NZsnowboard.com

7th August 2007

LAKE WANAKA, New Zealand ? Ideal conditions greeted the 230+ athletes as they tested out the Snow Park NZ halfpipe in preparation for tomorrow's qualifiers for the 2007 Burton NZ Open. Blue skies and crisp dry snow made for perfect riding conditions as youngsters vying for success in the qualifiers rode side by side with the big guns such as Kelly Clark, Keir Dillon and Mason Aguirre.
 
The competition kicks off tomorrow with 80 men and 40 women competitors taking part in the pre-qualifiers and qualifiers, followed by the women's qualifiers. By the end of tomorrow these 120 riders will be whittled down to 10 men and five women who will join the high-ranked invited riders in the halfpipe semifinals on Saturday.

Behind the scenes, work continued putting the finishing touches to the slopestyle course and massive quarterpipe in preparation for Thursday?s and Friday?s competition.

For more information on the Burton New Zealand Open head to www.opensnowboarding.com


Media contacts:
Victoria Murray-Orr ? EveNZ
T: +64 3 443 2700
E: vmo@evenz.co.nz



About the Burton Global Open Series
The Burton Global Open Series events are the pinnacle snowboarding events of the season. Founded by Jake Burton, the Opens have grown from grassroots events to global spectacles attracting tens of thousands of spectators and riders from around the world. Since the beginning, the Opens have been driven by riders, for riders evolving with snowboarding and riders? needs over the years. With events held in Canada, Europe, Japan, the United States, New Zealand and Australia, the Opens set the standard for snowboarding events around the globe. For more information, visit opensnowboarding.com

The Burton Global Open Series is part of the Ticket To Ride (TTR) World Snowboard Tour, the largest group of independent freestyle snowboard events in the world. TTR ranks riders based on their results at participating competitions and crowns a TTR World Champion at the US Open. For more information, visit www.ttrworldtour.com.