In the fall of 2009/2010, Rukajärvi began to stir up the noise outside her home country making international headlines with her win at the 4Star Horsefeathers Pleasure Jam 2009 in Austria, beating the likes of former TTR World Champion Cheryl Maas (NED). Carrying over an end-of-season bonus, from a World No. 46 position in the 08/09 TTR season, she jumped into World No.43 with her first result and caught up with the pack who had got a head start at the southern hemisphere TTR events.

The big bang on her career came along with her slopestyle victories at the 6Star Roxy Chicken Jam in Saalbach, Austria and the 6Star Burton European Open in Laax, Switzerland. By this point it was clear that she was no one hit wonder, but a serious contender for the Swatch TTR top spot. After the two 6Star events, she had climbed into World No. 6 and spoke about her experience at the BEO explaining; “I was really nervous in the semis because I wanted to get to the finals, but once I got in I was able to just ride”. Her determination showed in the finals where she reached top scores with her second run consisting of a 50-50 Boardslide to Fakie, Cab 360 Slide, Cab 270 Boardslide, 50-50 on Downbox, Stalefish Frontside 360 Indy, Backside mute 540 and a stylish Cab 720.

After her success in January, Rukajärvi made quick calculations and came to the conclusion to include a 5Star event in her schedule to allow her a few more crucial results for her Swatch TTR ranking total. She accepted an invitation to compete at the 5Star Burton Canadian Open, despite her original plans to only do a few events this year. Her efforts paid off and once more she shone on the top spot of the slopestyle podium, and also showed that she could stomp a solid run in the halfpipe.

Sitting in World No. 4 prior to the 6Star Burton US Open allowed Rukajärvi to relax a bit and she returned to her home mountain to regain her focus. At Stratton she walked away with another nice result, barely missing the podium with 4th place in slopestyle and 15th in the halfpipe and was awarded the Burton Global Open Series title. Now in the Swatch TTR ranking lead Rukajärvi was in a great position for the Roxy Chicken Jam USA, however, with seven other contenders able to overtake her rank she was still in for a tight battle. She managed to hold her own and place 6th in slopestyle and 21st in halfpipe. “I feel awesome. I am so happy and stoked and also surprised. I did not expect to be Tour Champion at all at the beginning of the season.” Rukajärvi has certainly showed that one can make her way through the various Star rated events on the TTR Tour and participate in the open events to make a success story and we can expect to see a lot more of her in the future.

The Swatch TTR Top 3 of season 2009/2010 were rounded up with Sina Candrian (SUI) in World No.2 and Sarka Pancochova (CZE) in World No. 3. The men’s Swatch TTR Tour Champion, Peetu Piiroinen (FIN), was crowned at the Burton US Open. More information and videos of Enni Rukajärvi’s 09/10 World Champion Title are available on www.ttrworldtour.com.

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Post tags: 50-50 Boardslide to Fakie, 50-50 on Downbox, 6star event, a stylish Cab 720, Austria, Backside mute 540, Burton Canadian Open, Burton Global Open Series, Cab 270 Boardslide, Cab 360 Slide, Enni Rukajarvi, Enni Rukajärvi’s 09/10 World Champion, Finland, halfpipe, Laax, men’s Swatch TTR Tour Champion, Saalbach, Sarka Pancochova, slopestyle event, slopestyle podium, snowboarding world, southern hemisphere TTR events, Stalefish Frontside 360 Indy, Swatch TTR Ranking, Swatch TTR World Snowboard Champion 2009/2010, Switzerland, the Roxy Chicken Jam US, TTR ranks

Taking place at Stratton Mountain Resort from March 15-21, the Open is the first US event since the 2010 Olympics where snowboard medalists Shaun White, Peetu Piiroinen, Scotty Lago, Hannah Teter and Kelly Clark will compete.

