Sorry for the delay in this… I got sent the Burton N.Z. Open details yesterday. It kicks off next week in Cardrona where the likes of Mikkel Bang, Mark Sollors, Chas Guldemond, Louie Vito,Charles Reid, Kazuhiro ‘Turbo’ Kokubo, Marco Grilc and others will be competing. According to the email, the whole thing is going to be live webcast again – we’ll have more details next week. Check the full release below!

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PRESS RELEASE:

SNOWBOARDING ELITE ARRIVE IN WANAKA, NEW ZEALAND

WANAKA, New Zealand (5^th August, 2010)

260 athletes are currently converging upon the lakeside resort town of Wanaka, New Zealand, in preparation for what has become the southern hemisphere’s premier snowboarding event – the Burton NZ Open.

Now in it’s eighth year, the BNZO, which runs over 5 days and offers a NZ$50,000 prize purse, consists of both Slopestyle and Halfpipe. All comers can battle it through pre-qualifiers and qualifiers running Weds 11^th and Thurs 12^th August, for the few available spots to compete alongside the elite riders who are seeded directly to the semi-finals stage. The semi-finals and finals of Slopestyle run on Friday 13^th and Halfpipe on Saturday 14^th August. Official training for the event starts Tuesday 10^th August.

The competition has attracted a multitude of top riders, with the confirmed rider’s list reading like a who’s who of the snowboarding world; Norwegians Tore Holvik, Stale Sandbech, Ulrick Badertscher, current TTR tour leader Gjermund Braaten, and recent US Open Slopestyle champion Mikkel Bang; Canadians Justin Lamoureux, Charles Reid, Mark Sollors and Mark McMorris; Americans Chas Guldemond, Sage Kotsenburg, Matts Kulisek, Jack Mitrani and Louie Vito; Japanese rippers Kazuhiro Kokubo, Ryo Aono, Daisuke Murakami and Kohei Kudo; Seppe Smits (BEL), Christian Haller (SUI), Marco Grilc (SLO), Roope Tonteri (FIN), and top New Zealand riders Stef Zeestraten and Jake Koia.

The women’s field is looking just as impressive with current TTR tour leader and previous World Champion Enni Rukajärvi from Finland, Norwegians Kjersti Buaas and Lin Haug, Swiss rider and recent US Open Slopestyle champion Sina Candrian, Rana Okada and Yuki Furihata of Japan, Americans Elizabeth Beerman, Spencer O’Brien and defending NZ Open Slopestyle champion Jamie Anderson, two-time Olympic medallist and defending NZ Open Halfpipe champ Kelly Clark (also USA), as well as New Zealand’s own powerhouse, Shelly Gotlieb.

“It’s great to see such a large field of riders, with so many strong contenders,” says NZ event manager Reuben Yoeman. “The high level of talent runs deep, which is sure to make an exciting event, for both the Slopestyle and the Halfpipe”.

As in past years, the Burton NZ Open will be webcast live on www.go211.com with live scoring, live chat, email the commentators, and real-time ranking among other features. In addition, the NZO will offer a live scoring service, accessible with any mobile phone or web browser. For iPhone users, a native iPhone app is available on the App Store free of charge.

The Burton NZ Open marks the first stop on the prestigious Burton Global Open Series and is also a 5Star event on the Swatch TTR World Snowboard Tour. Full details and updates are available via www.opensnowboarding.com