 My name is Stan Levier and I am a snowboarder. Okay, also the editor of Snowboarder magazine and esteemed host of the show Last Resort with Stan. I am a long-standing proponent of change and I think that snowboarding should remain fresh. And that is why I am here today to tell the masses about the course design changes that we have on deck for the 2020 Burton US Open. The halfpipe was introduced at the Burton US Open in 1988. It was deemed the standard for all competitive halfpipes to follow. In the year 2000, they brought the first superpipe 300 feet long with 15-foot walls. Fast forward to the modern superpipe, which we've seen at the US Open for years now. 500 feet long, 22-foot transition. Pretty much the same one dominated by the likes of Danny Davis, Sean White, Kelly Clark, Scotty James, for at least the last decade, plus. So why change it now? Well, why the hell not? We've got the tools, we've got the machines to do it and the precedent to throw with these riders, whatever that they can handle. I say why not do it? According to me, there is just no better way to buck tradition and get a little weird here at the US Open. It's time for a little history lesson, okay? In 1982, the year it all began. The first ever iteration of the Open went down at a small mountain called Suicide 6 in Vermont. In the decades since then, here is a quick list of events that the US Open has featured in the past. Border Cross, Super G, Downhill, Slalom, Rail Jams, Big Air, Quarterpipe, Slope Style, and Halfpipe featured at the US Open for over 30 years. Here in Vale in 2020, it's going to look like it never has before. Burton went directly to their riders for their ideas. Just taking stock of their hopes and their dreams when it came to course design and progression. The Slope Style course will be tweaked from top to bottom in a design built from the ground up with the rider's feedback at the forefront. The street setup up top leads to a beautiful collection of kickers, speed rails, booters, and transition jumps meant to mix up every full pull you'll see from some of your favorite riders. They've also completely reimagined the US Open Halfpipe. It starts with a 13 foot mini pipe featuring 6 foot tombstones. Then, rollers on both sides of the mini pipe transitioning the rider into a standard 22 footer to the bottom of the course. It's not going to be the traditional 6 hit run that we're used to in the past, okay? These curated runs made in a lab to get on the podium, okay? It's time to get a little creative. It's going to be about style, transition, and flow here in 2020 and hopefully a shit ton of Method Airs, like so many Method Airs that you're going to be like, okay, we get it with the Method Airs, but we still like it. So what do you have to do? Easy. Tune in live to the Burton US Open February 26th through the 29th in Vale to see this all for yourself, okay? I'll be there looking to poach. Oh, and Godspeed to those judges.