Press Release:
Burton Rail Days Brings Top Snowboarders to Tokyo’s Biggest Rail Event
BURLINGTON, VT (November 3, 2011) — In just over two weeks, top street rail snowboarders like Ethan Deiss, Stevie Bell, Cameron Pierce and Dylan Alito will head to Japan for the first ever Burton Rail Days competition, taking place on November 19, 2011 in Tokyo at the Roppongi Hills Arena.
Presented by MINI, Burton Rail Days gives the city of Tokyo the rare chance to see some of the world’s best street snowboarders in action at a FREE outdoor event that will also include an exclusive musical performance by MINMI, one of Japan’s favorite singer/songwriters.
Beginning at 5:00 pm, the Burton Rail Days competition will start with 16 top invited riders throwing down on the biggest rail feature ever constructed for a snowboard event in Tokyo. Built by the world’s leading snow park and halfpipe designers, Snow Park Technologies, the Burton Rail Days course is designed to look like an actual street corner, complete with street lamps, stairs, handrails, a brick façade and a mailbox to session.
There’s also a quarterpipe at the top of the stair set for riders to drop in from, and urban features like cement ledges give the riders plenty of room to get creative. International street rail masters Stevie Bell, Cameron Pierce, Wojtek Pawlusiak, Ethan Deiss, Zak Hale, Dylan Alito, Zac Marben, Ludwig Lejkner, Mike Casanova, Scott Stevens, Jamie Nicholls, Marc Swoboda, Denis Leontyev, Forest Bailey and Japan’s own Kotaro Kamimura will all compete at the Burton Rail Days for a first place prize of $15,000.
“I’m super stoked to head over to Tokyo for the Burton Rail Days event,” said Burton team rider Ethan Deiss. “I’ve seen a few drawings of the set up, and it looks really solid. Just hanging out in Tokyo is so much fun, let alone getting to snowboard in the city and compete in a rail contest. It’s going to get crazy.”
Prior to the big show, Burton Rail Days will open to the public at 12:00 pm on Saturday, November 19 with a free Burton Riglet Park where kids 12 and under can snowboard on mini park features like rails, ramps and boxes.
Burton will have snowboards, boots and bindings on hand for kids to borrow at no cost, and there will be real snow to ride on. Also just for kids, MINI is creating a kids corner right next to the Burton Riglet Park that will feature fun activities to keep little groms happy.
And finally, after the day’s events are over and the Burton Rail Days winner is declared, Japanese artist MINMI will take center stage Saturday night with a FREE live performance for all attendees.
Known for her diverse skills and artistry as a singer, songwriter and performer, MINMI was the first Asian artist to be nominated as a ‘Breakthrough Artist’ at the 2006 Soca Awards held in New York.
To get a feel for what the Burton Rail Days event is all about, check out the video at:
If you can’t make it to Tokyo to see Burton Rail Days in person, be sure to watch the event live on Facebook.com/burtonsnowboards and Redbull.tv on November 19 starting at the following times: 4:30pmJST/8:30amCET/2:30amEST/11:30pmPST(Friday 11/18).
About Burton
In 1977, Jake Burton Carpenter founded Burton Snowboards out of his Vermont barn. Since then, Burton has fueled the growth of snowboarding worldwide through its groundbreaking product lines, its team of top snowboarders and its grassroots efforts to get the sport accepted at resorts.
In 1996, Burton began growing its family of brands to include boardsports and apparel brands. Privately held and owned by Jake, Burton’s headquarters are in Burlington, Vermont with offices in California, Austria, Japan and Australia. For more information, visit www.burton.com.
About MINI
The MINI brand is represented by 1,320 dealers in more than 90 countries. Since 2001, over 2 million MINI, MINI Convertible, MINI Clubman and MINI Countryman models have been sold. As the presenting partner of the Burton Global Open Series, MINI will be supporting the renowned snowboard manufacturer for the second year in 2011/12.
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