White And Buass take Home Slippery 2008 US Open Slopestyle Titles

The 26th Annual US Open at Stratton Vermont is now officially underway. With the slopestyle finals completed a handful of riders have improved their overall Burton Global Open Series standings while others have stepped back in the rankings. Still nothing has been decided meaning that tomorrow's halfpipe main event will take on even more importance for a handful of BGOS contenders.

An exaggerated schedule on Friday meant that the slopestyle competitors encountered a myriad of conditions over the course of the daylong event. In other words, as riders advance through early morning semi’s into the late afternoon finals the course they practiced on wasn’t necessarily the course they competed on. Ice gave way to slush and the slightly cloudy conditions of the morn gave way to sunshine and late shadows. The riders who could adjust ruled the day.

In the womens slopestyle two of the top BGOS overall contenders would continue their battle into the finals. Despite bruising her tailbone before the finals, Jenny Jones dug deep and stomped a solid, albeit conservative run, including a fs3, straight air, bs3 and fs 5 to take third place. Bettering her by one spot was South Lake Tahoe’s Jamie Anderson. Anderson's fs 5 to cab 5 combo was enough to seal second and put her one step closer to both the Swatch TTR and BGOS overall titles. Making her way to Stratton all the way from Norway was Kjersti Buass. Kjersti's first run would be her best and her fs 720 on the second kicker of the course was enough to seal the victory and earn her $20,000 US on the day.

For the men Scandinavian, French Canadian and East Coast riders appeared to have a definite advantage on the icy course. Still, most men regardless of geographic pedigree had trouble setting down a solid run. Bettering his previous open slopestyle best result by one spot was Burton's French Canadian technician Charles Reid. Charles took advantage of the top two rails to set himself apart from some of the more jump minded competitors. Now he can add a podium appearance to his resume which includes three US Open slopestyle finals appearances. Not bad for a 16 year old. Second place went to none other than the Tim Humphries. The Tim Humphries rolled out the twelve sided die and stomped a run which was comprised of a switch bs 7, cab 5 underflip, fs 7 and cork bs 7. When all was said and done Humpy leveled up with the 10,000 experience points he received for his performance.

Winning the contest and $20,000 was Shaun White. Whenever “The Egg” makes a start sheet he is the one to beat and this fateful day at Stratton was no different. This isn’t to say that Shaun didn’t earn it. The dude dealt with the same conditions as the rest of the field. The difference was that he dealt with the ice, slush and shadows better than all other comers. Despite it being a victory lap, Shaun's last run consisted of a cab 10, switch bs 9, fs 10 and bs 7. In essence he had it pinned even when he had it in the bag.

Check back tomorrow for the latest US Open updates and to find out which male and female riders will leave Stratton with the Burton Global Open Series titles and the $100,000 checks to boot.

Results:

MEN
1. Shaun White - $20,000
2. Tim Humphreys
3. Charles Reid
4. Ville Uotila
5. Peetu Piiroinen

WOMEN
1. Kjersti Oestgaard Buass
2. Jamie Anderson
3. Jenny Jones
4. Sina Candrian
5. Cheryl Maas