3rd Annual Burton High Fives Confirms Top Snowboarders

3rd Annual Burton High Fives Confirms Top Snowboarders

Burlington, VT (August 26, 2014) – Today Burton Snowboards announced the list of top invited riders confirmed to attend the 3rd annual High Fives presented by MINI, including Mark McMorris (CAN), Stale Sandbech (NOR), Ayumu Hirano (JPN) and Jamie Anderson (USA). The unique competition pairs 60 of the best snowboarders with up and comers to compete in fun off-snow team activities and world-class slopestyle and halfpipe competitions at Cardrona Alpine Resort in New Zealand from September 15th – September 20th. All the action will be webcast and telecast worldwide.

The athlete list for the 2014 Burton High Fives is strong and deep. Top halfpipe riders include 2014 Olympians Taku Hiraoka (JPN), who also won last year’s High Fives, Ayumu Hirano, Kaitlyn Farrington (USA), Xuetong Cai (CHN) and Queralt Castellet (ESP). Chloe Kim (USA), the 2014 US Open and 2013 High Fives women’s halfpipe silver medalist, is also confirmed and one to watch this season. The slopestyle competition is equally stacked with the world’s best, including 2014 US Open champion and Olympic medalist Mark McMorris, Olympic medalist and 2013 High Fives winner, Stale Sandbech, as well as Torstein Horgmo (NOR). The women’s slopestyle field includes 2014 US Open champion and Sochi gold medalist Jamie Anderson, Sochi silver medalist Enni Rukajarvi (FIN) as well as Silje Norendal (NOR). New this year, as a salute to the host country’s up-and-coming pro riders, the line-up also has invited athletes from New Zealand, including Carlos Garcia Knight and JJ Raywood, as well as seasoned pros and Olympians Rebecca Torr, Shelly Gotlieb, Christy Prior and Stefi Luxton. Australia is also well represented by Olympians Nathan Johnstone and Kent Kalister, brother and sister duo Cameron and Lauren Staveley, along with Matthew Cox, Emily Author and Jess Rich. For the most up-to-date rider list, head here.

The good times begin with a team selection party on September 15th, and on September 16th, the newly formed teams will take part in surprise off-hill activities in the surrounding Wanaka area. Up next, classic snowboarding competitions will get underway at Cardrona Alpine Resort with High Fives slopestyle finals on September 19th, followed by halfpipe finals on September 20th. The top riders from each discipline will take home World Snowboard Tour 5Star points and a piece of the $80,000 USD prize purse.

If you can’t make it to New Zealand, there are plenty of ways to experience all the action each day. For more information, including details on confirmed athletes, complete webcast schedules, as well as daily highlight videos showcasing on and off-snow events, follow the hashtag #BurtonHighFives and go to www.burton.com/highfives. Also be sure to check local TV listings for the 2014 Burton High Fives highlight show, scheduled to air in the U.S. and around the globe later this fall.

A big thanks to MINI for their support of the 2014 Burton High Fives event.

About Burton
In 1977, Jake Burton Carpenter founded Burton Snowboards out of his Vermont barn and has dedicated his life to snowboarding ever since. Burton has played a pivotal role in growing snowboarding from a backyard hobby to a world-class sport by creating ground-breaking products, supporting a team of top snowboarders and pushing resorts to allow snowboarding. Today, Burton designs and manufactures industry-leading products for snowboarding and the snowboard lifestyle, including snowboards, boots, bindings, outerwear and layering as well as year-round apparel, packs/bags and accessories. Privately held and owned by Jake and his wife, Burton President Donna Carpenter, Burton’s headquarters are in Burlington, Vermont with offices in Austria, Japan, Australia, California, Canada and China. For more information on Burton, head to www.burton.com and follow its line at facebook.com/burtonsnowboards, twitter.com/burtonsnowboard and @burtonsnowboard on Instagram.

About MINI
MINI is involved in action sports around the world through cooperations and sponsoring activities. As a partner of trend-conscious sports, MINI supports young and creative sportspeople and, in so doing, promotes the development of their sport. MINI has been the official presenting partner for the Burton Global Event Series since 2011. For more information, visit www.MINI.com.

About Cardrona Alpine Resort
Cardrona Alpine Resort, located between Wanaka and Queenstown, is a relaxed and family friendly ski area with world-class freestyle facilities. Cardrona has four terrain parks, two halfpipes, a gravity cross course and big air jump. It is home to Australasia’s only World Cup 22-foot halfpipe and World Cup slopestyle course. Cardrona Alpine Resort is a wholly owned subsidiary of Real Journeys, Ltd.

About TTR Pro Snowboarding & World Snowboard Tour
TTR Pro Snowboarding is a non-profit organization that oversees a professional network of events and athletes. Our objective is to develop and showcase the sport of snowboarding through the World Snowboard Tour, while facilitating a fair and open competition environment that includes innovative judging and ranking systems. We encourage riders to develop from rookies into world-class athletes through a 6 Star level rating system; which will be replaced by a new 4-tiered structure from October 2014.

Under the new World Snowboard Tour 2.0, the 4-tiered structure will encompass Elite, International, National, and Regional event levels. Elite events will comprise the WST Pro Series (current working title). The Regional, National, and International levels of the WST 2.0 will make up the WST Qualifying Series (working title). TTR Pro Snowboarding owns the World Snowboard Tour, the TTR World Ranking System and the World Championships of Snowboarding. The World Snowboard Tour includes Halfpipe, Slopestyle and Big Air events, and awards Championship titles in each discipline at the end of each season.

ENDS

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