Stratton Mountain, VT (March 8, 2012) The action heated up at the 30^th anniversary of the US Open, presented by MINI, where riders took to the halfpipe for semi-finals. After today’s competition, 13 men and 7 women advance to the pinnacle event of snowboarding – the US Open halfpipe finals, taking place this Saturday at Stratton Mountain, Vermont.

The women kicked things off under warm, sunny skies with 16 ladies competing for the seven spots in the finals. Elena Hight (USA) led the pack in semi-finals, starting off her winning run with a banger backside method, frontside 720 melon grab, Cab 720 mute grab, frontside indy grab, backside 900 no grab and an alley oop backside rodeo indy grab to finish things off. Following Elena to the finals will be Arielle Gold (USA), Gretchen Bleiler (USA), Ellery Hollingsworth (USA), Hannah Teter (USA), Yuki Furihata (JPN) and Ursina Haller (SUI). Six-time US Open winner Kelly Clark (USA) has earned the right to advance straight to halfpipe finals on Saturday, thanks to a new format created in honor of the 30^th anniversary that gives recent winners of the US Open a pass straight to finals.

In the men’s semi-finals, 33 men had two runs to secure one of the 13 spots in finals. Olympian Greg Bretz qualified in first place with a frontside melon, backside inverted 900 mute, frontside 1080 tail grab, Cab 720 mute and a frontside double cork 1080 indy. Rounding out the top five in the men’s semi-finals are Danny Davis (USA), Louie Vito (USA), Ryo Aono (JPN) and Zack Black (USA), with a complete semi-finals results list below. Men’s halfpipe winners from the past four US Open events will also join this impressive list of riders, ensuring that Saturday’s halfpipe finals is one of the best in the history of snowboarding.

Tomorrow, it just gets more exciting at the US Open, starting with slopestyle finals during the day followed by the ‘Washed Up Cup’ where US Open legends will compete on Friday night. It’s definitely a weekend not to be missed, especially since all events are FREE and open to the public, the weather forecast is calling for sun and the Open is going all-out to celebrate its 30-year history with many of the world’s best snowboarders on deck to compete.

If you can’t make it to Stratton to experience the 30^th anniversary of the US Open in person, then there are two places to watch the finals live. For live webcasts, head to Redbull.tv. And to watch the men’s and women’s finals live on TV, tune in to Universal Sports on Friday March 9 and Saturday March 10. After the event is over, highlights of winning runs and full webcasts will also be available for on-demand viewing at www.redbull.com/snowboarding-live

For classic US Open photos, event highlights, quotes from the legends, and the boards beneath the riders, be sure to download the US Open History iPad App on iTunes.

2012 US Open Competition & Entertainment Schedule

Friday, March 9 – 9:45 am – Slopestyle Finals & FREE performance by ‘Super Mash Bros.’

Friday, March 9 – 6:00 pm – The Washed Up Cup, under the lights in the main base area of Stratton

Saturday, March 10 – 9:45 am –  Halfpipe Finals & FREE performance by ‘Method Man and Redman’

Saturday, March 10 – 7:00 pm -  The Night Jam, under the lights in the main base area

Sunday, March 11 – Junior Jam

Men’s Halfpipe Semi-Finals Results

1. Greg Bretz (USA)

2. Danny Davis (USA)

3. Louie Vito (USA)

4. Ryo Aono (JPN)

5. Zack Black (USA)

6. Matt Ladley (USA)

7. Iouri Podladtchikov (SUI)

8. Kohei Kudo (JPN)

9. Janne Korpi (FIN)

10. Christian Haller (SUI)

11. Benji Farrow (USA)

12. Markus Malin (FIN)

13. Taku Hiraoka (JPN)

Women’s Halfpipe Semi-Finals Results

1. Elena Hight (USA)

2. Arielle Gold (USA)

3. Gretchen Bleiler (USA)

4. Ellery Hollingsworth (USA)

5. Hannah Teter (USA)

6. Yuki Furihata (JPN)

7. Ursina Haller (SUI)

High-res photos from the 2012 US Open will be available at:

www.opensnowboarding.com in the Press section of the US Open website

Username: bgospress

Password: bgospress

Photo Credit: Jeff Patterson

For more information on the US Open, head to www.opensnowboarding.com or call the US Open Media Room at (802) 297-4820.

Follow our line at facebook.com/burtonsnowboards and twitter.com/burtonsnowboard hashtag #burtonopen.

Thanks to the following partners who provided generous support to the 30^th anniversary of the Burton US Open: MINI, Nokia, Mountain Dew, Stratton Mountain Resort, Mitch by Paul Mitchell, 3M Thinsulate™, Contour, Shiseido, G-Shock and TTR Pro Snowboarding.