HIRAOKA AND CLARK WIN BURTON HIGH FIVES HALFPIPE FINALS

FRIDAY 13TH SEPTEMBER

WANAKA, New Zealand (September 13, 2013) The second annual Burton ‘High Fives’ presented by MINI snowboarding competition, concluded today at Cardrona Alpine Resort in Wanaka, New Zealand with the climactic halfpipe finals. Burton riders, Taku Hiraoka (JPN) and winner of last year’s Burton High Fives, Kelly Clark (USA), took home US $10,000 each for their impressive winning performances in the 22-foot Olympic standard halfpipe.

Under overcast skies, women were first up in the pipe with the best of three runs format. Starting things off with a bang in her first run was 13 year-old wonder girl and Burton rider, Chloe Kim (USA), setting an early benchmark with 85.80 points. But it was fellow Burton rider Kelly Clark (USA) who stomped her second run to come out on top with 89.60 points and the win. Kelly’s run started off with a massive frontside air, backside 540, frontside 1080, Cab 720, and a frontside inverted 720. Nobody else was able to top these two runs, which assured Chloe Kim a second place finish. Coming in third place today was Gretchen Bleiler (USA) who put together an amazing come-from-behind final run to score 80.60 points.

Kelly Clark came very close to completing her first Cab 10 in competition on her third run. “I was happy with my second run, but glad I pushed it on the third – next time I’ll get that Cab 10,” said Kelly. “It’s always fun doing a competition heading into the Olympics, every four years the level of riding improves so much. The girls really got into it today and were inspiring each other.”

Kelly Clark

In the men’s competition, Greg Bretz (USA) put together a solid first run to take the early lead with 89.40 points. But it was Burton rider Taku Hiraoka’s (JPN) storming second run that propelled him into the winning podium position with 94.80 points. He blasted a backside 540, frontside 1260, backside 900, 1080 double cork and Cab 1080. Fellow Japanese rider Ryo Aono (JPN) also had a strong second run with a score of 85.00, enough to see him take a third place behind Greg Bretz.

“I felt confident and amped going into my second run,” said Taku Hiraoaka. “I was stoked to stomp another frontside 1260, only the second time I’ve done that in competition. It was a lot of fun and I’m super happy!”

Taku Hiraoka

The amazing week of competition started with a non-traditional approach for a snowboarding event as riders showed off some of their lesser-known talents in a variety of Kiwi-inspired, off-snow team challenges. In the end,Team Road Kill won the overall team challenge award by having the highest number of combined points between the Nokia photo award, the off-hill challenges and the individual snowboarding competitions. Walking away with $10,000 to split between them, Team Road Kill was made up of captain and local Kiwi Rebecca “Possum” Torr (NZL), Benji Farrow (USA), Stefi Luxton (NZL), Kyle Mack (USA), and Stale Sandbech (NOR).

Prize money today totalled US $35,000 for the Halfpipe, with an additional US $1,000 going to team Road Kill for winning the Nokia Photo Award, and US $10,000 also going to Road Kill for winning the overall Team Challenge. Along with yesterday’s slopestyle awards, this brings the total prize purse for the 2013 Burton High Fives to US $81,000.

The entertainment will continue later this evening at the official High Fives Closing Party with two of New Zealand’s premier musical acts, Ahoribuzz and Bulletproof. The party kicks off at the Lake Wanaka Events Centre at 8pm and continues late night back at the official High Fives lounge at Urban Grind. Tickets for the closing party can be purchased here.

For fans that missed it, webcast replays of the Burton High Fives can be viewed on demand at www.burton.com/HighFives. The 2013 Burton High Fives is a 5star event on the World Snowboard Tour, marks the first stop of the Burton Global Event Series, and is a pivotal moment for Olympic hopefuls on the road to Sochi.

A big thanks to MINI and Nokia for their support of the second annual High Fives event.

THURSDAY 12TH SEPTEMBER

STALE SANDBECH AND JAMIE ANDERSON WIN SLOPESTYLE FINALS AT THE 2013 BURTON HIGH FIVES

WANAKA, New Zealand (September 12, 2013)

The second annual Burton ‘High Fives’ presented by MINI snowboarding competition continued today with slopestyle finals at Cardrona Alpine Resort in Wanaka. First place in the slopestyle finals and walking away US $10,000 richer each, were Stale Sandbech (NOR) and Jamie Anderson (USA). Today was also one of the first events this year to see Olympic hopefuls go head to head on their way to Sochi, where slopestyle will be featured for the first time as a new Olympic discipline.

Sixty of the top snowboarders in the world have experienced a snowboarding event like no other in New Zealand this week as the Burton High Fives combined classic snowboarding events with fun kiwi-inspired off-snow team challenges. The first two days of the event saw the riders taking part in a variety of these wild off-hill challenges but today the action was back on snow under blue skies at Cardrona Alpine Resort’s world-class slopestyle course. After a morning practice session for both men and women the Burton High Fives Slopestyle Finals got under way with the best of three runs format, which allowed for an exciting competition. While strong winds threatened to deter riders, they got into competition mode and many improved their scores with each successive run.

