LAKE PLACID, New York ??” The United States Ski Team announced Friday that Whiteface will host U.S. Ski Team Day, a promotional event to benefit Ski Team athletes. The program will take place on Saturday, Feb.11, 2006 at more than 65 alpine and cross country ski areas across the nation, including Whiteface. All participating resorts will donate $1 per lift ticket that day to support U.S. Ski Team initiatives.

“I’m excited about the enthusiasm for U.S. Ski Team Day,” said Bill Marolt, President/CEO of the U.S. Ski Team and a former Olympian himself. “We are thankful for Whiteface’s support. U.S. Ski Team Day will provide an outstanding opportunity for skiers in the Whiteface / Lake Placid region to celebrate our sport during the Olympic period, and to help the athletes of the U.S. Ski Team to be ???Best in the World’ in 2006.”

A wide variety of activities will be offered to mark the occasion at Whiteface. A youth race will be held at 9 am on the NASTAR course, located on Lower Valley. From 10:30 ??“ 11:30 am, you can run the NASTAR gates and race against a future Olympian from the New York Ski Educational Foundation (NYSEF). A gold medal performance will earn you a team pin. Meanwhile, there will be a snowboard clinic at the mini-terrain park and a bump clinic on lower Boreen with NYSEF athletes and coaches. These opportunities will repeat themselves from

1 ??“ 2 pm along with a beginner race course on Mixing Bowl.

Also during these periods, the Uihlein Training Center, NYSEF’s new headquarters, will feature equipment representing all the disciplines of our national teams. Visitors are encouraged to peruse the new building and meet the staff.

You’ll probably be hungry at this point, so we’ll point you in the direction of the Food Court in the base lodge where a special Gold Medal Lunch will be served by ORDA concessionaire, Centerplate.

As the day winds down, the U.S. Ski Team Day celebration will continue in the Cloudspin Lounge where you can watch the first day of competition from Torino and join in an apr??s-ski pep rally from 3 ??“ 6 pm. Join the Whiteface staff in a game of U.S. Ski Team Trivial Pursuit where great swag will be awarded for the correct answers to team questions.

It’ll be a day of good karma for our home skiers and riders as they take on the world’s best racers in Italy.

“This will be a great way for us to support our American skiers and boarders, as well as getting ourselves in the spirit of the Winter Games,” said Whiteface General Manager Jay Rand, a ski jumping Olympian in his own right. “Just think about all the resorts that are doing this and the positive vibration they will send off. I’m very happy that we can do our part, and given our Olympic heritage, I’m expecting people to leave here excited to see our teams in action.”

Additional donations to the U.S. Ski Team on Feb. 11 will be gratefully accepted and can be processed through NYSEF.

For more information on this festive day, please visit www.whiteface.com. To view a list of participating ski areas across the country, visit www.usskiteamday.com, and to get the low-down on NYSEF, please go to www.nysef.org.