MONDAY, JANUARY 08, 2007

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:ussa.org World Freestyle Champs Postponed PARK CITY, Utah (Jan. 8) - The 2007 FIS Freestyle World Ski Championships, set to begin in two weeks in Madonna di Campiglio, Italy, were postponed six weeks Monday because of the lingering snow drought and unseasonal warm temperatures in much of central Europe. U.S. officials said the delay will allow a longer selection period to choose athletes for the championships. In Europe, FIS officials and Worlds organizers announced new dates of March 8-11 in the Italian resort village. "Because so few events have been held so far, this will enable us to extend our selection window and provide an extra opportunity for athletes to qualify for the World Championships Team," U.S. Program Director Polly-Jo Clark said.

The World Cup tour resumes Thursday with three events schedule at Deer Valley Resort in Park City, UT, for moguls with aerials Friday night (qualifying during the day) and dual moguls Saturday night (qualifying also during the day) with the Chevrolet Freestyle International and then heads to Lake Placid, NY, for the Nature Valley Freestyle Challenge Jan. 18-20. Originally, the Worlds team was to have been named after the Lake Placid events.

Clark said she, Head Coach Jeff Wintersteen and staff would be finalizing details shortly on the selection period before the World Championships Team is chosen. "Worlds is major, and after losing those earlier events because of no snow, it's good the athletes have additional opportunities to qualify," she said. After three stops on the World Cup schedule this season, U.S. skiers have turned-in three top-3 results, including two victories. Ryan St. Onge (Steamboat Springs, CO) won the opening World Cup aerials event in China last month while Olympic medalist and former World Cup moguls champion Shannon Bahrke (Tahoe City, UT) won the first moguls event of the season Saturday at Mont Gabriel, Que., outside Montreal. In addition, former World Cup aerials champion Jeret "Speedy" Peterson (Boise, ID) was third Sunday in an aerials meet.

In addition to many lower-level cancellations, poor snow conditions eliminated two World Cup aerials contests over Labor Day Weekend in Australia and two moguls events at different sites last month in France plus skier cross and halfpipe events at two other venues. In addition, organizers in St. Moritz, Switzerland, already have canceled a World Cup aerials contest set for March 9. The last time a World Championships was affected came in 1995 when the Alpine World Ski Championships were postponed a year in Sierra Nevada, Spain, because of a lack of snow. The 1996 championships went off without problems; two future U.S. National Ski Hall of Fame members collected medals for the U.S. Ski Team as Picabo Street won gold in downhill and bronze in super G while Hilary Lindh was bronze medalist in the downhill.

http://www.ussa.org/

Sun Valley -

Honda Ski tour U.S. SKI AND SNOWBOARD ASSOCIATION (USSA) TO SANCTION THE HONDA SKI TOUR SKI CROSS SERIES; OFFICIALS TO OVERSEE RULES AND COURSE APPROVAL The Honda Ski Tour Launches Inaugural Event at Sun Valley, ID, JAN 11-15, 2007, attracting one of the strongest ski cross fields ever assembled

Sun Valley, ID, January 7, 2007—The U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association (USSA), the national governing body for Olympic skiing and snowboarding, will be officially calendaring The Honda Ski Tour (THST) 2007 as a sanctioned USSA ski cross event. USSA’s sanction requires the event to be run according to USSA rules, which mirror FIS International rules, under the direction of an approved competition jury and officials. THST is North America ’s new elite, four-stop mountain festival and skiing competition that features the world’s best halfpipe and ski cross skiers competing for $500,000. Tour stops are Sun Valley, ID, Breckenridge, CO, Aspen/Snowmass, CO, and Squaw Valley USA , CA.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) approved the addition of ski cross for the 2010 Winter Olympics, in a meeting in Kuwait City on Nov. 28. Snowboardcross made its first Olympic appearance at the 2006 Winter Games in Torino and drew big crowds and excellent television ratings. Ski cross has quickly become popular around the world and is gaining momentum. “The Ski Tour is a very high profile series in the newest Olympic event of ski cross and we applaud Tour organizers for taking steps to manage the series to international standards,” said USSA Chief Operating Officer Dick Coe. “It's important with such a high level series that it follows the same international standards as the World Cup, World Championships and ultimately the Olympics. That standard will be very important for elite athletes as the sport grows in popularity over the next few years.”

USSA sanctions and calendars over 3,000 U.S. competitions each season. Sanctioned events, including The Honda Ski Tour, are required to be run according to USSA rules, which mirror the FIS International Competition Rules (ICR), including homologation or approval of the courses to meet international standards. In addition, USSA will appoint a technical delegate to oversee the competition, as well as a competition jury and other key competition officials. Participating athletes must be current members of USSA. “We are thrilled by the USSA’s decision to sanction our ski cross events,” said THST President Steve Brown. “This essentially makes The Honda Ski Tour the proving ground for our future Olympic ski cross athletes. This is a great development for The Honda Ski Tour.”

Athletes confirmed for THST ski cross competition include X Games gold medalists Enak Gavaggio, Casey Puckett, Shaun Palmer, Lars Lewen, Zach Crist and two-time World Cup ski cross champion Tomas Kraus. Fresh from his World Cup retirement is World Champion and 13-time World Cup winner Daron Rahlves, who also has victories at the famed Hahnenkam at Kitzbuhel and the Lauberhorn in Wengen, making this one of the most impressive competitive ski cross fields ever assembled.

The Honda Ski Tour Schedule

Stop 1: January 11-15, Sun Valley , Idaho
Stop 2: February 1-4, Breckenridge , Colorado
Stop 3: February 22-25, Aspen , Colorado
Stop 4: March 8-11, Squaw Valley USA , California
For details contact Sun Valley Resort / Mountain Sports International

Squaw Valley- Got KT?
26 lifts are on the schedule for today with new lifts opening for the weekend. Don't miss out on Tahoe's best terrain and all the action at Squaw Valley USA. UPCOMING EVENTS Jan 13-19 - National Safety Awareness Week at Squaw DetailsJan 13-15 - Squaw Sessions Teen Freeride Camp DetailsJan 20 - 25th Anniversary Celebration of Hot Dog the Movie. Tickets on sale Jan. 10th..... Debbie Dutton a local favorite !

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