2007 is a whole new season for Mason Aguirre. The New Zealand Open is only the beginning for this Olympian. © 2006 Adam Moran
The New Zealand Open: A Teenage Rampage!
Aug 11 2006 / Los Angeles, CA
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It's not that Burton riders are the only people allowed to compete in the New Zealand Open, it's just that Burton still has one of the sickest teams in snowboarding history - and trying to beat their riders in competition is more or less a full time job. And Burton represented strong once again at this year's New Zealand Open with Mason Aguirre winning both the halfpipe and the quarterpipe events. Other Burton heavyweights Danny Davis, Kelly Clark, Elena Hight, and Mikkel Bang took spots on the podium in halfpipe, quarterpipe, and slopestyle.
The NZ Open is always the perfect place for riders to summarize their previous season and give a sneak peak of next year - progression is always at a high level (plus, these guys never stop - there's always snow somewhere). Mason's winning halfpipe run consisted of a first hit, massive frontside rodeo, to backside 540 to f/s 1080, to b/s 1080, to f/s 900, to b/s 900, stalefish. Not too shabby. Kelly Clark, the constant pioneer of women's riding, threw down a run that went like this: huge f/s air, to b/s tail grab, to f/s 720, to cab 360, to nose grab to method to f/s 540 - and boosted the whole way down.
The quarterpipe got torn apart - Mason threw a myriad of combos, including a big backside 900, to take first. Scotty Lago won best trick with a huge 1080, and was boosting huge corked 540s, well over the flags. Kelly, again took first with some huge backside airs.
Kevin Pierce took first place in slopestyle by destroying the course completely - hitting the rail backside, to a switch b/s 900, to a massive 1080, then a f/s 270 down the kinked rail. Scotty Lago & Mikkel Bang represented hard with huge switch backside spins, to land them in second and third respectively. Mikkel even threw a backflip over the gap at the end!
Burton is still at the heart of snowboarding and you can always be guaranteed that ANY even they are part of is going to be INSANE! This year's New Zealand Open was no different, and next year's won't be either. This was a strong showing from the young guns with Aguirre, Height, Pearce, Bang, and Lago taking most of the top spots, so it's only natural to wonder if this isn't just a preview for the teenage rampage that this coming season promises to be.
- Cody Allen
