Progression. That’s the theme driving this year’s Burton U.S. Open (BUSO) Snowboarding Championships, and it’s not just some flashy buzz word for marketing. To add a new twist, the BUSO has completely scrapped its previous course designs and started fresh. As the longest-running competition in snowboarding—an impressive 38 years— it has been a platform for riders, designed by riders. Creativity and expression have been pillars of this event since day one, and they argue 2020 is the time to shake things up.
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For the halfpipe competition, say goodbye to the usual 22-foot pipe. Thanks to the riders' feedback, riders will now compete on a modified pipe: a 13-foot minipipe, featuring 6-foot tombstones, that transitions into a standard 22-footer. In the first section, expect to see about three hits, and then four more in the next. Drawing influence from skateboarding, the new design aims to integrate more style into the riding and hopefully push competitors to think outside the box when linking hits.
To make sense of all the changes, we caught up with the 2019 women’s champion Maddie Mastro after she competed in the semi-finals. Mastro qualified in second place and is set for finals on Saturday. On top of giving us the inside scoop about the new pipe, Mastro opened up about progression and what’s she’s been up to when she’s not wearing a competition bib. Check it out:
How did the Semi-Finals go for you?
Maddie Mastro: Good! I landed my runs, which is all you could really want. So I’m happy with it.
Are you getting excited about the finals?
MM: I am, but still figuring out this modified course in particular. It’s nice to feel like you know what you’re doing.
The new course design is a bit unconventional, what do you think of it?
MM: I really like modified pipes, but this one has proven to be quite challenging. Sometimes things don’t always go to plan, so right now I’m focusing on figuring out what works and what doesn’t. I’m really looking at the new features, how to use them, and mostly how to be creative.
What kind of tricks does the 13-foot pipe and 22-foot pipe lend itself to?
MM: It’s got these giant tombstones in the 13-foot pipe. Then it transitions to these exits that are like shark fin jumps. Then you move into this double roller drop-in, which for me has been my favorite addition to the new course. They’re exciting. Typically you jump into the pipe, so this gives us an extra boost. It flows too, and that’s the best aspect of this modified course. When you’re in these double rollers it puts you perfectly into the halfpipe, setting up a nice rhythm. For halfpipe snowboarding, we’re all about finding that rhythm. I love feeling like i’m in a flow state.
Many feel that this course has a skatepark influence design, would you agree?
MM: Definitely. All these modified courses have heavy skateboarding influences. The whole idea of them is to be more creative and do different tricks, which is a bigger part of skateboarding since there’s a variety of skate course designs. With the BUSO course, in particular, it’s a got a 13-foot tranny, and skateboarding typically has these smaller transitions. In snowboarding, we've notoriously only had 22-foot transitions, so it’s exciting to mix things up and do something differently.
The idea of “spin to win” has been pretty dominating in snowsports competitions as of late. Do you think halfpipe riding needed to bring a fresh approach to the event? Has style been lost from spinning?
MM: For me, I enjoy people who are able to do these absolutely-bonkers rotations and make them look good. So, it’s also nice to cut it up with the modified courses and show that we’re ultimately snowboarders who do more than just halfpipe riding. We also ride hips, jumps, and mini pipe. We’re riding other things and now that’s getting displayed, which I appreciate. It shows the best all-around rider at the end of the day. It makes it feel more like a session too.
You’ve undeniably have been a huge inspiration for women’s snowboarding with the tricks you’re bringing to the competition. What does progression mean to you?
MM: Progression within my own snowboarding is about setting goals. I have a lot of different goals, and they’re mostly ticking off tricks. It kills me when I scroll social media and people comment ‘Women’s snowboarding is so far behind’. Or, ‘this sucks, and it isn’t fun to watch.’
First off to the naysayers—we’ll follow you down the halfpipe and see what you can do. It’s not that easy.
I don’t want people to look at women’s snowboarding and think we suck. I want to give them something that is just as good as the men’s. I want to be doing doubles and going bigger. My goal is to help women’s snowboarding be exciting and progressive. So progression means we as women, as a whole, need to keep inspiring others.
There’s almost a contagious energy right now within Women’s snowboarding to collectively push each other.
MM: Yes, and I think it’s spread across all the disciplines. For me, I sat and watched slopestyle and saw the girls doing doubles off jumps, which really kickstarted my dream of doing doubles. It made me think, ‘they’re doing it on jumps, so why can’t we do it in the pipe?’ That played a huge part, and it still does. I love watching the girls kill it in slopestyle because it fires me up for halfpipe riding. We’re more united than people realize.
It’s cool to hear that slopestyle has been a huge inspiration for you. When you’re pursuing these new tricks, what else do you look to?
MM: The guys. They’ve done it. In a sense, you could say we have an advantage for progression because the boys have paved the way for us. We can learn from them and see what they’re doing. I see that as a huge advantage. It’s like having this rough draft for the next step. You watch what you want to do. I think it’s great to ride with them because it pushes me, and they’re stoked too. They have my best intentions in mind.
Speaking of creative collaboration, I saw that you were part of the Red Bull Recharged event last spring. How was it working together with Brock Crouch, Red Gerard, Judd Henkes, and that whole crew?
MM: I really enjoyed myself. The whole idea was to throw a bunch of passionate snowboarders together and have them snowboard on this amazing and creative course. It was kind like a modified half-pipe actually. We teamed up and had different film teams, which was a cool aspect of it. I loved my team—Team Brock. That was basically my friends and I on a team, and that’s at the end of the day what you want to spend your time doing you know? Just riding with your friends.
Rumor has it that you’re getting out in the backcountry a bit more too. Is that true?
MM: I have been! I’ll say it again, I’m a snowboarder and love to ride anything—pow, jumps, hips, or pipes—so backcountry is naturally part of that. I want to have a contest career, but I’m open to filming parts in the backcountry. So I have been branching out more.
Are hyped about that?
MM: Yes! I’ve started to learn how to sled, and got my ass whooped. I’m a competitive person, so I sat on my sled and cried a little bit because it was so much harder than I imagined. I’m getting the hang of it—at least I don’t cry anymore. Angel Collinson was at this sled camp with me once and said, ‘all my friends and I have this joke that if you want to cry go sledding.’ Yeah, I definitely get that.
Where are you primarily riding?
MM: I’ve been in the backcountry a few times now. I’ve done Amusement Mountain, which is Kimmy Fasani’s event. Basically she gets a whole bunch of females together and tries to inspire/mentor women in the backcountry. I’ve always loved riding pow, but that event kickstarted my backcountry riding. So I’ve explored Mammoth, Whistler, and Jackson. Contest riding still consumes most of my time, but I definitely want to get into it. I just want my contest riding to be a platform that I can use to open up new doors like filming in the backcountry.
Be sure to catch Maddie Mastro and the rest of the BUSO halfpipe riders in the finals this Saturday!
About The Author
stash member Katie Lozancich
TGR Staff Writer and photographer. Fond of bikes, pow, and dogs. Originally from Northern CA, home for me has ranged from the PNW to a teepee in Grand Teton National Park.