WANAKA, New Zealand (11th August, 2011) – With the wind gone and sunny skies in full effect, the 2011 Burton New Zealand Open Presented by MINI (BNZO) hosted a perfect day of Men’s and Women’s Slopestyle Semi-finals.   The 32 men and 18 women were whittled down to 16 and 8 as they fought it out hard on the challenging course that included MINI’s Creative Use of Space feature, a double cannon over a gap jump.

The women went first with an exciting semi-finals showdown where we saw Charlotte Van Gils (NED) come out on top in first place with an impressive score of 87.33.  Her run consisted of a Frontside 360 Nosetap, 50-50 to Noseslide, 50-50 Nosegrab, Backside 360 Melon, Frontside 360 Indy to Frontside 720 NoGrab.  Right on her heels was local favourite, Shelly Gotlieb (NZL) scoring a 81 on her second run that included a Frontside 360 Nosetap, Backside 50-50 to Backside Lipslide, Boardslide to Fakie, Cab 540 NoGrab, Backflip Melon and Backside 360 Melon.  In third was Jamie Anderson (USA) with a score of 78. The top 8 that made it today will advance to the exciting slopestyle finale on Friday August 12th.

Yuki Kadona | Photo: Pablo Azocar

Following the ladies, the men kept things cooking as Tim Humphreys (USA) took first place with an outstanding score of 91.33 in his second run of the day.   His winning run started out with a Cab Miller Flip leading into a GapCab 50-50, 50-50 Backside 360, Frontside 900 Tail, Switch Backside 720 and Cab 1080 Double Cork.  Stale Sandbech (NOR) was close behind with a first run that included a Backside 540 Tailtap, Gap Hardway Frontside 270, Frontboard 450 Out, Cab 900 Melon, Backside 1080 and Frontside 1080 which earned him 91 points.  Seppe Smits (BEL) made the top three with a second run of 89.83 while other top riders that made the cut included Sebastian Toutant (CAN), Tyler Flanagan (USA), Christian Haller (SUI), Mark McMorris (CAN) and Gjermund Braaten (NOR). 

Women’s and Men’s Slopestyle Finals will be going down at Cardrona Alpine Resort tomorrow Friday, August 12th followed by the Men’s and Women’s Halfpipe Finals on Saturday, August 13th. Spectators are welcome and the price of admission is free for the final two days of the event.  Bleachers have also been set up at the bottom of the 22-foot Olympic sized halfpipe for maximum viewing pleasure.

The 2011 BNZO marks the first stop on the prestigious Burton Global Open Series and is also a 5Star event on the Swatch TTR World Snowboard Tour. Full details and updates are available via www.opensnowboarding.com and semi-finals and finals of the event will be webcast live on www.redbull.tv and www.opensnowboarding.com