Suzuki Presents the U.S. Freeskiing Open, at Copper Mountain Resort
11th annual U.S. Freeskiing Open brings professional and amateur athletes together to compete for $60,000 in cash and prizes.
Now in its eleventh year, the U.S. Freeskiing Open (USFO), presented by Suzuki, will return to Copper Mountain, Colo, Jan. 31 – Feb. 3, 2008, bringing together hundreds of the world's best new school ski athletes and thousands of eager spectators. Athletes will compete in three disciplines – superpipe, slopestyle and big air – for a combined $60,000 prize purse.
After last year's highly progressive competition, in which Jon Olsson introduced the Kangaroo Flip in the park and Peter Olenick landed a double flair in the pipe, this year’s event will surely be a highlight of the season. As always, Copper Mountain provides an ideal après and nightlife scene, with Boulder-based 3oh!3 bringing their heavy-hitting hip hop/rock sound to the Village following the Invitational Big Air event.
Maintaining the tradition of athlete involvement in the USFO, this year Copper Mountain's snowmaking and park crews will design the terrain park in conjunction with athlete input and feedback.
"It's exciting to be involved in this event and to have watched it grow so much over the years," said Jamie Pentz, group publisher of Mountain Sports Media, parent company of Skiing Magazine. "The USFO is an extraordinary opportunity in the world of new school skiing, bringing together top professionals like Simon Dumont with up and comers from across the country. Between the crowd's enthusiasm and the athletes' performance, this event is one of the highlights of winter."
Registration
The registration process has changed for the 2008 Suzuki USFO. Competition spots for the superpipe and slopestyle will be allotted via a lottery registration system, opening Nov. 15 at 5PM EST and closing Dec. 6. Participation in the lottery will cost $5 per entry and each athlete may register as many times as he/she wants. The system will randomly select athletes and successful competitors will be announced on TK. More information is available at www.usfreeskiingopen.com.
About the U.S. Freeskiing Open
The U.S. Freeskiing Open is the longest running, premiere freeskiing event in North America. Eleven years ago, the inaugural USFO gathered freeskiing's biggest hopefuls for the first slopestyle skiing competition ever. The next year, a halfpipe discipline was added and scores of unknown skiers poured in to help shape the sport. The event has served as a launching pad for countless new school skiers including Tanner Hall, J.P. Auclair, T.J. Schiller, Sammy Carlson and Copper's own Nick Mercon.
The 2008 Suzuki U.S. Freeskiing Open is produced by SKIING Magazine. Associate sponsors include: Copper Mountain Resort, SkiNet.com, tktktktktktktkt
A quick word on blocking ads
It looks like you are using an ad blocker. That's okay. Who doesn't? But without advertising revenue, we can't keep making this site awesome. Click the link below for instructions on disabling adblock.
