Vail Mountain, CO (February 27, 2013) Today’s slopestyle semi-finals marked the start of the 31^st annual Burton US Open Snowboarding Championships presented by MINI at Vail Mountain. Under bluebird skies at the largest resort in the U.S., the world’s top snowboarders treated spectators to next-level slopestyle riding. Spencer O’Brien (CAN) and Torstein Horgmo (NOR) finished first in the slopestyle semi-finals competition and will advance to the US Open slopestyle finals, taking place this Friday, March 1^st. 

Out of the British hopefulls Jamie Nicholls qualifying for the finals with a  run that saw him go full out linking three hits with big tricks including a Cab 270 on, 270 off and a bolts cab 10. Aimee Fuller sadly has a rare off day on the course and failed to land a clean run in the women's semi finals.

Canadian Spencer O’Brien led the women’s field with her winning run that included a frontside boardslide, MINI wallride to gap to frontside lipslide, 50-50 frontside 180 out, switch backside 180 mute grab, and a frontside 360 to backside 540 indy grab. Right behind her was Jamie Anderson (USA) in second and Brooke Voigt (CAN) in third. In total, 21 women from 11 different countries battled it out on the slopestyle course and the top six riders will advance to the finals.

On the men’s side, Norwegian Torstein Horgmo took first place with a winning run that included a switch backside 270 on, MINI wallride to switch frontside boardslide 270 out, switch lipslide 270 out, switch backside 900 mute grab, and a frontside double cork 1080 mute grab followed by a huge backside double cork 1080 indy grab. Close behind him was Eric Willett (USA) in second and young-gun Yuki Kadono (JPN) in third. All in all, 42 men from 9 different countries competed, and 12 solidified a coveted spot in the Burton US Open slopestyle finals.

Women’s Slopestyle Semi-Final Results:

1. Spencer O’Brien CAN, NIKE, 75.33

2. Jamie Anderson USA, BILLABONG, 74.88

3. Brooke Voigt CAN, 32 SNOWBOARD BOOTS, 70.08

4. Sarka Pancochova CZE, FLOW, 69.53

5. Christy Prior NZL, BURTON, 63.53

6. Shelly Gotlieb NZL, BURTON, 62.00

Men’s Slopestyle Semi-Final Results:

1.   Torstein Horgmo NOR, DC SHOE CO USA, 87.93

2.   Eric Willett USA, VANS, 84.26

3.   Yuki Kadono JPN, RIDE, 83.88

4.   Mark McMorris CAN, BURTON, 83.43

5.   Chas Guldemond USA, ROCKSTAR, 81.25

6.   Peetu Piiroinen FIN, NIKE, 80.63

7.   Maxence Parrot CAN, O’NEILL, 80.28

8.   Stale Sandbech NOR, OAKLEY, 80.03

9.   Sage Kotsenburg USA, NIKE, 79.28

   10. Ryan Stassel USA, BURTON, 77.23

   11. Jamie Nicholls GBR, NIKE, 75.03

   12. Darcy Sharpe CAN, MONSTER, 74.98

Tomorrow, don’t miss day two of the Burton US Open with halfpipe semi-finals beginning at 9am MST. Starting Friday, tune in to watch live coverage from Vail on Universal Sports and NBC Sports Network, plus original live coverage, additional airings, run replays, full webcasts, broadcast schedules and more on www.Burton.com/USO.  And remember to follow our line throughout the US Open at facebook.com/burtonsnowboards, #BurtonUSOpen, twitter.com/burtonsnowboard and @burtonsnowboard on Instagram.

A big thanks to the following partners for their support of the 31^st edition of the Burton US Open: MINI, Vail Resorts, Mountain Dew®, Town of Vail, Nokia, Paul Mitchell, 3M™ Thinsulate™ Insulation, GoPro, G-SHOCK, Shiseido, Matador, Clif, Transworld, Snowboarder, Analog, anon. and the World Snowboard Tour.