Forster anounces US Grand Prix as Olympic qualifier

A letter from U.S. Snowboarding and U.S. Freeskiing Director Jeremy Forster:

The Sprint U.S. Grand Prix is entering its 18th season, making it the longest running domestic snowboarding series. I’m pleased to announce that in 2014, the series will take on even more significance as the primary Olympic selection events for halfpipe and slopestyle in both snowboarding and freeskiing.

At its core, the Grand Prix has served as the qualifying series for halfpipe snowboarding since its Olympic debut in 1998. Through this qualification process, U.S. riders have gone on to 14 Olympic halfpipe medals. We are stoked to begin this journey with the new Olympic events in 2014. The series has had the great fortune to be hosted by world class resorts. Copper Mountain has kicked of the Grand Prix every year since 2008. Mammoth Mountain was the site of the first Olympic snowboarding team announcement in 1998 and has been a consistent part of the Grand Prix series. Park City Mountain Resort has also been a key partner providing some of the highest quality competition venues and played host to the 2010 Olympic Team announcement. 

Since its inception, the Grand Prix has had great consistency of sponsorship. Sprint, Visa, Paul Mitchell, The North Face and Burton have a long history of supporting both the events and our U.S. Snowboarding and U.S. Freeskiing programs as wholes. NBC and NBC Sports Network have also served as valued partners, committing to 21 hours of combined coverage for the 2013-14 season.