Industry News
US Ski & Snowboard, the Olympic National Governing Body (NGB) of ski and snowboard sports in the USA, has announced today that Deer Valley Resort, UT will serve as an Official Training Site for American freestyle ski athletes through 2022. The agreement will see U.S. Ski & Snowboard athletes training on Deer Valley’s world-class moguls and aerial sites through the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing, China, reports Snow Industry News.
“Deer Valley’s Champion run is known as the premier run of the Freestyle World Cup,” said Luke Bodensteiner, Chief of Sport for U.S. Ski & Snowboard. “To have it available to our team for training throughout the season affords us world-class on-snow preparation nearby our Center of Excellence and the Utah Olympic Park, rounding out the best training situation that we could imagine. Deer Valley’s world-class snow and terrain is a huge asset for our team, and they’re fully committed to supporting our vision of being best in the world.”
Deer Valley is the annual preeminent stop on the FIS Freestyle World Cup circuit and has been hosting aerials and moguls events since 1999, including the 2002 Olympic Winter Games. Freestyle skiing runs through Deer Valley’s history. The late Stein Eriksen, known as the “Father of Freestyle,” served as the resort’s Director of Skiing for more than 35 years and the resort has been an official training site for the U.S. Freestyle Ski Team since 2013. Most recently Deer Valley played host to the 2019 Aerials and Moguls disciplines during the FIS Snowboard-Freestyle-Freeski World Champs event during which three Americans podiumed at dual moguls on the final evening to a hometown crowd of over seven thousand screaming fans.
As part of the agreement, the U.S. Moguls team will train on Champion ski run in season (December to April annually). The Champion course is a champion-maker. Renowned as the longest and steepest moguls course on the World Cup circuit, athletes who podium on it are likely to be the athletes on Olympic podiums. U.S. athletes will have exclusive access to full-length mogul lanes, including top and bottom jumps. Deer Valley will provide snowcat time for two course builds per season (excluding the World Cup build) and lift and/or snowmobile access along training lanes. If available, the White Owl ski run aerial site will also serve as a training opportunity for U.S. aerial athletes.
“Deer Valley’s long-standing commitment to freestyle competition isn’t only about hosting elite international competitions,” said Resort President and COO Todd Shallan. “We are honored to continue our relationship with U.S. Ski & Snowboard as an official training site for their mogul and aerial athletes as they continue their quest for Olympic Gold in 2022.”
