STRATTON, Vt., March 16 /PRNewswire/ -- The Philips US Open Snowboarding Championships ended today, bringing to a close one of the most exciting and successful events in the Open's 21-year history. Tens of thousands of spectators flooded Stratton Mountain, enjoying the Open's Rail Jam, Superpipe, Slopestyle and Junior Halfpipe events. Outdoor Life Network broadcasted most of the events live for the first time in Open history.
Today's Slopestyle event attracted quite a crowd with top riders like Shaun White, Hana Beaman, Kelly Clark, Travis Rice and Rahm Klampert competing in the event. With the warmest temperatures Vermont has seen in months, the course was soft. Hana Beaman, who placed fourth in last year's Open Slopestyle contest, dominated the women's field and won the event. She took home $15,000 in prize money and a Philips DVD recorder. Priscilla Levac came in second. And Hannah Teter landed in third place, winning her second US Open podium spot after her third place finish in Saturday's Halfpipe Finals. After the Slopestyle event, Hannah was named the overall winner of the 2003 Philips US Open, which landed her a Jeep® Wrangler X.
In the Men's Slopestyle, no one could touch Shaun White. He took the lead after his first run and never lost it. Shaun's smooth style was in full effect and he was nailing everything, including frontside 7s, backside 9s and Cab 9s. With this victory, Shaun has now won all four major Slopestyle contests this season including the X Games, Vail Sessions, Vans Triple Crown and now the US Open Slopestyle event. After winning the Open Slopestyle and placing second in the Rail Jam, Shaun will add another $20,000 and a Philips DVD recorder to his season's winnings. Nate Sheehan placed second and his Cab 1080 earned him $2,500 Clif Bar's SupaStyle award. Travis Rice took third in the event, adding to the Rail Jam title he won on Friday night.
While the big guns competed in the Slopestyle Finals, snowboarding's future stars showcased their skills in the Junior Halfpipe event. Every year, the event attracts young riders from the world over to compete for the US Open Junior Halfpipe title. This year's Junior Halfpipe Champions are Stephanie Bedard and Sam Luebke.
The Open kicked off on Friday night with the event's first Rail Jam. Travis Rice made US Open history, winning the first Rail Jam ever held at the Open as well as $10,000 and a Philips Wall of Sound audio system. The course replicated an ideal urban handrail spot and was almost entirely designed by professional snowboarder Jeff Anderson who recently passed away in a tragic accident. Jeff's brother Billy gave a tribute speech at the event. Shaun White placed second, adding another $5,000 to his ever-growing pool of winnings. And Zach Leach placed third. Up-and-comer Nik Batko went home with $5,000 after winning the Best Trick award from SoBe. He definitely earned it with a gap to backside 270 on the upper rail, a Cab 270 and later, a backside 450 on the upper rail, taking out a movie camera attached to the handrail. Nick's camera-smashing run earned one of the loudest responses from the crowd all night.
After a frigid evening at the Rail Jam event, the weather turned milder for the Superpipe, the Open's pinnacle event. The event began with a moment of silence in honor of three loved snowboarders who passed away this season -- Tristan Picot, Craig Kelly and Jeff Anderson. After the tribute, the event got off to an incredible start. This year's US Open Halfpipe competition was the first contest to rival the level of riding seen at the 2002 Olympic Games. And like the Olympics, Ross Powers dominated the men's finals on his home turf with his signature smooth straight airs and tight trick combinations. Fourteen-year-old Kazuhiro Kokubo made Open history, becoming the first Japanese rider and the youngest competitor to ever make it to the Halfpipe podium. Kazuhiro threw some of the highest airs ever seen at the Open, ending his last run with a Method after an enormous frontside 9, which could easily be as big as the one Ross did at the Olympics. After a strong showing in the semifinals and finals, Daniel Franck got third place at the Halfpipe finals.
The women also put on a strong show. It all came down to Hannah Teter, Gretchen Bleiler and Natasza Zurek. In the final round of three, Gretchen and Natasza had very similar runs but Gretchen was a little smoother and took first and the $2,500 Best Trick from Right Guard Extreme Sports with her Crippler 7. Two-time US Open Champion Natasza Zurek took second and Hannah Teter landed in third, stepping on the US Open Halfpipe podium for the first time.
To top things off, the Misfits played on the Philips Digital Widescreen Concert stage after the Halfpipe award ceremony. From an extremely tight finals competition, to crazy crowd antics to the music of DJ Z-Trip and the Misfits, this year's Open Halfpipe contest was definitely a landmark event. Impressive riding kept the thousands of spectators entertained all day. Even during the live TV coverage commercial breaks, riders poached the halfpipe and kept the crowd amped for the event to resume.
Outdoor Life Network is providing video feed of the US Open. The footage can be located from 6:00 - 6:15 PM ET on Sunday March 16th at the following satellite coordinates:
Satellite: Galaxy 3C
Transponder: C3
Feed Time: 1800 EDT - 1815 EDT (6 PM ET - 6:15 PM ET)
Feed Date: 3/16/03
Orbital Slot: 95 Degrees West
Downlink: Frequency: 3760 MHz
L-Band: Frequency: 1390
Polarity: Horizontal Down
Audio Subcarriers: 6.2/6.8
This feed will contain 60 seconds of the highlights from the Finals. The clip will loop for the duration of the window.
Check out the final results for all Open events below:
FRIDAY NIGHT RAIL JAM
1. Travis Rice
2. Shaun White
3. Zach Leach
MEN'S HALFPIPE FINALS WOMEN'S HALFPIPE FINALS
1. Ross Powers 1. Gretchen Bleiler
2. Kazuhiro Kokubo 2. Natasza Zurek
3. Daniel Franck 3. Hannah Teter
4. Andy Finch 4. Tricia Byrnes
5. Steve Fisher 5. Stine Kjelldaas
6. Shaun White 6. Kelly Clark
MEN'S SLOPESTYLE FINALS WOMEN'S SLOPESTYLE FINALS
1. Shaun White 1. Hana Beaman
2. Nate Sheehan 2. Priscilla Levac
3. Travis Rice 3. Hannah Teter
4. Danny Kass 4. Kelly Clark
5. JP Solberg 5. Emily Thomas
BOYS' HALFPIPE FINALS GIRLS' HALFPIPE FINALS
1. Sam Luebke 1. Stephanie Bedard
2. Ross Baker 2. Brooke Shaw
3. Mikkl Bang 3. Elizabeth Beerman
4. Olivier Gittler 4. Millie Chapman
5. Jed Anderson 5. Maggie Newman
For more information on the US Open, including contest results, photos and video clips visit
www.opensnowboarding.com
The Philips US Open Snowboarding Championships is the pinnacle snowboarding event of the season. Founded by Jake Burton, the US Open has grown from a grassroots event to a global spectacle attracting tens of thousands of spectators and riders from the world over. Thanks to 2003 sponsors Philips, Burton Snowboards, Stratton Mountain, Right Guard Xtreme Sport, Jeep, SoBe Beverages, FHM, GORE-TEX and Clif Bar the event will be stronger than ever. The US Open is proud to be one of the first and only contests that rewards equal prize money to both men and women riders. Since the beginning, the Open has been driven by riders, for riders evolving with snowboarding and riders' needs over the years. With events held in Europe, Japan and the United States, the Open sets the standard for snowboarding events around the globe.