In addition to all three men’s 2010 Olympic halfpipe medalists, the US Open rider roster includes 2009 Burton Global Open Series (BGOS) Champion Chas Guldemond (USA), two-time Olympian and US Open podium threat Kazuhiro Kokubo (JPN), Luke Mitrani (USA), Mikkel Bang (NOR), current BGOS points leader Christian Haller (SUI) and Mason Aguirre (USA).

The entire women’s US Olympic halfpipe team will compete at the US Open, including Hannah Teter, Kelly Clark, Gretchen Bleiler and Elena Hight. Jamie Anderson (USA), Ellery Hollingsworth (USA), Spencer O’Brien (CAN), Kjersti Oestgaard-Buaas (NOR), Jenny Jones (GBR), Lisa Wiik (NOR), Cheryl Maas (NED), Sarka Pancochova (CZE) and Sina Candrian (SUI) are also on board to compete.

This year’s US Open kicks off with slopestyle finals on Friday afternoon, March 19 followed by the invitational ‘Black & Night Jam’ on Friday evening. Rahzel and JS-1 will play a free concert at 9:00 pm right after the rail jam wraps up. The legendary US Open halfpipe finals take place on Saturday, March 20 with Shiny Toy Guns playing a free show directly after the awards ceremony. On Sunday, the Open’s youngest riders take to the halfpipe for the Junior Jam, where girls and boys 13-years-old and under compete for a US Open title.

Over $500,000 in prizes will be given away at the US Open, including a new Volvo to the top male and female rider. As the final event in the fourth annual Burton Global Open Series, the US Open is the last chance for riders to make a play for the women’s and men’s 2010 Burton Global Open Series (BGOS) championship title, each worth $50,000. European riders Christian Haller (SUI) and Lisa Wiik (NOR) are currently in the lead for the BGOS titles. The US Open is also honored to be the event where the men’s Swatch TTR World Tour Champion is crowned, with Peetu Piiroinen (FIN) clinching the title for the second straight year.

If you can’t make it to Stratton, you can watch the US Open on ABC on March 27 at 5:00 pm EST and 3:00 pm PST. Also be sure to check out the US Open live on GO211.com.

more at opensnowboarding.com

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Post tags: Black & Night Jam, Burton Global Open Series, Chas Guldemond, Christian Haller, Elena Hight, Go211.com., Gretchen Bleiler, halfpipe, Hannah Teter, Jamie Anderson, Kelly Clark, Peetu Piiroinen, Scotty Lago, Shaun White, slopestyle, Swatch TTR World tour, US Olympic, US Open, US Open Snowboarding Championships, volvo

After careful consideration, all parties agreed that the timing of the event would not be conducive to the athletes’ already busy schedules, especially in an Olympic year.

“Our first goal with any Global Open Series event is to provide riders with the best scenario possible,” said Burton Events Director Liam Griffin. “We had already made the decision to push the event into the first week in March instead of the normal dates the last week of February. This allowed a bit of time in the schedule after the Olympics, but made things pretty tight with the US Open.  After talking to riders, we decided it was better to just take a year off with the Asian event, rather than risk burning people out after such a hectic early season.”

The Burton Asian Open was scheduled to take place from March 2 – 7, 2010 at ALTS Bandai in Japan. With the cancellation of the Asian Open, the amount of results needed for riders to maximize their chance of winning the BGOS title has been reduced from five to four. This adjustment will allow more riders to have a shot at the title despite the busy Olympic season. New this year, the top three men and women finishers in the Burton Global Open Series will be awarded cash prizes, totaling $200,000.

The Burton European Open (BEO) is next event in the Burton Global Open Series. Taking place in LAAX, Switzerland from January 9-16, the European Open offers riders a generous prize purse of US $125,000, important points towards the male and female 2010 Burton Global Open Series Championship titles and points towards the Swatch TTR (Ticket to Ride) World Tour Ranking.

For more information on the Burton Global Open Series, head to opensnowboarding.com.

