Burlington, VT (Thursday, May 13, 2004) - The snowboarding contest season is winding down in the Northern Hemisphere, but Burton event planners have already nailed down dates and locations for some snowboarding’s most anticipated events, the Open Snowboarding Championships.

In 2005, the Burton European Open will take place at Laax, Switzerland from January 15-22, the Nippon Open will be held at ALTS Bandai, Japan from February 23-27 and the US Open will take place at Stratton Mountain, Vermont from March 14-20. Both the Burton European Open and the Nippon Open are moving to new locations, while the US Open will take place at Stratton Mountain, Vermont for the 21st year in a row.

As for the Southern Hemisphere, winter is just getting underway, and the SoHe snowboard community is revving up for the Burton New Zealand Open, taking place July 16-17 at Cardrona Resort. New to the Open events series, the New Zealand Open is the biggest snowboarding event south of the Equator and gives talented SoHe riders the chance to see how their skills measure up against Olympians like Kelly Clark, Ross Powers and other top snowboarders.