In case you didn’t know, the Burton European Open is going on in Laax at the minute – you know, the annual slopestyle and halfpipe shindig that sees the world’s best competing for serious money on what is usually (at least in a year when there’s no World Snowboarding Championships) European snowboarding’s biggest stage. While most people are getting hyped about the halfpipe and slopestyle finals in the second half of this week (where we’re hoping to see Jamie Nicholls and Aimee Fuller competing, provided they get through their heats), the action has in fact been going on for a couple of days already. And in the junior open finals over the weekend, the young Brit Katie Ormerod managed to make the podium in both the slopestyle and the halfpipe events!

Katie got third in the girl’s slopestyle, finishing just behind Chloe Sillieres of France and Miyabi Onitsuka of Japan, and then went one better the following day to claim second in the pipe – behind Zoe Kalapos of the USA. Get in Katie! On the boys’ side, standouts included Kyle Mack, the junior Burton rider who blew minds with his video part last year, as well as Seamus O’Connor, a talented Irish kid who’s been on our radars for a while, and Stian Kleivdal, a young Norwegian.

The BEO has a history of being a place where careers are made and reputations are sealed (witness Roope Tonteri’s epic, career-defining slopestyle win from last year – with a hangover!) so it’s especially good news for Katie that she’s managed to prove her all-round ability on such a big stage. Keep an eye on this kid, she’s gonna be big.