Monday Afternoon Edition

Sun Peaks -Canada

Date: Monday February 13, 2006 Time: 6am New Snow: 2cm/ 1in Mountain Base: 170cm / 67in Village: - 3C/ 26F Mid Mountain: - 7C/19 F Top: - 9C/ 16F Sky: Cloudy Runs Open: 117/117
Today’s Forecast: Mainly cloudy with a few flurries becoming isolated in the afternoon. Accumulation near 2 centimetres. High near minus 4 in the morning then cooling to minus 9 by late in the day. Winds northwest 25 to 30 km/h.
Extended Outlook: An Arctic airmass will give very cold temperatures and mainly clear skies to the Resort Wednesday and Thursday
Sun Peaks

***
Lake Louise Big Mountain Challenge
The 4th Annual Smith Optics Lake Louise Big Mountain Challenge will take place at Lake Louise Mountain Resort February 22-26, bringing together top freeskiers from across Canada and the United States. The competition is four days of extreme skiing and mental endurance. Contestants will ride their chosen line with as much style and control they can deliver and will be judged in five categories: line, control, fluidity, technique and aggressiveness. Additional points are provided to skiers who choose a more difficult line. Spectators will have the opportunity to enjoy the event by viewing some of the best freeskiing on the continent. The competition will take place on the Ultimate Steeps of the “Powder Bowls” at Lake Louise Mountain Resort. The Powder Bowls is the biggest bowl skiing area in the Rockies, offering diverse terrain and unbeatable snow. The event schedule is as follows:
Wednesday February 22: Registration, bib pick-up and venue inspection Thursday February 23: Qualifying Run (all competitors)
Friday February 24: Semi Finals
Saturday February 25: Finals
Sunday February 26: Weather day
Registration is $75 without lift tickets, and $175 with lift tickets. All participants much be at least 18 years of age to register, and may do so at www.skircr.com/freeski.
Resorts of the Canadian Rockies Inc. (RCR) Resorts of the Canadian Rockies

***
Aleyska Resort
We are re-open today after being closed the last few days. The ski hotline phone is now working again.
Chair 6 and the Tram are both starting out closed and both should open up later this afternoon. We will start out with Chairs 3, 4, 7 and the ponies open at 10:30am.
In the last 24 hours we have received no new snow at the base, no new snow at midway and 20" at the top. In the last 7 days we received 28" at the base, 98" at midway and 130" at the top.
Currently we have cloudy skies and it is snowing from Von's Corner to the top of the mountain. It is 36 degrees at the base and 30 degrees at the top. The winds are 5-15 mph. For current conditions and more information Alyeska Resort

***
USSA NEWS
KILDOW RECOVERING AFTER DOWNHILL CRASH SAN SICARIO, Italy (Feb. 13) - American skier Lindsey Kildow (Vail, CO) is recovering at CTO (Centro Traumatologico Ospedauero, Center for Trauma Treatment) Hospital in Torino following a crash during Olympic Downhill training Monday.
Dr. Ed Ryan, Medical Director, U.S. Olympic Committee: “The x-rays are normal. The decision now is how long she stays in the hospital. There’s also a question about whether she banged her head. She is complaining of back pain, but that’s normal. We will evaluate further and monitor her condition.”
Both Ryan and Dr. Bill Sterrett, an Olympic Team physician for the Ski Team, were on hand at CTO Hospital in Torino. Jesse Hunt, U.S. Alpine Program Director, who was in the section where the accident occurred: “Lindsey caught an edge coming into a jump and then she fell off the jump. The accident occurred because her legs split on landing.” USSA ski & Snowbaord Teams

