Bansko town is located in southwest Bulgaria at the Pirin Mountain range. Today
this town has become a center of winter and summer tourism and has one of the
best ski resorts in Europe. Bansko is a famous ski resort with a great snow
record and one of the longest ski season among all Bulgaria's resorts.
Well, it was -20° C, the altitude was about 2300 m and the event was the tenth
round of Burton Amateur Tour for the winter season 2007-2008. The competition
took place in the Fun Park at Platoto site in Bansko mountain resort in Bulgaria
on the 16th of February 2008. This is the biggest snowboard competition in
Europe for children and teenagers up to 20 and this is the best way for the
young snowboarders to prove their skills and to find themselves a sponsor.
The frosty weather didn’t stop more than 80 competitors from Bulgaria, Great
Britain, Poland, Romania, Austria, Greece and Slovenia who took part in the
contest. It was organized like a typical Slopestyle competition - the most
attractive discipline in the freestyle snowboard, which gives a chance to the
participants to choose their route with different facilities and obstacles and
to perform their complicated stunts.
The organizers and the shapers had done their best and the jumps and other facilities were in perfect condition for the contest. The qualifications started at 11 o’clock. The snowboarders could test the slope, jumps, rails and their skills within the frameworks of two jam sessions with unlimited number of downhills. The jury took into note the best performances to determine the competitors who reached the finals. The extreme cold was a real challenge for the competitors, organizers, photographers and mainly for the technics, but the promoters managed to overcome it, making the competition a world class snowboard event with a lot of music and good mood.
The finals started at 15 o’clock. In my opinion the most attractive stunts were performed by Mario Benio (the coach of the Bulgarian freestyle snowboard team), Angel Harizanov (Bulgaria) and Dimitar Chokoev (Bulgaria), but as they are over 20 years old they had no right to compete for the official Burton prizes. Despite this Dimitar Chokoev took the special Burton award for the best freestyle snowboarder at Burton Amateur Tour in Bansko.
The most important for Burton Amateur Tour this winter is that the best boy and girl of each event can secure themselves a starting slot for the slopestyle contest at the Burton European Open in Laax, Switzerland. This is unique opportunity for the young competitors to stand out on the international snowboard stage.
Article Submitted by Georgi Hristov Georgiev
Georgi Georgiev - traveling foto-reporter for http://WWW.VisitBulgaria.NET - the most detailed guide for tourism in Bulgaria
