KILLINGTON – Record-setting crowds last November made an impression, even without World Cup powerhouse Lindsey Vonn.
The U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association), along with its resort partner POWDR, has announced a two-year agreement for Vermont’s Killington Resort to again host the Audi FIS Ski World Cup in 2017 and 2018.
After years of work by the USSA to find an opportunity to bring World Cup ski racing to the most populated region of the country, Killington hosted an expectation-shattering inaugural World Cup Weekend during November 2016 that drew an estimated 30,000 spectators and New England’s largest resort hopes to carry that momentum into future events.
Killington’s place on next year’s World Cup calendar is expected to be confirmed during meetings of the International Ski Federation in Portoroz, Slovenia in late May. Pending FIS approval, the next World Cup at Killington would take place November 25-26, 2017, Thanksgiving Weekend.
The pact was announced by Killington president and general manager of Killington Resort and Pico Mountain Mark Solimano on Monday.
The 2017 World Cup would include women’s giant slalom and slalom races, attracting athletes such as U.S. Ski Team superstars Julia Mancuso and Mikaela Shiffrin.
Shiffrin, a local favorite as an alumnus of Vermont’s Burke Mountain Academy, won last year’s slalom event with her final run and thrilled a big crowd with a fist pump as she crossed the finish line.
Vonn, recovering from an injury, was unable to compete at Killington.
As with last year’s FIS World Cup, the 2017 and 2018 World Cup races at Killington would be broadcast worldwide to over 60 nations, along with national broadcast coverage across the US. The event is anticipated to bring millions of dollars in economic impact to the state of Vermont.
“Establishing a multi-year World Cup schedule here at Killington is an incredible opportunity to bring even more visibility to the resort and our community, which has been extremely supportive of our efforts to bring these races back. I was blown away by the sheer size of the crowd last year, and the enthusiasm I witnessed leads me to believe that we’ll bring in even more spectators this year to watch the fastest female ski racers in the world take on the Superstar trail,” said Solimano. “We used every cold period in October and November to build a world-class race venue on Superstar, and getting the job done so early in the season showcased our snowmaking system as an industry-leading powerhouse.”
Last November’s races in Killington marked the first World Cup in the eastern US since 1991 when the U.S. Ski Team’s Julie Parisien won the giant slalom at Waterville Valley, N.H.
The USSA has had a long relationship with POWDR producing World Cup and Grand Prix events at Copper Mountain and Park City Mountain Resort, and the collaboration for Killington’s World Cup in 2016 solidified The Beast of the East as a strong venue for World Cup alpine ski racing in addition to the regularly hosted FIS Cup and USSA races.
“Last year we accomplished all of our goals, which were to promote eastern skiing and Killington to the global audience. It was very powerful to see the local and regional communities come together to support World Cup racing,” said Herwig Demschar, chair of Killington’s World Cup Local Organizing Committee and VP of International Business Development at POWDR. “We have a blueprint for successful races to build on, and we are going to throw a party you don’t want to miss.”
“We would be thrilled to work together with the Killington community, USSA and the amazing athletes to host another World Cup and make it even bigger and better than before,” says John Cumming, founder and CEO of POWDR. “Killington is a special place, and to again have the excitement and energy of World Cup ski racing return to the East, to the beautiful mountains of Vermont, is an experience we would enthusiastically embrace and look forward to sharing with the world. As proven by last year’s World Cup, the Killington team is one of the best in the business and up for the challenge.”
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