Now in it’s eighth year, the BNZO, which runs over 5 days and offers a NZ$50,000 prize purse, consists of both Slopestyle and Halfpipe. All comers can battle it through pre-qualifiers and qualifiers running Weds 11th and Thurs 12th August, for the few available spots to compete alongside the elite riders who are seeded directly to the semi-finals stage. The semi-finals and finals of Slopestyle run on Friday 13th and Halfpipe on Saturday 14th August. Official training for the event starts Tuesday 10th August.

The competition has attracted a multitude of top riders, with the confirmed rider’s list reading like a who’s who of the snowboarding world; Norwegians Tore Holvik, Stale Sandbech, Ulrick Badertscher, current Swatch TTR tour leader Gjermund Braaten, and recent US Open Slopestyle champion Mikkel Bang; Canadians Justin Lamoureux, Charles Reid, Mark Sollors and Mark McMorris; Americans Chas Guldemond, Sage Kotsenburg, Matts Kulisek, Jack Mitrani and Louie Vito; Japanese rippers Kazuhiro Kokubo, Ryo Aono, Daisuke Murakami and Kohei Kudo; Seppe Smits (BEL), Christian Haller (SUI), Marko Grilc (SLO), Roope Tonteri (FIN), and top New Zealand riders Stef Zeestraten and Jake Koia.