By Stacey Reed
Some of the best skiers in the world will meet at Snowbird this weekend (Jan. 25 – Feb. 26) to tackle the mountain and compete for more than $25,000.
Skiers from 14 different states and eight countries will gather at the Salt Lake County ski resort to compete at the Subaru US Freeskiing Nationals.
It”s the second stop of the three-event International Free Skiers Association World Tour.
The Snowbird competition consists of the skiercross event, which will qualify athletes for the 2004 X Games, and the big mountain freeskiing event.
The freeskiing event, scheduled for Jan. 25 and 26, features 120 of the best freeskiing athletes in the world, including some Utah competitors.
“They are amazingly talented athletes who just happen to have no fear as well,” said Dave Fields, director of public relations at Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort.
Unlike ski racing, freeskiing allows competitors to choose their own course down the mountain, while combining incredible tricks, flips, and speed, said Lhotse Merriam, communications director at Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort.
“Most choose the most difficult line,” she said.
The freeskiing event challenges the athletes to use the mountain”s features to their advantage, Merriam said.
“The athletes need to combine big air with solid technical skiing,” Fields said.
Fields said spectators and participants gather at the Baldy Flats to watch incredible skiers do death-defying tricks and jumps off of huge cliffs.
The competition is judged on five categories: difficulty of course, control, smoothness, technique and aggression.
Snowbird”s terrain has a lot of space and a great finishing area with an especially great view for the spectators, Fields said.
“It”s a slope that can be seen at nearly a thousand vertical feet from below,” Fields said. “The spectators and the judges can see the whole run.”
Last years” champions, Jamie Burge of Northstar, Calif., and Guerlain Chicherit of Tignes, France, will be coming to defend their titles, along with Utah favorite Rick Greener, who placed fifth in the Tour”s first event in Whistler, Canada.
Another Utahn, Linda Peterson, will not be competing because she”s recovering from an injury, Fields said.
For the last six years, Snowbird has hosted the Freeskiing Nationals part of the tour.
However, Utah”s snow conditions haven”t been very generous lately, so the audience may be watching some dangerous feats.
“When they take air and land, they will really need to check their speed; it”s faster and pretty challenging conditions,” Merriam said. “It”s a lot harder to land on concrete than a padded pillow.”
The winner of each event will receive $10,000, Merriam said.
The event will be broadcast on Outdoor Life later this winter.
