VAIL \u2013 Australian halfpipe rider Scotty James won his first-ever Burton US Open Snowboarding Championships on Saturday, completing a dream that\u2019s been more than a decade in the making.<\/p>\n
James said his first US Open halfpipe competition was in 2007, when he was just 12 years old.<\/p>\n
\u201cI went with my mom, when it was in Vermont, and I remember just saying to her that I\u2019d love to be a part of the halfpipe finals one day,\u201d he said. \u201cNow, to be crowned US Open champion, I\u2019m absolutely speechless.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cI still go out every day and get nervous about doing double corks,\u201d James said.<\/p>\n