Aspen Mountain interested in hosting 2004 World Cup races

Aspen Mountain interested in hosting 2004 World Cup races{mosimage}Since Utah’s Park City Mountain Resort announced earlier this winter that it wouldn’t be hosting the “America’s Opening” World Cup races in the future, the U.S. Ski Team has been fielding inquiries from other mountains about the possibility of taking on the events.

“I get calls every week from a new site,” says Annette Royle, USSA’s VP for events. “The interest in alpine World Cup is healthy. Our hope is that by the end of March we’ll be able to have a plan for next November and December.”

One of the sites considering a seat at the World Cup table is Aspen, Colorado. “I don’t think it’s a secret that we’ve been talking to them,” said Royle. “They’ve always been supportive.” The resort has hosted 50 races over the history of the World Cup (52 if one counts the notorious 1993 and 1995 races, both of which American AJ Kitt appeared ready to win when weather rolled in and forced mid-race cancellations). The first FIS race ever run in North America was at Aspen during the 1951-1952 season.

Aspen has proposed hosting four events over the Thanksgiving weekend, including races for both men and women. They want to be regulars on the World Cup schedule, and they prefer to host technical events. “With slalom and GS the risk is lower because you need less snowmaking and lead time,” says Aspen Skiing Co. senior vice president David Perry. “And if you host four events instead of two, it’s not twice as expensive. It’s probably more like one and a half times as expensive.”

Perry, who negotiated with ESPN to get Aspen the rights to the Winter X Games, has a long history of acquiring and hosting alpine World Cups, having orchestrated agreements between Alpine Canada and Whistler when that mountain held World Cup races.

“Once we finalize the calendar at the FIS meetings this spring, we’ll be able to calendar from the top down,” says Royle. “We try to have our NorAms ride the coattails of the World Cup. Having Park City pull back was a disappointment, but it’s given us an opportunity to move the whole World Cup around.”

Bill Marolt, USSA’s president and CEO, flew to Switzerland during the week before World Cup Finals to meet with FIS officials and discuss ways to shape the calendar for 2004-05. Lake Louise [Alberta] is scheduled to host men’s speed events over Thanksgiving weekend.

Last year, Aspen and USSA couldn’t find a way to finance the women’s World Cup speed races scheduled there, and the races were dropped from the schedule. USSA “gave back” the week to the FIS, and Aspen resolved to find a way to host races in the future.