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Alaska scores a coup with alpine nationals

State will also host US cross-country championships in '09

By MIKE CAMPBELL
mcampbell@adn.com

Published: July 16th, 2008
Last Modified: July 16th, 2008 at 12:24 AM

Alaska pulled off a rare championship double this week when the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association confirmed that Alyeska Resort will host the U.S. Alpine Nationals March 24-31.

Last month, it was announced that the next two cross-country skiing national championships will be at Kincaid Park, with the 2009 competition being Jan. 3-8.

"It's very, very unusual for one state to host both Alpine and cross-country nationals -- or, for that matter, any two nationals," said Calum Clark, the event director at USSA.

Alyeska hosted the 2007 and 2004 alpine nationals. In 2003, the nationals were moved from Alyeska to Lake Placid because of poor snow conditions.

Anchorage has hosted both the alpine nationals and snowshoe nationals in the same year but never both ski nationals.

Nance Larsen, the vice president of communications and marketing for the Alaska Convention & Visitors Bureau, said the timing should give Anchorage a nice bump of visitors heading into the spring season. Some, she speculated, might choose to arrive early and see portions of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, which begins on March 7,

"It's fantastic," said Shelly Wozniak, public relations manager of the ACVB. "It's really a culmination of a targeted marketing effort to portray Anchorage as a winter city.

"We are one of the top winter cities in the world and people are starting to recognize that."

Wozniak estimated that both events, which will bring hundreds of out-of-state skiers, could inject nearly $2 million into the local economy.

"It's a great situation with Alyeska," Clark said. "It's a great destination."

Such American stars as Bode Miller of Bretton Woods, N.H., gold medalists Ted Ligety of Park City, Utah and Julia Mancuso of Olympic Valley, Calif., are expected on the slopes. So are Scott Macartney of Crystal Mountain, Wash., and Marco Sullivan, both of whom have competed in the spring Arctic Man Ski & Snowgo Classic. Lindsey Vonn of Vail, Colo., and Steven Nyman of Provo, Utah are two other Olympic skiers likely to compete.

A selling point for Alyeska is its downhill course. Because of Alaska's high latitude, there is typically enough snow in spring for a lengthy downhill course that runs to the bottom of the mountain.

At the 2007 nationals at Alyeska, Girdwood's John Love used his home-course advantage to finish 15th in the national championship, beating some U.S. Ski Team members.

"It was just realizing those other guys are just like me," Love said at the time. "They're just out there to ski. We're all doing the same thing."

Another plus is the daylight. By late March, sunset isn't until about 8:30 p.m.

"It's really good, a perfect time of year," Larsen said.

"We've done it so many times now that we have one of the best race crews in the country to support an event of this size," said Russell Sell, a board member of the Alyeska Ski and Snowboard Club. "There's something about our volunteers. We say, 'Let's ramp it up' and they just kind of gather it up."

Sparky Anderson, assistant alpine coach at UAA, said that hosting such a big event is a big asset to the UAA program.

"I'd expect all my kids to compete," said Anderson, who spent seven years as program director for the Alyeska Ski Club in Girdwood before joining UAA. "It's an incredible recruiting tool.

"They're competing against the top skiers in the world. That's a really neat opportunity to measure themselves."

Reach Mike Campbell at 257-4329 or mcampbell@adn.com.

Alpine nationals

When: March 24-31

Events:

• Downhill on March 27.

• Super-G on March 28.

• Slalom on March 29.

• Giant slalom on March 30-31.