Burton Snowboards and Avoriaz Resort have announced the opening of The Stash, a completely different kind of run that adds a new dimension to snowboarding. Scheduled to open in January of 2008, The Stash at Avoriaz will be the first snowboard run of its kind in Europe.

With a vertical rise of over 1,500 feet and almost a mile in length, The Stash at Avoriaz will be an all-mountain dream come true for riders looking to unleash their creativity on the ultimate freestyle terrain. The Stash concept was developed by Jake Burton and professional Burton team riders to create a unique run where riders can have fun progressing their all-mountain freestyle skills. Designed with intermediate to advanced riders in mind, The Stash is loaded with hidden features waiting to be discovered including pillow lines, road gaps, wall rides, log jibs, cliff drops, tree rides and a one-of-a-kind tree house obstacle. An all-natural environment, The Stash uses no metal or plastics to create obstacles, only wood, trees, dirt and rocks. Even the signs that direct riders to The Stash are carved out of wood by world-renowned chain saw artist, Bob King, and are designed to be bonked and jibbed.

“Our team riders are stoked on The Stash because you have to ride it multiple times to find all the hidden features and lines,” says Jeff Boliba, Global Resort Director at Burton. “The run continues to get better as you connect hits and throw in freestyle moves on different natural features like jibs and road jumps. Avoriaz is an amazing mountain and now with The Stash Run, it’s all time!”

“The Stash Run at Northstar-at-Tahoe is for sure one of the most fun runs I have ever ridden,” says Burton team rider, Mikkel Bang. “You can get so creative on the logs, wooden rails, wooden rainbow rails, cliffs, you name it. It’s like going through the woods and finding natural rails. It’s sick!”

The Stash is a result of a two-year long collaboration between Burton and Avoriaz Resort. Burton selected Avoriaz to host the first Stash run in Europe because of their dedication to freestyle snowboarding and the strength of their park crew, which is one of the best in Europe. The Avoriaz park crew and Burton team riders worked together to design the run and lay out features to create a flow where riders can link tricks feature-to-feature.

“For me personally, I look forward to riding The Stash and pushing my skills so that I can really progress,” says Jean Noël Calvet of Avoriaz Resort. “It will be amazing to try and link different tricks together on natural features. And like Jake’s original idea, it’s going to be great taking incredible runs with my friends.”

To get a feel for what The Stash is all about check out www.thestash.com to see videos and photos of the first Stash run at Northstar-at-Tahoe.