Olympic dreams will be made and broken during the 2010 U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix as the tour makes three stops in its 14th season. A total of five Olympic qualifications will take place at Copper Mountain, Mammoth Mountain and the final stop at Park City Mountain Resort. The announcement of the 2010 Olympic halfpipe team will be made right here at PCMR!
The competition will heat up as Olympic gold medalists Kelly Clark, Hannah Teter and Shawn White, along with fellow Olympic medalists Gretchen Bleiler, JJ Thomas and Danny Kass all look for another shot at Olympic glory. Joining them in the hunt will be Grand Prix overall champions Steve Fisher and Louie Vito as well as Grand Prix podium performers Ellery Hollingsworth, Clair Bidez, Greg Bretz and Olympian Elena Hight.
NBC, the Olympic network, and Versus will broadcast the competition. Go211.com will webcast the Grand Prix live from each stop.
Park City's Historic Pipe Rides Again
The historic pipe where U.S. athletes swept the men's podium and won gold in the women's event during the Salt Lake City Olympics in 2002 will entertain the masses with Olympians again. The Grand Prix makes its final stop at Park City Mountain Resort for back to back night competitions, after which the winners will be crowned and the 2010 Olympic halfpipe team will be named.
Among the athletes stoked to hit the Park City pipe is White who, after having dinner wiht PCMR owner John Cumming, took to his Twitter page to spread the good news.
"Had dinner with John Cumming," White wrote. "Super nice guy, he told me Park City is having Olympic qualis mid Jan! booyeah!"
A reduced field comprised of the highest scoring athletes from previous tour stops will throw down the best tricks in their bag in an attempt to be one of the few named to the Olympic halfpipe team when the event is over.
"It's the perfect place to close the story of the Olympic team selection," said USSA Vice President of Events Calum Clark. "The pipe has the tradition of being one of the best in North America. They put a tremendous amount of pride and energy into their venue. They are very excited to have this here."
Clark is right! We are very excited to host this historic event. NBC, the Olympic network, and Versus will broadcast the competitions. Go211.com will webcast the Grand Prix live from each stop. We'll have more details in the coming months. Fortunately, January is still a few months away!
