Burton Amateur Tour Bansko 2008
Well, it was -20° C, the altitude was about 2300 m and the event was the tenth round of Burton Amateur Tour for the winter season 2007-2008. The competition took place in the Fun Park at Platoto site in Bansko mountain resort in Bulgaria on the 16th of February 2008. This is the biggest snowboard competition in Europe for children and teenagers up to 20 and this is the best way for the young snowboarders to prove their skills and to find themselves a sponsor.
The frosty weather didn’t stop more than 80 competitors from Bulgaria, Great Britain, Poland, Romania, Austria, Greece and Slovenia who took part in the contest. It was organized like a typical Slopestyle competition - the most attractive discipline in the freestyle snowboard, which gives a chance to the participants to choose their route with different facilities and obstacles and to perform their complicated stunts.
The organizers and the shapers had done their best and the jumps and other facilities were in perfect condition for the contest. The qualifications started at 11 o’clock. The snowboarders could test the slope, jumps, rails and their skills within the frameworks of two jam sessions with unlimited number of downhills. The jury took into note the best performances to determine the competitors who reached the finals. The extreme cold was a real challenge for the competitors, organizers, photographers and mainly for the technics, but the promoters managed to overcome it, making the competition a world class snowboard event with a lot of music and good mood.
The finals started at 15 o’clock. In my opinion the most attractive stunts were performed by Mario Benio (the coach of the Bulgarian freestyle snowboard team), Angel Harizanov (Bulgaria) and Dimitar Chokoev (Bulgaria), but as they are over 20 years old they had no right to compete for the official Burton prizes. Despite this Dimitar Chokoev took the special Burton award for the best freestyle snowboarder at Burton Amateur Tour in Bansko.
The winners were listed in three groups. Laura Berry from Great Britain was the winner among the girls. Iliana Mihovska form Bulgaria became third. Three Bulgarian snowboarders, boys born after 1993 – Vladimir Kirilov, Alex Ivanov and Georgi Mihailov, occupied the first tree places. Mihail Gergelan form Romania became the winner among the boys born after 1988. Nino Yanakiev from Bulgarian took the second place in the same category. The prizes were given in Happy End bar next to the first station of the Gondola lift in Bansko.
The most important for Burton Amateur Tour this winter is that the best boy and girl of each event can secure themselves a starting slot for the slopestyle contest at the Burton European Open in Laax, Switzerland. This is unique opportunity for the young competitors to stand out on the international snowboard stage.
