EDDIE WALL AND LEANNE PELOSI DOMINATE US OPEN RAIL JAM FINALS
photo credit ©2005 Cole Barash/©2005 Robb Farrington

Eddie Wall and 2004 US Open rail jam champion Leanne Pelosi won tonight’s US Open rail jam finals in a star-studded contest that included snowboard heroes Danny Kass and Shaun White. Chris Rotax and Alexis Waite earned the SoBe Sick Trick Award and walked away $2,500 richer.

The first place paycheck increased from $6,000 to $10,000 this year, and the riders definitely earned the extra cash considering the difficulty of the setup. All competitors agreed that this year’s rail jam was the most daunting and challenging course they’ve ever experienced. The setup replicated seven different urban rail and stair features and included a gap rail inspired by Shaun's New Zealand session from his movie the White Album. Many riders, including Zach Leach were super stoked on the course because it was very similar to actual rails and stairs they session in the city.

Both Eddie and Leanne took a beating during the session but came out on top. Eddie impressed the judges and the crowd by hitting nearly every rail feature and nailing different tricks throughout the hour-long jam, including a tail press to backside 180 out on the down-flat ledge and a 270 on to the 30-foot down ledge to 270 off.

“I’m really happy to win a US Open title for the first time," said Eddie. “It means a lot to me, especially because I’m from the East Coast.”

As for the ladies, Marie-France Roy was in the lead for most of the jam. But reigning rail jam champion Leanne Pelosi didn’t give up, despite taking a few falls. After struggling through the first half of the rail jam, Leanne pulled off a variety of tricks on most of the different rail features, ending her night with a smooth boardslide to frontside boardslide on the flat-down gap box.

Vermonter and crowd favorite Chris Rotax and top women’s rail rider Alexis Waite went home happy, winning the sought after $2,500 SoBe Sick Trick Award. Chris earned the award for the second year in a row and stoked out the crowd with a backside 450 on the flat-down ledge. Alexis' 5-0 on the down ledge scored her the best trick title.

After the awards ceremony, the crowd was treated to a surprise performance by highly respected hip-hop artist Talib Kweli.

WOMEN’S RAIL JAM
SoBe Sick Trick Award- $2,500 and a Motorola phone - Alexis Waite

1st – Leanne Pelosi - $10,000
2nd – Hana Beaman - $5,000
3rd – Spencer O’Brien - $2,000
4th – Marie-France Roy - $1,000

MEN’S RAIL JAM
SoBe Sick Trick Award- $2,500 and a Motorola phone - Chris Rotax

1st – Eddie Wall - $10,000
2nd – Yale Cousino - $5,000
3rd – Jed Anderson - $2,000
4th – Sylvain Beauchesne - $1,000

DANNY KASS AND GRETCHEN BLEILER WIN US OPEN HALFPIPE

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