Snowbird, UT – While chasing snow across the globe, both moguls and aerials teams, including Heather McPhie, Bryon Wilson and Dylan Ferguson discovered the best snow right in their backyard. Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort and the Utah Olympic Park (UOP) have been hosting the U.S. Freestyle Team for some of their final pre-season training.
“We are very fortunate to have partners like the Utah Olympic Park, Snowbird and Winter Park (Colo.),” explained U.S. Freestyle Program Director, Todd Schirman. “Conditions have been challenging and all three sites were very accommodating and creative to support the Team in their training efforts. The Utah Olympic Park has been outstanding in meeting the needs of the Moguls and Aerials Teams, this has allowed the coaches and athletes to collaborate their knowledge while taking full advantage of the Center of Excellence,” the U.S. Ski Team’s dry land training center in Park City.
![The U.S. Ski Team aerials squad trains at Utah Olympic Park (file photo: FTO/Marc Guido) The U.S. Ski Team aerials squad trains at Utah Olympic Park (file photo: FTO/Marc Guido)](http://www.firsttracksonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/IMG_1380-300x225.jpg)
It’s a rare opportunity to have both teams training at the same site but with world-class venues in their own back yard in Utah, it was a no-brainer. The moguls team took advantage of their access to Snowbird before meeting up with the aerials crew at the UOP. The UOP was able to rebuild the aerials single, the double and the moguls site all in one day for the teams to use. World Cup podium finishers including Heather McPhie (Bozeman, Mont.), Dylan Ferguson (Amesbury, Mass.), Emily Cook (Belmont, Mass.) and Eliza Outtrim (Hamden, Conn.) are all participating in the camp.
“UOP training has been great so far. It is awesome that the UOP is so helpful in getting the site up and running,” said Ferguson. “This is an awesome opportunity to see some improvements from the young development athletes. Right now we have the mogul and aerial teams training at the UOP and to say the least the both teams are killing it!”
The World Cup season kicks off in Ruka, Finland on Dec. 15 and moves to the U.S. on Jan. 19-21 for the USANA U.S. Freestyle Cup in Lake Placid, N.Y., followed by the Visa Freestyle International Feb. 2-4 in Deer Valley, Utah.