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Post tags: Asian Open Snowboarding Championships, Bandai, BGOS, Burton Asian Open, Burton Global Open Series, European Open, japan, Laax, Liam Griffin, opensnowboarding.com, Swatch TTR, Switzerland, The Burton European Open

Hundreds of competitors from all over the world flocked to Cardrona Alpine Resort to compete, and action got underway on Wednesday with men’s and women’s slopestyle pre-qualifications and qualifications. Men’s and women’s halfpipe qualifications went down on Thursday, followed by men’s and women’s slopestyle semifinal and finals on Friday with Jamie Anderson (USA) and Sebastien Toutant (CAN) riding away with the top spots worth $6,000 each.

Saturday saw a field of 40 men and 21 women compete for the halfpipe titles worth NZ$6,000. In the women’s competition Kelly Clark and Jiayu Liu battled it out in semifinals with huge amplitude and clean spins, while Elizabeth Beerman just bumped Kiwi Kendall Brown from advancing on to final. Louie Vito placed first in the men’s semifinal competition, followed closely by Luke Mitrani in second and Shaun White in third.

Halfpipe finals consisted of three runs each for men and women, with the women first to drop. The Asian contingent finished strong taking four of the top eight spots in the women’s finals, with Zhifeng Sun from China taking third. Her winning run featured an impressive frontside 900. Jiayu Liu (CHN) rode away with second with a run that featured back-to-back 720s and back-to-back 540s. But it was Kelly Clark that pulled it out with a whopping score of 83.67. Her winning run started with a massive frontside air followed by a backside 540 indy, into a frontside 720 tailgrab, followed by a Cab 720, finishing with a frontside 540 indy. Clark had this to say of her win, “I felt really good today; I got to try new things. I like progressing, and when you ride against a solid group of competitors it pushes me to do more. I’m happy that I did well for my first contest of the summer, especially going in to an Olympic year.”

History was made today during the men’s halfpipe finals. The best and most progressive riding ever witnessed went down, the crowd and judges were blown away by the double cork and spin combinations they were seeing. Kazuhiro Kokubo finished in third with a run that featured a huge McTwist, a frontside 900 tailgrab, an alleyoop chuck nose grab, and a frontside 1080 indy. Luke Mitrani took second with a run that included a double inverted 900 melon, a frontside 720 indy, a Cab 720 mute and a frontside 900 tailgrab. But it was Shaun White who was able to come from behind in semifinals to win the $6,000 top spot. His winning run started with a frontside lien air, to backside 900 melon, followed by a frontside 1080 stalefish, into a Cab double cork 1080 stalefish, to frontside double cork 900. No one was more pleased with the win than White himself, as he had this to say of his victory, “I’m proud to win today. This was the heaviest event that I have ever been in. That’s saying a lot, as I have been in a lot of these. ”

With the Burton New Zealand Open finished, the next stop in the BGOS is the European Open, taking place January 9-16, 2010 in Laax, Switzerland. The European Open is the second stop on the 2009-2010 Burton Global Open Series.

For those who were unable to make it to New Zealand, highlights of the competitions are available for on-demand viewing at Go211.com.

Halfpipe Final Women
1 Kelly Clark     USA     Burton
2 Jiayu Liu     CHN     Burton
3 Zhifeng Sun     CHN     Burton

Best Trick: Elizabeth Beerman, Frontside 900

Halfpipe Final Men
1 Shaun White         USA         Burton
2 Luke Mitrani         USA         Burton
3 Kazuhiro Kokubo     JPN         Burton

Best Trick: Luke Mitrani, Double Michalchuk

Slopestyle Final Women
1 Jamie Anderson     USA     Billabong
2 Janna Weatherby     USA     Volcom
3 Shelly Gotlieb     NZL     Burton
4 Joanna Dzierzawski     USA     686
5 Silvia Mittermueller     GER     Oakley
6 Hana Beaman     USA     Vans

