Shelly’s World #3

Hello everyone, blog update time again… This week was amazing with the NZ Burton Open at Cardrona in Wanaka, shit was EPIC!!!! With some of the best riding and progression of the sport being displayed right on my doorstep, it was super exciting. Im sure you guys followed it on Go211.com or the web update etc, but I’ll fill you in just in case you missed out on any of it.

Slopestyle was first, there was a talent filled semis line up, the weather was great for the whole day and we got to slay the 4 rail feature, 3 jump line course that Cardrona put on for us. A field of 42 men and 16 women were battling it out for a piece of the $24,000 slopestyle prize purse and the top spots worth $6,000 each. An international field of riders from nine countries included New Zealand’s own James Hamilton, Stef Zeestraten, and Nick Hyne in addition to Chas Guldemond and Jamie Anderson, Olympians Danny Kass and Mason Aguirre.

French Canadians Sebastien Toutant and Charles Reid killed it in the men’s semifinals, Toutant taking the top spot by wowing the judges with his signature Toutsie Roll. Torstein Horgmo threw down in his third and final run with back to back 1080s, SO SICK and finished second. Eric Willet (Breckenridge Local) stuck back-to-back 900s, such talent from the underdog, he made the podium with third place. But in the end, Sebastien blew minds with a backside 270 on the first rail to 50/50 backside 360 on the second rail, into a backside rodeo 540 indy, into a Cab 900 stalefish, followed by a backside 1080 double cork melon!!! NEXT LEVEL!!!

Now the ladies… I managed to qualify for the finals and pull a couple of solid runs to place me third overall. Jamie Anderson put in a great effort placing first just above Jana Mayen Weatherby who killed it with her last run of the finals, throwing a Cab 7 off her toes on the last jump which was a casual 75 foot!! It was a great event with a big star studded lineup, the weather was great and all and all a really great kick off to the Burton Open series.

I partied hard and celebrated till the wee hours as my job was done, whilst the others were resting for there big day in the pipe the next day. Pipe semis were in the morning and with the excellent day ahead everyone was super excited to see the show and what a show it was… Competition history went down with the first double cork being thrown in a pipe comp by Mr Louie Vito who knew he had to take the chance to do it before Shawn White, he was right, but Shawn’s run not only contained one double cork but two! Never before in comp history has this happened in NZ! Everyone was blown away by the double cork and spin combinations they were seeing. Kazuhiro Kokubo finished in third with a run that featured a huge McTwist, a frontside 900 tailgrab, an alleyoop chuck nose grab, and a frontside 1080 indy. Luke Mitrani took second with a run that included a double inverted 900 melon, a frontside 720 indy, a Cab 720 mute and a frontside 900 tailgrab. His winning run started with a frontside lien air, to backside 900 melon, followed by a frontside 1080 stalefish, into a Cab double cork 1080 stalefish, to frontside double cork 900.

In the womens competition Kelly Clark and Jiayu Liu battled it out in semifinals with huge amplitude and clean spins, Zhifeng Sun from China taking third. Jiayu Liu (CHN) rode away with second with a run that featured back-to-back 720s . But it was Kelly Clark that pulled it out. Her winning run started with a massive frontside air followed by a backside 540 indy, into a frontside 720 tailgrab, followed by a Cab 720, finishing with a frontside 540 indy. Sick, stoked for Kelly!

Next was the AFTER PARTY!!! Nicely rounded off with the fun of everyone being together and celebrating a sick week in NZ! Cant relax too much though with the Winter Games at Remarks and the Billabong Big Air Bro Down at Snowpark coming up fast. Peace till then!

Slopestyle Finals Results:

Women:

1- Jamie Anderson USA Billabong
2- Janna Weatherby USA Volcom
3- Shelly Gotlieb NZL Burton
4- Joanna Dzierzawski USA 686
5- Silvia Mittermueller GER Oakley
6- Hana Beaman USA Vans

Men:

1- Sebastien Toutant CAN O’Neill
2- Torstein Horgmo NOR DC
3- Eric Willett USA OMatic
4- Tore Holvik NOR Sweet
5- Seppe Smits BEL Burton
6- Stef Zeestraten NZL Oakley

Halfpipe Finals Results:

Women:

1- Kelly Clark USA Burton
2- Jiayu Liu CHN Burton
3- Zhifeng Sun CHN Burton

Men:

1- Shaun White USA Burton
2- Luke Mitrani USA Burton
3- Kazuhiro Kokubo JPN Burton