Park City, UT (Sunday, May 18, 2003) - Two New Hampshire natives - alpine World Champion Bode Miller (Franconia, NH) and cross country skier Carl Swenson (Boulder, CO) - collected the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association's highest athletic honors Saturday night while former USSA Chairman Jim McCarthy (Chicago) received the Julius Blegen Award, the organization's highest award.

The awards were presented at the final banquet for USSA's 2003 Congress at the Yarrow Resort and Conference Hotel. About 150 delegates have been attending committee, subcommittee and working groups in alpine, cross country, disabled alpine and cross country, freestyle, jumping, nordic combined, and snowboarding.

In addition, John (Johno) McBride, men's downhill and super G head coach, was honored as USSA Coach of the Year and alpine's International Coach of the Year. Todd Wilson of the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club was chosen as USSA Development Coach of the Year and nordic combined Domestic Coach of the Year. The national Club of the Year and alpine Club of the Year is the New York Ski Education Foundation in Lake Placid, which stepped up on short notice and staged the highly successful Chevy Truck U.S. Alpine Championships in March when poor snow conditions in Alaska forced a site move.

Miller, who won gold in combined and giant slalom at the 2003 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships and silver in super G, won the Beck International Award for the second consecutive season; the Beck International is USSA's highest athlete ward and is given each year to an athlete for "outstanding" international results. In addition to his medals from Worlds, Miller also won two World Cup giant slaloms and captured three titles at the Chevy Truck U.S. Alpine Championships at Whiteface Mountain near Lake Placid.

Swenson, a two-time Olympic skier who grew up in North Conway, NH, before moving to Boulder after graduating from Dartmouth College, received the Buddy Werner Award, given annually to the USSA athlete "who demonstrated leadership and good sportsmanship in national or international competition."

McCarthy, a lawyer and graduate of Notre Dame and the Northwestern University School of Law, was chairman of the USSA during the Nineties and helped guide it through critical issues such as financing and expanding its role within the International Ski Federation and Olympic movement.

The final USSA Gold Level Award, the Westhaven Award for outstanding service as a technical delegate, was presented to Doug Sluiter (Andes, NY)

Among other top honors:

Paul Bacon Award for event organization - John Estle (Fairbanks, AK), the driving force of the Nordic Ski Club of Fairbanks, which staged the cross country Junior Olympics

John J. Clair Award for outstanding service - Gary Black Jr. (Sun Valley, ID), publisher of Ski Racing

Bud & Mary Little Award for longtime service to the International Ski Federation or Olympic community - Allen Church (Albuquerque, NM)

Russell Wilder Award for "outstanding effort" to focus the attention of the nation's young on skiing or snowboarding - Jake Burton Carpenter (Stowe, VT), chairman of Burton Snowboards

West Family Cup for outstanding service as a USSA official - Tom Johnston (Jackson Hole, WY)

Alpine Club of the Year - NYSEF

Freestyle Club of the Year - Carrabassett Valley Academy (ME)

Cross country Club of the Year - Stratton Mountain School (VT)

Jumping/Nordic Combined Club of the Year – National Sports Foundation at Bear Hollow (UT)

Snowboard Club of the Year – Aspen Ski&Snowboard Club (CO)

In addition to McBride and Wilson, USSA's sport-by-sport Coaches of the Year (with club and hometown): - Alpine Domestic, Mark Sullivan (Squaw Valley Ski Team - Tahoe City, CA); Cross Country International, Trond Nystad and Pete Vordenberg (both Park City, UT); Cross Country Domestic, Sverre Caldwell (Stratton Mountain School - Peru, VT); Disabled, Jon Kreamelmeyer (Frisco, CO); Freestyle International, Scott Rawles (Breckenridge, CO); Freestyle Domestic, Matthew Gnoza (Killington Ski Club - Killington, VT); Nordic Combined International, Bard Elden (Heber City, UT) and Corby Fisher (Park City, UT); Jumping Domestic, Martin Bayer (Grand Rapids, MI -Nataska Ski&Outing Club); Snowboard International, Bud Keene (Morrisville, VT); Snowboard Domestic, Mark Harris (Spokane, WA - Schweitzer Racing Club)