This week the 29th Burton US Open Snowboarding Championships, (the oldest snowboarding competition to date) will be going on up at Stratton Mountain, VT. The annual event is the 4th & final stop of the Burton Global Open series & will run until Sunday, March 13. The world’s top male & female riders incuding Kelly Clark, Peetu Piiroinen, Jamie Anderson, Kazuhiro Kokubo, Louie Vito, Hannah Teter, Mark McMorris and Danny Davis will compete in Halfpipe, Slopestyle & Rail Jam formats for cash & prizes valued at over $500,000. First place male & female riders will walk away with $50,000 and a brand new Mini each!

The slope-style course & half-pipe are over in Stratton‘s Sun Bowl area & all competitions are free for spectators. This year, a Sponsor Village will be set up Thursday – Sunday where the public can chow down on a variety of food & drinks, grab free swag, and play games while grooving to live DJs & watching film coverage of the event on a big screen. You’ll also be able to test drive cars from Mini, demo 2012 Burton gear, try Nokia’s new interactive N8 Smartphone, and get dance-y during sets from Flosstradamus & The Sounds.

In case you’re having foot surgery like Shaun White & can’t make it, you can still watch the action via live webcast on Burton.com or Metacafe.com and see all the best moments during the USO Highlight Show on ESPN 2 March 13th.