COUNT ON THE US OPEN TO BE THE YEAR'S BEST SNOWBOARD EVENT

more open info -THE 23RD ANNUAL US OPEN SNOWBOARDING CHAMPIONSHIPS DRAW TOP RIDERS TO COMPETE >>

DANNY KASS AND GRETCHEN BLEILER WIN US OPEN HALFPIPE

EDDIE WALL AND LEANNE PELOSI DOMINATE US OPEN RAIL JAM FINALS

Burlington, VT - One look at the numbers below and you'll know you can't miss this year's 23rd annual US Open, held at Stratton, Vermont from March 18th-20th. With hundreds of riders competing, tens of thousands of spectators attending and hundreds of thousands of dollars in prizes, this year's US Open adds up to the best event of the snowboard season.

1 resort has hosted the US Open for 21 years - Stratton Mountain, Vermont. 2 Volvo V50 Sport Wagons will be given away at the US Open - one to the female and male Overall US Open Champions. 3 is the number of times reigning US Open halfipipe champion Danny Kass has won the event. 4 Burton Open Snowboarding Championships currently take place around the world - one in Europe, one in Japan, one in Stratton, Vermont and one in New Zealand. 6 Motorola Razr V3 phones with Bluetooth® technology will be given away to the men's and women's event winners at the Open.

11 is the number of days before the 2005 US Open final events begin. 18 feet is the height of the US Open halfpipe walls. 23 is the number of years Burton Snowboards has been involved in the US Open.30 is the number of kids from 10 cities across North American that Chill, a non-profit intervention program that teaches kids to snowboard, will bring to the US Open. 51 Nintendo systems will be available to play the latest and greatest games at the US Open. 190 sheets of plywood are used to construct the rails, boxes and stairs for the rail jam and slopestyle events.

250 GORE-TEX® gloves and 100 GORE-TEX jackets are made for the Open. 350 snow cat hours go into building the US Open rail jam, halfpipe and slopestyle course. 500 is the number of limited edition US Open t-shirts that will be given to the first people to show up at the Open on Saturday, March 19th dressed in old school, day-glo 80's snowboard gear. 500 Paul Mitchell product samples will be given away at the Open.

582 riders are registered to compete at the Open. 780 bottles of SoBe are consumed every day at the US Open. 1,200 April issues of FHM magazine featuring the US Open special-section will be given out at the event. 1992 is the first year Terje Haakonsen won the men's halfpipe event at the Open. 2790 feet of steel is used to build the rails and boxes for the slopestyle and rail jam. 3288 US Open t-shirts, hats and hoodies are produced for the event. $5,000 is the amount of money Tylenol will award to both the female and male riders who win the Tylenol Best Trick award in the slopestyle finals.$7,849 is the average retail price of the Ski-Doo Summit snowmobile that will be awarded to both the female and male US Open Rookie Award winners.

15,000 US Open event guides are given out to spectators at the event. $20,000 is awarded to each male and female winner of the halfpipe and slopestyle final events. 25,000 feet of cable is run for filming the event. 30,000 people are expected to attend this year's event. $250,000 is the total amount of money and prizes awarded to winning riders at the Open. 26,418,000 gallons of water go into snowmaking for the US Open.

109 million households can get NBC, which is broadcasting the Open on April 9, 2005 from 2:00-4:00pm EST.

more open info -THE 23RD ANNUAL US OPEN SNOWBOARDING CHAMPIONSHIPS DRAW TOP RIDERS TO COMPETE >>

DANNY KASS AND GRETCHEN BLEILER WIN US OPEN HALFPIPE

EDDIE WALL AND LEANNE PELOSI DOMINATE US OPEN RAIL JAM FINALS

For more info check usopen-snowboarding.com