Jeep King of the Mountain Series 14 Kicks off at Snowbird

The Jeep® King of the Mountain Series (www.jeepsports.com), professional snow sports’ most prestigious event, announced today that it has selected Snowbird Ski & Summer Resort in Utah as the host site for the first race of the 2006-2007 Skiing & Snowboarding World Professional Championships, scheduled for Dec. 2.

The Jeep King of the Mountain Series features 24 of the world’s elite ski and snowboard athletes battling one another on a unique Y-cross racecourse for the coveted title of World Professional Champion. The event offers the richest prize purse in the sport, with a payout topping $450,000 as well as $20,000 in bonus cash from John Paul Mitchell Systems and the keys to a new 2007 Jeep Patriot. Each event of the series will be broadcast on CBS Sports and via national syndication, providing tremendous exposure for the roster of Olympians, World Champions and National Champions.

The format of the Skiing & Snowboarding World Professional Championships features six races held over four different event weekends from December 2006 through March 2007. This includes two pure ski events, two pure snowboard events, and two unique events that combine both skiing and snowboarding, making the Jeep King of the Mountain Series the first integrated racing program in North America. The complete schedule of race stops for 2006-2007 include:

December 2, 2006 – Snowbird Ski & Summer Resort, Utah
January 20, 2007 – Europa-Sportregion Zell am See-Kaprun, Salzburg, Austria
February 10, 2007 – Taos Ski Valley, New Mexico
March 3, 2007 – Telluride Ski Resort, Colorado

While the final roster will be announced in the coming weeks, confirmations have already been received from several of last year’s Olympians, including defending men’s Snowboarding World Professional Champion Graham Watanabe of Park City, Utah, and defending women’s 2006 Snowboarding World Professional Champion Doresia Krings of Austria. Early indications show a line-up for 2006-2007 that will be heavy on World Cup titlists, World Cup Champions, World Champions, National Champions and Winter X Games and Gravity Games gold medalists.

In addition to the roster of pre-qualified invited athletes, the Jeep King of the Mountain Series will continue to incorporate the highly popular National Open Qualifier system at each event, allowing top-notch amateur and professional ski and snowboard racers to earn a spot against the world’s best for a shot at the title of World Professional Champion. Among the racers taking part in qualifiers this past season included Winter Olympians Nate Holland and Marco Sullivan, U.S. Ski Team members Jake Zamansky and TJ Lanning, and U.S. Snowboard Team members Pete Thorndike, Eric Warren and Adam Smith, to name a few. Additional National Open Qualifier registration information can be found at www.jeepsports.com.

While competitors can expect to encounter completely distinct terrain based on the layout of each host mountain, one constant in the Jeep King of the Mountain Series will be the event’s innovative Y-cross racecourse. The course, which delivers high-speed excitement, requires equal parts instinct, patience and nerve from its challengers. For the first part of the course, two challengers must navigate the dual features section consisting of single and double rollers. Once through this section, the two courses converge into a single course, forming the approximate shape of a Y. The second section features terrain characteristics of skier-cross or snowboard-cross racing, including banked turns, jumps, and tabletops. Athletes must be able to “work” the terrain features in order to generate extra speed, use techniques such as NASCAR-style drafting, and feel comfortable with another racer literally breathing down their neck.

About the Jeep King of the Mountain Series
The Jeep King of the Mountain was established in 1993. Jeep is the title sponsor for the Jeep King of the Mountain Series. The Professional Skiing & Snowboarding World Championships are the sister competition to summertime’s Jeep King of the Mountain World Professional Mountain Biking Championships. Other marketing partners for the Jeep King of the Mountain include Columbia Sportswear Company, Edge ActiveCare, John Paul Mitchell Systems, Infinity Systems, Mopar, and Ski Press Magazine.

About Snowbird Ski & Summer Resort
It’s not hard to figure out why Snowbird has been named the number-one resort in the U.S. by SKIING magazine four times running. With over 2,500 acres of ski-able terrain and 11 ski lifts – three high-speed quads, seven doubles and a surface lift – Snowbird offers a skiing and snowboarding experience unlike any other. The resort receives over 500 inches of snow annually and typically ranks as one of the last resorts to wrap up the season – due to the outstanding conditions and the fervor created by the unbeatable terrain.