Park City, UT – The 2011 U.S. Revolution Tour is taking on a new look this winter, showcasing freeride skiing as well as snowboarding contests. The 2011 season marks the U.S. Revolution Tour’s seventh year and the first time that the series will include freeride.nThe U.S. Revolution Tour, a qualifying event series for the U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix, is known for featuring the up-and-coming stars of snowboarding and now will also include the future standouts of freeride skiing. The long success of the Tour was started by U.S. Snowboarding with the goal of progressing athletes to Junior Worlds, U.S. Open, Grand Prix and beyond. Past Tour stand-outs include U.S. Snowboarding’s Halfpipe Pro Team Rider Kaitlyn Farrington (Sun Valley, Idaho) and Rookie Team rider Zack Black (Breckenridge, Colo.).
“It’s fun to see the up-and-coming stars of snowboarding,” said Tour Manager Nick Alexakos. “It’s kind of the ‘who’s next’ in snowboarding. It’s fun to watch and see who will step up. It will be great to add freeride to the mix.”
The 2010 summer kicked off the freeride and snowboarding pairing with U.S. Snowboarding’s Project Gold Camp including both freeride and snowboarding athletes. More notably, the 2010 Snowboarding and Freestyle Junior World Championships marked the first FIS event where both sports were showcased at the same venue with the U.S taking home an impressive 11 medals from New Zealand in August.
The 2011 Revolution Tour is picking up where summer left off with four stops all including both freeride skiing and snowboard disciplines including halfpipe, slopestyle, and cross competitions. Following the positive response from the 2010 FIS Snowboard and Freestyle Junior World Championships in New Zealand, the Revolution Tour is moving with the progression of the two sports.
“After six years building the U.S. Revolution Tour as the premier mid-level snowboard contest, we recognized the opportunity to grow the series as part of our development within freeride,” said Snowboard and Freeride Director Jeremy Forster. “With the possibility of slopestyle snowboarding and halfpipe skiing being included in the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi, beginning to conduct these events together and share resources makes sense.
“The host resorts have been stoked on the direction along with positive feedback from the freeride community,” Forster added. “Hopefully, the athletes will have fun competing together and it will be a great season for the Revolution Tour.”
The U.S. Revolution Tour is set to make its 2011 debut in mid-December at Copper Mountain, Colo. The Tour leaves the Rockies, heading north to Mt. Hood Meadows, Ore., before moving west to Boreal, Calif. Riders will make their final stop at Olympic medalist Kelly Clark’s hometown ski resort, Mount Snow in Vermont.
“Expect to see continued progression in the sport for sure,” said Alexakos. “I’ve been involved with the Rev Tour for three years and every year I’m amazed at the level and progression of riding from winter to winter.”
2011 U.S. Revolution Tour Schedule:
- Dec. 13-17 Copper Mountain, CO (Halfpipe, Slopestyle)
- Jan. 10-14 Mt. Hood Meadows, OR (Halfpipe, Slopestyle, Cross)
- Feb. 7-11 Boreal, CA (Halfpipe, Slopestyle, Cross)
- Mar. 15-18 Mount Snow, VT (Halfpipe, Slopesyle)