Snow Alert for Jackson Hole
Snow Alert for Torino


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Heavenly Valley
New Snow: (past 7 days) 25"
Now's the time to make plans for Heavenly's annual Spring Loaded, March 11 - April 8, 2006. On the mountain enjoy the California sunshine, Heavenly's famous spring conditions, the South Shore Soldiers terrain park camp, the Gunbarrel 50 hosted by Glen Plake, the infamous pond skimming contest and much, much more. Off the mountain there's non-stop action with world-class entertainment, après-ski parties with the Heavenly Angels, pub crawls and South Shore's 24-hour nightlife

Ski with Glen Week! Spend a week (March 19-24) skiing and rubbing elbows with Heavenly's Ski.E.O. and local skiing legend, Glen Plake! The Mohawked One was extreme way before "extreme skiing" and is ready to take guests on a multi-day adventure that spans every type of skiing, including Glen's specialty, the bumps of Gunbarrel. This package includes lodging at the Embassy Suites, lift tickets, lessons/mountain guides and meals. For booking info, call 1-800-HEAVENLY
Salomon Oasis, the Ultimate Hook-Up, will stop at Heavenly February 25th and 26th. The event brings a weekend full of free equipment demos, tons of giveaways, rebates on new Salomon skis and snowboards, and a terrain park jam session
Calendar of Events FRIDAY, 24 FEB 2006 Jackpot Rail Jam Series (3 of 6) SATURDAY - SUNDAY, 25 - 26 FEB 2006 Salomon Oasis Demo Days SUNDAY, 26 FEB 2006 Kinder Kup Challenge THURSDAY - SUNDAY, 2 - 5 MAR 2006 Ascent Week Heavenly Valley

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Ski New Hampshire Tourism

These next two weeks are when many families are able to get away together and enjoy some time on the snow. To add to the fun, NH ski areas fill the calendar with all types of events. Among the more unique events, you'll find The 2nd Annual Spread Eagle World Championships at Attitash, The Lunch Tray Luge at Wildcat, The Silly Slalom and Belly Bag Race at King Pine, The 17th Annual Chocolate Festival at Mt. Washington Ski Touring, and Hawaiian Weekend at Pats Peak. You get the idea! Click below for a complete list of all the events we know about! Events
King Pine: Silly Slalom and Belly Bag Races Attitash: Winterfest '06 Mount Sunapee: Snicker's Snowfest Balsams Wilderness: Torchlight Parade Feb 28
The Mountain Dew Vertical Challenge is a fun and exciting series of over 50 Ski and Snowboard Races held at the top resorts in the U.S. The races are FREE for all skiers and boarders holding a valid lift ticket. Join the Dew Crew for a day of fun at King Pine Ski new Hampshire

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Valais Tourism

From 23 to 28 February it is carnival time in the Valais. There is hardly a single resort in the Valais that doesn't throw itself heart and soul into the crazy festivities. Colourful carnival parades bring the streets to life, the boisterous carnival bands play their music, there are prizes for the best masks in the children's carnival events, and the bars and restaurants are alive with celebrations until the early hours of the morning. The « Tschäggätta » carnival parade with its famous carved wooden masks from the Lötschen Valley is not to be missed.
A small selection of important winter events from mid February to the end of April : 26.02.06 The Gommerlauf in Goms 03.03.-12.03.06 The "Caprices Festival", a music festival in Crans-Montana 03.03.-11.06.06 The "Camille Claudel and Rodin" exhibition at the Fondation P. Gianadda in Martigny 04.03.-05.03.06 The Swiss Telemark championships in Thyon/Les Collons 12.03.06 The international dog sled race in Champex-Lac
17.03.-19.03.06 The O'Neill Xtreme Snowboard Contest in Verbier. Verbier for the 11th edition of the O'Neill Xtreme by Swatch where they'll tackle the world best riders. Let's wish to these Rookies, not really Rookies any more, a good run on the Bec des Rosses…
The 34th Gommer race is a 25-kilometer-long Nordic skating event for adults leading from Blitzingen to Oberwald and will take place on Sunday, February 26, 2006 in the Goms valley
Valais -Matterhornstate

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USSA News

COOK, LINDSEY DO NOT QUALIFY FOR AERIALS FINALS SAUZE d'OULX, Italy (Feb. 21) - Jana Lindsey (Black Hawk, SD) placed 16th and Emily Cook (Belmont, MA) was 19th in Tuesday night's women's aerials qualifying. Neither placed well enough to qualify for Wednesday's finals.
KILDOW, KOZNICK, SCHLEPER, STIEGLER TO RACE SLALOM WEDNESDAY SESTRIERE, Italy (Feb. 21) - The first pure women's alpine technical event of the '06 Olympics takes place Wednesday as Lindsey Kildow (Vail, CO), Kristina Koznick (Burnsville, MN), Sarah Schleper (Vail, CO) and Resi Stiegler (Jackson Hole) will compete for the U.S. in slalom.
JEWELL MAKES OLYMPIC DEBUT WEDNESDAY IN PGS BARDONECCHIA, Italy (Feb. 21) - U.S. snowboarder Tyler Jewell (Sudbury, MA) makes his Olympic debut Wednesday in the parallel giant slalom.
PETERSON, 8th, QUALIFIES FOR AERIALS FINALS SAUZE d'OULX, Italy (Feb. 20) - Jeret Peterson (Boise, ID) finished eighth in Monday night's Olympic aerials qualifying and will advance to Thursday's finals. Joe Pack (Park City, UT), Ryan St. Onge (Steamboat Springs, CO) and Eric Bergoust (Missoula, MT) finished 15-16-17, not high enough to make finals.
UPCOMING COMPETITION SCHEDULE
Wed., Feb. 22
Alpine: Women's Slalom, Sestriere
Cross Country: Men's/Women's Sprint Freestyle, Pragelato
Freestyle: Women's Aerials, Sauze d'Oulx
Snowboard: Men's Parallel Giant Slalom, Bardonecchia

