2005 US OPEN SLOPESTYLE

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It was another sunny morning as the final day of Open competition saw the running of the slopestyle event. The park was in great shape and the jumps were shooting riders high into the Vermont sky. A pack of 40 men and 12 or so women were whittled down to a final of 16 men and 8 women fighting for almost $100,000 in total prize money. And it was a fight for sure! There was also another 5 grand in each division to be awarded for best trick of the day, thanks to event sponsor Tylenol. The course consisted of a four jump line with rails at the top and bottom. Dudes and Dude-ettes were gunning, while judges and spectators tried to keep track of the rotations and wild aerial maneuvers. This the sleeper even of the Open and if more people were slopeside, they would have seen one helluva show.

Women

The ladies charged the course from the get-go. Rookie Spencer O'Brien from Canada made her presence felt, as she slid into the 8-girl final jam, and won a brand new snowmobile. Sick, eh? Torah Bright hammered the course showing her versatility as an all-around freestyle threat. The crowd cheered on the ever-strong riding of east coast ripper and former Open Slope title-holder Jaime MacLeod, who got 4th. Natasza Zurek brought home the 3rd place slot with smooth 7 spins and style. In 2nd, Leanne Pelosi. She did back to back 720 spins over the middle 2 jumps and took some pretty brutal slams on her way to a $10,000 payday. She also won the overall women’s rider prize, taking home a brand new Volvo v50. A car! So damn sick. Congrats to Leanne. Janna Meyen won. She crushed the competition with runs that included 2 540s and a 720 off the bottom jump. Style and power typify Janna’s attack. She got the 20Gs and won another 5 for best trick with the Cab 7. Interestly, Janna won the Us Open pipe 14 years ago as a grom. Guess what ladies, she is still on top. You can always count on hammers from Janna; much respect due.

Men

I felt bad for the judges who had to not only keep track of the dizzying barrage of tricks doled out by the dudes, but also trying to score it all. Everyone was ripping. There were so many 9s and 10s being thrown that we all had vertigo. Event announcer “The Dingo” got so dizzy he fell off the 25-foot scaffolding. It was rad.

4th place finisher Scotty Lago threw down some of the most dynamic runs of the day. Switch 5s, 7s, 9s, and stomped backside rodeos all day long. It was a bit of a surprise he didn’t make it onto the podium. At only 17 years old, this kid is gonna be blowing minds for a long time to come. For the top 3 it was a Scandinavian sweep. “Mandreas” Wiig punished the course with Switch sickness, including 9s and gigantic 7s drifting all the way down the landings, which, for the gnarly Norwegian, seemed a bit too small. Finnish freestyle veteran, Jussi Oksanen fired a switch backside nine out of the blue and posted a high score that punched him up into 2nd. Jussi rode strong all day and his runs added up to a check for 10Gs, plus he won Tylenol’s Best Trick award for the switch backside 9 to lein grab. Solid. Another Finn, Flow Team rider Risto Mattila bested all the other dudes in Slopestyle with a couple stomped 10s and smoothly-executed runs. It was quite a weekend for Risto, who also won the Overall award and got the other new Volvo V50. Wonder how he’ll get that back to Finland?

Plans for next year’s Slopestlye event include bringing the venue further down the hill, to allow spectators a closer view of the mayhem. For the diehard crowd who did make up to the course, it was a brutal display. Any final that includes the likes of Jussi, Wiig, Kass, DCP, and Zach Leach deserves to be seen up close and personal. Too bad you missed it.