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Olympians Bode Miller, Picabo Street to Host 2003 NASTAR National Championships at Park City Mountain Resort
Source: Park City Mountain Resort

PARK CITY, Utah (March 19, 2003) — 2002 Olympic Silver medalist Bode Miller, along with Olympians Erik Schlopy, AJ Kitt, Doug Lewis and Picabo Street will host 975+ amateur ski racers from across the country at the 2003 NASTAR National Championships at Park City Mountain Resort on March 27-30, 2003. The 2003 NASTAR National Championships will be one of the largest sanctioned on-site ski races in U.S. history.

NASTAR participants have qualified for the 2003 National Championships by being ranked in the top three in their age and gender category as of February 23, 2003, at any one of the 120 NASTAR resorts across the country. Park City Mountain Resort is one of only two resorts in the state of Utah to offer a NASTAR racecourse and is now in its second year of hosting the NASTAR National Championships.

“The NASTAR National Championships is a great opportunity for recreational skiers of all ages to showcase their skills in a competitive environment,” said AJ Kitt, four-time Olympian and an official pacesetter for the NASTAR National Championships. “NASTAR introduced me to competitive ski racing and it is exciting to see others following the same path. We could possibly see some of these kids in the 2006 and 2010 Winter Olympics.”

Kitt and Lewis will each serve as official pacesetters for the two days of competition. Racers, competing in their age and gender category in their division (Recreational, Expert or Professional) will take two runs on Friday and two runs on Saturday. The best handicap earned each day will be averaged together to determine each competitor’s final handicap. Gold, silver and bronze medals will be awarded in each age and gender category in each division.

Racing will take place on Friday, March 28 and Saturday, March 29 on Blanche, Heckler and PayDay runs as well as in the Eagle Race arena from 9:45AM until 4:00PM. An award’s ceremony will be held on Saturday from 4:00PM until 6:00PM on the Resort’s Plaza adjacent to the Legacy Lodge.

On Sunday, March 30, National Title winners will compete in the “NASTAR Race of Champions”, a winner-take-all competition, scheduled to take place from 10:00AM until 12:00PM in the lower Eagle Race arena, a competition site of the XIX Olympic Winter Games. The 2003 NASTAR National Champion will be crowned at Park City Mountain Resort in an awards ceremony immediately following the competition.

NASTAR is the acronym for NAtional STAndard Race and is the largest recreational ski race program in the world. Developed by SKI Magazine in 1968, NASTAR has undergone numerous changes over the years, but its mission has essentially remained the same – to provide a fun, competitive and easily accessible racing program that, through the development of a handicap system, allows racers of all ages and abilities a means to compare themselves against one another regardless of when and where they race. Now in its 34th season, more than 4.7 million racers have raced NASTAR since its inception. For additional information on NASTAR and the 2003 NASTAR National Championships, please visit www.nastar.com.

NASTAR is managed and owned by Octagon, a global marketing-led sports and event marketing company. Octagon offers worldwide expertise across all eight major sports and event marketing disciplines; athlete representation, event management, consultancy, property representation and sales, TV rights sales and distribution, TV production and archive, new media and licensing and merchandising.

Octagon is part of The Interpublic Group (NYSE: IPG), the world’s largest advertising and marketing communications group. The Interpublic Group is the only marketing communications and services group with a global sports marketing capability. Octagon employs over 1,500 people in 24 countries on all major continents. For further information please visit: www.octagon.com.

Park City Mountain Resort located just 37 miles from Salt Lake City International Airport, hosted six medal events for the 2002 Olympic Winter Games. The Resort is currently ranked as Utah's leader in skier/rider visits and offers 3,300 acres of terrain.