White and Kim Headline US Open Finals

VAIL, CO (March 3, 2016) – The 35th edition of the Burton US Open is underway at Vail Mountain. Americans Shaun White (Carlsbad, CA) and Chloe Kim (La Palma, CA) took the top qualifying spots in halfpipe on Thursday, leading the charge into the field of six women and 10 men advancing to the final on Saturday. The slopestyle semifinals were canceled due to adverse weather; all athletes will ride in the final on Friday.

Kim continued her dominating season with a top-scoring first run that featured style, technicality and amplitude well beyond that of the rest of the field. Olympian Hannah Teter (Belmont, VT) qualified in third, followed by Kelly Clark (West Dover, VT) in fourth, Arielle Gold (Steamboat Springs, CO) in fifth and Elena Hight (South Lake Tahoe, CA) in sixth.

White has only dropped in to one other competition this season (the Breckenridge Dew Tour in December, which he won), but his time off snow has obviously not affected his level of riding. White dominated the competitive, 32-man field with trademark amplitude and style. Ben Ferguson (Bend, OR) locked down the third-place position followed by 14-year-old Judd Henkes (San Diego, CA) in fourth, Danny Davis (Highland, MI) in sixth, Greg Bretz (Mammoth Lakes, CA) in eighth and Matt Ladley (Steamboat Springs, CO) in ninth.

Shaun White competes at the Burton US Open. (Burton US Open - Gabe L Heureux)

American women Hailey Langland (San Clemente, CA) and Jamie Anderson (South Lake Tahoe, CA) will lead the charge into the slopestyle final on Friday while Eric Willet (Breckenridge, CO) and Chas Guldemond (Reno, NV) will headline for the men.

Slopestyle will start Friday morning at 9:30 a.m. (MST) on Vail Mountain’s Golden Peak custom slopestyle course. Check out the course preview with U.S. Team member Hailey Langland.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Chloe Kim qualified first in halfpipe for the women. Her first run scored 94.25: backside air, frontside 540 Indy, McTwist, frontside 720, Cab 720.
• Shaun White qualified first in halfpipe for the men. His first run scored 92.12: backside air, frontside double cork 1080 melon, Cab double cork 1080 melon, frontside 540 stalefish, backside 900 Japan, frontside 720 tail.
• The Burton US Open is the longest-running snowboard competition in history; 2016 will mark it’s 34th rendition.
• The 2016 Burton US Open offers a total prize purse of $45,000.

SCHEDULE (all times MST)

Friday, March 4
SLOPESTYLE FINALS - webcast live on BurtonUSOpen.com
9:40 - 11:10 a.m. – Women’s Slopestyle Finals
1:40 - 4:00 p.m. – Men’s Slopestyle Finals

Saturday, March 5
HALFPIPE FINALS - webcast live on BurtonUSOpen.com
11:10 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. – Women’s Halfpipe Finals
1:40 - 4:00 p.m. – Men’s Halfpipe Finals

TV BROADCAST SCHEDULE
Fox Sports 2 (all times EST)

Friday, March 4 
SLOPESTYLE FINALS
1:30 - 3:30 p.m. – Women’s Slopestyle Finals
8:00 - 10:00 p.m. – Men’s Slopestyle Finals

Saturday, March 5
HALFPIPE FINALS
4:00 - 6:00 p.m. – Women’s Halfpipe Finals
6:00 - 8:00 p.m. – Men’s Halfpipe Finals

QUOTES

Ben Ferguson
Practice went pretty good but I haven’t ridden halfpipe in quite a while, so practice this morning was the first time I did all my tricks. I did the first run, thought it was pretty solid and that I was probably going to make it in with that one. I was stoked, super-pumped, really happy, just a bunch of relief. And then Scotty James went right before me and bumped me down a spot and I was like, forget that. I just went for it again and put a pretty good one down and then I was second. The pipe is really good and we got good weather today; hopefully we get good weather for finals. It’s sick to come here and make it to finals, I’m stoked.

RESULTS
Halfpipe Semifinals