Steamboat Springs, CO (Wednesday, January 21, 2004) - Historic Howelson Hill, home to the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club, played host to the inaugural Race to the Cup alpine snowboard series Jan. 4-5. U.S. team riders, Tyler Jewell (Sudbury, MA) and two-time Olympian Lisa Kosglow (Boulder, CO) topped the field of 45 men and 23 women from across the U.S. and Canada to take the parallel giant slalom.

The victory secured Jewell a spot at the Mar. 5-7 World Cup at Mount Bachelor, Ore., but since Kosglow already holds a World Cup position, second place finisher Erica Mueller (Steamboat Springs, CO) was able to thrill the hometown crowd and take the women’s slot at Mount Bachelor. Justin Reiter, another Steamboat local, grabbed second for the men followed by Jeff Greenwood (Boulder, CO), who is taking a year off the World Cup circuit to gas up for the 2006 Olympic push. Canadian rider Caroline Calve finished third.

"This was a great way to start the year and really showcase alpine snowboarding in North America" said Thedo Remmelink, head coach of the Steamboat Winter Sports Club. "We had some adversity with the weather to start the weekend but everything fell into place and the event ran pretty well".

The Race to the Cup resumes on Jan. 31 with PSL and PGS at Okemo Mountain Resort in Ludlow, Vermont before concluding at Crystal Mountain, Washington Feb. 28-29. The top male and female PGS finisher at each event will win an automatic start at the Mount Bachelor World Cup. Three additional male and female riders from the Race to the Cup will then be selected by U.S. coaches at the end of the series to compete at Mount Bachelor.