Not to be confused with the US Freeskiing Open, there is a new freeskiing series in town, it is called the “Paul Mitchel Opens Freeski Tour” (it sounds like an odd title to me but whatever). The Opens Freeski Tour consists of three competitions they are the North American Open, Big Bear Open and Mount Snow Open each features slopestyle and halfpipe. All events are USSA (United States Ski and Snowboard Association) sanctioned, so this should help add some legitimacy to the tour and the sport as a whole for future efforts to get freeskiing events in the Winter Olympics.

The first event is the North American Open in Breckenridge Feb. 21-24 (Same time as Nippon Open). Jon Olsson and Simon Dumont are collaborating with Paul Mitchel and ReEvolution to design the North American Open event, that right there adds a lot of credibility because the Jon Olsson Invitational is a favorite of athletes (maybe that is because of the hot swedish women and parties or the immaculate course, who knows). Registration opens on Dec. 26 and you must be a member of the USSA to participate. A year membership in the USSA is $60 and the purse at each event is $20,000. All events will be televised on the Fuel network, for you lucky folks that have that channel.
The past year has seen many additions to the freeskiing competition scene, but I think that the Paul Mitchel Opens Freeski Tour is positioned to make the biggest impact on freeskiing, only time will tell.