Burton US Open 2015

Blue skies greeted competitors and fans on day two of the 33rd annual 2015 Burton US Open Snowboarding Championships presented by MINI. The halfpipe semi-finals featured a stacked field of 16 women and 30 men competing in Vail Mountain’s 22-foot superpipe during a full day of heated competition. Chloe Kim (USA) and Ben Ferguson (USA) put down the highest scores of the day to lead the pack of six women and 10 men advancing for a chance at the Burton US Open halfpipe title.

Fourteen-year-old 2015 X Games Gold medalist Chloe Kim (USA) came prepared with a technical bag of tricks and precision control, putting down the two highest-scoring runs of the day in the women’s field. Kim upped her first score of 87.25 with a final run score of 87.62. Her winning run consisted of a lofty Method, into a frontside 900 tail grab, McTwist indy grab, frontside inverted 720 indy, into a Cab 720 melon grab, ending with a huge frontside lien air.

Burton US Open 2015

First place qualifier Ben Ferguson has an incredible afternoon. Photo: Dean Blotto Gray

Kim said, “The pipe was really good, so I knew I could go bigger on my second run. I wanted to do the same run, but just drop in faster.”

Kelly Clark (USA) landed solidly in second place, followed by Arielle Gold (USA) in third.

Men’s halfpstyle semis followed with a loaded field of 30 talented competitors. 2014 Peace Park MVP Ben Ferguson (USA) took the lead early and held it throughout the competition riding with massive amplitude and creative style. His winning run started off with a huge frontside 720 Japan, into a Cab double cork 1080 mute, double crippler indy, backside 900 mute, ending with a frontside double cork 1080 melon grab for a score of 89.24.

Ferguson said, “I just wanted to land my run—I was super nervous, I just wanted to put something down and it worked out.”

The battle for the 2015 Burton US Open halfpipe title and the $45,000 men’s and women’s first place cash purse continues on Saturday, March 7th beginning at 11:00am MST on Burton.com/USO and 2:00pm MST on FOX Sports 2.

Women’s Halfpipe Semi-Final Results:

1. Chloe Kim, BURTON, 87.62
2. Kelly Clark, BURTON, 84.75
3. Arielle Gold, RED BULL, 73.87
4. Queralt Castellet, YONEX, 72.75
5. Xuetong Cai, NIKE, 72.12
6. Hikaru Oe, BURTON, 71.00

Men’s Halfpipe Semi-Final Results:

1. Ben Ferguson, BURTON, 89.24
2. Taylor Gold, MONSTER, 87.00
3. Arthur Longo, VOLCOM, 84.25
4. Jan Scherrer, NIKE, 81.75
5. Iouri Podladtchikov, MONSTER, 81.62
6. Taku Hiraoka, BURTON, 80.87
7. Danny Davis, BURTON, 78.49
8. Ayumu Hirano, NIKE, 77.50
9. David Habluetzel, BURTON, 76.87
10. Christian Haller, BURTON, 75.37

Tonight, come watch the US Open Broomball Tournament finals starting at 4:30pm MST at Solaris Ice Rink, an exciting community event featuring top teams battling it out on the ice. Spectators will be treated to fun intermission activities and can step into a free, hockey themed photo booth for a memorable keepsake. Pacifico will be on hand for the 21 and over crowd.

Join us tomorrow, Friday, March 6th for women’s slopestyle finals and men’s semi-finals and finals starting at 8:50am MST at Vail Mountain with live coverage at Burton.com/USO and on Fox Sports 2.