KILLINGTON FRONTRUNNER FOR FIS WORLD CUP EVENT

VT Digger

MAR. 24, 2017, 8:07 PM BY ALAN J. KEAYS 0 COMMENTS

Mikaela Shiffrin,, center, celebrates her victory in the World Cup slalom Sunday at Killington, flanked by Wendy Holdener, of Switzerland, and Veronika Velez Zuzulova, of Slovakia. Photo by Andrew Kutches/VTDigger

World Cup ski racing looks like it might be on its way back to Killington later this year.

FIS Secretary General Sarah Lewis told the Aspen Daily News that Aspen was not on the World Cup women’s racing November 2017 calendar, due to needed infrastructure improvements at the resort.

“I think as far as I’m aware, Killington is shaping up to be the destination,” Lewis, head of World Cup racing’s governing body, told the news outlet in a story published this week.

Attempts to reach Lewis for comment were not successful. FIS, or Federation Internationale de Ski, is based in Switzerland.

A final decision on whether Killington Ski Resort will be selected as the site for World Cup ski races in November is not expected until later this spring.

“We’re hoping to know in the next few weeks,” Mike Solimano, Killington’s president, said in an email Thursday.

The resort hosted women’s World Cup ski racing in late November over the Thanksgiving Day weekend, with roughly 15,000 people attending each day of the two-day event.

It marked the return of World Cup ski racing to New England after a 25-year absence and the first such competition in Vermont in 38 years. The last World Cup event in the Green Mountain State took place in 1978 in Stratton.

A spot on the schedule opened up for Killington last year when Aspen, which in the past has been the home to Thanksgiving weekend World Cup races, moved to hosting a finals event in March, which took place last weekend.

Lewis made her comments about the November 2017 World Cup ski racing calendar to the Aspen Daily News at that Aspen event.

Now, it appears, Killington may get that spot on the schedule again.

“It was an awesome event. Everyone loved it, and everybody keeps asking are we bringing it back,” Solimano said in an interview last month.

On the final day, in the final run, Mikaela Shiffrin, who honed her skills at Vermont’s Burke Mountain Academy, raced to first place in the slalom, sending the crowd at the Killington event into a frenzy.

Ski officials said after the two days of racing they were very impressed with the event at Killington.

“There’s no women’s World Cup race in the world that draws crowds bigger than this,” Tom Kelly, vice president of communication for the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association, said at that time. “This is one of the biggest crowds in the history of the women’s World Cup.”

The event also provided a boost for business.

Town officials say the World Cup brought in an additional $10 million in revenue.

Killington Ski Resort has been working to bring the event back this year, and trying to make it work financially.

On Town Meeting Day, voters in Killington approved a town budget that included $100,000 to help the resort cover expenses associated with holding a World Cup event at the resort.

Altogether, Solimano told town officials, the cost to the resort for last year’s event was more than $2.5 million, which was offset by $1.3 million in revenue, most of which came from sponsors. The net cost to the resort was $1.2 million, he added.

Solimano said the resort is not looking to make a profit. He said he is working to bring the cost down to make it a sustainable annual event.