Shaun White Wins Slopestyle at 2008 US Open; Kjersti Oestgaard Buaas Leads Women

Mar 23 2008 / Stratton, VT
The sun finally broke out for the Swatch TTR 6-Star Burton US Open Slopestyle finals, but the winds kicked up a notch giving riders another challenge alongside a determined field of talented professional snowboarders. Kevin Pearce (USA), who barely held on to his Tour lead, didn’t make the Slopestyle finals, giving Risto Mattila (FIN) and Peetu Piiroinen (FIN) a golden opportunity to move into the Tour Lead with a podium finish. But in the end, it was Shaun White (USA) who took home the 6-Star Burton US Open Slopestyle Title and 1250 TTR ranking points, followed by Tim Humphreys (USA) in second and Charles Reid (CAN) in third.

The fight for Tour lead certainly had judges, riders and fans running on pure adrenaline as the Slopestyle set the stage for tomorrow’s Halfpipe and Swatch TTR showdown. Ninja snow master, Shaun White, claimed the first place position with a near flawless run that included a Cab 9, BS 9, switch BS 9 and ended with a incredibly clean BS 1080.  His perfect performance moves White into the TTR Top 20 with just four TTR results.  Tim Humphreys claimed the second place spot stomping tricks left, right and center, moving into the TTR Top 10. Charles Reid certainly made Canadians proud proving his worth in the pre-qualifiers and charging all the way through to the podium.


Although Peetu Piiroinen only placed fifth in the Slopestyle, he managed to out perform his fellow Finnish rider Risto Mattila, who placed tenth, moving Piiroinen into TTR World No. 2.  This certainly closed the gap between Piiroinen and Pearce, who remained Tour Leader with no additional points. This creates an intense situation for tomorrow’s Halfpipe competition as Kevin Pearce, Peetu Piiroinen and Risto Mattila could all walk away as the new 07/08 Swatch TTR Tour Champion. It’s going to be a very close call as all three riders have been riding transitions exceptionally well all season long.

The Women’s Swatch TTR ranking also underwent some big changes. The shake-ups began in the women’s semi-final round with Torah Bright (AUS) unable to harness her Slopestyle skills and Kelly Clark (USA) opting to not ride in slopestyle.  With two of the top women out of the finals, it opened the door for other ladies like Jamie Anderson (USA), Jenny Jones (GBR) and Sina Candrian (SUI) to make some moves in the Top 5. Kjersti Buaas’ (NOR) first run of the finals held strong all the way through giving her the Slopestyle Title, but it was Jamie Anderson’s second place that pushed her into World No. 1 ahead of Torah Bright who is now World No. 3. Jenny Jones managed to hold her ground on the icy course rounding out the women’s Top 3 both in the Slopestyle and in the Swatch TTR rankings.

Anderson and Jones are putting up an incredible fight in the last two 6-Star events on the women’s Tour. However, Torah Bright and Kelly Clark have a chance to gain some ground in tomorrow’s Halfpipe competition, as they are both top-notch Halfpipe competitors making for a dramatic lead into the 6-Star Roxy Chicken Jam next week – the final women’s event of the Tour where the women’s TTR Tour Champion will be crowned.

The 6-Star Burton US Open Halfpipe showdown gets underway tomorrow with semi-finals kicking off at 9am EST.  With some big moves taking place after slopestyle finals today, it is going to be interesting to see how the race for the Men’s Swatch TTR World Tour Championship Title and a piece of the $250,000 prize purse will all pan out.

Check out www.ttrworldtour.com for all the details leading into tomorrow’s halfpipe competition.  The TTR website also features videos from the week here at the US Open and some highlights from today’s action.  Don’t forget to tune into www.ttrworldtour.com for the live web cast to witness the drama unfold in the Halfpipe as the Men’s TTR season comes to a close.  And, if you are in the States, all the action from the US Open will be aired on NBC at 1:30 pm EST.

Men's SS Final Results
March 21, 2008

1        Shaun White          USA
2        Tim Humphreys       USA
3        Charles Reid          CAN
4        Ville Uotila             FIN
5        Peetu Piiroinen        FIN
6        Nate Sheehan          USA
7        Sami Saarenp         FIN
8        Sam Hulbert          USA
9        Chas Guldemond      USA
10      Risto Mattila          FIN

Women's SS Final Results
March 21, 2008

1          Kjersti Oestgaard Buaas          NOR
2          Jamie Anderson                      USA
3          Jenny Jones                             GBR
4          Sina Candrian                          SUI
5          Cheryl Maas                            NED
6          Faye Gulini                             USA
7          Katie Williams                         USA
8          Mary Sallah                             USA
9          Izumi Amaike                          JPN
10        Chanelle Sladics                      USA

Points Allocation SIX(6) STAR 
1st 1000, 2nd 942.30, 3rd 900, 4th 868.06, 5th 842.41, 6th 820, 7th 798.79, 8th 780, 9th 763.35, 10th746.89, 11th 730.60, 12th 714.50, 13th 698.58, 14th 682.84, 15th 667.28, 16th 651.91