Copper Mountain, CO – Many of the world’s best freeskiers, snowboarders and Olympic hopefuls from across the globe are set to battle it out at Copper Mountain in the 2013 Sprint U.S. Grand Prix, Jan. 7-13.
Athletes will be competing in both halfpipe and slopestyle events in the recently elevated FIS World Cup competition. Points earned at the World Cup determine eligibility to compete at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. The Sprint U.S. Grand Prix will be a 5Star World Snowboard Tour event and the Visa U.S. Grand Prix will be an Association of Freeskiing Professionals (AFP) Platinum level event. Top competitors including U.S. Freeskiing and U.S. Snowboarding athletes Louie Vito, Tom Wallisch and Kelly Clark, are all set to compete in Copper’s 22-foot Main Vein Superpipe and on the World Cup Slopestyle course in the Woodward Central terrain park.
The competition action kicks next Wednesday, Jan. 9 at 8:30 a.m. with freeski halfpipe and snowboard slopestyle qualifiers and continues through the weekend with finals on Friday and Saturday, Jan 11 – 12. Guests can become a part of the action with walking access to the Main Vein Superpipe from Center Village or skiing access via Main Vein trail. Be right in the action in the new Central Park Lounge spectator viewing area located at the top of the slopestyle course complete with beverage service, accessible for skiing guests via Loverly trail off of the Union Peak Quad chairlift.
The party continues into the night and throughout the weekend when Copper Mountain’s Center Village comes to life. On Friday at 7:30 p.m. in the Copper Mountain Conference Center, Taylor Guitars presents a free showing of Waiting for Lightning, a film that documents the life of the iconic skateboarder and visionary, Danny Way. Stick around after finals on Saturday as the Chicago-based duo Wild Belle takes the stage for a free concert in Jack’s Slopeside Grill at 6:30 p.m. for the U.S. Grand Prix closing concert. An up-and-coming rock/folk musical duo, Wild Belle was recently featured on Late Night with Conan O’Brien making their television debut.
Burning Stones Plaza in Center Village transforms into Grand Prix Vendor Village on Friday and Saturday from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. with Chipotle, Nature Valley, Paul Mitchell and many others handing out free samples.