2010 Burton US Open Complete Albums

I finally got all the pictures from the Open up:

2010 Burton US Open

2010 Burton US Open

The 2010 Burton US Open at Stratton was Saturday March 20th and even a Shaun White no show (he says he was sick, I heard around the comp that he didn't like the snow after his practice session the day before) couldn't put a damper on the day. The weather was gorgeous (hello sunburn) and the runs thrown down were insane. Watching a double cork on TV is one thing - seeing it in person is a whole different experience. Seeing three in a row? I'll let the pics tell the story.

Men's Halfpipe Results

1) Kazuhiro Kokubo - JPN - 97.17

2) Louie Vito - USA - 96.17

3) Iouri Podladtchikov - SUI - 96

Needless to say, with scores like that this competition was out of control. I honestly think the runs here were better than what was at the Olympics. When guys like Scotty Lago and overall Burton Global Open Series champion Peetu Piiroinen don't make the podium, you know it was sick.

Women's Halfpipe Results

1) Kelly Clark - USA - 94.17

2) Kaitlyn Farrington - USA - 90.33

3) Ellery Hollingsworth - USA - 86.33

The American women went huge to sweep the podium - Kelly Clark even tried for the first 1080 in women's pipe history on her victory lap, but couldn't nail it. I have a feeling it won't be long before that's a staple in her run.

Now, on to the pics...

Yep, Paul Mitchell is a sponsor - thanks again for participating, Shaun

End of the slope style course - cannon off the end of the edge of the Earth

Lago

Dude's about to land in the parking lot

Peetu wayyy up there

If you weren't upside down, you just weren't cool

Even security was like daaaayuhhhhm

Boostin

The two best dressed guys at the Open

The full album of pics will be up soon, probably tomorrow night. Here are the rest of the 2010 Burton US Open results.

Okemo Light the Night Rail Jam Video

As promised, here is a video from the Amp/Okemo Light the Night Rail Jam:

Great weekend this past weekend - some friends came up and it couldn't have been a better time. Conditions were great, and one of my friends who started riding this year graduated to the big kid lift - apparently lessons do work! I'll be heading back to Jersey Thursday for the wedding of a couple friends on Friday, then hitting AC for the first time since my going away party Saturday. I can't wait, I've missed that place (and South Jerz in general) way more than I thought I would. I also got a real camera, so hopefully I'll be coming back with some good pictures and even better stories to go with them.

Laundromat Boredom

Putting up this video of Maximus Jones-Drew, my Peke, trying to figure out how to get outside with all the snow we had last week. Man, was that stuff fun to ride in. Got some friends from Jersey coming up this weekend - supposed to be absolutely gorgeous for their introduction to Okemo. I also bought a camera, unfortunately it won't be here in time for the weekend. Eventually. Enjoy:

Yes, afterwards I shoveled a path - he just really needed to get out at that exact moment. How could I not film it?

Kitchen Sink Fail

This weekend I discovered the pipes under my sink were leaking. Did I fix it? No, of course not, snowboarding was way more important and I was too beat when I got back. This was a much better solution:

Good thing I put that there too, since there ended up being a decent amount of water in that pot by the time I checked it today:

Guess it's time I look into fixing that. Duck (duct?) tape to the rescue!

Powder Weekend

Crazy weekend riding Okemo after the 35+ inches we got during the week - there were still untouched spots on the trails Saturday. I went down on Rolling Thunder, and it took me a good 5 minutes to get up - every time i went to push myself up, my arms sank to my shoulders again. It was also a good time to check out the woods up there, and there was definitely some good riding to be had in there. It was my first time really riding trees, and it was exhausting - still a great time though. Sunday I met up with some people from Shred Union in the morning and rode with Katie aka TravelOutLoud (one word? three? I'm going with one) all day. The conditions were great, minus the unavoidable moguls everywhere. Such is the price of riding fresh I guess, and I'll pay it every time. Side note - real commercial or not?

Okemo Light the Night Rail Jam

Just got back from the Okemo Light the Night Rail Jam, and I gotta say, the talent up here is impressive. There were 3 features (gap to flat/down box, lift pole jawnz, down rail) set up at the bottom of Bull Run (at the base) and a few categories to compete in. The fire department provided the lights and used the event as a fundraiser. Ross Powers even made an appearance as a judge. The eventual winner put the competition away with a front flip off the LPJ, and everyone was pretty much riding for second after he stomped that. Still, overall, everyone killed it. I didn't really know what to expect, and I figured I'd check it out for a half hour or so and head home. I ended up staying the whole time, amazed at what I was seeing. I tried taking some pics/video of the rail jam, but my camera phone just isn't cutting it. Definitely gotta get a camera very soon. Here are some pics that came out somewhat visible. There were plenty of people there filming, as soon as I can find some videos I'll link to 'em.

I'm off to check out the rail jam after party at Killarney, but to any snowboarders reading this, check out Shred Union. It's a pretty cool site, we were able to organize a SU meet up with a bunch of people who are riding Okemo Sunday. Should be a good time, the site's definitely worth a look.