Remember when we said yesterday that the US Open was now over?  Not quite. Because there was one final item of business to take care of here in Stratton before the hordes of Burton crew could take down the celebratory bunting one final time – the Junior Jam.

Although all snowboarders like to claim that they’re into the sport cause it’s all about ‘riding with their friends’ and shredding powder, all of them would secretly love to win the US Open half pipe title.

It’s the big one, with the win list a veritable who’s who of shred royalty through the years. Basically, every snowboarder of note has won it. Terry Kidwell, pioneer of freestyle snowboarding? Won the first pipe event back in 1988 – see above for the evidence.

Want to know how much of an early start we had today here at the 25th US Open in Stratton? Click here to get an idea. Why so early? Yesterday’s bad weather cancellation meant that there was an awful lot of snowboarding to get through if we were to have any chance of seeing the Slopestyle finished on schedule – women’s and men’s qualifiers, semi finals AND finals. That’s a lot of snowboarding when you factor in practise, course maintenance and judging. No wonder our judges have a pretty full on job – especially on a day like today, when the temperature was well below zero.

‘Rain? What is it good for?’
That’s what Edwin Starr would have been singing if he’d made it to Stratton for today’s events anyway. He’d have been answered by massed ranks of riders, spectators and officials shouting ‘Absolutely nothing!’’ as one multi national shred choir.. Still, despite the fact that it teeming sheets of rain enveloped everyone today, the women’s half pipe qualifiers went off in no small fashion. Some of the biggest rippers in women’s snowboarding were in town to slay the Open’s biggest half pipe, with the consistent Lyndsey Jacobellis (above) qualifying in first place ahead of other rippers such as Elizabeth Beerman (she took second) and Merceds Nicoll in third. Honorary props to Silvia Mittermuller as well. She had a great run but lacked a bit of amplitude. If she gets the height and the technicality dialled, she’s a good outside bet – you heard it here first.

When the US Open began back in 1982, things were simpler. The first five events only featured two disciplines – slalom and super G. Just have a look at that picture of Tom Sims up there, shredding his way through the course back in 83, with his fellow competitors making up the crowd. With the comp now firmly established as the biggest deal in snowboarding, it’s a completely different story. Take today’s programme Slopestyle qualifying session. Two heats saw 50 men in each heat take two runs each. Got it? When the best run scores were totted up, the top 15 from each heat went through, plus the next ten best scores, meaning 40 mean advanced to the qualifiers tomorrow. Confused?

Back in ’82, when the first US Open was held here in Vermont, half pipe for snowboarding hadn’t even been invented. Today, so many talented pipe jockeys fancy their chances at the US Open that the ‘Open’ qualifier part of the event takes a full day. Or, if you prefer, a whopping 480 pipe runs before the field of pre qualifiers had been whittled down to ten lucky individuals who will take their place in Saturday’s final.  That’s just 2.08% of the total entrants for all you stat freak fans out there.

Well, not quite. In reality, it was actually 25 years ago that a certain Paul Graves and friends created the National snowboarding championships at a Vermont resort called

Check out the view from the top. You know what it's like dropping into a pipe with your mates. Now picture what it's like to drop into the Nippon Open Superpipe in front of 5,000 fans. Knee shaking times ahead? Oh yes...

Sunday Shining, Weather is Sweet Yeah.

It makes you want to move, those halfpipe feet yeah. So sang er... Actually we might have just made that up. So yeah anyway - today was the Superpipe finals, with the big story being Shaun White having to fend off the incredible talents of both his fellow countrymen Danny Davis, Mason Aguirre below

It Aint Over 'Till the Fat Lady Sings...

And good lord she's been a hollerin' tonight. Yup - the Parkstyle event is now done and dusted, and the Rail Jam is no more.. Only the Superpipe remains, but that's tomorrow, and today's blog is all about....er... today, surprisingly enough. So what happened? Well first the results - the USA's very own Kevin Pearce (pictured above) took a deserved win in the men's parkstyle, while Hannah Beaman (also pictured below) snatched the win from a solid grouping of girls.

The brollies came out in force for today's Superpipe semi finals, and what a contest it was. With the likes of Janne Korpi, Mason Aguirre, Kier Dillon and Danny Davis (pictured), there was no shortage of killer tricks being thrown down, easily equaling the intensity of the rain that lashed Alts Bandai today. And of course, we were also treated to a rare appearance from US legend Shaun White. But while he is normally in a league of his own, today's trickery proved that there are a lot of riders out there who've been playing catch-up since last year's Olympics. That said, he was still the snowboarder with the most eyes on him......

Glorious sunshine, gentle winds and hardcore riding greeted today's parkstyle at the 2007 Nippon Open. Here, some of the world's best riders queue up to pay homage to the kicker and hip combo on offer, and get ready to do battle with the bohemoth jumps for your viewing pleasure. The chat amongst the assembled riders was invariably about what tricks they were about to launch, but everyone now and again, someone would muse on whether that tree was a Bonsai that had been seriously neglected. Hmmm...?



Clark Files Another One.
Check out that sweeeeet air on the hip. Wanna hear what Kelly Clark - the all-conquering US uber ripper - has to say on the Nippon Open Park Style Semis? Yeah so do we. So to listen to Kelly. Click here

....Watchin' the Semi finalists...Rollin' Iiiinn...
Yeah that's right, Otis Reading would have been proud of us today, as we sat on the edge of the pipe, whistling away and watching the Superpipe second round qualifiers. With a virtual monopoly on the contest so far it was no surprise that of the 60 male riders who go into tomorrow's semi final, 58 of them were local Japanese rippers.

Greetings seasoned blog readers, and a hearty 'Alphaville' welcome to this year's Nippon Open. We've only one day to go before the first round of qualifiers gets underway in the beautiful resort in Alts Bandai, right next to Japan's biggest lake (OK fourth biggest – It’s pretty big though). Anyway, the judges and event staff are starting to arrive - every last one of them with that random stare that comes from traveling a full day to get here, and yet still amazed at how incredibly rad it all is. Because make no mistake, Japan is the land of ultimate bizarre encounters. T

I just ended my trip in Baldface ,Canada and it was super fun to ride.

 

The setup up there is unbelievable. we stayed in cabins on top of the mountain and sleded form the cabin out into the backcountry.

I had the sickest tree runs ever there. It was so fun
Here are some shots

It had to happen. FINALLY we got one over on the weather - just in the nick of time. Yes it was pipe finals day up on the hill in Laax and it was, as they like to say in some parts a right "Bobby Dazzler". With a massive crowd up to watch the drama unfold, and all of the riders pushing themselves, it was a great day.

Yet again the weather has proven a greater adversary in the battle for the mountain. Winds, snow and fog meant that the half pipe training and finals in both men and women were postponed. When there was no abatement by lunchtime, the call was made to throw in the proverbial towel, if we may steal some boxing terminology.

Well what a comp that was. Riders pushed themselves. Hearts were broken. The standard of riding was amazing. Spectators were practically pounding the floor with excitement. Yes, the first Burton European Open Media Challenge really was quite remarkable. And the main half pipe semi finals weren't bad either...