BURLINGTON, Vt. -
Snowboarding
was born in Vermont. And because of that claim to fame, the state hosts the
largest snowboarding competition in the world-- the Burton US Open. The best
athletes converge in Stratton every year. But this edgy sport is growing up and
moving on. Riders will no longer be shredding up Stratton Mountain-- Burton has
decided to move the event out west to Vail, Colo., next year.
Reporter
Gina Bullard: Why are you pulling this event from the state it started in?
Greg
Dacyshyn: The open has a long history of evolution and changing for the riders.
Dacyshyn
is the chief creative director at Burton. He says the move is part of a plan to
grow the Open into a festival. Vail will host free concerts, live entertainment
and a mini-shred park for kids.
Greg
Dacyshyn: They share the same vision as we do to evolve it as an experience.
Gina
Bullard: So can Stratton not do that?
Dacyshyn:
Some of the infrastructure at Stratton limited us.
Stratton
Mountain officials would not talk on camera, but issued this statement:
"While we are disappointed, we respect their decision and wish them the
very best as they embark on the next evolution of the US Open."
"Stratton
is a great resort, but Vail is a world-class destination resort," Dacyshyn
said.
We wanted
to find out the economic impact of this move. Stratton officials said to ask
Burton, but Burton was not sure and neither was Vermont's Tourism Department.
We are still waiting to hear back from the Chamber of Commerce, but we do know
that the US Open drew around 30,000 people last year.
The big
competition is gone, but Burton says their headquarters will not follow. They
employ 300 people are expanding. They just built a new showroom and are upgrading
the Burton campus in Burlington.
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