February 26, 2001

Park City, Utah - Your last chance to catch Olympic fever at Park City Mountain Resort before 2002 is the third annual Nokia Snowboard FIS World Cup event, the X-Nix "Countdown to Gold," scheduled to be held March 1 - 4, 2001. Men's and women's halfpipe and parallel giant slalom [GS] competition will be held at the Eagle Race Arena Super 'Pipe and CB's run, respectively.

"For many of the World Cup athletes, the "Countdown to Gold" will be the first and last time they get to ride the Super 'Pipe before the Games come to town in 2002," said Karen Korfanta, Resort Race Department manager and Park City Mountain Resort Venue Sport manager for the 2002 Olympic Winter Games.

The "Countdown to Gold" kicks off on Thursday, March 1st with the men's and women's halfpipe competition, followed by the men's and women's parallel GS events on Saturday, March 4. Halfpipe qualifications begin at 9 a.m., with a start time for the finals at 1:30 p.m. The qualification run for the parallel giant slalom begins at 9:30 a.m. Finals are scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.

Since its inception, snowboarding has been dominated by athletes from the U.S., and this year's "Countdown to Gold" should be no exception. U.S. Snowboard Team athletes to watch in the halfpipe include two-time "Countdown to Gold" women's champion Tricia Byrnes (New Canaan, CT), Gretchen Bleiler (Snowmass Village, CO), Park City native Ricky Bower, Tommy Czeschin (Mammoth Lakes, CA), Rob Kingwill (Jackson, WY) and Kelly Clark (Mt. Snow, VT). Team alpine athletes expected to perform well include Sondra Van Ert (Ketchum, ID), Stacia Hookom (Edwards, CO), Lisa Kosglow (Boise, ID) and Jeff Greenwood (Hartford, CT).

In addition to attracting many of the same athletes sure to return to Park City Mountain Resort for the 2002 Olympic Winter Games, the "Countdown to Gold" also follows the same logistical pattern as the Games' time plan. Following the conclusion of the halfpipe competition on March 1, the Eagle Race Arena Super 'Pipe will be filled in to accommodate the parallel GS races on March 4.

"The 'Countdown to Gold' will be a test event in the true sense of the term," Korfanta said. Although not part of the official competition, the "Countdown to Gold" also includes a quarterpipe exhibition event, scheduled for Friday, March 2 in the Eagle Race Arena at 8 p.m. Athletes scheduled to compete in the quarterpipe contest include David Carrier-Porcheron, Mike Michalchuk, Trevor Andrew, Guillaume Morriset, Lorie Glazier, Kim Dunn, Mamon Roy and Dominique Vall�e. Admission to all "Countdown to Gold" events is free and open to the public.

Highlights from the "Countdown to Gold" will be broadcast in a one-hour show on ESPN2 on Sunday, March 11, 2001 at 1:30 p.m. MST.