), Austria (1), Belgium (3), Canada (21), Finland (6), France (8), Great Britain (5), Germany (10), Japan (44), Norway (4), New Zealand (31), Poland (6), Russia (1), Spain (1), Sweden (2), Switzerland (22), USA (63). The youngest competitor is 11-year-old Taylor Watling from Canada.
Big Names
The field includes: World Superpipe Champions (3), Olympic gold medalists (1), TTR leaders (1), X Games Champions (7), World Cup leader (1).
Big Prize Money
Competitors are competing for a share of the NZ$50,000 prize pool plus a chance to compete for US$100,000 as overall Burton Global Open Series winner, last year won by Torah Bright (AUS) and Shaun White (USA).
Massive Pipe
Snow Park NZ’s superpipe is the Southern Hemisphere’s only Olympic and X Games standard halfpipe. It has taken 10 days to shape for the event, uses 70,000 cubic meters of snow and 2.5 weeks of snowmaking. The pipe is 5.5m deep, 160m long and 18.2m wide with a 17 degree pitch. The quarterpipe is equally monstrous at a massive 10.3m tall and 24.3m wide.
For more information on the Burton New Zealand Open head to www.opensnowboarding.com
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 global spectacles 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 Canada, Europe, Japan, the United States, New Zealand and Australia, the Opens set the standard for snowboarding events around the globe. For more information, visit opensnowboarding.com.
The Burton Global Open Series is part of the Ticket To Ride (TTR) World Snowboard Tour, the largest group of independent freestyle snowboard events in the world. TTR ranks riders based on their results at participating competitions and crowns a TTR World Champion at the US Open. For more information, visit www.ttrworldtour
source: Mia Troy, burton.com
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