DURANGO The best freestyle skiers in the USSA Rocky Mountain Division will be competing at Chapman Hill in the Durango Orthopedics/Spine Colorado SW Freestyle Open on Friday through Monday.
The competition will feature the top mogul skiers and aerialist in Colorado. Teams from Aspen, Steamboat Springs, Winter Park, Vail, Summit County, Telluride and Durango will converge on Chapman Hill.
With the new improvements of snowmaking and a state of the art snow cat, Durango is looking to provide support to attract additional events in the future.
From this type of state wide event to beginner lessons and family time, Chapman Hill has exceeded our expectations for a variety of user groups this year said Cathy Metz, Parks and Recreation director for the City of Durango.
Skier visits have increased 19 percent in 2012 from the previous year, as Chapman Hill provides a race arena, terrain park and beginner area.
The weekend will kick off with the Durango Winter Sports Foundation welcome party on Friday from 5 to 7 p.m., at the base of Chapman Hill. Events will feature a USSA Devo slopestyle and the local town race series.
This gives our foundation an opportunity to bring our local kids doing great things to the people in Durango, said Cynthia Aspen, executive director of DWSF. Chapman Hill is a perfect venue to showcase these great young athletes.
The DWSF provides support for the local alpine, Nordic, freestyle and snowboard teams.
The mogul skiing action will take place from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, with dual moguls taking place on Sunday. Monday will feature a big air contest.
The mogul course measures out to over 200 meters of steep fall line skiing with a huge air on the bottom. It will be quite the show, noted Aspen.
For additional details about the event, contact Kirk Rawles, freestyle head coach, at (970) 903-2119.