Lake Tahoe fans of Shaun White and other Olympic snowboarding hopefuls received bad news today when it was decided that the Sprint U.S. Grand Prix at Northstar California has been moved.
The Sprint U.S. Grand Prix was originally scheduled to be held at Northstar ski resort from Jan. 8-12 and has been moved to Breckenridge, Colo. The event was being used as a qualifier for the 2014 Olympic Team for freeskiing and snowboarding.
Event moved to Breckenridge
While Colorado has received a good amount of snowfall this winter, it hasn’t snowed in Lake Tahoe since Dec. 10.
“While the snow conditions are great at Northstar and the region is now experiencing much colder temperatures, we all mutually felt that it was too great a risk for the resort given the massive amounts of snowmaking required to build the venue,” said Calum Clark, vice president of events for the USSA.
Sprint U.S. Grand Prix qualifying
The second stop on the Sprint U.S. Grand Prix tour is among five events being used to qualify the 2014 Olympic Team for freeskiing and snowboarding.
According to the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association (USSA), the Sprint U.S. Grand Prix tour stop was relocated to the Colorado resort because of its competition-ready venue already in place, as Breckenridge recently hosted the Dew Tour iON Mountain Championships.
“We’re very sorry to not be going to Northstar, which has an outstanding track record of building tremendous venues, but this move will enhance Northstar’s ability to serve its guests and keep the event in the Vail Resorts family at Breckenridge.”
