Telemark World Cup events coming to Steamboat, Keystone
By Bryce Evans
summit daily news
Summit County, Colorado
Silverthorne’s Drew Hauser has been saying for years that Keystone Resort has the perfect runs to hold a telemark skiing championship. Having skied there much of his life – not to mention being a world champion tele skier – Hauser should know.
And in February, the rest of the world will get to find out as well as Keystone will host a telemark FIS World Cup event from Feb. 25-28.
“That course is going to be brutal,” Hauser said. “It’s going to be a new standard for World Cup races.”
The United States Telemark Ski Association is anticipating between 65-75 international skiers in the competition, as well as a three-day event at Steamboat Springs the week before Keystone. Other stops on the telemark World Cup circuit include France, Norway, Spain and Austria.
The 20-year-old Summit High grad, Hauser couldn’t be more excited to compete at his home mountain.
“Oh, heck yeah,” Hauser said when asked if this race will have more importance to him. “I don’t want to get schooled on my home mountain.”
Both races will feature a dozen or so of the U.S. Telemark Team racers, the majority of which ski out of Steamboat Springs.
In order to fund the event, the U.S. Telemark Ski Association is holding a fundraiser at the Backcountry Brewery on Saturday. The event is $10 admission for adults and $5 for kids. The fundraiser will include food, drinks, live music, a silent auction and a raffle. It begins at 7 p.m.
Although competitive telemark skiing is immensely popular in some European countries, it remains a niche sport to much of the world, even getting passed over for the Olympics. Hauser hopes both the fundraiser and the races in Colorado can help promote the sport that he’s dedicated the past eight years of his life to.
“Keystone gets such high-traffic of skiers,” Hauser explained. “I feel if they can be out there and maybe see some of this, it can’t do anything but help.”
Last winter, Hauser won both the Junior World Telemark title and the U.S. National Championships.
The USTSA Board of Directors anticipates that there are racers, not currently on the U.S. Team, who will be interested in racing at these World Cup events. Generally these will be racers that have been on the US team previously or have recently raced at the Elite level. Racers must be 15 years or older. If you are interested in racing in any of these events, please contact info@ustsa.org or any of the Board Members listed in the “Contact Us” section of the USTSA web site as soon as possible. The Competition Guide, section 12, details the requirements for racing in World Cup events.