Slopestyle Final Men
1 Sebastien Toutant     CAN     O’Neill
2 Torstein Horgmo     NOR     DC
3 Eric Willett         USA     OMatic
4 Tore Holvik         NOR     Sweet
5 Seppe Smits         BEL     Burton
6 Stef Zeestraten     NZL     Oakley

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Post tags: BGOS, Burton Global Open Series, Burton New Zealand Open Snowboarding Championships, Cab double cork 1080 stalefish, Cardrona Alpine Resort, double inverted 900 melon, Elizabeth Beerman, frontside double cork 900, Go211.com., halfpipe, Jamie Anderson, Jiayu Liu, Kazuhiro Kokubo, Kelly Clark, Laax, Louie Vito, Luke Mitrani, new zealand, Sebastien Toutant, Shaun White, Swatch Ticket To Ride World Snowboard Tour, Switzerland, Zhifeng Sun

Planning to compete is last year’s BGOS men’s champion Chas Guldemond (USA), who also finished second on the Swatch TTR World Snowboard Tour. He will be joined by fellow U.S. riders Danny Davis, Tim Humpreys, Luke Mitrani, Jack Mitrani and Mason Aguirre.

Cardrona Alpine Resort is the home to the only 22’ halfpipe in New Zealand, which is the same size pipe that will be featured at the 2010 Winter Olympics. Canadian Olympic hopefuls like Justin Lamoureux, Charles Reid and Sebastien Toutant will undoubtedly be fine-tuning their runs for Vancouver.

Last year’s Asian contingent was exceptionally strong at the NZO, and this year looks to be no different with confirmed riders like last year’s halfpipe winner Kazuhiro Kokubo and second place finisher Daisuke Murakami, who also took home prizes for highest air in the quarterpipe and best trick in the halfpipe. Japanese Olympic hopefuls Ryo Aono, Keito Kumazaki, Takaharu Nakai will also be competing, in addition to Chinese National Team rider and future Olympian Xiaoye Zeng.

The women’s field is equally strong with competitors such as Olympic gold medalist and Swatch TTR World Tour Champion Kelly Clark (USA) kicking off her season in New Zealand alongside last year’s BGOS champion and NZO halfpipe and slopestyle winner Jamie Anderson (USA). Lisa Wiik (NOR), who took second place in both BGOS and TTR rankings and won last year’s European Open slopestyle competition will also be there, riding alongside European contenders like Cheryl Maas (NED), Sina Candrian (SUI), Silvia Mittermueller (GER) and Sarka Pancochova (CZE). Chinese National Team riders Jiayu Liu and Zhifeng Su in addition to Japanese riders Shiho Nakashima, Soko Yamaoka and Naho Mizuki, will round out the global competition on the women’s side.

The international riders will face fierce competition from New Zealand’s homegrown talent like Wanaka’s own Mitchell Brown, James Hamilton (Auckland) and Stef Zeestraten (Wanaka) and Kendall Brown (Mt Maunganui) and Shelly Gotlieb (Ohakune) will be jockeying for positions on the women’s podium.

Competition gets underway on Wednesday, August 12 with the men’s and women’s slopestyle qualifiers. Thursday, August 13 will see men’s halfpipe prequalification and qualification rounds, followed by women’s halfpipe qualifications. All eyes will be on the slopestyle course on Friday for men’s and women’s slopestyle semifinals and finals. Men’s and women’s halfpipe semifinal and final competitions will take place on Saturday, August 15.

The Open is just as exciting off-snow with action every night, including free parties, rider signings and the Gravis Open Sessions, featuring two live concerts showcasing some of the biggest names in Kiwi music.

Burton would like to thank Cardrona Alpine Resort, Go211.com, Speight’s Summit Golden Lager, Juice TV, The Edge FM, Anon Optics, High Cascade Snowboard Camp, Nature Valley, goodbars.co.nz, Joe’s Garage, SolRX, McKenna, Smirnoff Ice Double Black and Swatch TTR World Snowboard Tour for their support of the New Zealand Open.

