Salt Lake City, UT – Utah will remain one of the nation’s leading states for winter action sports with an announcement of five major on-snow events leading up to the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia.
Utah Governor Gary R. Herbert, Utah Sports Commission President and CEO Jeff Robbins, and U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association (USSA) President and CEO Bill Marolt made the joint announcement on Friday at the Utah State Capitol that the USSA, the Olympic governing body for skiing and snowboarding in the U.S., will bring some of its most important World Cup and Sprint U.S. Grand Prix events to Utah’s Canyons Resort, Deer Valley Resort and Park City Mountain Resort over the next two winter seasons, including the official naming in January 2014 of the first ever U.S. Freeskiing Olympic Team. The events will have a mix of sanctions at the highest levels of the sport including FIS World Cup, Association of Freeskiing Professionals (AFP) Platinum level and TTR World Snowboard Tour Five Star level.
“This action sports series will provide an estimated $15 million in economic impact and $5 million in media value to Utah, and is a welcome extension of Utah’s success in continuing its Olympic legacy,” said Governor Herbert. “The event again underscores why Utah is ‘The State of Sport.'”
Global TV and digital broadcasts of the events will include NBC, NBC Sports, Universal Sports and others with a mix of live, taped and streaming coverage.
Friday’s announcement confirms that the Grand Prix will remain at Canyons Resort through 2013.
“There is no better way to showcase all of the investments we have made in our resort than by bringing the world’s top athletes – and America’s leading medal hopefuls – to Canyons,” said Mike Goar, Managing Director of Canyons Resort. “We look forward to another exciting, action-packed weekend of competition.”
“Utah’s resorts have become a hub for action sports, providing both a great atmosphere for Olympic level competitive events as well as a productive environment for long-term athlete training,” explained Marolt. “More and more of America’s top winter sports athletes are making our Utah-based Center of Excellence their training base. We’re proud to bring our Visa Freestyle International World Cup and Sprint U.S. Grand Prix events to our home state.”
One of those athletes is three-time X Games halfpipe skiing champion and two-time World Championship medalist Jen Hudak, who now bases her training efforts in Park City.
“Eight years ago I moved to Utah with the dream that I would one day be able to compete in the Olympics for my sport of halfpipe skiing – now that dream is becoming reality,” Hudak said. “The Olympic culture in Utah truly breeds success and serves as a constant inspiration for me to continue working hard. Winning a World Championship silver medal at Park City in 2011 was one step closer to fulfilling that dream. I look forward to having more events at home to prepare me for the big show in 2014.”
“Competing in Utah is home for me,” added two-time Olympic aerials skier Emily Cook, originally from Belmont, Mass. “From the world-class resorts to the unbelievable fans there’s really nothing else like it on the World Cup circuit. Utah also provides all the athletes with a best in the world training facility and an Olympic legacy that continues to flourish.”
UTAH WINTER ACTION SPORTS SERIES
2012-13 Season
- Dec. 21-22 – Park City Mountain Resort, Sprint U.S. Grand Prix (halfpipe skiing and snowboarding)
- Jan. 31-Feb. 2 – Deer Valley Resort, Visa Freestyle International (moguls, dual moguls and aerials)
- Mar. 1-3 – Canyons Resort, Sprint U.S. Grand Prix (skicross and snowboardcross)
2013-14 Season
- Jan. – Deer Valley Resort, Visa Freestyle International (freestyle moguls and aerials)
- Jan. – Park City Mountain Resort, Visa U.S. Freeskiing Grand Prix (halfpipe and slopestyle skiing)
- Jan. – Park City Mountain Resort (U.S. halfpipe skiing and slopestyle skiing Olympic Team Announcement)
- TBD – Canyons Resort, (U.S. skicross and snowboardcross Olympic Team Announcement)