2009 Burton US Snowboarding Open

The 2009 Burton US Open Snowboarding Championships brings the sport's elite to Stratton every March. We talked with a Super Official who made the sport what it is today. But it was the last big contest of the season that brought us out. The Open gave the riders a chance end the season on a high note and make a statement about the Vancouver Olympics next year. Danny Kass, who seems to lurk in the background marking his competition, made it a five-pete while Torah Bright established herself as the one to beat in the Lady's Halfpipe. Watch out, though - there is a lot of young talent who will be hard to hold off. Another RadXSports video with Dawn Church reporting from Stratton and hosted by Tony Lanza.

Script:

The top of the halfpipe is the place to be if you want to chill with the snowboarding elite. The greatest athletes from around the world are there and stoked about making snowboarding history. It's also the place where people who have already made history tell their stories.

As much as the Open honors history, it's mostly about the present. With the 2010 Olympics on everybody's mind, this year's contest contest was more than a grand finale to a long season. It was a chance for the top contenders to make a statement about who'll get the gold.

Reigning halfpipe Olympic champion Hannah Teter had to sit this one out, but she still had Vancouver on her mind.

The veteran champions were in top form in the ladies pipe. 2002 gold medalist Kelly Clark threw down a big score on her first trip down the pipe.

It's tough for a newcomer to crack the elite, but seventeen year old Ellery Hollingsworth was up to the task. She was in second place after the second run.

Torah Bright was was out of the money going into the third and last run.
She won the Open last year and this trip down the Stratton halfpipe proved why she is still the one to beat.

With Shaun White sitting out the men's contest with a twisted ankle, Danny Davis out following surgery and Mason Aguirre MIA, it was a perfect opportunity for some new talent to challenge for the podium

Luke Mitrani proved up to the task. His first run was capped by a double back flip which put him on top of the leader board.

It was Peetu Piironen, the flying Fin, who took the lead going into the final run. Peetu is an astounding young talent, probably the most consistent rider on the circuit. He'll be a force to be reckoned with for many years to come.

But when the ships were down, it was a veteran who came through. 26 year old Danny Kass, with four Open championships and two Olympic silvers omn hisresume, proved he's not dead yet.

After the cash was doled out and the podium bubbly spilled, this is what the winners had to say at a noisy press conference.

Category:

Sports

Tags:

• action
• extreme
• winter
• sports
• snowboarding
• Burton US Snowboarding Open
• halfpipe
• Danny Kass
• Torah Bright
• Olympics
• action sports
• extreme sports
• travel
• tourism
• destination
• resort
• mountain
• winter sports
• Shaun White
• Kelly Clark
• commentary
• analysis
• championship
• competition
• Stratton
• Vermont
• ytLstretch=16:9
• ski
• skiing
• outdoor
• recreation
• champions
• olympic
• gold

[banksiasong]

Congratulations Torah, well done to the Canadian spectators and organisers, and to all the competitors who behaved appropriately with their own achievements.

Go Vancouver 2010 !

[SnowboardSecretsTV]

I was at the Open, and you can see the runs much better on this video than being there!

Interviews with Danny, Torah, Peetu, Todd Richards, Sarka, and more on SnowboardSecretstv on youtube

[bradjlilley]

It's pronounced Pay-two! Not Pee-two. great work non the less!

[PeterPan0074]

A run F A N T A S T I C ! ! !

[Pir8t3luvsEmerica]

Good.