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In the interest of speed and timeliness, this story is fed directly from the Associated Press newswire and may contain spelling or grammatical errors.
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Heavenly to host National Freestyle Championships
Thursday August 14, 2003
SOUTH 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.
(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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