Fast Times in Tahoe at Burton Qualifiers Stop 4: California

Three things happened in the lead up to stop 4 of the Burton Qualifiers tour: California’s drought ended, Tahoe got 19 to 23 feet of snow (depending on who you ask), and the Boreal Mountain terrain park staff built the burliest course in tour history.

Photos: Dean Blotto Gray    

World renowned for decades of freestyle progression, Boreal is home to a healthy community of talented snowboarders. Credit where it’s due: their terrain park staff goes all out. We’ve seen big courses along the tour, but Boreal’s takes the cake.

The word brutal comes to mind – from the course to the riding. Practice was halted for a brief minute when a rider tried to gap from the top of the massive drainage culvert feature past the rail below, resulting in a broken arm. This didn’t sway the 15 & under division one bit, as they took to the course first, and laid it down. 15-year-old Jack Coyne had the judges wondering whether he was goofy or regular, tossing a huge backside air, a McTwist, and a handplant on the quarterpipe – all switch. Needless to say, he took home 1st place and a check for $300. Dustin Henricksen came in swinging for second, jumping clean over the giant cement mixer feature and laying down consistent moves across the course for 2nd place and $200.  Tony Piccinonno held it down for 3rd and $100, rounding off an insanely talented podium.

When the Open Division stepped in, Tahoe’s most talented amateurs kept the judges on their toes. No surprise, it was a rider with purple hair who caught their eyes – Garrett McKenzie – who took the most creative approach to the whole course, combined with exemplary capabilities on all features. He took home the coveted 1st place spot, along with the fat check for $800. His spot was nearly swooped up by 2nd place winner, Keegan Hosefros, who had the crowd and the judges going wild towards the end of the session by putting down a switch backside 270 on the gap-to-rail, following it up with another brought back to fakie. 3rd place went to one of the most consistent riders of the day, Brett Kulas, who walked away $300 richer.

This was the fourth of six stops along the Burton Qualfiers tour. The top six riders in each division all earned entry into the finals event at Seven Springs. For full tour info, head to BurtonQualfiers.com. ∆