Creative use of Space

MINI Creative Use of Space Award goes into the round two:
Prize money and extra BGOS credits for riders, as well as a new award for shape crews

Snowboarding lives off the riders‘ creativity – no matter if it’s during a competition or while freeriding. Nowadays, with snowboarding being more popular and mainstream than ever before, it is important to not lose sight of the basic ideas of snowboarding: progression is not just about Spin To Win but also about creativity and the interaction with all sorts of features and snow.

MINI got together with Burton Snowboards and integrated their principal motto of „Creative Use of Space“ into the Burton Global Open Series (BGOS). After the huge success of the Creative Use of Space (CUoS) Awards during the 2010/2011 season, they will now go into the round two – a revised edition.

Creative points for the riders and a new award for shape crews MINI and Burton were brought together based on a common passion for creative handling of the surroundings and making the best use of the available resources and space. By combining the CUoS Awards with one of the world‘s most important event series, snowboarders will be rewarded not just for their technical skills but for their creativity as well. Thus the most creative riders will collect important points towards their overall BGOS ranking. In addition to awarding the riders, for the first time this season, the shape crews responsible for the design and build of the four slopestyle courses will be competing for a CUoS award of their own. This way,
from the riders to the shapers, MINI is rewarding those who demonstrate the highest level of creativity.

CUoS Halfpipe and Slopestyle Awards
The judges during the halfpipe finals will not only judge riders according to the usual criteria, but will also look out for stylish and creative tricks. Called “the other trick” judges will be looking for tricks that can be defined as progressive, creative and unusual, as well as creative grabs. At slopestyle, there will be a specially made CUoS Feature within the course, which will create the perfect platform on which to judge the riders’ creativity. Like the pipe, the one rider who handles the CUoS feature in the most innovative way will win. This means creative tricks and grabs and overall creative use of the feature. Each CUoS Award given away at the BGOS 2011/12 will not only come with prize money of up to US$ 5,000, but also adds 25 points which factors into a riders‘ final overall BGOS ranking which can advance
finalists by more than one place within the overall BGOS rating.

CUoS Slopestyle Feature Award
Supported by MINI, at each contest within the BGOS 2011/2012, the respective shape crews will have the opportunity to design a feature according to their own ideas which within the particular slopestyle course. A judging crew consisting of snowboard legends, pros and media will award the most creative solution at the end of the tour. The crews from the resorts of Cardrona Alpine Resort (NZ), Canada Olympic Park, Calgary Alberta (CA), Laax (CH) and Stratton, Vermont (USA) will
have therewith the chance to not only influence the contest but to also take home prize money of US$5.000.