| In the interest of speed and timeliness, this story is fed directly from the Associated Press newswire and may contain spelling or grammatical errors. |
Heavenly to host National Freestyle Championships
Thursday August 14, 2003SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. (AP) Heavenly will host its first major ski event in four years when the U.S. National Freestyle Championships are held there March 26-28.
``It's not only good for Heavenly, but we think it's great for South Lake Tahoe because we have quite a few athletes on the U.S. Ski Team that we hope to have competing in the event,'' said resort spokeswoman Molly Cuffe.
Defending World Cup moguls champions Travis Cabral of South Lake Tahoe and Shannon Bahrke of Tahoe City are among the athletes expected to compete.
World Cup veteran Chris Hernandez of South Lake Tahoe also is in a position to participate, the Tahoe Daily Tribune reported.
``I think it is awesome that Heavenly can hold nationals,'' said Cabral, who was runner-up at last year's nationals and became the youngest national champion ever at 15 when he won in 1999. ``It will be fun to finally have a hometown crowd like we used to have with the Heavenly World Cups and Bumps and Jumps.''
Cuffe said the event was not a big moneymaker, but would give Heavenly and South Lake Tahoe national exposure.
ESPN plans to provide national championship coverage on April 8.
Heavenly has generated national and worldwide interest over the years by hosting World Cup events, Celebrity Ski Classics and professional freestyle and Alpine races, but hasn't been the venue for a major event since the U.S. Freestyle Grand National World Cup in 1999 and 2000.
``It gives us an opportunity to showcase everything that has been happening here and how far the destination has come in the past couple of years,'' Cuffe said.
For the nationals, Heavenly will build a special moguls course on Gunbarrel Run and a large aerial jump near the base lodge.
``We don't typically build a jump of that size at the base area of the mountain,'' Cuffe said, adding that she is confident the resort's snowmaking capabilities can pull off the championships late in the skiing season.
``We're hoping to have a bountiful natural snow year to augment all of that,'' she said.
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