ESPN Snowboarding

Back in 1983, if you won snowboarding's first U.S. Open, you got $500 and a handful of high-fives. Granted, back then you didn't have to spend 300 days per year training, pull off back-to-back 10s or even smile pretty for the shrerd-arazzi, but you still had to get decked out in neon and duct tape and see how long you could point it before blowing out at the bottom.

Now it's 2007, and 25 years later, the U.S. Open is one of the biggest and highest paid contests in snowboarding. It's so big, in fact, that this weekend's event will be featured on the peacock network, Webcasted on Burton's site and is expected to draw upwards of 30,000 spectators. It's also the apex of the season-long Burton Global Open Series, where cumulative point rankings for four events (down from five, as the Oz Open got nixed by global warming) will be used to determine the BGOS winners.

But the biggest deal is this. The 25th Open will offer the largest single payout in snowboard history, and one dude and one chica BGOS winner will go home with $100,000 smackeroos, and that doesn't even count the purse for the U.S. Open. If the same manly man and girly girl who win the BGOS also win the pipe, slope and QP contests, along with every high air and best trick contest, that special young lady or gentleman will walk with $163,500, a Volvo C30 and other trinkets, like a cell phone.

So, the question at hand is ... what's a shred star to do with such a large cardboard check? We asked the frontrunners, "If money was no option, what would you buy?" And some of them even gave us their answers.

Mason Aguirre

My payroll would be equivalent to MC Hammer in '92. I'd hire people to do everything for me—a full-time maid and a full-time chef—so I could chill and do whatever I wanted. I'd definitely build a house in Eleuthera (in the Bahamas) and have spots in Encinitas, Mammoth and Minnesota. I'd visit Fiji and Hawaii, where I'd do nothing but sit on the beach with a margarita. I don't get many of those days. My family would be stoked because I'd make sure they were set up with baller gear for eternity—a sailboat for my step dad, a huge house for my mom so she stops moving around, high-speed go carts and a waterslide like the one in "Blank Check." I'd drive an Audi RS4, '87 Lambo Gallardo and a new 325i Beamer. I'd also give back to snowboarding by donating to the Ross Powers Foundation. I'd buy stock in Frends. Those are my boys.

Ellery Hollingsworth

I'd get a hybrid car like Gretchen's so I can save the snow and the world from global warming. I'd probably buy a place in Costa Rica and obviously a house in the mountains, probably near Keystone or Breck, and maybe in SoCal, too. My house would have a 4-foot mini ramp with extensions and spines, a wave pool so I could surf all the time and a lion that I'd keep in my room and build a bed for. I'd travel to exotic lands like Tibet, Egypt, Spain and Tahiti and go to a good college so I can go on to become a surgeon. I'd give money to the Make A Wish Foundation and buy my parents a house in California. My friend looked for good stocks on the Internet and said Target, Apple and Google would be wise investment choices.

Danny Davis

I've always wanted to check out Africa and Jamaica because the cultures and lifestyles are so different. Barcelona would be fun, too, for skate spots. I'd buy a Volkswagen Van and drive it from the pad I'd buy in Mammoth to somewhere on the East Coast where I'd hop in my new sailboat and take a trip to Kevin's family's place in the Bahamas. I'd go on a spree at Bass Pro shops, where I'd get a nice new fly rod, a fishing boat and hunting jackets, then nerd out on eBay and buy a bunch of vintage Powell skateboards. I'd like to buy the folks a place in NorCal's vineyards, stop global warming and give food to needy kids. Realistically, though, I'd probably put the money into the house I'm trying to buy in Tahoe.

Kevin Pearce

My Batmobile would be equipped with guns and a badass sound system and my Range rover would be big and luxurious. I'd buy more stock in Bud. My great grandpa owned Budweiser at one point, so I'd like to keep it in the family. I'd also throw a rager with tons of babes in the Bahamas, go on a Best Buy shopping spree and maybe buy a place in Tahoe or Peru. Then I'd spend a couple months on a remote surf beach in Hawaii and take my Frends on an African safari to see giraffes and zebras. I'd also help out African kids with AIDS.

Elena Hight

I'd hire somebody to teach me languages—Spanish and French. Italian would be especially cool since I'm part Italian. I'd throw down on a Porsche, an '07 Toyota Tundra and a house in San Diego—the place I've always wanted to call home. S.D.'s easy to come and go, the beaches are great and I love the weather. Tahiti sounds incredible and I'd love to experience it, as well. I'd give to charities that help underprivileged kids around the world, send my family out shopping to buy whatever they want, send myself to Victoria's Secret for something bright and colorful, to M.A.C. for their loose powder Pigments, and bring all my friends Cabo for a week to the party that never ends.