The Burton New Zealand Open 2010 Snowboard Championships is half way through, with the Slopestyle completed and the Halfpipe to come. The Women’s Slopestyle results were: 1. Jamie Anderson, 2. Shelly Gottlieb, 3. Kjersti Østgaard Buaas.

The live webcast kicks off at 9am (New Zealand), 11pm/midnight (Euro/UK), and 5pm (US EST). First up is (should be!) the Women’s Halfpipe Semifinals, followed by the Men’s Practice then Men’s Semis. Practice for both of the Finals is at 12:45pm (NZ time), with the Finals kicking off at 1.30pm (NZ time). Go to opensnowboarding.com for the webcast.

The New Zealand Open is part of the Burton Global Open Series, which also takes in the European Open, Canadian Open, Asian Open and the US Open. The 2010 Canadian Open will also be available around the world as a live webcast, between the 5th and 7th of February.

There is hope that the poorer weather earlier at Cadrona will improve. 1100 people at Mt Hutt, in New Zealand’s Southern Alps, were forced to stay overnight as high winds of up to 200km/h were recorded. The drifting snow and poor visibility caused Mt Hutt’s management to close the access roads. With no overnight accommodation at the ski field, two cafes were pressed into service as refuges. Staff provided hot dinners & breakfasts, and all skiers (including around 300 children) were off the hill by midday on Friday.