PARK CITY, UT (Nov. 18, 2015) – When the 2015 U.S. Alpine Ski Team is formally named Saturday, Nov. 21 at Copper Mountain Resort in Colorado, two members will be missed but not forgotten. The U.S. Ski Team has announced that it will name ski racers Bryce Astle (Sandy, UT/Snowbird Sports Education Foundation) and Ronnie Berlack (Franconia, NH and Burke Mountain, VT/Franconia Ski Club and Burke Mountain Academy) to the team posthumously. The two were poised at the start of their U.S. Ski Team career when they were killed last January in an avalanche in Austria.
The annual naming of the U.S. Ski Team will take place at 1:30 p.m. Saturday in Copper’s Burning Stones Plaza as a part of the Nature Valley First Tracks festival. It is open to the public. The team has been training at the U.S. Ski Team Speed Center at Copper since early November. Athletes will also take part Saturday morning in the Putnam Investments NASTAR National Pacesetting Trials – the first time since 1993 the popular recreational racing program will hold its national trials with U.S. Ski Team athletes.
Astle and Berlack will be formally added to the Team’s 2016 roster. There will be a recognition of them during the team naming stage presentation. It is the first time athletes have been named posthumously to the U.S. Ski Team.
HIGHLIGHTS
- The U.S. Alpine Ski Team plans to name Bryce Astle and Ronnie Berlack to the team posthumously when the 2016 squad is formally unveiled Saturday Nov. 21 at Colorado’s Copper Mountain.
- Astle and Berlack were killed in an avalanche in Austria last January.
- It is the first time the U.S. Ski Team has named an athlete to the team posthumously.
SCHEDULE
8:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. – Putnam Investments NASTAR National Pacesetting Trials
11:30 a.m. – Nature Valley First Tracks festival
1:30 p.m. – U.S. Ski Team naming stage presentation in Copper’s Burning Stones Plaza
3:00 p.m. – U.S. Ski Team autograph session
QUOTES
Tiger Shaw, President and CEO, U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association
All of us have felt great pain at the loss of Bryce Astle and Ronnie Berlack during the last 10 months. It means a lot to our team, to our athletes and to the families that we remember these young athletes as a part of our 2016 U.S. Alpine Ski Team.
Sasha Rearick, Men’s Head Coach, U.S. Alpine Ski Team
Ronnie and Bryce were tremendous young men and talented athletes. Recognizing them in this way will help us all remember what they meant to us and help to bring a small bit of closure to us all.
