The U.S. Collegiate Ski and Snowboard Association (USCSA) kicked off its 5-day long annual Collegiate National Championship today with the women’s Snowboard and Freeski Rail Jam, men’s Skier and Snowboard Cross, women’s Alpine Ski Giant Slalom, and a 7.5k Freestyle Nordic race under beautiful sunny skies. Mt. Bachelor is serving as host for all events over the five days of exciting competition.
A record-breaking 685 Collegiate athletes representing 75 universities across 6 regions will compete in the Cascade Mountains this week. This championship represents the best collegiate athletes from around the country. USCSA has member schools in every geographic region of the United States. Events include Alpine Ski and Snowboard Giant Slalom, Alpine Ski and Snowboard Slalom, Dual Slalom, Cross-Country Sprints, Nordic Relays, Nordic Distance, Slopestyle, Skier and Snowboard Cross, and Rail Jam.
All this week, the USCSA broadcast network will bring audiences over 70 hours of LIVE, multi-camera HD video coverage from all three competition venues at its web portal: http://www.uscsa.org/broadcast.html. Scott “Boss” Hogg returns to lead the USCSA broadcast team at alpine alongside announcer Elan Olliff, joined by legendary snowboard announcer Mark “The Beav” Oliver and A. Shova at snowboard/freestyle, and Trent Rosenberg and former USCSA student-athlete Luke Dykowski at Nordic. Visit https://www.uscsa.org/broadcast.html for more information, including live-timing, daily schedules, and on-demand archived broadcasts.
In the women’s Alpine Ski Giant Slalom on the Thunderbird trail, Rocky Mountain College won in a close team competition, beating second place Vermont State University – Castleton by a combined 3 seconds. Eulalie Giraud from Rocky Mountain College won the individual National Championship. After her race, Eulalie said, “Today’s conditions were really great, at the start it was really striking to be up there and see the view and the whole course, and I felt I did well on both my runs and was really happy with my results. It was a great day.”
Racing also began at the Nordic venue, with a 7.5k Freestyle race. St. Olaf College’s women’s team won the combined race, sweeping the podium enroute to their victory. The University of Wyoming’s team won the men’s competition. Individually, Iver Skaarseth from Colorado Mesa University won the men’s event. After his race, Iver said it was a “great day out there, happy with my performance, grateful for the support of my whole team.” The women’s individual championship was won by Lily Hubanks from St. Olaf College. “I was a little nervous about skiing at altitude, but I tried to focus on what I could control and ski well,” said Lily. “What made it even more special is how well the whole team did and that we were able to do well together.”
On the Cross course, the University of Wisconsin Madison won the team men’s Ski Cross while Westminster University’s men’s team Snowboard Cross. After winning the men’s Snowboard Cross individual title, Caelen Billings from the University of Maine Farmington said he was “surprised with the length of the course, 5 turns and 5 rollers. It was anyone’s race with such a short course, fortunately it played out in my favor today.” In the Skier Cross, James Lahrman from the US Military Academy West Point won the individual Championship. “We are all happy to be out here skiing and enjoying ourselves,” said James. “Today was great.”
USCSA is the sports federation for collegiate team ski and snowboard competition in North America. The organization believes that student-athletes of all levels and abilities should have access to quality and exciting venues of competition. Our athletes agree that our team orientation fosters a collaborative approach across their collegiate athletic and academic careers, and often this mentality proves indispensable in their adult lives and careers. USCSA includes over 140 institutions from coast to coast, fielding over 4,700 female and male alpine, freestyle, nordic, and snowboarding athletes who participate in more than 300 events annually.
Mt. Bachelor is the premier ski area in the Pacific Northwest, offering 4,323 acres of lift-accessible terrain with 360-degree descents from its 9,065’ volcanic peak. The mountain resort is served by three carpets and 12 lifts, seven of which feature high-speed quads and one new high-speed 6-pack lift. Mt. Bachelor also features 15 Woodward Mountain Parks, 56 km of groomed cross-country trails, snowshoeing, and sled dog rides. Summer attractions include downhill mountain biking, ZipTour ziplining, and whitewater rafting with Sun Country Tours. Mt. Bachelor is part of POWDR, a family-owned and operated Adventure Lifestyle Company©. For more information visit www.mtbachelor.com.
