VAIL – Australian halfpipe rider Scotty James won his first-ever Burton US Open Snowboarding Championships on Saturday, completing a dream that’s been more than a decade in the making.
James said his first US Open halfpipe competition was in 2007, when he was just 12 years old.
“I went with my mom, when it was in Vermont, and I remember just saying to her that I’d love to be a part of the halfpipe finals one day,” he said. “Now, to be crowned US Open champion, I’m absolutely speechless.”
The win capped off a perfect season for James, who has competed in six events since the season started with the Grand Prix at Copper Mountain in December.
After winning the Grand Prix on Dec. 8, James went on to win the Dew Tour, the Laax Open, X Games, the World Championships and the Burton US Open.
James was part of a new cast of winners at the Burton US Open Snowboarding Championships in 2019; every competitor to notch a win at the event had never won before.
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James said he found inspiration in watching new winner Maddie Mastro put down a winning run with a trick that has never been landed in competition by a female snowboarder, a double crippler 900.
“I still go out every day and get nervous about doing double corks,” James said.