Junior Slopestyle

The 12th Burton European Open (BEO) started its week-long programme with the Junior Slopestyle in LAAX, Switzerland . 61 groms between 10 and 14 years from 15 nations were welcomed by sunshine up on Crap Sogn Gion. 13 year old Ty Walker (USA) walked away with her 3rd BEO Junior Slopestyle title in a row after winning in 2009 and 2010. Tim-Kevin Ravnjak (SLO), former Burton AM Tour winner, claimed his first BEO junior title today.

The youngest rippers of the BEO rode the same course the adults will ride later on this week and mastered it with bravery and an amazing depth of talent. In the finals, every rider had three runs with the best one counting.

Ty Walker met all expectations and repeated her previous victories at the BEO Junior Slopestyle in 2009 and 2010. She clearly dominated the girl’s event. Ty’s winning run consisted of a nosepress on the box, a backside 180 bonk on the ball, a cab 360 on the pipe, a frontside boardslide to backside boardslide on the box, backside air backside grab on the quarterpipe and a backside 360, a frontside 360 and a backside 540 on the kickers. Ty was very excited: „I’m super stoked to win for the third time in a row, especially as it was definitely tougher to win as the years before. It’s always great to come to LAAX, because the course is so original. I love this event!“ The boy’s podium saw a new face on top. Tim-Kevin Ravnjak from Slovenia, who has made it to the podium at previous BEO editions, claimed his first big title today. Tim-Kevin’s winning run included a frontside boardslide on the box, a frontside 360 tab on the ball, a frontside 540 on the pipe, followed by a switchup on the rail, a cab 5 on the quarterpipe, finishing up with a cab 5, a frontside 7 and a switch bs 7 on the kicker-line. Tim-Kevin had this to say about his win: „This is the best moment in my life. I have been waiting for this since four years!“

Like we have seen every year in the past, the riding level of the juniors was mind blowing. These kids are proving that the future of Snowboarding is in good hands.

Junior Slopestyle Finals Girls:
1. Ty Walker (USA), Roxy, 96.50
2. Katie Ormerod (GBR), Roxy, 79.67
3. Becky Menday (GBR), Protest, 71.50

Junior Slopestyle Finals Boys:
1. Tim-Kevin Ravnjak (SLO), Burton, 83.83
2. Quinton Jones (USA), Flow, 80.17
3. Ryan Wachendorfer (USA), Salomon, 76.83

Junior Halfpipe

The 12th Burton European Open continued with the Junior Halfpipe event. 57 of the youngest shredders in the BEO made their way up to Crap Sogn Gion at LAAX this morning to drop into the perfectly shaped Halfpipe. Ty Walker (USA) claimed her 2nd victory this weekend while Seamus O’Connor (IRL) repeated his Halfpipe win from last year’s BEO.

Like the event yesterday it was amazing to see the set of skills these young riders already have at their age. Riding the huge Laax pipe is no easy task for most mini shreds, but the level of riding seems to explode every season. Three runs in the finals determined the winner, with the best run counting.

In another sensational performance, Ty Walker took home her 4th BEO career title and her 2nd of this years’ event. She clearly dominated the girls Halfpipe event today proving she is as strong on transitions as she is on jumps & rails. In her best run she did a big frontside air, a backside 540 mute grab, a frontside 360, cab 360, finishing up with an air to fakie. Ty couldn’t be any happier: “I’m really happy to win the Halfpipe event for the first time. I try to progress from year to year and I keep pushing myself.” Seamus O’Connor was the big winner of the Junior Halfpipe for the 2nd year in a row, battling it out with David Hablützel (SUI) in 2nd and Tim-Kevin Ravnjak (SLO) in 3rd. Seamus’ winning run included a frontside 540, a huge backside air, a frontside 900 tail grab, a backside 900 indy grab and a frontside air on the last hit. Seamus had this to say: “I’m feeling great. I did a frontside 9 backside 9 combo the first time in a contest! I am really happy I could land it and to get first, because it’s very important for my career to win here. It makes me confident to go on!”

This was the pinnacle event for the youngest BEO competitors (10 – 14 years old), who were clearly demonstrating that they will challenge the stars of the sport very soon. Watch out for the future of Snowboarding!

Junior Halfpipe Finals Girls:
1. Ty Walker (USA), Roxy, 84.33
2. Tamara Beutler (SUI), Zimtstern, 76.00
3. Verena Rohrer (SUI), O’Neill, 74.67

Junior Halfpipe Finals Boys:
1. Seamus O’Connor (IRL), Nike 6.0, 92.83
2. David Hablützel (SUI), Burton, 90.50
3. Tim-Kevin Ravnjak (SLO), Burton, 89.33

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