Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Mount Snow to host 2009 Dew Action Sports Tour!

West Dover, VT. (July 15, 2008) - Freestyle skiing and snowboarding's elite athletes will converge in southern Vermont January 8-11, 2009, as officials announced today that Mount Snow has been selected as the only East Coast stop of the AST Winter Dew Tour. The announcement comes on the heels of Mount Snow's decision to turn its Carinthia mountain face into a massive, 95-acre terrain park system, making it the largest freestyle destination in the East. After several years of successful summer tours, this is the Dew Tour's inaugural winter series. The event features slopestyle and superpipe disciplines in both skiing and snowboarding, with top athletes like Simon Dumont, Kelly Clark, Hannah Teter and Jen Hudak expected to compete. It will be televised live on NBC. "We are extremely excited to have Mount Snow Resort as a host for the inaugural AST Winter Dew Tour," said Wade Martin, AST President. "We feel that Mount Snow Resort is a great fit for the AST and we look forward to the AST Winter Tour being as successful as the AST Summer Dew Tour." "The timing couldn't be better," said Kelly Pawlak, Mount Snow General Manager. "We want to show the world that Mount Snow is taking East Coast freestyle skiing and snowboarding to new levels. It's really an honor to host the Winter Dew Tour." "I'm so excited that Mount Snow will be hosting the AST," said pro snowboarder Kelly Clark, who grew up riding at Mount Snow Academy. "I'm really excited to compete at such a high level event in front of my hometown and ride my favorite mountain." Mount Snow opened the first freestyle terrain park in the East in 1992 and hosted the ESPN X-Games in 2000 and 2001. The Dew tour features three separate stops over the winter, with a cumulative points system and a $1.5 million competitive purse spread across the three events. Lifestyle elements at each stop include the Festival Village, with video gaming and interactive events, as well as live cutting edge music. More information can be found at http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001Klj8RzTN1hoYkx-zt2N2J-sK_T0b1Pxj-Vr-c_tPRHe0ytRlV_nsIBwn02x_bXDz1koyU99DbEeTS8KGfowp9DWkjDeCsu3wvXx2lgiKOpo=.

The complete 2008/2009 AST Winter Dew Tour schedule is as follows:
Date LocationDec. 18-21 Breckenridge Ski Resort - Breckenridge, Colo. Jan. 8-11 Mount Snow Resort - West Dover, VT. Feb. 19-22 Northstar-at-Tahoe Resort - Lake Tahoe, Calif. For more information on Mount Snow, visit www.mountsnow.com, or contact Luke Q. Stafford, Communications Manager, at 802-464-4013 or lstafford@mountsnow.com.

Monday, July 14, 2008

2008 OLYMPIANS SELECTED, SET TO RACE AT MOUNT SNOW

West Dover, Vt. (July 14, 2008) — For the second year in a row, the USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Championships will return to Mount Snow, July 17-20. More than 1,000 athletes are already registered to compete for the coveted Stars-and-Stripes jersey in seven different styles of off-road racing, including the four riders recently selected to represent the United States at the upcoming Olympic Games in Beijing, China.

2008 Olympians Adam Craig (Bend, Ore.) and Mary McConneloug (Chilmark, Mass.) will be on hand to defend their 2007 national titles in the pro Olympic-style cross country contest, along with Todd Wells (Durango, Colo.) and Georgia Gould (Fort Collins, Colo.), who have also qualified for Beijing. Fresh off the 2008 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships, Cole Bangert (Twin Lakes, Colo.) and Kathy Pruitt (Santa Cruz, Calif.) are set to defend their Stars-and-Stripes jersey in the pro downhill races on Sunday. To view complete results from the 2007 USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Championships, click here.

With over 2,000 competitors expected to compete across beginner, sport, expert, semi-pro and professional categories, the 2008 USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Championships will also feature several additional disciplines of mountain bike competition including Short Track Cross Country, Dual Slalom, Super D, Observed Trials and Singlespeed Cross Country. Although online registration has closed, on-site registration will be available for a nominal fee.

Mount Snow has been hosting world-class mountain bike competitions for the past 20 years, including UCI World Cups and National Mountain Bike Series events, and is widely recognized for some of the most challenging and technical terrain in the East.

A fully-enabled media room will be set up at the base of the mountain to accommodate journalists and photographers. Those interested in covering the event should call Luke Q. Stafford, Mount Snow’s communications manager, at 802-464-4013.

Utilizing largely the same routes as the 2007 competition, athletes can expect demanding, technical courses that will challenge even the sport’s best. This year’s cross country competition will cover the same five-mile loop as in 2007 with race lengths from five miles for the 12 & under juniors, to 25 miles for the professionals. For a complete list of race lengths and lap counts, click here. The 2008 downhill competition will feature two different courses with one specifically suited for the beginner and sport classes and the other designed to challenge the skills of the nation’s top pro gravity riders. Click here for course maps for both the cross country and downhill competitions.

In addition to the various off-road cycling competitions, USA Cycling is set to present the four U.S. Olympic mountain bikers with their official Olympic jersey during a special ceremony at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, July 19. At that time the national governing body will also be announcing the dates and host venue of the 2009/2010 USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Championships.