Thu., Feb. 23
Freestyle: Men's Aerials, Sauze d'Oulx
Snowboard: Women's Parallel Giant Slalom, Bardonecchia

Fri., Feb. 24
Alpine: Women's Giant Slalom, Sestriere
Cross Country: Women's 30km, Pragelato

Sat., Feb. 25
Alpine: Men's Slalom, Sestriere

Sun., Feb. 26
Cross Country: Men's 50km, Pragelato

OFFICIAL 2006 OLYMPIC TEAM BIOGRAPHIES -SOURCES Alpine - http://www.usskiteam.com/public/team.php?dId=2&sN=2 Cross Country - http://www.usskiteam.com/public/team.php?dId=3&sN=2 Freestyle - http://www.usskiteam.com/public/team.php?dId=1&sN=2 Jumping - http://www.usskiteam.com/public/team.php?dId=4&sN=2 Nordic Combined - http://www.usskiteam.com/public/team.php?dId=4&sN=2 Snowboard - http://www.ussnowboarding.com/public/team.php?&dId=7&sN=2 US Ski & Snoboard Teams

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Sugarloaf/USA, Carrabassett Valley, Maine
CARRABASSETT VALLEY, Maine - Olympic Gold Medalist and the pride of the State of Maine, Seth Wescott, will be given a hero's welcome when he makes his first public appearance in the United States at Sugarloaf/USA on Saturday, Feb. 25.
The festivities begin at noon in front of the Sugarloaf Base Lodge and will offer fans the chance to hear from Seth and then ride a specially constructed snowboard cross course with him to learn more about the sport. "We all couldn't be at the Games, so Seth is bringing the games to us," said Bill Swain, Sugarloaf's communications manager. "This is something Seth could do where he could share his excitement with everyone in Maine."
The snowboard cross course will be built on The Landing which is a green circle trail that all skiers and riders can navigate. The run through the course will not be at high speed so anyone who wants can participate can do so. Following the runs through the snowboard cross course, Seth will talk about his Olympic experience and tell fans what it was like to win an Olympic gold medal. He will also answer questions from fans. "Seth wants this to be an interactive experience so fans can see the intricacies of snowboard cross because the more you understand the sport, the more you appreciate its appeal," Swain said.
Sugarloaf has printed a special commemorative poster that Seth will autograph for fans following the trip down the snowboard cross course.
The day's events conclude indoors with a special Bud Light Concert event with John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band. The concert is open to fans ages 21 and over and tickets are $10 at the door SugarLoaf

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FIS at Torino 2006 -
Snowboardcross (SBX) premiered in the Olympic program at Torino 2006 with Seth Wescott (USA) and Tanja Frieden (SUI) winning the first Olympic gold medals. In contrast to other Snowboard events, the special characteristic of SBX is a unique course design that must not only meet the technical requirements for vertical drop (100-240m), width (minimum of 30m) and slope (15-18°) with varied terrain but also must include various terrain features such as crescent shaped banks, various jumps, rollers and spines. The design and building of the SBX course at the Torino Olympic Winter Games 2006 was the task of Course Builder Jeff Ihaksi (CAN) and his assistants David Ny (SWE), himself a builder of halfpipes including the impressive pipe at the Games, and Andrea Matteoli (ITA).
“Compared to regular World Cup events, we had much more time to build the course here in Bardonecchia. Typically at the World Cup races, we have anywhere between three and nine days to build the course and here we had over two weeks,” commented Jeff Ihaksi. As opposed to the detailed guidelines for building the Snowboard half-pipes, there are no specific guidelines for SBX courses. Rather, the course is the result of the skill and know-how of the building team. “The critical ingredients of a good SBX course are the length of time we have to build it, the amount and characteristics of the snow available, and the slope and width of the course. Here in Bardonecchia we had sufficient time, snow and manpower. The run was a bit narrow which made the course somewhat banky and turny. However, by working with the organizers since the site inspection in November 2005, we were able to make some changes, such as trimming some trees, which allowed us to take advantage of the best avenues for width, eventually ending up with one of the longest SBX courses ever in terms of gliding length,” said Ihaksi and added: “But what really made the difference in this course was having David there, always paying attention to the little details that made this course absolutely perfect for SBX’s Olympic debut.”
FIS