Winter Park, CO – Hundreds of athletes from U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association club programs from across the nation have converged on Winter Park Resort in Colorado to challenge the America’s top skiers, including Olympic gold medalists Lindsey Vonn, Ted Ligety and Julia Mancuso for national titles at the Nature Valley U.S. Alpine Championships that get underway on Wednesday.

Sunshine is predicted throughout the week as slalom, giant slalom, super G and a traditional combined are contested on the resort’s Lower Hughes race arena with prize money awarded to the top three finishers each day. The U.S. Downhill Championships were held in February in Aspen, Colo. Mancuso, who will race super G and giant slalom, holds a record 13 U.S. Championship titles.

“U.S. Championships is always such a great time,” says Mancuso, of Squaw Valley, Calif.  “The weather is usually pretty warm and it’s great to see all the young racers from across the country. I remember being one of those racers and I was always so fired up to come out and race against the best.”

Bend, Ore.’s Tommy Fordis the defending super G, giant slalom and combined champion.

“For some reason I always race well at U.S. Championships,” he said. “It’s the end of the season for most of us and everyone is usually pretty tired, but I still go hard. A lot of the time, the conditions are soft and pretty challenging and that’s when I seem to ski my best.”

At the end of the championships the top point scoring region is awarded the Tom Garner Memorial Trophy. The Western Region is the defending champion.

U.S. ALPINE CHAMPIONSHIPS SCHEDULE
Wednesday, March 28 – women’s slalom
Thursday, March 29 – men’s slalom
Friday, March 30 – men’s and women’s super G
Saturday, March 31 – women’s giant slalom
Sunday, April 1 – men’s giant slalom