Ski and Snowboard News, Deals, and Events

Canada Olympic Park in Calgary is preparing for the first Canadian Open Snowboarding Championships. The event, which is scheduled for Dec. 1-7, is slated as the third stop on the 2008-09 Burton Global Open Series. It is also a SWATCH Ticket To Ride 5 Star World Tour event.

The event, which includes both slopestyle and halfpipe competitions, will offer a prize purse of $50,000. The prize money is split equally between men and women. The competition will feature both local amateur riders and some big name pros, such as U.S. riders Luke Mitrani and Jamie Anderson, who are currently in first place for the overall series championship prize money of $100,000.

Canada Olympic Park is part of Burton's six-event series that includes competitions in New Zealand, Australia, Japan, Europe, and the U.S. All events for the Open Snowboarding Championships at the park are free for spectators.

Local riders will have just a few weeks to get their legs under them. The public ski and snowboard season begins Nov. 14 at the park.

The park is opens daily at 8 a.m. Lifts run on weekdays until 9 p.m. and on weekends until 5 p.m.