Preview: Burton European Open
Jan 23 2007 / Los Angeles, CA The Burton European Open: A History LessonWith a regal reign of 25 years as Burton’s flagship contest – the longest-running one of all – the US Open is truly snowboarding’s King of Contests. But this was only the first stage in creating the truly global series we know today. Japan’s Nippon Open followed in the mid nineties, and it wasn’t until 1999 that this American king would create its European counterpart… but not without some trials along the way.
|
||||||||||
Burton’s relationship with Europe has been a long one; there has been a headquarters based in Innsbruck, Austria ever since ’86, back when Jake Burton’s boards still had fins sticking out of their basees. Thirteen years later, the sport was exploding in popularity, and a counterpart event in Europe was already overdue. Innsbruck seemed to be the natural choice. The first contest, halfpipe, was held twenty minutes away from the city centre in nearby Axamer Lizum. Held in February during an epic winter, heavy snowfall almost shut down the contest in the best possible way, with some riders staying home to ride powder, while others found themselves literally trapped in other snowbound resorts. Luckily, having practically dug a fresh pipe out of the powder on the Friday, the skies suddenly cleared in time for the finals. The pipe was crumbling, but European stars Therry Brunner, Xaver Hoffman and Roger Hjelmstadstuen liked it well enough, taking podium ahead of transatlantic visitors Mike Mikalchuck and Trevor Andrew. Meanwhile, a young Canadian called Natasza Zureck was to claim the first of many gold medals in the women’s event. The next day, the weather closed in again, and the planned Jam session became more of a powder session, with a Chinese Downhill thrown in for good measure – you have to admit, it’s not a bad way to have your contest ruined.
Two years passed before the event would return, this time to the Austrian resort of Fieberbrunn, as part of the cheesy-titled ‘Lord Of The Boards’ festival. This time around the problem was not too much snow; it was not having enough. Without enough snow to build a decent halfpipe, the decision was made to build a corner jump out of man-made snow. Held one freezing January night, the riding was amazing… if only for the way they attacked what was a terrifying ice block of death. With backside 450’s being the trick of the night, it was to be Burton’s own Keir Dillon who would claim the title, pulling the biggest one of the lot.
After being snowed-in and then snowed-out, the BEO was about due some good luck. But when the event moved 110 miles south across the border to Livigno, Italy, Burton realised that sometimes you have to make your own luck. Here, despite the fact that once again the snow had failed to materialize, snowmaking conditions were ideal, and half a reservoir was used to create the largest Slopestyle course yet seen in Europe, a short but quality halfpipe, and a huge quarter. But this was still not a hugely successful event – icy, man-made snow kept most North American riders away, while a constant stream of casualties meant the European Open quickly earned another nickname – the European Survival. Nonetheless, for the first time, the European Open had proved itself worthy of its name by building a course that could compare to anywhere in the world. Now, it was just a case of waiting for the rest of the pieces to fall into place… and that would happen one year later in 2003, when the Open returned to Livigno. Natural snow and sunny conditions combined with a progressive course to create the best event yet. It also signalled the start of Scandinavia’s dominance of European competition, with riders from Finland, Norway and Sweden taking 9 out of the top 10 Slopestyle spots! One year later, the snow was back with a vengeance, as founder Jake Burton recalls:
“Most events were held two days later than planned due to the non-stop snowfall, but nobody was complaining. The only thing more fun than watching Keir, Romain, Gigi, Kelly, Kjersti, and Natasza compete is doing powder runs with them, and we did plenty of those.”
By now, the Open was again ready to move on, and in 2005 it found its current home. So has the BEO finally found its spiritual home? Perhaps. With its central location and famous neutrality, Switzerland is an ideal host nation. Meanwhile, with Europe’s largest snowboard academy and a long-established world-class halfpipe, Laax has all the pedigree you’d expect for such a regal series.
So for now, the only question left to ask is, “where’s the snow..?”
