Skicross is a hot topic at USSA Partners Summit

PARK CITY, Utah — The United States’ first Olympic skicross team likely will have a decidedly alpine flair, at least in terms of the history of the athletes competing.
    Former U.S. alpine team members Casey Puckett, Daron Rahlves and Jakub Fiala — all of whom raced on the toughest downhill courses on the World Cup — have met the objective criteria set by USSA for inclusion on the skicross team for the 2010 Games, according to U.S. skicross team head coach Tyler Shepherd. Puckett, who retired from the alpine team in 2002, joined Shepherd at the annual USSA Partners Summit last week to talk about the progress of the team.
    “I could never have imagined that a sport that was basically invented in ’96 or ’97, even though its roots go back a lot longer than that, would have made the Olympics that quickly. It’s a grand opportunity for myself to go for a fifth Olympics,” Puckett said. “I’ve sort of re-invented myself as a skiercross athlete and have the opportunity to go for the gold.”
PARK CITY, Utah — The United States’ first Olympic skicross team likely will have a decidedly alpine flair, at least in terms of the history of the athletes competing.
    Former U.S. alpine team members Casey Puckett, Daron Rahlves and Jakub Fiala — all of whom raced on the toughest downhill courses on the World Cup — have met the objective criteria set by USSA for inclusion on the skicross team for the 2010 Games, according to U.S. skicross team head coach Tyler Shepherd. Puckett, who retired from the alpine team in 2002, joined Shepherd at the annual USSA Partners Summit last week to talk about the progress of the team.
    “I could never have imagined that a sport that was basically invented in ’96 or ’97, even though its roots go back a lot longer than that, would have made the Olympics that quickly. It’s a grand opportunity for myself to go for a fifth Olympics,” Puckett said. “I’ve sort of re-invented myself as a skiercross athlete and have the opportunity to go for the gold.”
    Puckett spoke on the lure and adrenaline rush of skicross, recalling that he was “hooked” on the sport after his first run down the twisty, turn-filled course that features bumps, rollers, whoop-de-dos and more. Four skiers race at a time, jousting for position with plenty of bumping and bruising going on.
    “There’s the start and then there’s the skiing,” Puckett said, noting the two distinct aspects to every skicross run. “When you get in the gate, you get the feeling of what these horses feel when they step into the starting gate. People next to you are snorting; each athlete has a different way of getting riled up at the start.”
    Puckett competed in four Olympics as an alpine racer, and he’ll be 37 years old if and when he makes his fifth as a skicross athlete in 2010. Think Puckett’s over the hill? Shepherd says think again.
    “I field a lot of questions from young athletes, and some of them come in with a lot of egos and don’t really understand some of these guys’ history, even the Europeans,” Shepherd said of Puckett, Rahlves and Fiala. “So [these young guys] come in thinking it’s going to be no problem and our guys blow them out of the water. [Skicross] is a learning curve.”
    Puckett said he has a grueling competition schedule planned for next season, with as many as 13 races that includes FIS skicross events, the Jeep King of the Mountain series and the X Games.
    Regarding the qualification process for the 2010 Olympic skicross team, Shepherd said USSA has not determined which events will serve as qualifiers. Some qualifying standards were determined at the recent FIS Freestyle Committee meeting. In order to qualify for the Olympics, athletes will need to compete in FIS World Cup events or the World Championships and place in the top 30. A total of 70 quota spots will be available for the 2010 Olympic skicross competitions, 35 for men and 35 for women. Last season, 49 women and 60 men from 20 different national federations scored skicross World Cup points awarded to the top 30 in each competition.

USSA media coverage
Coverage of USSA athletes will be available through a wide range of media this coming season. More than 30 hours of network television coverage is scheduled, including 10 hours on NBC. USSA also renewed its deal with the Versus network for the next two years, and NBC Sports and the World Championships Sports Network (WCSN) have joined forces to create Universal Sports and universalsports.com. WCSN, which offered live-streamed World Cup alpine coverage among other winter sports offerings on the web last season, will be renamed Universal Sports before the 2008 Summer Olympics. The former WCSN will help bolster NBC Universal’s online content, while NBC will bump up WCSN’s television reach through Universal Sports. Universal Sports currently is available on cable television networks in New York, Connecticut, Los Angeles and Reno, with more coming soon, according to WCSN President Carlos Silva, who gave a presentation on the new Universal Sports platform at the Partners Summit.

USSA events update
USSA Vice President of Events Calum Clark briefed the crowd assembled at Partners on next season’s competition schedule and spoke briefly on the 2010 Olympic venues at Whistler and Vancouver. A highlight of next season’s freestyle calendar is the first World Cup skicross event in the eastern U.S. when Lake Placid hosts Jan. 18-19. Last season, Deer Valley hosted the first-ever World Cup skicross event in the United States.
    Clark also mentioned a few details of the 2010 Olympic competition schedule. (click here for a link to the complete schedule ). A couple of night finals are currently planned for both men’s freestyle moguls on Sunday, Feb. 14, and men’s freestyle aerials on Thursday, Feb. 25.
    Finally, next season’s U.S. championships slate is nearly wrapped up, with the March 27-29 freestyle nationals the only event without a venue as of now. The cross-country national championships are set for Jan. 4-8 in Anchorage, and the alpine championships are scheduled for March 27-31 in Alyeska.

USSA Partner Awards presented
The annual USSA Partner Awards were handed out last week at the annual summit. Here is a list of the winners:

Promotion of the Year: Chevy Trucks
Best Ad Featuring USSA: John Paul Mitchell (environmental with Lindsey Jacobellis)
Activator of the Year: Delta (first year sponsor)
Fan Base Marketing of the Year: Avis
Best Use of Logos: High Sierra
Best Global Promotion: Audi