The Burton AM Tour, one of Europe's largest amateur freestyle snowboarding contest series, is experiencing its most progressing riding to date. Riders have flocked to the three events of the indoor leg of the tour like never before and pushed riding to a new level. From the first stop in Bispingen (Germany) to the events in Castleford (UK) and Landgraaf (Netherlands) it has been obvious that the tour is the perfect setup for the kids to be creative and show their best riding. Tour partner Volvo Cars has helped maintain the high quality and good atmosphere of the tour. Now everyone is eager to show their skills in the outdoor events, starting on 24 January in Flachauwinkl (Austria).
Currently, the rankings are dominated by the Netherlands and the UK: Dutch riders Gino Rupp (14, Youth Boys), Aston Egelmeers (15, Junior Boys) and Rachida Aoulad-El-Haj-Amar (15, Junior Girls) all dominate their categories while British shred Katie Ormerod (11) is in the lead in the Youth Girls category.
All Burton AM Tour stops are Swatch TTR 2-star events and all participants collect points for the Swatch TTR World Ranking. The 4 overall AM Tour winners will win a full Burton European Open 2010 package, which contains the starting slot for the slopestyle competition, the on-site board and lodging and last but not least a Volvo VIP transport from their home to the Burton European Open in Laax 2010 and back. The overall tour winners will be crowned at the last stop on the glacier of Val Senales (Italy) on 28 March 2009.
Ivar Fougstedt, Burton Europe's Marketing Director, is just as stoked as everyone on the current tour: "This season the Burton AM Tour shows it has grown into a truly international contest series: At all stops, riders from various European countries and even overseas have taken part. It is amazing to see how the kids manage to step up their game year after year. We believe that the Burton AM Tour is one of the best ways to promote and push our sport."
For more information go to www.burtonamtour.com , where you can subscribe to the regular AM Tour podcast as well.
Remaining stops of the Burton AM Tour 2008/09
24/01/2009 Flachauwinkl (AUT)
31/01/2009 Adelboden-Lenk (SUI)
07/02/2009 Grandvalira (AND)
14/02/2009 Bialka Tatrzanska (POL)
28/02/2009 Tandådalen (SWE)
07/03/2009 Sappee (FIN)
14/03/2009 Zolotaya Dolina (RUS)
21/03/2009 Avoriaz (FRA)
28/03/2009 Val Senales (ITA)