Snow Alert - Vermont, Maine, Kitzbuhel - Austria , Val d'Isere - France

US Ski & Snowboard Team News
U.S. Freestyle Nearly Sweeps Rookie Honors Bahrke, Bowman-Kirigin and McPhie awarded
PARK CITY, Utah (March 19) - For the first time in history, three members of the U.S. Freestyle Ski Team have been named Rookie of the Year by the FIS, taking three out of four possible awards. Claiming the Crystal Cup trophies are Scotty Bahrke (Tahoe City, CA) for men's aerials, Jay Bowman-Kirigin (Salt Lake City) for men's moguls and Heather McPhie (Bozeman, MT) for women's moguls.

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AIROLO, Switzerland (March 19) - Jimmy Discoe (Ridgway, CO/Telluride Ski&Snowboard Club), who finished fourth Sunday in moguls, stepped onto the podium today with silver in dual moguls with 2007 World Cup Rookie of the Year Jay Bowman-Kirigin (Salt Lake City/Wasatch Freestyle/U.S. B Team) bronze as the 2007 FIS Freestyle Junior World Championships came to a close.
Americans garnered nine medals in Switzerland (six moguls, two halfpipe, one aerials) to capture the Holder Cup for the overall top nation.
"What a great weekend for the Team," said moguls Head Coach Scott Rawles, "they especially stepped it up today. Yesterday was a long day (in which the team took four medals), we didn't get back to the hotel until around 10 p.m. last night, so for the Team to do such a quick turn around to fire up for today was awesome."
Discoe, who was fourth Sunday behind older brother Joe in moguls, captured his first Junior Worlds medal, while Bowman-Kirigin rung up his career fourth, flipping his results from 2006 where he took silver in duals and bronze in moguls from Krasnoe Ozero, Russia.
"Jimmy is on the up-and-coming for sure, he's only 17 and has tons of potential and 'JBK's' results speak for themselves - he skied well at the World Championships and was named World Cup Rookie of the Year.
"As a moguls team we took six medals here and that just goes to show how much depth we have. This was a great week for the whole Team; all these skiers are super enthusiastic and that really shows up in what they're doing on the snow and that's so much fun to work with," said Rawles.
The entire Junior Worlds Team will head directly to Killington, VT for the Sprint U.S. Freestyle Championships, which open Thursday with halfpipe.

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NorAms: Kelley, Ludlow Sweep Final Races
PANORAMA, B.C. (March 17) - Libby Ludlow (Bellevue, WA) and Tim Kelley (Starksboro, VT) won the final NorAm races of the season Saturday as Ludlow captured a giant slalom by nearly nine-tenths of a second and Kelley won a slalom by nearly a half-second

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Baumgartner 2nd in World Cup Finals SBX Chythlook-Sifsof just off podium in 4th
STONEHAM, Quebec (March 17) - Newly crowned U.S. snowboardcross champion Nick Baumgartner (Iron River, MI) charged to his career first World Cup podium Saturday, finishing second in the final race of the season with fellow U.S. champ Callan Chythlook-Sifsof (Girdwood, AK) just off the podium in fourth.

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Bleiler Second at 25th US Open Halfpipe Goldschmidt wins best trick award

STRATTON MOUNTAIN, Vt. (March 17) - Olympic silver medalist Gretchen Bleiler (Aspen, CO) linked up a super technical run at the 25th US Open to finish second behind 2002 Olympic gold medalist Kelly Clark (Mount Snow, VT), while Shaun White (Carlsbad, CA), the Olympic gold medalist, unloaded a three-1080 run to win for the second straight season at Stratton. U.S. Snowboarding rider Mike Goldschmidt (Stratton Mountain, VT) stomped an air-to-fake grabbed stale at 15-feet out of the pipe to take home the best trick award
For complete details:
www.usskiteam.com

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Sugarloarf
The clouds have begun to roll in though, and forecasts are calling for us to get an inch or two of snow overnight. And we could see a squall tomorrow that will give us another inch.

Groomers will be out again tonight, tilling out the 14 inches of snow we got in Saturday's storm into super soft corduroy on 66 trails. The conditions are excellent, and you can still find powder stashes along the trees.

Lower Narrow Gauge and Lower Competition Hill will be closed to the public for the rest of the week as crews start to build the course and athletes arrive in preparation for Saturday's Champion's Cross Sugarloaf Open, hosted by Seth Wescott. The top 24 snowboard cross riders in the world will be here at Sugarloaf competing for more than $50,000 in prizes.

Bud Light Reggae Festival -
headliners this year are Jamaican superstar Barrington Levy and the No. 1 US-based reggae band John Brown's Body.

