"We were all set to fly to Austria for camps in Soelden and Pitztal," said Hale. "But when we heard the snow reports in Colorado, the plan quickly changed and I made a call to Loveland to book some training lanes."
Loveland's response was immediate.
"They said we already have you down," explained Hale, "then I asked if we could come a little bit earlier."
Loveland didn't hesitate and women's Development Team athletes Vanessa Berther (Bellevue, WA), Felicia Byers (Sandy, UT), Greta Byrne (Medford, NJ), Devin Delaney (North Conway, NH), Anna Marno (Steamboat Springs, CO), Lauren Samuels (Golden Valley, MN) and invitee Foreste Peterson (Squaw Valley, CA) quickly shifted travel plans to Colorado.
"They really bent over backwards to make some lanes available for us," said Hale. "We did some free skiing as soon as we arrived and the snow is totally wall to wall without a rock in site. This is easily the earliest we've ever been on snow in Colorado."
Though the Development Team is only scheduled to be at Loveland through this Friday, the U.S. Ski Team World Cup and Europa Cup Teams will be moving in and out of training at Loveland throughout the month of November. Loveland is also set to open the 2010 NorAm Cup series with four slalom races Nov. 30-Dec. 3.
"We are excited to be hosting athletes from the U.S. Ski Team and are proud of our team here at Loveland for making it possible so early in the season," said Loveland Ski Area Marketing Director John Sellers. "It is an honor that they chose to train here over other places in the world."
Both the U.S. men's and women's technical Teams will utilize Loveland for training prior to the U.S. stops of the Audi FIS Alpine World Cup.
Women's giant slalom and slalom are set for Thanksgiving Weekend during the Aspen Winternational in nearby Aspen, Colo., while the men are featured during the Audi Birds of Prey Race Week Dec. 4-6 in Beaver Creek. The 2010 World Cup calendar and Olympic qualification cycle opens Oct. 24 in Soelden, Austria with women's giant slalom, followed by a men's GS on Oct. 25.
"Loveland provides a great opportunity for this junior women's Team to get the early training they need," said U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association Competition Services Director Walt Evans. "This is particularly important in a year like this where the junior need to peak so early. The World Juniors are in early February, a month earlier than normal. Loveland has been very helpful in keeping this group on track."
