Bluebird, spring temperatures and a perfectly shaped course welcomed the world’s best Slopestyle riders this morning. Last year’s BEO Slopestyle winner Jamie Anderson and Peetu Piiroinen qualified first respectively. Our very own Jamie Nicholls also heads through into the final after an exciting days competition.

28 girls and 52 men from 15 countries were battling for a spot in tomorrow’s Slopestyle Final. Each rider had two runs with the best one counting. On the women’s side the top 8 ranked riders qualified for the finals. The men were split up in two heats consisting of 26 riders each. The top 5 riders of each heat advanced directly to the Finals, as well as the next 6 riders with thebest score out of both heats.

On the women’s side 21 year old Jamie Anderson (USA) was clearly the dominating female rider today. She got the top score in the women’s field with her first run already, then stepped it up in her second run which earned her a score of 90.66. Her winning run included a backside lipslide on the rail, a frontside 360 and backside 180 on the Step Up Step Down Combo, continuing with a switch backside 540 and frontside 720 on the kickers, finishing off on the MINI Creative Use of Space Obstacle with backside 50-50 on top of the wall and afrontside 360. Norwegian Kjersti Oestgaard Buaas and Swiss Isabel Derungs qualified in 2^nd and 3^rd.

Dominating the men’s semi-finals today were Norway’s Aleksander Ostreng, who won the first heat with his 2^nd run, followed by Mark McMorris just 0,46 points behind Alek and Stale Sandbech in third. Ostreng’s run included a frontside  Boardslide Nose Grab on the rail, a switch frontside Rodeo 540 to Frontflip Nose Grab on the Step Up Step Down Combo, frontside 1080 Indy Grab and backside 1080 Mute Grab on the kickers ending with 180 to 50-50 to Boardslide 270 out on the MINI CUOS feature.

The second heat was in Finnish hands with last year’s Halfpipe winner Peetu Piiroinen claiming the top spot with his 2^nd run, followed by fellow countryman Janne Korpi and Eric Beauchemin (USA). Peetu’s run, which earned him the top score in the Men’s Semi’s today, consisted of a switch frontside 180 to 180 out on the rail, Cab 540 to backside Rodeo on the Step Up Step Down Combo, a Cab 1080 Indy Grab and a backside Double Cork 1080 Mute Grab on the kickers, finishing off with Boardslide to frontside Boardslide on the CUOS feature.

Women’s Slopestyle Semi-Finals Results

Jamie Anderson (USA), Billabong, 90.66

Kjersti Oestgaard Buaas (NOR), Roxy, 82.18

Isabel Derungs (SUI), Ride, 79.44

Spencer O’Brien (CAN), Nike, 77.34

Sina Candrian (SUI), Burton, 70.80

Enni Rukajärvi (FIN), Burton, 69.48

Silje Norendal (NOR), Nike 6.0, 69.38

Cilka Sadar (SLO), Burton, 66.42

Men’s Slopestyle Semi-Finals Results Heat 1 & qualified for Finals

Aleksander Ostreng (NOR), Forum, 84.36

Mark McMorris (CAN), Burton, 83.90

Stale Sandbech (NOR), Oakley, 82.96

Torgeir Bergrem (NOR), Volcom, 82.28

Emil Ulsletten (NOR), Nitro, 80.56

Jamie Nicholls (GBR), Nike, 77.04

Christian Haller (SUI), Burton, 76.72

Men’s Slopestyle Semi-Finals Results Heat 2 & qualified for Finals

Peetu Piiroinen (FIN), Nike – Burton, 87.74

Janne Korpi (FIN), Kissmark, 86.32

Eric Beauchemin (USA), DC Shoe Co USA, 85.42

Roope Tonteri (FIN), Burton, 84.12

Ville Paumola (FIN), Quiksilver, 82.22

Sebastien Toutant (CAN), O’Neill, 80.56

Nuutti Niemelä (FIN), Smith, 80.12

Seppe Smits (BEL), Burton, 79.70

Sven Thorgren (SWE), Protest, 77.98

Tomorrow, Thursday, the BEO once again will be action-packed with Men’s and Women’s Slopestyle Finals, before the Halfpipe riders take over the BEO on Friday.

If you can’t make it to LAAX make sure to watch the live webcast from Feb. 29th – March 3rd, 2012 onwww.redbull.tv.

All results and further information can be found on www.opensnowboarding.com, www.facebook.com/BurtonEuropeanOpen and www.facebook.com/BurtonEurope