PARK CITY, Utah — Olympic-caliber ski and snowboard competitions will hit five of America’s prestigious mountain communities when the annual International Ski Federation (FIS) World Cup circuit swings through the United States during the 2008-09 winter season the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association announced. The worldwide schedules were approved by the FIS Congress Friday at its meeting in Cape Town, South Africa.

The Audi FIS Alpine World Cup tour will stop in Aspen, CO with women’s racing over Thanksgiving weekend and in Beaver Creek, CO the first week of December with the men’s race week. The U.S. will host two freestyle skiing stops in January at Lake Placid, NY and Park City, UT, with events at both Deer Valley Resort and Park City Mountain Resort. Sunday River, ME will bring a taste of Olympic snowboarding to the east at the end of February.

“Each of the venues has a tradition of hosting great athletic competitions and all are marquee and proven stops,” said USSA Vice President of Events Calum Clark. “The mountains have some of the best terrain in the world and also provide an incredible fan experience.

“Plus, with the success the U.S. Team had last year in all our ski and snowboarding sports, it is an exciting time to show the American public what our great athletes are capable of and show them in our backyard,” Clark explained.

The 2008-09 World Cup lineup for the United States includes:

ALPINE

Aspen Winternational, women’s Audi World Cup, Nov. 28-29, 2008
Aspen, CO

Birds of Prey Race Week, men’s Audi World Cup, Dec. 4-7, 2008
Beaver Creek, CO

FREESTYLE

Nature Valley Freestyle Cup – Jan. 18-19, 2009
Whiteface and Lake Placid, NY (Jan 18 night aerials; Jan 19 ski cross)

Visa Freestyle International, Jan. 29-31, 2009
Park City, UT (Deer Valley Resort and Park City Mountain Resort)

SNOWBOARDING

Visa U.S. Snowboarding Cup, Feb. 27-March 1, 2009
Sunday River, ME

“It’s an incredible opportunity to take a powerful event to a resort like Sunday River where they have great passion and first class resources within their events department,” said Clark. “We look for this event to be a showcase for snowboarding in New England

Sunday River Resort has long been committed to hosting elite level competitions from alpine and freestyle skiing to snowboarding including the U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix, the elite snowboarding series in North America. The resort was host to a FIS Freestyle World Cup in 2001.

All domestic World Cup competitions will air on NBC, the Olympic network, and on the cable station Versus. Broadcast schedules to be announced closer to the season. WCSN.com will Web cast the World Cups throughout the winter. For a full international FIS World Cup schedule, visit fis-ski.com.