THE 23RD ANNUAL US OPEN SNOWBOARDING CHAMPIONSHIPS DRAW TOP RIDERS TO COMPETE
more open info - COUNT ON THE US OPEN TO BE THE YEAR'S BEST SNOWBOARD EVENT >>

DANNY KASS AND GRETCHEN BLEILER WIN US OPEN HALFPIPE

EDDIE WALL AND LEANNE PELOSI DOMINATE US OPEN RAIL JAM FINALS

Burlington, VT -The snowboard contest season is in full swing. Heavy hitters like Shaun White, Hannah Teter, Danny Kass, Kelly Clark, Antti Autti, Natasza Zurek and Keir Dillon are all raking in titles and big checks at competitions around the world. In just a few short weeks, they will all meet again at snowboarding's most anticipated event of the season - the US Open, held from March 18-20 at Stratton Mountain, Vermont.

The culmination of the snowboard contest circuit, the US Open is one of the final stops in the contest season, giving local heroes and international superstars a chance to compete for snowboarding's most coveted title. Crowds of over 30,000, a fat prize purse of over $250,000 in cash and prizes and the prestige of a US Open title inspire riders to one-up each other in the finals, resulting in some of the most progressive riding of the season. Here's the lowdown.

Rail jam - Friday night, March 18: Watch for Leanne Pelosi, Rahm Klampert, Shaun White, Jeremy Jones, Molly Aguirre and Janna Meyen
Superpipe finals - Saturday, March 19: Watch for Shaun White, Danny Kass, Kelly Clark, Antti Autti, Gretchen Bleiler, Keir Dillon and Nicolas Müller
Slopestyle finals - Sunday, March 20: Watch for Shaun White, Danny Kass, Romain De Marchi, JP Solberg, Natasza Zurek and Janna Meyen

New this year: men's and women's overall and rookie titles
This year's event kicks off with a Friday night invitational rail jam under the lights, men's and women's superpipe finals on Saturday and the men's and women's slopestyle finals on Sunday. Younger rippers will also throw down on Sunday in the junior jam superpipe finals. New for this year, the US Open will name two Overall Event Champions - one female and one male rider. Both overall champions will drive home in a new Volvo V50 Sport Wagon and win a new Motorola Razr V3. Also new, the Open will give away a male and female Rookie Award with each winner receiving a 2005 Summit Adrenaline 600 H.O. Ski-Doo snowmobile. With insane prizes like these, riders are inspired to hone their skills and compete in all three Open disciplines so they have the best shot at winning the Overall Event Champion title.

"I am really excited to come to the US Open and compete in all three events - the rail jam, halfpipe and slopestyle," says Shaun White. "The event keeps getting bigger and bigger, and having the chance to win a Volvo for the Overall Event Champion title is sick. Plus it's always fun to hang with Jake."

Friday night rail jam: riders to watch
Now in its third year, the rail jam draws a huge crowd to watch an invited field of snowboarding's top male and female rail riders throw down. Last year's rail jam champions Leanne Pelosi and Rahm Klampert will be back to defend their titles. Winner of the Roxy Chicken Jam rail jam and 3rd place winner at the Session at Vail rail jam, Leanne will definitely be one of the riders to beat in the women's session. Burton's Molly Aguirre, winner of rail jams at the Session at Vail and the Breckenridge Grand Prix, will also put up a good fight. Rail and slopestyle dominator Janna Meyen will be at the Open this year for the first time in a decade and will definitely be a podium threat. On the men's side, Shaun White will be the one to watch with a long list of victories already under his belt including the Session at Vail rail jam. Crowd favorite and winner of Transworld Magazine's Reader's Choice award, Jeremy Jones will also be riding in the rail jam. With over $40,000 in cash prizes at stake, including a $2,500 SoBe Sick Trick award for both the men and women, the Open's Friday night rail jam is certain to showcase some of the best rail riding of the season.

Saturday superpipe finals: riders to watch
Drawing tens of thousands of spectators and the world's top riders, the Open's superpipe finals is the highlight of the snowboard season. Once again, legendary pipe builder Pat Malendoski and the Planet Snow Design crew will create an amazing pipe totally from scratch just for the US Open riders. With pipe superstars like Nippon Open halfpipe champion Shaun White, three-time US Open halfpipe champion and 2005 Van's Cup superpipe champion Danny Kass, second place Burton European Open halfpipe winner Keir Dillon, 2005 X Games halfpipe champion Antti Autti, third place Burton European Open halfpipe winner Nicolas Müller and local hero and Olympic gold medalist Ross Powers all competing, the superpipe finals promises to be a cut throat battle for first, second and third place. Things will be no less heated in the women's competition with halfpipe master Kelly Clark, winner of virtually every major pipe contest in the world, competing against the likes of halfpipe star Hannah Teter and comeback kid Gretchen Bleiler, fresh off a victory at the 2005 X Games halfpipe. The top spot on the men's and women's podium is worth $20,000. And a $5,000 Nintendo DS Best Trick award for both the men and the ladies is also on the line.

Sunday slopestyle finals: riders to watch
Sunday wraps up the US Open with the event's grand finale - the men's and women's slopestyle finals. Once again, all eyes will be on Shaun White with his recent wins at the 2005 X Games slopestyle event and the Session at Vail slopestyle where he threw down four 900s in a row - a first ever in any snowboard competition. Danny Kass, second place winner at the 2005 X Games slopestyle and the 2004 US Open overall champion, will give Shaun a run for his money. Style master JP Solberg, second place Air and Style winner Nicolas Müller and Romain De Marchi, ranked number two in the world by Snowboarder Magazine, will also be competing in the slopestyle event. Natasza Zurek will be the one to beat in the women's slopestyle finals with a long list of contest accomplishments this year alone, including slopestyle wins at the Burton European Open, the Nippon Open, Van's Cup and the Roxy Chicken Jam and third place at the 2005 X Games slopestyle event. Winner of three X Games gold medals in slopestyle, Janna Meyen will definitely be in the running for the title. Other strong contenders for a spot on the women's slopestyle podium will be Leanne Pelosi, Molly Aguirre and Anne-Flore Marxer, who got second place at the Van's Cup slopestyle event. Winners of the women's and men's slopestyle event rake in $20,000, not to mention the additional $5,000 that is up for grabs for the male and female Tylenol Best Trick. Also on Sunday, be sure to check out riders 13 years old and younger throwing down in the Junior Jam halfpipe competition.

Not only do they go home with huge cash prizes, winners of the halfpipe and slopestyle contest receive an expense-paid trip to the Burton European Open, held next January in Laax, Switzerland. Winners of the men's halfpipe and slopestyle also receive a Ticket To Ride at Terje Haakonsen's Arctic Challenge event, a huge honor and rite of passage in the snowboard community. And first place winners of every Open event take home a new Motorola phone with Bluetooth® technology and a Nintendo DS system.

Catch the Open on NBC
With a deep-rooted history in creating an event for riders, by riders, the 23-year-old US Open Snowboarding Championships has been home to the most progressive snowboarding in the world for nearly a quarter of a century. Watch it live at Stratton Mountain, Vermont from March 18th-20th. And relive all of the excitement during a two-hour NBC broadcast special on April 9th from 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM EST.

more open info - COUNT ON THE US OPEN TO BE THE YEAR'S BEST SNOWBOARD EVENT >>

DANNY KASS AND GRETCHEN BLEILER WIN US OPEN HALFPIPE

EDDIE WALL AND LEANNE PELOSI DOMINATE US OPEN RAIL JAM FINALS

for more check usopen-snowboarding.com