Staff Report
The Woodstock area’s local ski mountain is one of two Vermont locations for international skiing competition in January.
The United States Telemark Ski Association (USTSA) was recently selected by the International Ski Federation (FIS) to host two separate FIS Telemark World Cup events in January 2018.
The United States Telemark Ski Association is partnering with two Vermont resorts: Suicide Six Ski Area in South Pomfret for the first three-day event on Jan. 20-22; and Sugarbush Resort in Warren for the second three-day event on Jan. 25-27. These events will bring together the world’s best Telemark skiers.
Telemark ski racing combines the speed and rhythm of giant slalom gates from alpine racing, the thrill of distance jumping from ski jumping, and the endurance of the skate section from nordic skiing into one, exciting format which challenges all aspects of an athlete’s ability. There will be three different event formats; (i) the Classic which is a one run endurance race comprising 2 minutes of skiing and skating and descending through more than 40 gates over 250m, (ii) the Sprint Classic which is a two-run event which demands consistency and sound form and (iii) the Dual Sprint, a side-by-side run which
pits racers head to head with more than its fair share of drama and excitement.
In addition to the amazing on-hill viewing at both Suicide Six and Sugarbush, USTSA has coordinated with Tele Ho Productions to film and produce the events and with the Olympic Channel to stream the events live through the Olympic Channel’s online and social media platforms. One of the events which was streamed through these same channels during an event last season in Krvavec, Slovenia achieved more than 379,000 views on Facebook alone.
This article first appeared in the August, 24, 2017 edition of the Vermont Standard.