First Major Event Of The 2009/2010 SWATCH TTR WORLD TOUR

I love winter time because the holidays create such a warm fuzzy feeling for everyone. You’ve got HALLOWEEN one month, Thanksgiving the next, and the best of them all; Christmas! Not only do I love giving presents, I love getting them even more. I love Christmas so much that I used to get bummed during the summer break, even though I was out of school. But that only lasted up until I got my season pass to my favorite theme park: SANTA’S VILLAGE. There’s no place like it. You can pet Santa’s reindeer, although I think some of them were goats with antlers. My favorite was DANCER who somehow had a perm. But being out there in the summer got kind of hot. It’s a good thing Santa’s Village had a simulated SNOW MACHINE.

We haven’t seen any snowboard action in a long time. The only thing I’ve personally seen were the SHAUN WHITE UNDERWEAR I bought at Target this past March. But the only thing I can do with those are pretend I’m JIMMY SUPA FLY SNUKA and jump around in my bed. So quite often, maybe 12 hours a day, I will jump on my Wii to contend against my 1,240,509 point score total while playing SHAUN WHITE’S VIDEO GAME. We’re past the midway point of 2009 in the middle of summer, snowboarding events are just around the corner.

And in fact there is an event going on right now for the 5Star Burton New Zealand Open at Cardona Alpine Resort. Check out the press release below.

Cardrona, New Zealand – August 5th, 2009: The 2009/2010 Swatch TTR World Tour is officially underway with the first major event of the Southern Hemisphere leg taking place next week. The 5Star Burton New Zealand Open kicks off at Cardrona Alpine Resort on Tuesday, August 11th 2009 where riders will be greeted with a 22-foot pipe and a world-class slopestyle course giving competitors two opportunities to lock in a 2009/2010 Swatch TTR Ranking result.

The Burton New Zealand Open has served as the major TTR Tour kick-off event for the past four years and is a perfect opportunity for riders to get a jumpstart heading into the Northern Hemisphere winter. With 850 Swatch TTR Ranking points and a $50,000 prize purse up for the taking, riders from around the globe will be looking to secure a piece.

2008/2009 Swatch TTR World Champion, Peetu Piroinen, recently confirmed his attendance at the event and will be defending his World No. 1 position from the likes of World No. 2 Chas Guldemond (USA), World No. 3 Antti Autti (FIN) and World No. 6 Charles Reid (CAN). The tight-knight Frends crew, all of which are ranked in the Top 30 on the TTR Tour, will also be upping the ante at this year’s New Zealand Open with Danny Davis, Luke Mitrani, Jack Mitrani and Mason Aguirre all slated to make an appearance.

The women’s side of the competition field is stacked with some heavy Swatch TTR Tour competitors including 2008/2009 TTR World Champion and current World No. 1 Kelly Clark (USA) who will definitely be a standout in the 22-foot pipe. Current World No. 3, Jamie Anderson (USA), is back at the New Zealand Open looking to clinch her second-consecutive Slopestyle title. Norwegian rider and current World No. 2, Lisa Wiik, turned some heads last season on the tour and is sure to be a force at the event. European Top 10 TTR riders, Silvia Mittermueller (GER) and Sarka Pancochova (CZE) are all due to be present in New Zealand making for some strong competition.

The Burton New Zealand halfpipe finals will take place on Friday, August 14th and slopestyle finals on Saturday, August 15th 2009. All semi-finals and finals action will be broadcasted on Go211.com via webcast. And, be sure to check ttrworldtour.com for videos from the event and the latest standings on the Swatch TTR Tour.

After the Burton New Zealand Open wraps up, the Southern Hemisphere leg of the Swatch TTR will continue in Australia with the 4Star Stylewars and the 3Star Boost Mobile Sno Sho. The Tour will return to New Zealand for the 3Star Billabong BroDown before turning to the Northern Hemisphere, which is only a short time away.

Top 10 Season 09/10 TTR World Snowboard Rankings as of 07.02.2009

MEN
Rank Name Nation Results Points
1 Piiroinen, Peetu FIN 1 156.76
2 Guldemond, Chas USA 1 145.64
3 Autti, Antti FIN 1 139.04
4 Pearce, Kevin USA 1 134.94
5 Mattila, Risto FIN 1 130.49
6 Reid, Charles CAN 1 129.13
7 White, Shaun USA 1 128.29
8 Malin, Markus FIN 1 125.83
9 Toutant, Sebastien CAN 1 122.13
10 Aguirre, Mason USA 1 122.04
WOMEN
1 Clark, Kelly USA 1 145.03
2 Wiik, Lisa NOR 1 138.27
3 Anderson, Jamie USA 1 136.89
4 Maas, Cheryl NED 1 132.43
5 Oestgaard Buaas, Kjersti NOR 1 131.77
6 Mittermueller, Silvia GER 1 131.33
7 Candrian, Sina SUI 1 124.48
8 Pancochova, Sarka CZE 1 119.16
9 Sladics, Chanelle USA 1 117.37
10 Hollingsworth, Ellery USA 1 111.64