Lake Wanaka, New Zealand – Winter is in full swing down in the southern hemisphere and riders from around the globe are making the journey to Lake Wanaka, New Zealand for the 2010 Burton New Zealand Open. A 5Star event on the Swatch TTR World Tour, the New Zealand Open is set to take place August 10-14, 2010 at Cardrona Alpine Resort and will feature halfpipe and slopestyle formats. This will be the second 5Star event of the 2010/11 TTR Tour season, giving riders another chance to collect some early season points before winter returns to the northern hemisphere.nWith a healthy prize purse worth $50,000 NZD and some major TTR Ranking points on the line, riders will be out in full force to get a jump on the 2010/11 season. Norwegian rider, Gjermund Braaten, is currently sitting in World No. 1 in the TTR rankings after a good finish at the first 5Star event of the season, the Billabong Ante Up in Australia. Hot on Braaten’s heels in the World Rankings is young Canadian ripper, Mark McMorris, currently in World No. 2 and American contest machine, Chas Guldemond, who owns the World No. 3 position. Other top male riders that are scheduled to attend include Seppe Smits (BEL), Marko Grilc (SLO), Charles Reid (CAN), Jack Mitrani (USA), Louie Vito (USA) and Kazuhiro Kokubo (JPN).

The women’s field of competitors is also looking strong for the 2010 NZ Open, especially the line-up of slopestyle riders, which should make for some interesting competition. With two previous TTR World Champions, Jamie Anderson (USA), and Enni Rukajärvi (FIN), riding alongside slopestyle specialists Kjersti Buaas (NOR) and Sina Candrian (SUI), the ladies’ field is going to have to bring their A-game for a shot at a podium spot.

In addition to the 5Star New Zealand Open and the popular 4Star Stylewars competition in Australia, there are many rookie-level events happening this season in the southern hemisphere, giving local riders a chance to compete for TTR ranking points. Among those events are the 3Star Dew Hut Jam on July 31 in Australia, the 3Star Billabong Bro Down on Sept. 11 and the Mother Freestyle Series – Smith Session Slopestyle on Aug. 14 in New Zealand.