Deer Valley World Cup, less than a week away

Moguls being hand formed and aerial jumps being hand formed by the experts for the experts at Deer Valley Resort in the run up to the World Cup. Photo: Michele Roepke

PARK CITY, Utah — Preparations are underway at Deer Valley Resort (DV) for the annual Intermountain Healthcare Freestyle Ski World Cup, an International Ski Federation (FIS) event.

On every mogul ski run around the world today, moguls are formed as skiers turn left then right around fresh snow creating in their wake, by default, whatever size, shape, and number of moguls merely happen to pop up. On the Salt Lake 2002 Olympic run, Champion, at Deer Valley today, that’s not the case. Moguls are being hand formed, individually, by highly trained hill workers holding shovels and meticulously creating exacted shapes, sizes, and numbers of moguls to ensure a fair play field of play.

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Aerial jumps on the adjacent White Owl run are being hand formed within wooden templates that get peeled away once the shoveled snow meets the international sport governing bodies’ strict specifications to ensure the athletes’ safety.

The Carpenter ski lift goes over the Jaret “Speedy” Peterson memorial Hurricane surface tow lift, which is being dug out of all the recent snowfall to be utilized for the World Cup.

Three local Park City Ski and Snowboard (PCSS) aerialists will be getting a start at the Deer Valley World Cup. Connor Curran, Ian Schoenwald, and Ashton Salwan. All three are 18 years old, and this was to be Salwan’s first World Cup since he earned that spot at the US Aerials Selections last week. However, Salwan started in the World Cup in LeRelais, Canada, on January 22 and finished 14th. He is also from Ohio and relocated to Park City to join PCSS for the past four years.

Curran is from Ohio and has been a member of PCSS for three years. Last season he was fourth at the FIS Junior World Championships.

Schoenwald is from Huntsville, Utah, and moved to Park City to join PCSS four years ago.

Three PCSS Moguls skiers that will be getting starts at the Deer Valley are LuLu Shaffer, Kylie Kariotis, and August Davis. Shaffer is 23 and originally from Stratton, Vermont. This is her second season with PCSS. She also earned World Cup starts for Val St Come (January 27-28), so DV will be her second World Cup competition.

Kariotis is 18, and this is her third season with PCSS. She is originally from Marin County, California. She also competed in the DV World Cup last year, so this will be her second year in the event. Kariotis’s older siblings, Ali and Jack, are US Ski Team alumni and competed in World Cups.

August Davis is 19 and is also from California. This will be her World Cup debut.

The Utah Olympic Park has hosted international teams to train and prepare for this North American league of the World Cup Tour: Australia, Canada, Kazakstan, Switzerland, and Ukraine. In the LeRelais World Cup last weekend, all 12 podiums went to athletes from these teams.

Chris “Hatch” Haslock, Olympian and PCSS Freestyle Program Director and Coach told TownLift, “PCSS is so grateful to have the premier World Cup Freestyle competition stop right in our backyard at Deer Valley. It is such an opportunity for our aspiring athletes to compete right here at home and on the best courses in the world.”

General World Cup spectating is free to the public. In addition, VIP tickets may be purchased here.

Coverage will be televised on Outside+, CNBC, and NBC.

World Cup Deer Valley Schedule: