VAIL, Colo. – Jan. 14, 2013 – Vail Mountain, the largest ski resort in the United States, has officially opened the new 22-foot Golden Peak Superpipe designed specifically for this year’s Burton U.S. Open Snowboarding Championships taking place at Vail Feb. 25 – March 2.

Vail Mountain, in partnership with Snow Park Technologies (SPT), the industry’s leading terrain park design company, designed and built Vail’s new 22-foot superpipe in Golden Peak, the site of the 2013 Burton U.S. Open Snowboarding Championships presented by MINI. Measuring 600 feet long from top to bottom, Vail’s new 22-foot superpipe is the longest that SPT has built in the U.S. this season and one of the longest in North America.

“It’s awesome for all of us at SPT to be partnering with Vail and Burton to create the best snow features ever for this year’s Burton U.S. Open,” said Chris “Gunny” Gunnarson, SPT president. “Already our team has been working at Vail to build the longest superpipe on the competition circuit this season. At 600 feet, the riders should be able to add on an extra trick to their runs during the competition.”

SPT is also designing the slopestyle course for the Burton U.S. Open Snowboarding Championships, which is coming to Vail for the first time since its debut in 1982. The event is now the longest-running snowboarding competition in the world, attracting the world’s top competitors.

In addition to the Golden Peak Superpipe, guests have access to more than 5,000 acres of terrain open at Vail as well as approximately 30 features in the Golden Peak terrain park including seven jumps and a 13-foot mini pipe, and the Bwana and Pride terrain parks are open with more than 30 features.

For more information about Vail Mountain visit www.vail.com or stop by the Mountain Information Center, open daily from 8 a.m.–4:30 p.m., or call (970) SKI-VAIL (754-8245).