Jamie Anderson and Mark McMorris clinch Slopestyle titles at 2011 Burton New Zealand Open
America’s Jamie Anderson and Canada’s Mark McMorris emerged triumphant at the 2011 Burton New Zealand Open series, that went down in Wanaka, New Zealand, on August 12. As a result of this victory, they have claimed the first 5Star Slopestyle titles of the
2011/12 Swatch Ticket to Ride (TTR) World Tour season.
The women’s field saw Norway’s Kjersti Østgaard Buaas finish as runner-up, whereas America’s Jordie Karlinski completed the podium after finishing in third place.
In the men’s field, Canada’s Sebastien Toutant barely missed out on victory to finish in second place, while Norwegian rider Stale Sandbech took third to round out the podium.
The women’s field saw Norway’s Kjersti Østgaard Buaas finish as runner-up, whereas America’s Jordie Karlinski completed the podium after finishing in third place.
The Slopestyle competition kicked off under perfect weather conditions at Cardrona Alpine Resort. A field of talented riders from all around the globe were in attendance at the event, determined to get their hands on the coveted Swatch TTR Ranking points,
which would contribute to their standings on both, the TTR Slopestyle Tour Rankings and the TTR Overall Tour Rankings.
The women took the course first on Friday, pitting the 20-year-old two-time and reigning TTR World Tour Champion, Anderson, against a line-up of talented riders. Anderson asserted her dominance early on and eventually went on to seal the fate of the contest
with a winning-run that included a switch backside 180 tail-tap, a front blunt to fakie and a half Cab 5-0 to backside 180 on the jib section, a switch backside 540, front-side 360 and a backside 540 on the jump-line, to earn a score of 88.83 points.
The Norwegian competition queen, Buaas put up a remarkable fight but eventually had to settle for runner-up place after finishing with a best-run score of 84.38 points. Colorado-based Karlinski found a place on the podium by earning 61.35 points off her
best run.
The men’s competition turned out to be much more intense, as the 17-year-old McMorris and his compatriot Toutant battled hard for the top slot.
However, McMoris eventually managed to edge past his rival, though just barely, with a best-run score of 90.90 against his rivals 90.55 to clinch the win. His winning run included two a double-tap Cab bonk over the barrel feature, Cab 270 front-side board-slide
to fakie on the down-flat-down, a half Cab to backside 360 on the cannon rail, and fireworks in the jumps: A mute backside 1080, front-side melon 900, and a huge Cab 1260 nose-grab on the final hit.
The up-and-coming Norwegian rider, Sandbech made his presence felt in the contest by throwing down a sensational run to earn an impressive 89.78 points off his best run, making his first major podium finish.
With Friday’s results, Anderson sits in the familiar No.1 slot in both, the 2011/12 Women’s TTR Slopestyle as well as Overall World rankings. On the other hand, McMorris’ victory moved him to fourth place in the 2011/12 Men’s TTR Slopestyle World Tour Rankings,
while putting him in 19th place on overall rankings.
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