Jamie Anderson

Jamie Anderson (USA) stomped a victorious second run to score 85.20 with a backside tailslide, 50/50 on the closeout rail, 50/50 on the rainbow, backside 180 mute, Cab 540 melon, and backside 540 indy. Burton rider Enni Rukajärvi (FIN), who had been in the lead until Jamie’s fierce run, ended up in second place with 79.20, and Silje Norendal (NOR) came in third with a score of 69.20.

“My run was pretty good, but a bit sketchy,” said Jamie. “I went with an easier run – you have to play it out moment by moment. I fell on my first run, but I was glad to land my second, especially in these conditions.”

It was no surprise to see Stale Sandbech (NOR), who placed third at last year’s Burton High Fives slopestyle, come out on top in the men’s competition. He nailed his second run to score 94.60 with a run that included a halfcab 50-50 180 out, hardway 270 on boardslide, boardslide 270 out, frontside 900 double cork indy, Cab 1260 stale, backside 1080 double cork stale. Coming through strong on his final run with a 92.40 score and a second place finish was young gun Burton rider, Kyle Mack (USA), followed by Yuki Kadono (JPN) in third with 91.20.

“My second run felt really good. I was thinking about that run early on and thought I’d do something mellower because of the conditions – but then I decided to go with my original plan at the last minute and it worked out,” said Stale. “It feels good to be on top of the podium. I have pipe tomorrow, but I’ll do a little bit of celebrating tonight.”

Stale Sandbech

Prize money today totalled US $35,000, with the same amount on the table again for tomorrow’s halfpipe finals. Individual results today also counted towards the overall team award, so these top riders have furthered the cause for their respective teams. Points for the off-snow team challenges, the Nokia photo award, slopestyle and halfpipe will be combined, and the team with the highest total score will walk away with an additional US $10,000 to split between them. After today’s results, Team Road Kill has taken the lead but Team Dream Team and Team Young Pucks are close on their heels and could overtake them following the halfpipe finals.

The Burton High Fives will wrap up tomorrow with the halfpipe finals so be sure to check out the live webcast onwww.burton.com/HighFivesstarting at 8:45am New Zealand standard time and 4:45 pm EST (September 12). Also on Friday, September 13th, don’t miss the official Burton High Fives Closing Party with two of New Zealand’s premier musical acts, Ahoribuzz and Bulletproof. The party kicks off at the Lake Wanaka Events Centre at 8pm and continues late night back at Urban Grind. Tickets for the closing party can be purchased here.

The 2013 Burton High Fives is a 5star event on the World Snowboard Tour, marks the first stop of the Burton Global Event Series, and is a pivotal moment for Olympic hopefuls on the road to Sochi. A big thanks to MINI and Nokia for their support of the second annual High Fives event

Tuesday 10th SEPTEMBER

2013 Burton High Fives Snowboarding Competition Day One and Two – Mini Track Challenge and Team Challenges Recap WANAKA, New Zealand (10 September 2013) The second annual Burton ‘High Fives’ presented by MINI snowboarding competition kicked off Sunday at the new Highlands Motorsport Park in Cromwell, Central Otago, New Zealand with the first off-hill challenge, the MINI Track Challenge. Sixty of the world’s top snowboarders tested their style and skills in different driving challenges, including Slalom in the MINI Countryman Cooper S ALL4, a slippery Skid Pan in the MINI Paceman Cooper S and a fun Go Kart session. Riders were also treated to a heart-stopping Hot Laps session with a professional driver in the MINI Paceman Cooper S. Standout riders of the day with the fastest times combined were Arthur Longo (FRA), Tyler Nicholson (CAN), Ben Ferguson (USA), Taylor Gold (USA), and Kiwi locals Shelly Gotlieb (NZL) and Rebecca “Possum” Torr (NZL). Yesterday the action shifted from the race track to the adventure-filled property at Oxbow Lodge overlooking the Clutha River in Central Otago. There the off-hill challenges continued as 12 team captains were announced, based on the fastest times from the MINI Track Challenge, as follows: 1. Shelly Gotlieb (NZL) 2. Rebecca Torr (NZL) 3. Steph Magiros (AUS) 4. Gretchen Blieler (USA) 5. Brooke Voight (CAN) 6. Mirabelle Thovex (FRA) 7. Tyler Nicholson (CAN) 8. Charles Reid (CAN) 9. Greg Bretz (USA) 10. Danny Davis (USA) 11. Torgeir Bergrem (NOR) 12. Johann Baisamy (FRA)

