PARK CITY, UT (Jan. 24) – The Sprint U.S. Grand Prix returns to Park City Mountain Resort Jan. 28 – Feb. 2 with halfpipe snowboarding and freeskiing featuring 2002 Olympic gold medalist Kelly Clark (West Dover, VT), defending freeskiing champion Maddie Bowman (South Lake Tahoe, CA), and four-time Grand Prix champion Louie Vito (Sandy, UT). Now in a record 17th season, the event opens with the Paul Mitchell Progression Session Big Air contest, followed by the Sprint U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix halfpipe and Visa U.S. Freeskiing Grand Prix halfpipe finals. The weekend will be televised on NBC and the NBC Sports Network, plus live coverage of halfpipe finals for freeskiing and snowboarding on the USSA Network.
HIGHLIGHTS
- The Sprint U.S. Grand Prix tour heads to Park City Mountain Resort Jan. 28- Feb. 1 with the second stop of the Sprint U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix and Visa U.S. Freeskiing Grand Prix halfpipe.
- The event is part of an action-packed weekend in Park City Sprint U.S. Grand Prix events during the daytime and night events for the Visa Freestyle International at neighboring Deer Valley Resort.
- Both are FIS World Cup events and will count towards qualification for the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia.
- The Sprint U.S. Grand Prix is a 5Star World Snowboard event and the Visa U.S. Freeskiing Grand Prix is a Platinum AFP event.
- The Association of Freeskiing Professionals (AFP) unites independent events to create freesking’s most accurate ranking list the AFP world ranking list, that culminates in crowning an AFP World Champion from points earned at events like the Grand Prix.
- Top freeskiing athletes include defending Copper Mountain Grand Prix champion Maddie Bowman (South Lake Tahoe, CA), two-time X Games medalist Brita Sigourney (Carmel, CA), and two-time X Games medalist David Wise (Reno, NV).
- Returning to the competition circuit is five-time X Games medalist Jen Hudak (Park City, UT) after recovering from a knee injury over a year ago.
- Snowboarding halfpipe stars Kelly Clark (West Dover, VT), Louie Vito (Sandy, UT), Elena Hight (South Lake Tahoe, CA) and Scotty Lago (Seabrook, NH).
- New for the U.S. Grand Prix is the inclusion of a big air contest, the Paul Mitchell Progression Session taking place Wednesday, Jan. 30 from 5:00p.m. -6:30p.m. MT.
- Halfpipe finals will be live streamed on the USSA Network and the event will be broadcast on NBC and NBC Sports Network.
- The Sprint U.S. Grand Prix is part of the Utah Sports Commissions winter action sports tour.
VISA U.S. FREESKIING GRAND PRIX SCHEDULE
Wed. Jan. 30 – Halfpipe snowboarding qualifiers, 8:15 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. MT
Wed. Jan. 30 – Paul Mitchell Progression Session big air, 5:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. MT
Thur. Jan. 31 – Halfpipe skiing qualifiers, 8:15 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. MT
Fri. Feb. 1 – Sprint U.S. Grand Prix, halfpipe snowboarding finals, 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. MT
Sat. Feb. 2 – Visa U.S. Freeskiing Grand Prix halfpipe skiing finals, 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. MT
Full Event Schedule
//www.irideparkcity.tv/iridepc/events/event24
BROADCAST SCHEDULE (times ET)
Fri. Feb. 1 - 12:50 p.m. – Sprint U.S. Grand Prix halfpipe snowboarding live stream, USSA Network
Sat. Feb. 2 - 1 p.m. – Sprint U.S. Grand Prix, snowboarding finals, NBC Sports Network
Sat. Feb. 2 - 11:20 a.m. – Visa U.S. Grand Prix halfpipe skiing live stream, USSA Network
Sat. Feb. 2 - 2 p.m. – Visa U.S. Freeskiing Grand Prix, freeskiing finals, NBC Sports Network
Sun. Feb. 3 – 3 p.m. - Paul Mitchell Progression Session, big air, NBC Sports Network
QUOTES
Jen Hudak
This will be my second competition back after my injury and I am so excited to get back on skis. Park City Mountain Resort’s pipe is one of the best in the world and now that it is my official home resort, I am even more proud to compete here.
Louie Vito
I love coming back to Park City, home of the 2002 Olympics, for a Grand Prix. You take a great contest series like the Grand Prix and put it where the historic USA Olympic Sweep happened and it is just a cool feeling being there.
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