Subaru Telluride Freeskiing Open, 2nd Stop of 2006 Subaru U.S. Freeskiing Series, Set for March 2-5, 2006

Mountain Sports International (MSI) is proud to announce the inaugural Subaru Telluride Freeskiing Open, March 2-5, 2006, at the Telluride Ski Resort in Colorado. For the first time ever, over 100 of the world's top athletes will face Telluride?s challenging terrain to compete for a $7,500 prize purse and their shot at the overall Subaru U.S. Freeskiing Series Title.

The Telluride Freeskiing Open is the second stop of the Subaru U.S. Freeskiing Series, the premier Big Mountain competition series in North America with a $45,000 overall prize purse. The series opener at Snowbird, UT, exceeded all expectations, with huge crowds, record-breaking cliff drops, and an incredible level of competition.

Coming off of the heels of this event, the inaugural Subaru Telluride Freeskiing Open will be an event not to miss. Telluride will open terrain outside of the regular ski resort boundaries for the competition. The famed Palmyra Peak offers an incredible backdrop to competition as skiers explore untouched terrain below the Peak in the Review, Mountain Quail and Dihedral areas for the Finals and Super Finals.

Registration will be held on Thursday, March 2, followed by Round 1 on March 3. Roughly one-third of the 110 registered men and women will advance to the semi-finals and finals on March 4. Awards ceremonies and an after-party at Chair 8 conclude the weekend.

With over ten years of competition history around the globe, Big Mountain Freeskiing tests every aspect of a skier's ability. Given no predetermined course, athletes choose their own lines involving huge cliffs, steep slopes and tight chutes. Competitors are scored on degree of difficulty, control, technique, fluidity, and aggressiveness, with the combined total determining the event winner.

The four-stop 2006 Subaru U.S. Freeskiing series kicked off with the Subaru U.S. Freeskiing Nationals at Snowbird, UT, and continues on to the Jackson Hole Freeskiing Open presented by Subaru in Jackson Hole, WY, and the Subaru North American Freeskiing Championships in Kirkwood, CA.

Along with U.S. Freeskiing Series title sponsor Subaru of America and host mountain Telluride Ski Resort, strong support from tour partners Amstel Light, The North Face, Powder Magazine, Sportsinsurance.com, Nordica, and Smith Optics have allowed for a huge overall prize purse as well as expanded coverage of the competition. New for 2006, MSI is excited to present online, video-on-demand footage of all events, which will be uploaded daily to www.usfreeskiing.com.

For registration, schedules, news, photos, videos, and other important event information, visit the newly re-designed: www.usfreeskiing.com