For more information visit http://vocuspr.vocus.com/VocusPR30/Url.aspx?519621x2518x447483 or call 800-245-SNOW.

SOUTHERN VERMONT’S DEERFIELD VALLEY INITIATING A GIANT, BLUE FESTIVAL AUGUST 1-10TH 2008



Berries, vintage cars, music, food and tarp displays; if it’s blue, it’s probably happening in the Mount Snow area towns of Wilmington, Whitingham and Dover in early August.

The 2008 Deerfield Valley Blueberry Festival is the culmination of a community effort coordinated by Janet Boyd from Boyd Family Farm in Wilmington in which dozens of businesses, organizations and individuals have created blueberry or blue themed events happening the first ten days of August.

“It’s fun, it’s silly, and something everyone can take part in,” Boyd said of the event which she hopes will become an annual community event.

Visitors to the Valley will find children’s activities, jam making, blueberry themed specials in the local eateries, blue music events, a blue car auto show, blueberry bake sales, blue beer, special “Blues fees” at Mount Snow’s Golf Course as well as pick your own blueberry opportunities.

Don’t miss Boyd’s Farm “Fields of Blue” public art display. Inspired by Christo and Jean-Claude’s Central Park orange canvas display “The Gates”; Vermont farmers Janet and Buck Boyd’s display of blue tarps in their fields will have you chuckling.

Highlighted Events for 2008:

Aug 1- 10 Fields of Blue join us at the Boyd Family Farm in the pick your own blueberry fields. Celebrate Blueberry Season! Experience our "Field of Blue" Ya might be a farmer if you appreciate our Outdoor Art Walk! Photo opportunities...your friends will be blue with envy! Stay long enough to pick some berries! Fields are open daily. Hours will be posted. 802- 464 -5618

August 2 Blueberry Stampede - Walk the Valley Trail to benefit the Guy Hawkins Cancer Fund 10 a.m. Registration at the Matterhorn Inn West Dover Noon – 2:00 pm Barbeque and Entertainment 802-464-4676

Aug 2 Tony's Pizza & Blueberry Festival Auto Show Vintage cars, custom wheels and the owners that own them! Barbers corner across from Tony's Pizza Route 100 North Dover! Info at 802-464-8669

Aug 2 & 3 Blueberry Pie & Open House at the Kingswood Model- Handle Road, Dover, Vermont. 10:00-3:00 Teresa Friol Kingswood of Vermont, Inc. 802-464-8877
Aug 2 LET’S DANCE! at 6:30PM: Deerfield Valley Community Cares & Let’s Dance So. VT presents: “Celebrate the blueberry festival with “A Summer’s Night of Dancing” at the Dover Town Hall. Country Line Swing Ballroom Latin 6:30pm Dance Lesson (come early) 8:00pm Dancing $15 per person, payable to DVCC snacks, beverages, raffles & silent auction Michael Rodriguez 362-1819 Ray Warren 348-6671 Valerie Kaufman 464-2758
Aug 6 Jammin’ with Blueberries! Whitingham Free Public Library: FROM 3:00 PM TO 4:30 PM We will be reading “Blueberries for Sal” by Robert McCloskey and making blueberry jam. Please call Kristine @ 368-7506 for more information.

Aug 6 Deerfield Valley Blues Jam with Bonfire Party & Fireworks at Adams Farm Musical Performances and prizes throughout the evening beginning at 7:00 pm, Bonfire lights off at 8:00pm and Fireworks are set to kick-off at 10:00pm. B.Y.O.B. Adult Admission$12.00; Children 4-12 years $7.50 and 3 years and under is Free!$2.00 off admission for driving in with your blue car, blue truck or blue motorcycle. Adams Farm, Wilmington, Vermont. 802-464-3762 or adamsfamilyfarm.com.

Aug 7 Thirsty Thursday at The West Dover Inn. Live Music by Jim Flynn and we will be serving Blueberry Beer and Blueberry Desserts

Aug 9 The wearing of the blue! Wilmington Village Center Blue Stroll 5-8 pm – contact the Chamber of Commerce 802-464-8092

Aug 10 Blue Fees Mount Snow Golf Course will be offering “Blue Fees” (instead of green fees) for $56. (802) 464-4254

Aug 10 The Teddy Bear’s Blueberry Brunch with Bill Shontz 11:00 AM – 1:00PM: at Adams Farm as part of the Deerfield Valley Blueberry Festival, Adams Farm is hosting their first ever Teddy Bear Brunch featuring local recording artist Bill Shontz. Experience all the joys of Adams Farm, the friendly farm animals, great locally grown and prepared food and all the thrills and sing-a-longs you could ask for.Join Bill Shontz and his “No-See-ums” Band singing songs from Bill's award-winning releases. You can also look forward to real, live, dancing Teddy Bear plus the famous Teddy Bear Toss, when all the guests throw their teddy bears in the air at the same time! Don't forget your camera! This is much more than a concert with local great food- it's a happening! Come early and B.Y.O. Bears. Teddy bears, dolls and other stuffed animals always get in free. A great family event!Reservations required. Adams Farm, Wilmington, Vermont. 464-3762 or adamsfamilyfarm.com.

For complete listing of events check http://www.visitvermont.com/ or call the Mount Snow Valley Chamber of Commerce at 1-802-464-8092.