Lake Wanaka, New Zealand – Canadian snowboarder Mark McMorris, and American rider Jamie Anderson took the first 5Star Slopestyle titles of the 2011-12 TTR World Tour season on Friday at the 2011 Burton New Zealand Open.
The slopestyle finals went down at Cardrona Alpine Resort with optimal weather conditions, making for some great riding. All riders who competed in slopestyle at the New Zealand Open have all earned ranking points towards both the TTR Slopestyle Tour Rankings and the TTR Overall Tour Ranking lists.
The competition was run using a best-of-three-run format with women and men alternating on each run. The women took to the course first and it was an immediate battle between Anderson, a two-time TTR World Tour Champion from South Lake Tahoe, Calif., and Norwegian competition queen Kjersti Buaas. Anderson held the lead all day and won with a run that included a switch backside 180 tailtap, a front blunt to fakie and a half Cab 5-0 to backside 180 on the jib section and a switch backside 540, frontside 360 and a backside 540 on the jump line. Buaas came in a close second and Jordie Karlinski, of Aspen, Colo., took home third place.
The men took the last run of the day and McMorris, of Regina, Saskatchewan, won the title with a run that consisted of a full Cab stall, Cab 270 frontboard to fakie and a half Cab to backside 360 in the jib section and a backside double cork 1080, frontside 900 and ended with a Cab 1260 on the jump line.
“Today was awesome,” said an enthused McMorris. “I’m so stoked to be on the podium with some good friends. Everybody rode insane and I’m happy to get a top spot at my first 5Star.”
Fellow Canadian Sebastien Toutant, of Montreal, Quebec, was right behind McMorris in second place and Norweigian up-and-comer, Stale Sandbech rounded out the podium in third place.
With his win today, McMorris registered his first result of the 2011-12 TTR season and is sitting in the World No.4 position on the TTR Slopestyle Tour Ranking list. Finland’s Roope Tonteri, who placed seventh on Friday and won last week’s 4Star Billabong Slopestyle competition in addition to grabbing sixth place at the 5Star Billabong Ante Up big air event, is now the current leader of both the men’s TTR Slopestyle Tour Ranking and the TTR Overall Tour Ranking. On the women’s side, Anderson is in her familiar World No. 1 position on both the women’s TTR Slopestyle and Overall Tour Ranking lists.
There is one more day of action on tap at the 2011 Burton New Zealand Open with women’s halfpipe finals and men’s halfpipe semi-finals and finals all set for Saturday.