World Cup Snowboarding Returns to NY
Lake Placid, NY - The Olympic Village will turn up the volume on the U.S. Snowboarding calendar March 1 and 3, 2008 as Whiteface will host World Cup snowboarding for the fourth consecutive season. Located in nearby Wilmington, the 1980 Olympic mountain will open the weekend with snowboardcross for the third straight year, while parallel giant slalom returns after a one-year hiatus.
Historically, U.S. riders have produced 16 podiums at Whiteface, including eight wins. Back-to-back SBX world champion Lindsey Jacobellis (Stratton Mountain, VT) remains undefeated in Lake Placid and clinched the 2007 World Cup SBX title with two straight wins at Whiteface last winter. U.S. women have landed on the PGS podium three times in the last two trips to the Olympic region.
Home to the largest vertical east of the Rockies with 3,430 feet and managed by New York's Olympic Regional Development Authority (ORDA), the terrain at Whiteface is a perfect fit for the speed and features of SBX and PGS.
Over $5 million in improvements have been pumped into the mountain in the last two years and a trail expansion on Lookout Mountain (Tree Island Pod) is expected to begin construction this summer. Whiteface will add three expert runs and one long intermediate trail to open in time for the 2008-09 season. It will total 4.5 miles and will increase the current 18 available miles of skiing and riding to 22.5 miles.
"ORDA has proven its commitment to elite snowboarding competitions by running outstanding events," said Vice President of Events Calum Clark. "Each year its professional team has gone above and beyond to surpass the impressive benchmark set the year before."
As part of pushing snowboarding progression, Lake Placid has hosted an annual downtown exhibition featuring a quarterpipe jam session complete with music and plenty of opportunities for fans to interact with the riders. In the first two seasons, the massive quarterpipe was built at the Olympic Speedskating Oval with riders propelled by snowmobile tow-in. In 2007, the event moved to the Olympic Jumping complex and the quarterpipe was built at the base of the ski jumps.
At the event, U.S. Snowboarding Rookie Ellery Hollingsworth (Stratton, VT) stoked out the crowd by stomping the first backside 900 on a quarterpipe in women's snowboarding history. Another exhibition event is planned for '08.
"ORDA is very excited to, once again, host World Cup snowboarding at Whiteface," said Jim Goff, ORDA's director of events. "We enjoy our partnership with the U.S. Snowboarding and appreciate the fact that they bring not only world-class events and athletes to our venue, but staff members that work seamlessly with their ORDA counterparts. We will continue to provide the best in competition sites and services, and look forward to another joint venture that will make both organizations very proud."
Lake Placid World Cup Schedule:
Saturday, March 1 - Snowboardcross Finals
Monday, March 3 - Parallel Giant Slalom Finals
Lindsey Jacobellis on the podium at Whiteface in March of 2005
Thursday, June 14th 2007 @ 08:18 AM.
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