If you can’t make it to New Zealand, watch the semi-finals and finals live on Go211.com, where webcasts and highlights of the competitions will also be available for on-demand viewing once the event is over. For more information visit opensnowboarding.com

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Post tags: Anon Optics, Burton, Burton Global Open Series, Cardrona Alpine Resort, Charles Reid, Chas Guldemond, Daisuke Murakami, Danny Davis, go211.com, goodbars.co.nz, halfpipe, High Cascade Snowboard Camp, Jack Mitrani, James Hamilton, Joe’s Garage, Juice TV, Justin Lamoureux, Keito Kumazaki, Kendall Brown, Luke Mitrani, Mason Aguirre, McKenna, Mitchell Brown, Nature Valley, New Zealand Open, Ryo Aono, Sebastien Toutant, Shelly Gotlieb, slopestyle, Smirnoff Ice Double Black, SolRX, Stef Zeestraten, Swatch TTR World Snowboard Tour, Takaharu Nakai, The Edge FM, Tim Humpreys, Vancouver, Xiaoye Zeng

The first stop on the 2009/2010 Burton Global Open Series and a Swatch TTR 5Star event, the New Zealand Open will include slopestyle and halfpipe competitions, offering riders the chance to earn a piece of the NZ$50,000 prize purse and gain valuable points towards Burton Global Open Series championship titles and the Swatch Ticket To Ride World Tour championship titles.

The festivities will kick off on Monday, August 10 with a free opening party featuring Sunshine Soundsystem in Queenstown, NZ at the Skyline Gondola, followed by an after party at Rattlesnake Bar.

Competition will get underway on Wednesday, August 12 with men’s slopestyle prequalification and qualifications, followed by the women’s slopestyle qualifiers.  On Thursday, August 13, the men’s halfpipe prequalification and qualification rounds will go down, followed by women’s halfpipe qualifications. The Gravis Open Sessions will also kick off on August 13 with music from Black Sun Empire (NL), State of Mind and Truth at the Lake Wanaka Center, followed by an after party at Post Office Lane.

All eyes will be on the slopestyle course on Friday, August 14 for men’s and women’s slopestyle semifinals and finals. Later, the action will move to Wanaka for the first annual ‘Fight Night’ at the Lake Wanaka Center, where riders will duke it out UFC-style for the title. An after party will follow at Post Office Lane.

The 22 superpipe at Cardrona Alpine Resort, the same size halfpipe that will be featured at the 2010 Winter Olympics, will be the locale for the men’s and women’s halfpipe semifinal and final competitions on Saturday, August 15. In the evening, Tiki Live and DJ Reno will wrap up the week’s festivities with the final act of the Gravis Sessions, taking place at the Lake Wanaka Center followed by an after party at Post Office Lane.

If you can’t make it to New Zealand, watch the semifinals and finals live on Go211.com, where webcasts and highlights of the competitions will also be available for on-demand viewing once the event is over.

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Post tags: 2009 Burton New Zealand Open, Black Sun Empire, Burton Global Open Series, Burton New Zealand Open Snowboarding Championships, Cardrona Alpine Resort, DJ Reno, go211.com, Gravis, new zealand, Queenstown, State of Mind, superpipe, Swatch Ticket To Ride World Tour, Swatch TTR

• New Zealand Open August 11-15, 2009 Cardrona Alpine Resort, New Zealand

• European Open January 9-16, 2010 Laax, Switzerland

• Canadian Open February 2-7, 2010 Canada Olympic Park, Calgary, Alberta

• Asian Open March 2-7, 2010 ALTS Bandai, Japan

• US Open March 16-21, 2010 Stratton Mountain Resort, USA

Instead of having two events down under in 2009, Burton has decided to combine the Australian Open and the New Zealand Open into one premier Southern Hemisphere event taking place in New Zealand.

