Snowbowl (Missoula) To Host U.S. Freestyle Ski Championships March 17 To March 23

2003-03-21 08:00:00
Snowbowl Ski Resort, Missoula , MT

The country’s best mogul and aerial freestyle skiers will be in Missoula next month for the 2003 Chevy Truck U.S. Freestyle Ski Championships at Montana Snowbowl ski resort.

By DARYL GADBOW of the Missoulian

The championships were scheduled to be held at Bogus Basin Mountain near Boise, Idaho, according to Snowbowl owner Brad Morris. But the Idaho ski area’s freestyle course was damaged by recent rains, he said, so organizers moved the event to Snowbowl.

"The main difference is that our course is all man-made snow," said Morris. "They don’t have man-made snow at Bogus where their course is. And they’ve had a bunch of rain there lately. They figured they’d need quite a bit of snow. For freestyle, you need 3 to 4 feet of snow to produce moguls. It’s the same with an aerial site. It needs quite a bit of snow for the landings and takeoffs. And it has to be pretty solid snow."

Bogus Basin hosted the 2002 championships on the heels of the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.

Coincidentally, Morris said, Snowbowl constructed a world-class aerial freestyle jump site last spring with the help of Eric Bergoust, the 1998 Olympic aerial freestyle gold medalist from Missoula. Bergoust grew up skiing at Snowbowl.

Bergoust is scheduled to be in Missoula for the U.S. Championships from March 17 to March 23 along with the rest of the U.S. Freestyle Ski Team.

"Being associated with Eric gives us quite a bit of credibility for our aerial site," Morris said. Bergoust trained at Snowbowl during the Christmas holidays, he added.

"We are very excited about the opportunity to bring the championships to the home of one of our sport’s greatest heroes," said Annette Royle, U.S. Ski Association vice president of events. "In our sports, we sometimes face the need to move based on Mother Nature. It’s always helpful for us to find an area as enthusiastic as Montana Snowbowl."

Snowbowl’s aerial jump site has also gained credibility from the success of the highly respected Missoula Freestyle Ski Team that practices on it, according to Morris.

Andy Hayes, an International Ski Federation technical delegate who organizes world competitions, was instrumental in bringing the jump to Snowbowl, said Morris. Hayes is a longtime friend of Bergoust and Joe Chalmers, head of the Missoula Freestyle Team.

The U.S. Freestyle Championships will consist of three events for men and women – moguls, inverted aerials and dual moguls. The mogul competition will be held March 21, the inverted aerials on March 22, and dual moguls on March 23.

ESPN television network is planning to film two programs on the championships, according to the organizers, which will be televised a week later. A one-hour program will combine the mogul and aerial competition, and a half-hour program will be produced on the dual moguls.

"One of the great things about it being here," said Morris, "is that all the events are at the base of the area. So they’ll be easy for people to see right from the lodge."

Morris said organizers told him to expect 120 to 150 competitors, including the 50 members of the U.S. Ski Team, and 70 to 100 other invited top-level skiers.

Besides Bergoust, some of the other top U.S. skiers entered in the championships are Joe Pack, 2002 Olympic aerial silver medalist; Shannon Bahrke, 2002 Olympic moguls silver medalist and 2003 World Cup medalist; Travis Mayer, 2002 Olympic moguls silver medalist and 2003 World Cup medalist; and Jeremy Bloom, 2002 and 2003 World Cup mogul champion.

Bloom also has gained fame as a football player for the University of Colorado.

A VIP reception for the sponsors, officials and the U.S. Ski Team is scheduled on Friday, March 21. A poster-signing party, in which members of the team will sign posters for the public, is also planned that day. The location of the reception hasn’t been chosen yet, according to Morris.

An athlete fun night for the competitors will be held on Wednesday, March 19. Anyone who would like to help with those events should call Mike Dickey of the Missoula Chamber of Commerce at 543-6623.

Reporter Daryl Gadbow can be reached at 523-5264 or at [email protected].

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