BURLINGTON, VT (November 8, 2012) Next week, Burton will bring the excitement of snowboarding to the heart of Tokyo with the presentation of Burton Rail Days, the largest outdoor snowboard event in the city’s history. Presented by MINI and taking place at Roppongi Hills Arena on Saturday, November 17, the second annual Burton Rail Days will bring top urban rail riders like Ethan Deiss, Zak Hale, Mark Sollors, Niels Schack, Ludwig Lejkner, Dylan Alito, Jamie Nicholls, Wojtek Pawlusiak, Brandon Hobush, Takahiro Ishida and more to Japan for an unforgettable snowboard and lifestyle event that promises to once again draw record-breaking crowds.

Everything about this year’s Burton Rail Days will be bigger and better, and most importantly the entire event is FREE and open to the public. The event offers something for everyone – from a snow park for kids to try snowboarding to a world-class snowboard street competition for the pros, all backed by cool and fun activities throughout. And for music fans out there, Burton Rail Days will also feature a live headline performance by Japanese hip-hop group ‘m-flo’, open to everyone.

The pro competition this year is definitely not to be missed. The contest starts at 5:00 pm and will feature many of the best rail snowboarders in the world competing on a completely redesigned course built by leading snow park and halfpipe designers, Snow Park Technologies. The all-new course design brings the rustic atmosphere of the mountains to the packed streets of Tokyo with features like a hitching-post jib log, a picnic table gap jump and a handrail to log bonk. Measuring nine meters tall and 31 meters long, the massive wooden course will be covered in over 90 cubic meters of snow brought to central Tokyo specifically for this event.

Thanks to the impressive course design, there are endless ways for the invited riders to get creative and try to earn the top prize of $15,000. Tomake sure the best rider takes home the prize, Burton Rail Days has brought on a new judge for the contest – Jeremy Jones, one of the most influential urban riders in snowboarding.

“I’m really looking forward to this event,” said Jeremy Jones. “We have a good format for the judging, and the rider roster looks dope. We should see some of the best street tricks from these guys on one of the coolest looking courses I have ever seen in astreet event.”

Prior to the contest, Burton Rail Days will open to the public at 12:00 pm with a free Burton Riglet Park where kids as young as three-years-old can snowboard on mini park features like rails, ramps and boxes. Burton will have snowboards, boots and bindings on hand to borrow at no cost, and there will be real snow to ride on. Another event that is focused on the next generation of riders is the brand new ‘Kids Jam’, which will start at 4:30 pm. During the Kids Jam, young, up-and-coming snowboard stars like Japan’s own Ayumu Hirano and Miyabi Onitsuka will showcase their skills and warm-up the crowds rightbefore the invited pro riders drop in for the main competition.

Finally, presenting sponsor MINI has plenty of great things in the works for Burton Rail Days. Starting on November 9, MINI will have a booth outside the Burton flagship store in Tokyo where visitors can enter a lottery to win VIP passes to Burton Rail Days. Onsite at Burton Rail Days, MINI will have fun activities for kids as well as creative games and prizes.

For all things Burton Rail Days, follow the hashtag #BRD2012 on Twitter, and check out the event’s official website at www.burtonraildays.com for a complete schedule of events. Also, be sure to watch the live Burton Rail Days webcast, which will air on www.burton.com on Saturday, November 17 at the following times:

Burton Rail Days Live Webcast on November 17
U.S. – 2:30 – 4:30 am (EST)
Europe – 8:30 – 10:30 am (CET)
Japan – 4:30 – 6:30 pm (JST)
Australia – 6:30 – 8:30 pm (EDT)