FREESTYLE:

World champs ski slopestyle set for Feb. 3 at Park City

Dec. 30, 2010 — U.S. Ski Team     ♦ Ski slopestyle is gunning for inclusion at Sochi 2014 (FIS) 

The fast-paced action sport of slopestyle skiing has been confirmed for the International Ski Federation's Freestyle World Ski Championships being hosted in February by Deer Valley and Park City Mountain Resorts. The slopestyle event, one of three new action sports events being considered for inclusion in the 2014 Olympic Winter Games, will be held at Park City Mountain Resort.

FIS Freestyle World Ski Championship’s organizers confirmed that slopestyle would be added to the schedule on Thursday, Feb. 3, with qualification runs taking place a day earlier. The event will be held on Park City Mountain Resort's King's Crown run, home of one of the resort's popular terrain parks. Park City Mountain Resort is also the site of the halfpipe competition, while moguls, dual moguls, aerials, as well as ski cross, will be held at Deer Valley Resort.

Slopestyle tests a skier's ability to handle a variety of terrain by executing freestyle maneuvers down a course. Each course is filled with features including rails, jibs, hips and a variety of jumps, allowing riders to combine big air and technical tricks into one run. Competitors are scored in an overall impression judging format on amplitude, execution, difficulty of line, landing and use of the course.

Slopestyle skiing, halfpipe skiing and slopestyle snowboarding, were given support for 2014 inclusion by the International Olympic Committee at its Executive Committee meeting in September. The final approval for these action sports to make it onto the Sochi, Russia, Olympic schedule will come following a review of the new sports taking place during World Championships competitions this season. IOC President Jacques Rogge is empowered to make the final call.

In November, the FIS Council voted to add slopestyle skiing and snowboarding to the respective World Championships beginning this season. Organizers for the FIS Snowboard World Championships in La Molina, Spain, recently confirmed adding slopestyle snowboarding to the schedule.

”Park City Mountain Resort is honored to play such a key role in support of slopestyle and halfpipe skiing as an addition to the 2014 Winter Games,” said Jenni Smith, Park City Mountain Resort president and general manager. “Our team is very passionate about the future of winter sports and incredibly qualified to create the best possible event for review by the IOC.”

Park City Mountain Resort has been a leader in winter action sports since the 2002 Winter Games. The resort has successfully hosted a number of international caliber halfpipe events as well as received numerous awards for the terrain parks built at the resort. The resort has continued to push the limits of winter action sports and is considered a training ground for some of the industry’s best freestyle skiers.

"The IOC has shown great foresight in aggressively pursuing inclusion of halfpipe skiing, plus slopestyle skiing and snowboarding, for the 2014 Games," said U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association President and CEO Bill Marolt, who is also on the FIS Council. "Terrain parks around the world are home for millions of young skiers who are already actively engaged in the sport, and it's fitting that it should be included in the Olympic Winter Games."

"With the rapid development of terrain parks, slopestyle has become a major skiing phenomenon globally," said FIS Freestyle Coordinator Joe Fitzgerald. "Slopestyle as a FIS event is a competitive expression of the grassroots level activity already under way. The inclusion of slopestyle in the program of the FIS Freestyle World Ski Championships, coming right on the heels of the highly successful slopestyle competitions at the FIS Freestyle Junior World Ski Championships in New Zealand this past August, is the perfect timing for formalizing this popular event format at the highest FIS level." S-Magazine

2011 FIS FREESTYLE WORLD SKI CHAMPIONSHIPS
Deer Valley Resort and Park City Mountain Resort

Wednesday, Feb. 2
Moguls Qualifications/Finals (Deer Valley – Champion)
Slopestyle Qualifications (Park City – King's Crown Terrain Park)
Opening Ceremony (Park City – Lower Main Street)

Thursday, Feb. 3
Slopestyle Finals (Park City – King's Crown Terrain Park)
Skicross Qualifications (Deer Valley – Solid Muldoon)
Aerials Qualifications (Deer Valley – White Owl)

Friday, Feb. 4
Halfpipe Qualifications (Park City – Eagle Superpipe)
Skicross Finals (Deer Valley – Solid Muldoon)
Aerials Finals (Deer Valley – White Owl)

Saturday, Feb. 5
Halfpipe Finals (Park City – Eagle Superpipe)
Dual Moguls Qualifications/Finals (Deer Valley – Champion)
Closing Ceremony (Deer Valley)