Sina Cadrian takes the Swatch TTR lead with her slopestyle title

It was a beautiful sunny day in Stratton, Vermont for the slopestyle finals at the 6Star Burton US Open and riders were lighting up the perfectly shaped course. Sina Candrian (SUI) was the standout of the day claiming the top spot for the women moving her into the Swatch TTR Tour lead. On the men’s side, Mikkel Bang (NOR) owned the slopestyle course to claim the top spot for the men. Today’s slopestyle competition was a crucial result for both the men and women as the Swatch TTR Tour winds down for the 2009/2010 season.

Perfect bluebird day for a stacked slopestyle competition
The riders could not have asked for a better day in Vermont with the sun blazing making the course nice and soft. The setup consisted of two rail and box options to start things off that rolled into three kickers and finished off with a canon rail or box option. The men dropped first into the three-run final with some shakeups in the standings throughout the day. Mikkel Bang was able to stick an outstanding second run that included a Cab 1080, switch backside 1260, frontside 1080 and finished off with a gap front board to fakie shifty on the canon rail. Bang’s first place finish bumped him up into World No. 7 giving him a shot to improve his ranking up into the Top 5 tomorrow. Ulrik Badertscher (NOR) and Sebastien Toutant (CAN) were able to secure second and third places, respectively, both with their third and final runs of the day.

Sina Candrian takes the TTR Tour lead with her win
In the women’s competition Swiss rider, Sina Candrian, had a great day on the hill putting together a winning run consisting of a Cab 540, frontside 720, backside 360 and a pole jam on the last feature. With a first place finish today, Candrian moves up to the World No. 1 position putting her in an excellent place moving into the halfpipe competition tomorrow and for the final female 6Star event, the Roxy Chicken Jam, next weekend. Sina had this to say about her win, “To win here is so good. It is a good position to be in now, but tomorrow is the pipe contest and I still have some difficulties and need to improve. Luckily, there is another slopestyle in Mammoth and I hope it will go well there.” Shelly Gotlieb (NZL) grabbed second place and American rider, Jamie Anderson, rounded out the podium with a third place finish.

Today’s results set the stage for tomorrow’s halfpipe finals where the men will be battling for a coveted TTR Top 5 finish and the women will be looking to better their ranking positions before heading into the Roxy Chicken Jam.

Who will take the coveted TTR Top 5 finalist positions?
Peetu Piiroinen (FIN), who finished in sixth place today, already has the Swatch TTR Snowboard World Champion title locked in but the remaining Top 5 spots are still up for grabs. Tomorrow’s 6Star halfpipe finals will be the last chance for all riders currently ranked in the TTR Top 10 to make some moves and try to claim one of the Top 5 spots to secure a piece of the TTR prize purse and automatic invites to all major events for the 2010/2011 season.

Check out ttrworldtour.com for fresh videos and all the latest news coming out of the Burton US Open. And, head to go211.com to check out all the halfpipe action live via webcast.
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Men’s Slopestyle Final Results
1. Mikkel Bang (NOR) 98.00
2. Ulrik Badertscher (NOR) 93.67
3. Sebastien Toutant (CAN) 93.33
AMP Energy Best Trick: Ulrik Badertscher-Double front flip off the canon feature

Women’s Slopestyle Final Results
1. Sina Candrian (SUI) 95.50
2. Shelly Gotlieb (NZL) 89.33
3. Jamie Anderson (USA) 88.00
AMP Energy Best Trick: Lisa Wiik – backside 720 indy