Champion’s Cross Sugarloaf Open hosted by Olympic gold medalist Seth Wescott is this weekend here at Sugarloaf/USA. We have 24 of the world’s best snowboard cross athletes competing for $50,000 in cash and prizes. The schedule of events for Friday and Saturday is as follows:
Friday, Mar. 23
10 am – 2 pm Time Trials Comp Hill

Saturday, Mar. 24
10 am – 12 pm Warm Up Comp Hill
12 pm -2 pm Competition Comp Hill
4:30 pm – 5 pm Awards ceremony The Beach
5 pm – 6:30 pm Autograph session The Beach
More details on this and all our events at br> www.sugarloaf.com


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Whistler- Blackcomb
Overnight 11 cm
base 301 cm

Today..Snow Heavy At Times. Alpine Temperature Steady Near Minus 3. Snowfall Accumulation 15 To 20 Cm. Freezing Level 1500 Metres. Tonight..Flurries Heavy At Times. Alpine Low Minus 7. Snowfall Accumulation 10 To 15 Cm. Freezing Level 1200 Metres Lowering To Valley Bottom Overnight.
....don't miss Harmony or Big Bang !
New High Speed Lift Provides Access to Symphony Amphitheatre, one of the Most Spectacular High Alpine Areas Available in North America Whistler Blackcomb announced that the new lift-accessed area in the high alpine of Whistler Mountain will be crowned the Symphony Amphitheatre to reflect its spectacular natural amphitheatre-like terrain. The area will be accessed by the newly named Symphony Express.
The Symphony Amphitheatre brings to the fore one of Whistler Mountain's favorite in-bounds backcountry experiences. Long referred to by locals as the Musical Bumps, Piccolo, Symphony and Flute Bowls are the encore to Whistler's Harmony Bowl, but until now have been reserved for those willing to hike for their turns. This winter, the Symphony Express will provide access to over 1,000 acres of this intermediate and advanced terrain.



Over 8,100 skiable acres. One vertical mile. Two mountains connected by a pedestrian Village. More than 200 trails. Three glaciers. 38 lifts. Twelve alpine bowls.

Coming up in March...
22-28 Pontiac GMC Canadian Alpine Ski Championships
24/25 Atomic Ski & Snowboard Cross Event - qualifying Saturday and finals Sunday

www.whistlerblackcomb.com/


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Banff Center
Music and Sound Winter Concert Series This concert series wraps up next week on March 23.

Concert Night Out: Banff Centre musicians present a dynamic concert featuring a range of music from classical favourites to the works of modern composers. This last week's concerts include:
March 16 - Bach Extravaganza with Daniel Phillips, violin, and Tara Helen O'Connor, flute

March 23 –resident musicians play Beethoven, Crumb, and Bach

Music at Noon:
Enjoy a variety of musical styles from classical to contemporary in next week’s final Wednesday noon-hour concert.
Canmore Sundays:
Sunday March 18 at 2:30 p.m., enjoy a spectacular concert of beautiful chamber music, performed by an incredible cast of international musicians.

www.banffcentre.ca/


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Ski New Hampshire tourism
12"+ of snow in much of New Hampshire. The storm does look tricky, with a chance of it switching over to sleet and/or rain in some areas. The timing could make for some difficult travel, so please take your time. I'm sure many of you are already planning to leave work early today. As far as NH ski country goes, it sounds like it will be starting this afternoon/evening here and continuing until tomorrow afternoon.
We've just enjoyed our first few days of spring skiing, and now it looks like this storm should refresh us back to mid-winter conditions! That means the glades and natural snow trails will reopen, so you should see increased trail counts as the weekend progresses.
March is a great time to hit the slopes. There's the deep snowpack of a season's worth of snowmaking and snowstorms, combined with the warming sun that gives us goggle tans and makes it feel so good to be outside. We've made it easy to plan your trip with the Ski NH Spring Getaway Guide. It features ski and stay packages, lift tickets savings, news on spring events, snow conditions and this week's on slope video.
www.skinh.com

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www.vallenevado.com/
Time to plan for the other winter!


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Heavenly Valley
It is a "Kids Ski Free" promotion. For anyone who books a package with our Heavenly Tahoe Vacations department for the remainder of the season. Everyday an adult skis kids 12 or younger will ski or ride for free! A package is defined as a minimum of lodging and lift ticket. This special is not bookable online, one must phone 1-800-HEAVENLY. www.skiheavenly.com.

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My weekend, Bluebird weather for skiing St Patricks day BBQ with friends
Granite Chief