SAM Magazine-Park City, Utah, Dec. 31, 2010-Slopestyle skiing has been added to the International Ski Federation's (FIS) Freestyle World Ski Championships this February at Deer Valley and Park City Mountain Resorts. The slopestyle event, one of three new sports being considered for inclusion in the 2014 Olympic Winter Games, will be held at Park City.

The slopestyle events will take place Feb. 3, with qualification runs a day earlier. The event will be held on the King's Crown run, home of one of the resort's popular terrain parks.

Slopestyle skiing, halfpipe skiing, and slopestyle snowboarding were given support for 2014 inclusion by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) at its executive committee meeting in September. The final decision regarding inclusion of these sports at Sochi will come following a review during World Championship competitions this season, which include the World Snowboard Championships in La Molina, Spain. IOC president Jacques Rogge is empowered to make the final determination.

"Park City Mountain Resort is honored to play such a key role in support of slopestyle and halfpipe skiing as an addition to the 2014 Winter Games," said Jenni Smith, PCMR president and GM. "Our team is very passionate about the future of winter sports and incredibly qualified to create the best possible event for review by the IOC."

"The IOC has shown great foresight in aggressively pursuing inclusion of halfpipe skiing, plus slopestyle skiing and snowboarding, for the 2014 Games," said U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association president and CEO Bill Marolt, who is also on the FIS Council. "Terrain parks around the world are home for millions of young skiers who are already actively engaged in the sport, and it's fitting that it should be included in the Olympic Winter Games."

"With the rapid development of terrain parks, slopestyle has become a major skiing phenomenon globally," said FIS freestyle coordinator Joseph Fitzgerald. "Slopestyle as a FIS event is a competitive expression of the grassroots level activity already under way." He termed this "the perfect timing for formalizing this popular event format at the highest FIS level."

USSA is expected to name up to four men and four women to compete in the slopestyle event. It's expected that the spots will be hotly contested.

The World Championships will be televised on NBC on Feb. 5-6.

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