Burton European Open update
Snowboarding's glitterati have arrived.
The qualifying rounds have taken place, selecting the best rookie and vetaran riders to compete against the elite pros in the semi-finals. To celebrate the arrival of snowboarding's stars and superstars to the small Swiss town of Laax, Burton put on an arrival party at the Rider's Palace complete with iced cupcakes, gourmet hot dogs and balloons.
The event showed off the amazing contrast that exists in snowboarding. A reserved Nicolas Muller rubbing shoulder's with drunk Scanadinavian rail kids; a fresh-faced and flat-capped Mikkel Bang continually eyed up by a fleet of wannabe 'pro hoes' . And then, complete with a mini entourage, snowboard superstar Shaun White waltzed in, his groomed ginger mane bobbing in the sea of beanies and New Era caps. True to his celebrity status, he only stayed briefly, talking to the necessary movers and shakers of this 6 Star TTR event.
However, this morning, he graced the half pipe semi-finals with his presence, albeit from behind a balaclava on a reasonably warm day. Dropping in two near perfect runs to comfortably win his heat. Leaving a score of 91.85, before disappearing off the mountain - less everyday rider, more a modern day snowboard legend. However, the score was surmounted by rival Burton shredder Kevin Pearce who scored an immense 95 points for his super-stylish bag o'tricks. It was indeed Kevin Pearce himself who stole Shaun White's crown in the half pipe at last year's BEO, whether history will repeat itelf will be decided this Friday.
In the women's half pipe semi-finals, Olympic gold medalist Kelly Clark showed up the competition going way bigger than anyone else and leading second place Norweigan Linn Haug by 91 points to 82. Fellow Norweigan's Kjersti Buaas and Lisa Wiik made their way to the finals along with veteran German rider Nicola Thost and super Slovenian newbie Cilka Sadar.
All those qualifying rounds seem more than justified, the level of riding is astronomical. As the commentator kept repeating "You've got to step up for game to win". Very true indeed.
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Burton European Open update (text) by Ed Andrews is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 2.0 UK License.
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