Copper Mountain, CO – With unseasonably warm weather in Colorado hampering snowmaking operations, combined with the training schedule for U.S. Ski Team athletes, the date for the team’s annual Nature Valley First Tracks celebration and team naming announcement, and the concurrent Putnam Investments NASTAR Pacesetting Trials have been pushed from November 6 to November 21 at Copper Mountain.

With the readiness of the U.S. Ski Team Speed Center at Copper now in doubt, the tech teams have found training opportunities in Europe and will remain there until after the first Audi FIS Ski World Cup slalom race in Levi, Finland the weekend of November 14.

The team’s #WhatMakesAChamp contest, in which the winner will receive a trip to Copper Mountain to race Ted Ligety at the Putnam Investments NASTAR Pacesetting Trials, will still end at the previously announced date of October 25. The prize, however, changes as such: The winner will receive a trip for three to Copper Mountain, round-trip tickets to Colorado, transportation and two nights lodging in Copper’s Center Village on November 20-22, three two-day lift tickets and an official U.S. Ski Team uniform and VIP swag bag.

As of now, Copper Mountain’s official date for the opening of the public ski season is still on for November 6.