LUDLOW, Vermont ??” The East’s premier freeskiing event is returning to Okemo Mountain Resort on March 4-6, 2005. The East Coast Freeskiing Open is produced by Mountain Sports Media and Saab is the presenting sponsor. Associate sponsors include: Salomon Skis, American Express, Okemo Mountain Resort, and Skiing magazine and features some of the best freeskiers in the world.

Spectators will enjoy new-school skiers going all out with hot tricks and unstoppable action in Superpipe, Slopestyle, and SAAB/Salomon Crossmax competitions, as well as a nighttime Red Bull Rail Jam.

“This isn’t your dad’s skiing competition,” said Stefanie Luciano, Vice President of Marketing for Mountain Sports Media. “These kids will be jibbing rails, skiing the pipe, and performing tricks on skis that were once thought to be the exclusive domain of snowboarders.”

A prize purse of $25,000 will be up for grabs and the top finishers will automatically qualify for the most prestigious event in freeskiing, the 2006 U.S. Freeskiing Open, held in Vail, Colorado. The ECFO action begins on Friday, March 4 and concludes on Sunday, March 6.

Friday, March 4, 2005
Men’s and Women’s Slopestyle Competition: First Heat/Second Heat/Finals. A judged run through a massive terrain park which consists of different shaped jumps table tops, hips, and metal rails over a 5000 yard course. Competitors are judged on air, style, tricks and overall impression on two runs. This is the biggest slopestyle competition for skiers in the world with the strongest field and biggest purse. The action will begin at 9:00 am.

Saturday, March 5, 2005
Men’s and Women’s Superpipe Competition: Qualifying/Finals. The top five finishers from each qualifying heat compete for glory in the semi-final and final rounds. Best run will take home the glory. The action will begin at 9:00 am.

Saturday, March 5, 2005
Men’s and Women’s Red Bull Rail Jam: Plenty of high-flying action under the lights with men and women giving it their all in the rails. Practice runs will start at 3:30 pm. The action will begin at 5:00 pm.

Sunday, March 6, 2005
Men’s and Women’s SkierX: Time trials/heats/finals. Skiers race head to head in heats of four down a race course filled with rollers, jumps, birm turns, and table tops with the top two advancing to later rounds until a final round of four is established for the finals. The eliminations continue until there is just one winner. The action will begin at 9:00 am

Registration for the event is open to skiers of all ages and abilities. To enter, athletes should visit www.usfreeskiingopen.com or register on-site.