If you want an idea of what to expect look at the last few years (you can google them and find graphs).  They are usually pretty similar, 40ish feet in length, and can be attacked from multiple angles.  They vary it slightly year to year to accomodate the surface they are holding it on.  Usually the best angle of attack is up the track and then chasing it in after a game or two.

 

The previous poster is dead on though, it won't be posted until just before the start.  Our group traditionally went the first weekend and we had no idea what we were bowling on until the day we were leaving. 

Russell is spot on.  You wont see any drastic changes from year to year.  Just a minor tweak in oil volume and/or length.  There have been guys that shot really well playing up the 8-10 boards and alot of guys were successful playing 4-5 arrows.  The shot has been pretty fair no matter what the bowling style. 

 

The best thing you can do, is not so much worry about what the pattern is; but go there a day or two before your scheduled events and watch a few squads bowl and look for the guys that are scoring well and sit back and watch.  Watch as to what kind of ball they are using and where they are using it.  You will learn way more doing that than just looking at a graph and then as far as equipment goes, just have your bases covered (something dull that hooks (1000 abralon surface), something sheen thats rolls pretty even (2000-4000 with no polish, a ball that is a big backend ball (something shiny), and something that goes fairly straight).

The last couple of years there hasn't been alot of differance.

If you have an Facebook account, Morich posted a pic of the "2012 USBC oil pattern" on 1/26/2012 & was asking it's followers what Morich ball & how you were going to play it. They must have gotten it early or wrong because Riggs article says USBC won't release the pattern till Febuary. Here is the picture of it. 

That Morich posting is NOT the 2012 pattern ...

 

If you see a post that purports to be the 2012 USBC Open Championships lane pattern, here is the statement I got from USBC manager of communications Jason Overstreet:
"This is NOT the 2012 USBC Open Championships pattern. You might want to let the people in these Facebook groups know that the pattern is still under development. It is great to see so much interest and excitement about the pattern. We hope everyone will join us on February 10 when the real pattern is officially released."

 

Edited by riggs on 2/1/2012 at 8:34 AM

That pattern is for the 2012 Women's US Open.  It has been posted on their website.