***
TETER WINS GOLD, BLEILER SILVER IN HALFPIPE Clark 4th, Hight 6th in Italy
BARDONECCHIA, Italy (Feb. 13) - U.S. Snowboarding continued to rack up Olympic medals Monday as Hannah Teter (Belmont, VT) won gold and Gretchen Bleiler (Aspen, CO) took silver in Women's Halfpipe. Kelly Clark (Mt. Snow, VT) was just off the podium in fourth and Elena Hight (Zephyr Cove, NV) was sixth.
Following Teter and Bleiler was Norwegian Kjersti Buaas, who took bronze.
Teter's gold medal run went like this: frontside 540 melon, method air, frontside 900 stalefish, indy air, frontside 360 with a frontside grab and a switch Cab 540 stalefish.
"Dropping in, I was more nervous than I've ever been at a contest before," said Hight. "Once you're snowboarding, it's what we do every day, so it (the nervousness) kind of goes away."
Since halfpipe debuted as a medal sport at the 1998 Nagano Olympics, U.S. women have won four of nine possible medals in the event as Shannon Dunn won bronze in '98.
Yesterday, the U.S. men dominated the pipe as Shaun White (Carlsbad, CA) took gold and Danny Kass (Hamburg, NJ) won his second consecutive Olympic silver. In '02, Ross Powers, Kass and JJ Thomas swept the medals in Utah, while Powers won bronze in '98.
Overall, U.S. riders have won 10 of a possible 18 Olympic medals in halfpipe.
"This was snowboarding at its highest level," said Keene. "It was unbelievable."
XX OLYMPIC WINTER GAMES
Bardonecchia, ITA - Feb. 13
Women's Halfpipe

1. Hannah Teter, Belmont, Vt.
2. Gretchen Bleiler, Aspen, Colo.
3. Kjersti Buaas, Norway
4. Kelly Clark, Mt. Snow, Vt.
5. Torah Jane Bright, Australia
--
6. Elena Hight, Zephyr Cove, Nev.

More USSA NEws

SWENSON 40th IN MEN'S 30km PURSUIT PRAGELATO, Italy (Feb. 12) - Three-time Olympian Carl Swenson (Park City, UT) was the top U.S. finisher in 40th in Sunday's Cross Country 30km Pursuit.
Russian Eugeni Dementiev won the race and the gold medal with a time of 1:17:00.8. Taking the silver was Norwegian Frode Estil (1:17:01.4) and Italy's Pietro Piller Cottrer won bronze (1:17:01.7).
Swenson finished the course in 1:21:08.0, 4:07.2 behind Dementiev. Andrew Johnson (Greensboro, VT) was 43rd (1:21:16.8), James Southam (Anchorage, AK) was just behind in 44th (1:22:05.8) and Lars Flora (Anchorage, AK) was 49th (1:22:31.2).
“It was tough, I would have liked to have been up with the lead pack but I think I can build on this and move up as the week goes on," said Swenson. "I’m really looking at the 50k at the end of the Olympics.”
The Pursuit consists of two races in one. Competitors ski the first 15km in classic style. Midway through, they change equipment and complete the remaining 15km in freestyle. The tough course was the cause of several crashes

Jumping News ,br> AMERICANS MISS CUT IN SKI JUMPING
PRAGELATO, Italy (Feb. 12) -- U.S. Olympic ski jumpers Alan Alborn (Anchorage) and Clint Jones (Steamboat Springs, CO) made it to the finals but missed the top-30 cut after the first round. Alborn jumped 92.0 meters to finish 40th, while Jones went 88.0 meters to end up 47th. Dmitry Valliliev of Russia went 104.5 to lead the first round. Defending champion Simon Amman of Switzerland also missed the cut.


U.S. STARTERS FOR TUESDAY OLYMPIC EVENTS Cross Country Team Sprints: Chris Cook (Rhinelander, WI) Andy Newell (Shaftsbury, VT) Kikkan Randall (Anchorage, AK) Wendy Wagner (Park City, UT)
Men's Alpine Combined: Ted Ligety (Park City, UT) Bode Miller (Bretton Woods, NH) Scott Macartney (Redmond, WA) Steven Nyman (Orem, UT)

For complete results and technical reference: FIS SKI
and US Ski & Snowboard Teams

***
Panorama
Congratulations to Panorama's Christina Lustenberger who will represent Canada at the 2006 Olympics in Turin, Italy. Christina skied to 10th place in a World Cup Giant Slalom in Germany, on February 4th, while competing with the Canadian Alpine Ski Team. We wish Christina the best of luck!
Experience Panorama's best snow of the season, with the Powder Package. You'll stay three nights in slopeside accommodation, Weekender package starts at $169.00 per person ,...all programs & packages.Rates subject to change/cancellation without notice.All facilities/programs subject to seasonality details,...
Panorama