Kelly Clark on fire.

Ipod starting the season strong.The final day of the 5Star Burton New Zealand Open went off today featuring men s and women s halfpipe finals at Cardrona Alpine Resort. The weather cleared from the previous day and the sky popped blue making for a perfect day up on the hill for the event. The women took to the pipe first and Kelly Clark (USA), for the second consecutive year, dominated the field finishing in first place. The men s competition kicked off after the women and it was a heated battle for a podium spot. In the end, it was Iouri Podladtchikov (SUI) who rose to the top and took home the title. Clark and Podladtchikov both walked away with 850 Swatch TTR Ranking points and a cool NZ$6,000 in their pockets.

Kelly Clark Wins NZO Halfpipe with Untouchable Amplitude
The women s finals featured some heavy competition and Kelly Clark was the rider to beat as she displayed her signature amplitude and smooth style. Clark set the bar high with her first run and was able to maintain her lead all day claiming the first place spot. She started her winning run with a massive frontside air into a backside 540 mute, frontside 900, method, frontside 720 and finished with a Cab 720 mute. Hot on her heels was up and coming Spanish rider, Queralt Castellet, who has been making some waves in the women s halfpipe scene. Queralt put together a great run and took home second place leaving Japanese rider, Soko Yamaoka in third. Although Sina Candrian (SUI) placed 16th in today s halfpipe, she moved into the TTR tour lead because she also placed 7th in yesterday s slopestyle competition. Since not very many women competed in both disciplines, Candrian was able to nab the current tour leader position.

Iouri Podladtchikov Takes Halfpipe Title Moving Into World No. 2
The men dropped into the pipe in the afternoon and perfect weather conditions continued for the men s field. Iouri Padladchikov (SUI) had a little trouble on his first run but came back to take the top spot with his second drop putting down a huge crippler, double McTwist 1260, frontside 1080 tailgrab, and a Cab 720. With today s result, Podladtchikov moved into World No. 2 in the Swatch TTR Rankings sitting behind current leader, Gjermund Braaten (NOR). Japanese riders were out in full force and young 14-year old ripper, Taku Hiraoka, gave the men s field a run for their money. He threw down an excellent run to take second place. And, American rider, Louie Vito, stepped it up with his second run to take home the third spot on the podium.

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