The Team Captains

These 12 captains were then asked to select three more riders to build up their teams. The final team rider was selected with a twist- the final selects were the top twelve riders in the world and had to be “found” using a Nokia Lumia 925 phone and GPS app to locate their hidden flag’s coordinates. The flags were hidden around the immense property, which made for a fun game of hide-and-go-seek for the teams. The off-hill, New Zealand-centric challenges were then revealed, and the teams cut loose to compete in fun and adventure-filled games including digger driving, Segway racing/clay pigeon shooting, and sheep herding. Each challenge had its moments; Stale Sandbech (NOR) showed style on the Segway and then proceeded to hit all five clay pigeons for Team Road Kill, but was edged out by Greg Bretz (USA) of the Pup’n’Suds team who not only nailed all five clay pigeons but was one second faster on the Segway. Benji Farrow (USA) topped the digger challenge for Team Road Kill, while the sheep seemed to come out the victors in the sheep herding challenge as they outwitted Team Kanne herders by swimming across a waterway to safety.

Stale Sandbech, Segway challenge

The teams were given Nokia Lumia 925’s in order to record their most epic moments throughout the day. The two best shots from each team have been posted online to Burton’s Facebook page at facebook.com/burtonsnowboards where fans can like and share their favourites. The winning team will be announced at the end of the day on Wednesday, September 11^th and will win $1000 plus additional points towards their overall team score. Team results from today will be combined with those more traditional snowboarding events- slopestyle and halfpipe finals- this Thursday, September 12^th and Friday, September 13^th at Cardrona Alpine Resort. The Burton High Fives is a 5star event on the World Snowboard Tour, marks the first stop of the Burton Global Event Series, and is a pivotal moment for Olympic hopefuls on the road to Sochi.

The party continues through the week with a series of free events at the official High Fives lounge at Urban Grind in Wanaka from September 10^th-13^th. Après specials begin daily at 4pm with music starting at 8pm, so make sure to come out and mix it up with High Fives riders. On Friday, September 13^th, don’t miss the official Burton High Fives After Party with two of New Zealand’s premier musical acts, Ahoribuzz and Bulletproof. The party kicks off at the Lake Wanaka Events Centre at 8pm and continues late night back at Urban Grind. Tickets for the after party can be purchased here. High Fives Live Webcast and Broadcast: In addition to daily coverage of the competitions, you can also check out event videos, find live scoring, real-time standings, run replays, tour rankings, rider interviews and bios, as well as a live webcast schedule and full webcasts for on-demand viewing at www.burton.com/HighFives. And be sure to check your local TV listings for the 2013 Burton High Fives highlight show, scheduled to air in the U.S. and around the globe later this fall. Get daily updates about the event at facebook.com/burtonsnowboards, twitter.com/burtonsnowboard and @burtonsnowboard on Instagram – hashtag #BurtonHighFives A big thanks to MINI and Nokia for their support of the second annual High Fives event. Media Contact: Sarah Jesson, sarah@ellipsiscreative.com, 021 0272 2076 About Burton In 1977, Jake Burton Carpenter founded Burton Snowboards out of his Vermont barn and has dedicated his life to snowboarding ever since. Burton has played a pivotal role in growing snowboarding from a backyard hobby to a world-class sport by creating ground-breaking products, supporting a team of top snowboarders and pushing resorts to allow snowboarding. Today, Burton designs and manufactures industry-leading products for snowboarding and the snowboard lifestyle, including snowboards, boots, bindings, outerwear and layering as well as year-round apparel, packs/bags and accessories. Privately held and owned by Jake and his wife, Burton President Donna Carpenter, Burton’s headquarters are in Burlington, Vermont with offices in Austria, Japan, Australia, California, Canada and China. For more information, visit www.burton.com. Follow our line at facebook.com/burtonsnowboards andtwitter.com/burtonsnowboard About MINI MINI is involved in action sports around the world through cooperation’s and sponsoring activities. As a partner of trend-conscious sports, MINI supports young and creative sportspeople and, in so doing, promotes the development of their sport. MINI has been the official presenting partner for the Burton Global Event Series since 2011. For more information, visitwww.MINI.com. About Nokia Nokia is a global leader in mobile communications whose products have become an integral part of the lives of people around the world. Every day, more than 1.3 billion people use their Nokia to capture and share experiences, access information, find their way or simply to speak to one another. Nokia’s technological and design innovations have made its brand one of the most recognized in the world. For more information, visit http://www.nokia.com/about-nokia. About Cardrona Alpine Resort Cardrona is a relaxed and friendly Ski Area that has been putting smiles on skiers and snowboarders for 35 years. Explore it all – wide open beginner trails, pristine groomers, fun freeride terrain and world-class parks and pipes. Whatever your level we’ve got the snow for you! For more information, go to www.Cardrona.com.

2013 Burton High Fives presented by MINI Competition Schedule Date Event Sunday, September 8^th MINI Snow Drive Challenge Monday, September 9^th Off-Snow Team Challenges Thursday, September 12^th Slopestyle Finals Friday, September 13^th Halfpipe Finals

Tags: High Fives Halfpipe LIVE