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"\"&lt;p&gt;Honda Element new title sponsor for 2003 Series\\n&lt;p&gt;Sherman Oaks, CA &amp;#8211; The American Snowboard Tour (AST), the nation&amp;#8217;s longest running professional and amateur snowboard tour returns to the slopesof premier resorts in 2003 with three events, a new title sponsor and increased prize money.   The Element by Honda will be the new title sponsor of the 2003 AST series of events with long time sponsor Paul Mitchell Professional Salon Products as the Rider&amp;#8217;s Cup and Presenting sponsor.   The 2003 AST features the world&amp;#8217;s top snowboarders competing in Half-Pipe, Big Air, Slopestyle and Parallel Giant Slalom disciplines for over $100,000 in prize money.\\n&lt;p&gt;The Honda Element American Snowboard Tour will visit three premier resorts including one new location in 2003.   The first Honda Element AST event will take place January 21 &amp;#038; 22 at June Mountain Resort where park guru Eric Rosesnwald has created one of the country&amp;#8217;s best Superpipe&amp;#8217;s and terrain park.  The June Mountain event will feature a Superpipe competition on January 21st and a Slopestyle competition on January 22nd.\\n&lt;p&gt;The remaining two stops of the Honda Element AST will take place over two consecutive weeks, first at Big Bear Mountain, CA on February 22 &amp;#038; 23 and on March 1 &amp;#038; 2 at Sugar Bowl Resort near Lake Tahoe.   The Big Bear Mountain event will offer a Big Air competition on Saturday, February 22 and Superpipe on Sunday, February 23rd.    The Honda Element AST will finish it&amp;#8217;s 2003 season at Sugar Bowl Resort on March 1 &amp;#038; 2 with a Superpipe contest on Saturday, March 1 and Parallel Giant Slalom on Sunday the 2nd of March.\\n&lt;p&gt;Riders will compete for over $100,000 in prize money, a 20% increase over last season.  Paul Mitchell will also fund a &amp;#8220;Rider&amp;#8217;s Cup&amp;#8221; bonus pool that award $5,000 to overall men&amp;#8217;s half-pipe champion and $3,000 to the women&amp;#8217;s half-pipe champion calculated from finishes at all three events.  The Paul Mitchell Rider&amp;#8217;s Cup champions will also receive an invitation to the 2004 Winter X-Games.\\n&lt;p&gt;The AST events are sanctioned by the United States Snowboard Association (USSA) and are &amp;#8220;Continental Cup&amp;#8221; level FIS events, the highest rating available in North America.  The AST is be open to all competitors but requires a USSA membership to compete.\\n&lt;p&gt;The Honda Element American Snowboard Tour has been the training ground for many of America&amp;#8217;s top professional and Olympic snowboarders for more than a decade.  Rider&amp;#8217;s who have cut their competition teeth on AST tour include 2002 Olympic medalist&amp;#8217;s Ross Powers (Gold), Danny Kass (Silver) and J.J. Thomas (Bronze)  as well as 2002 U.S. Olympic Team members Tricia Byrnes,\\n&lt;p&gt;The Honda Element American Snowboard Tour will be televised in four episodes of &amp;#8220;Fusion Television,&amp;#8221; a 1-hour weekly alternative sports program on Fox Sports Net on Wednesday&amp;#8217;s from 4:00 &amp;#8211; 5:00 pm in all time zones.  Shows are also repeated the same day at 11:00 am and 2:00 am.  Check local listings for specific airdates.  Fusion Television will also distributed to more than 140 countries and 600 million subscribers worldwide.\\n&lt;p&gt;The American Snowboard Tour is proud to welcome it&amp;#8217;s new title sponsor for 2003, the Honda Element.  The Honda Element is a totally new built to support active lifestyles.  Designed from the inside out, the Element delivers a functional &amp;#8220;worry free&amp;#8221; package.    The AST is also proud to welcome back Paul Mitchell Professional Salon Products for it&amp;#8217;s 13th season of sponsorship.  Paul Mitchell Salon Products are the &amp;#8220;Lifestyle in lifestyle sports.&amp;#8221;  Official XBOX Magazine returns as a co-sponsor of the AST along as well as product sponsors Stagg Chili.  For additional information and registration materials for the 2003 Honda Element American Snowboard Tour, call the AST office at (818) 385-1439 or download an entry form at our website at  www.americansnowboardtour.com.&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n\""^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://snowboarding.transworld.net/photos/american-snowboard-tour-returns-for-13th-season/>