Bend, OR – Oregon’s Mt. Bachelor ski resort has signed Sammy Carlson, one of the biggest names in freeskiing, to its team of sponsored athletes, and in so doing has launched a new invitational big air contest set for May.

Carlson, an Oregon native from outside of Portland who turned pro at the age of 15, will train at Mt. Bachelor for the future competitive circuit which includes the Winter Dew Tour and X Games events. Carlson is also tipped as a top contender for the newly added slopestyle event at the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia.

One of the most successful freeskiers in history, Carlson’s accolades include the slopestyle gold medal in last winter’s X Games event, as well as the first skier to land a switch triple rodeo 1260. Previous honors include silver medals in the 2007 and 2009 X Games slopestyle, a first place finish at Freestyle.ch, second at Freestyle Berlin and third at King of Style in 2011.

Carlson, 22, has been skiing at Mt. Bachelor the past several seasons for early season training as well as spring film shoots with Poor Boyz Productions.  Over the past season he set up a home base in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada, but Carlson says that he’s now looking forward to his new relationship with the Oregon resort.

“It’s great to be working with Mt. Bachelor. I have been skiing there since I was a kid,” Carlson said. “I have some new ideas for the SCI this year,” he added, referencing the newly formed competition, “and they are working with me to pull them off.”

The Sammy Carlson Invitational (SCI) is scheduled to take place at Mt. Bachelor on Saturday, May 19th. The SCI will be a premiere big air event, organizers say, bringing some of the best skiers on the globe to compete at Mt. Bachelor for a $20,000 cash purse.