“Heading into a busy Olympic year, we’ve decided to reduce the number of events to free up some room in the global events calendar,” said Liam Griffin, Global Events Director for Burton. “We’re totally committed to the riders who support the series, and are trying to make it easier for everybody to hit all the different events they need to this coming season.”

With events scheduled year-round and in five countries, the Burton Global Open Series boasts the most lucrative cumulative prize purse in snowboarding. All five Burton Global Open Series events offer riders the chance to earn points towards male and female championship titles, which are awarded at the US Open in Stratton, Vermont.

The Burton Global Open Series is also part of the Swatch Ticket To Ride (TTR) World Snowboard Tour, the largest group of independent freestyle snowboard events in the world. The Swatch TTR World Snowboard Tour Champions are crowned at the end of the season.

Go211.com is the official webcaster of the BGOS and home to live scoring, standings, rider bios and more for each Burton Global Open Series stop. Check out Go211.com for more information.

For more information on the Burton Global Open Series head to www.opensnowboarding.com. For more information on TTR, visit www.ttrworldtour.com.

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Post tags: Asian Open, Burton, Burton Global Open Series, Burton Snowboards, Canadian Open, European Open, New Zealand Open, olimpiada Zimowa Vancouver, snowboard, snowboarding, Stratton, swatch ticket to ride, ttr, US Open, Vermont

2 is the number of new Volvo XC60 cars that will be given out at the BEO – one car each for the best female and male overall rider at the event.

4 is the number of albums The Streets have released so far. Their latest album “Everything is borrowed” will be presented live in concert in Riders Palace on Jan. 16th.

4 is also the number of days Go211.com will produce live webcasts from the BEO, from Jan. 13th-16th

6 Burton Global Open Snowboarding Championships currently take place around the world – one in Switzerland, one in Japan, one in the United States, one in New Zealand, one in Australia and one in Canada.

10 is the number of years the BEO has been around. 10 is also a decade, 10 is the basis of the metric system, 10 is the number of official inkblots in the Rorschach test and 10 is the atomic number for neon. There will be plenty of neon (lights) at the BEO birthday parties.

13 is Burton’s lucky number as well as the amount of media partners for the BEO 09.

15 is the number of riders who have claimed more than one BEO title – in the lead is Natasza Zurek/CAN with four BEO titles during the last 10 years.

26 countries will be represented at this year’s BEO – three more than last year.

51 is the number of riders who signed up online for the BEO Junior events.

62 is the age of the oldest competitor at the BEO 09 – Dick Schulze from the US (born Feb. 8th, 1946).

140 meters is the length of the LAAX Superpipe, which features six-meter high walls.

377 riders signed up for the open men’s and women’s Halfpipe and Slopestyle events – 102 female riders and 275 male riders.

1000 is the number of beds that LAAX’s new hotel, rocksresort, will offer once it’s complete in 2010. Approximately 50 apartments are ready for this season and also for the BEO.

3687 riders are currently listed on the Swatch TTR World Snowboard Tour Ranking.

75,000 cubic meters of snow are used to create the well-known superpipe (15.000 m³) and slopestyle course (60.000 m³) on Crap Sogn Gion.

$100,000 USD is the amount of money both the male and female Burton Global Open Series champions will take home after the US Open. Jamie Anderson and Luke Mitrani are currently in the lead for the BGOS Championship title and trying to keep it at the BEO.

$125,000 USD is the total amount of money awarded to winning riders at the BEO, which offers equal prize money to men and women.

387,000 is the number of search results if you Google the Burton European Open.

For more information on the Burton European Open, head to opensnowboarding.com

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Post tags: BEO, Burton European Open, Burton Global Open Series, Dick Schulze, go211.com, Jamie Anderson, laxx, Luke Mitrani, Natasza Zurek, opensnowboarding.com, slopestyle, superpipe, Swatch TTR World Snowboard Tour, Switzerland, Volvo XC60