WANAKA, New Zealand (13TH August, 2011) – The 9th Annual 2011 Burton New Zealand Open presented by MINI (BNZO) wrapped up today with Ryo Aono (JPN) and Kelly Clark (USA) winning the exciting halfpipe competition. Also claiming top spots on the podium at this year’s event were Mark McMorris (CAN) and Jamie Anderson (USA), who won Friday’s challenging slopestyle competition. All winners took home NZ$7,000 for their impressive final performances.

With her tenth contest win in a row, Kelly was stoked to keep the streak going, “It was a really great day,” said Kelly. “The level of riding from the women was amazing.  I am happy to be a part of the progression of the sport and happy to come out on top.”

The first halfpipe competition of the season set a new standard of riding for the women as three of the most progressive female riders in the world took the top three spots on the podium.  Coming in first was Kelly Clark (USA) with a Frontside 720, Cab 720, Backside 540 and Frontside Cork 900.   Finishing close behind was Hannah Teter (USA) in second place, getting impressive height with a Method Air, Frontside 900 Lien, Backside 540, Frontside 540 and Cab 360.  Rounding out the top three was Castellet Queralt (ESP) with a Backside 900, Frontside 540, Backside 540 and Frontside 900.

Ryo Aono’s first place run proved that practice does make perfect, “I have competed three or four times before with not the best results and am very happy to be on the podium this time around,” said Ryo. “During practice, I worked on a special run that I ended up hitting perfectly in competition.  I am very happy!”

Ryo Aono’s championship run started strong with a Frontside 1080 which lead into a Cab 1080, Frontside 900, Backside 900 and Frontside 1080 Double Cork.   In second was Louie Vito (USA) with a Crippler, Backside 540 Mute, Frontside 1080 Double Cork, Cab 1080 Double Cork Truckdriver and Frontside 1080.  Coming in third was Iouri Podladtchikov with a run that included a Cab 1080, Crippler, Backside 1260 Double McTwist and Frontside 1080.

In the all-new TTR World Tour Rankings, which now ranks riders according to discipline, Ryo Aono and Kelly Clark are sitting in the World No. 1 positions on the Halfpipe World Tour Ranking lists after their wins today.  The Burton New Zealand Open was the first major halfpipe competition of the 2011/12 TTR season and Ryo and Kelly will both have a nice cushion in the TTR Halfpipe Tour Rankings moving into the Northern Hemisphere competition.

Once again in the 2011-2012 season, MINI will be throwing down some serious cash and prizes to the most creative riders in the Burton Global Open Series.  The 2011 BNZO kicked off the Creative Use of Space award (CUOS) where riders battled it out in both the slopestyle and halfpipe competitions for the most creative tricks done.  Jamie Anderson (USA) won the Slopestyle CUOS with a half-Cab 5-0 to Backside 180 while Stale Sandbech (NOR) won on the men’s side as he took creativity to a whole new level with his winning trick, a Front Board to Backside 450 on the Cannon Rail.  Kjersti Ostgaard Buaas (NOR) won the CUOS in the women’s halfpipe with a First Hit Air to Fakie while Kohei Kudo (JPN) won it for the men with a First Hit Frontside Crippler Tail Grab. 

Unfortunately, today’s webcast was cut short due to technical difficulties, however the full webcasts from both slopestyle and halfpipe will be replayed next week.  Watch www.opensnowboarding.com and www.redbull.tv for exact dates and times.

With the BNZO now over, it’s on to the 2012 Burton European Open taking place January 7th – 14th, 2012 at LAAX ski resort in Switzerland.  Stay tuned for more details coming soon at www.opensnowboarding.com