The 2017 Burton U·S·Open Goes Down in History as the Biggest Year Yet
Every year, the Burton USOpen makes another contribution to the history books, and 2017 was no exception. From Anna Gasser and Mark McMorris’ historic slopestyle runs to Chloe Kim and Shaun White’s double-repeat wins in the halfpipe, this was the most progressive and downright impressive year we’ve ever seen.
Chloe Kim on her way to back to back wins.
The party started early when a storm delivered some fresh
snow at the beginning of the week. This softened up the pipe for the first
event on Tuesday: the legendary Junior Jam.
12 year-old, Mitsuki Ono took the win for the girls and earned the highest
overall score for the day. 14 year-old Joonsik Lee landed at the top for the boys with some big tricks and heavy magnitude all the
way down the pipe. The level of talent from these 14-and-under riders was mind
boggling.
Anna Gasser's cab double underflip.
In women’s slopestyle, history was made when Anna Gasser stomped one of the finest runs ever seen in competition. Anna was followed
closely by five-time Burton USOpen Slopestyle champion Jamie Anderson for second. On the men’s side, Mark McMorris took home the win, stomping a backside triple cork 1620 – a trick he’d never
done in competition. Fellow Canadian and Burton teammate Mikey Ciccarelli landed in second – his first major podium at this level.
Mark McMorris took home the win in men's slopestyle.
Anna Gasser’s Cab double underflip and Sven Thorgren’s 50-50 double backside rodeo on the Red Bull feature earned them both the CLIF
Bar ‘Raise the Bar’ awards. Oh, and did we mention that Anna and Mark each
earned $45,000 for their wins? Yikes!
Over in the halfpipe things were equally impressive. Beyond
its legendary reputation, the Burton USOpen is the last major halfpipe contest
of the season, making it a highly coveted title among the world’s top riders.
The fact that it comes with a $45,000 check for both men’s and women’s winners only
sweetens the deal.
Shaun White was going huge throughout the comp.
16 year-old Chloe Kim rode with incredible consistency and defended her title from last year, earning
her second consecutive Burton USOpen Halfpipe win. Shaun White also returned with his eyes on a repeat of last year’s success. As always, he
brought huge amplitude to every hit, and ultimately won by a 10 point margin. This
was Shaun’s seventh Burton USOpen Halfpipe title, and he earned it among one of
the most stacked lineups this contest has ever seen.
To top it off, the Burton USOpen concert series brought together
the largest audiences to date at the nightly performances, with artists like
Gramatik and Twiddle filling the venue to capacity and rocking the town of Vail to its core. Broomball
champions were crowned, the Burton Girls squad held it down, and the Chill Foundation enjoyed another successful fundraiser party. After all the excitement, it’s
time to catch up on sleep and recount the memories. The only question is, what
will happen next year?
Click here to catch up on all of the 2017 Burton USOpen action, including highlight videos
and replays of the webcasts.