Executives from the U.S. Olympic Committee and the country’s largest winter sports governing body are in talks to launch a women’s winter sports festival next December in Park City, Utah.
So far, organizers are focusing on women’s ski jump, freeskiing and snowboarding, said Michael Jaquet, chief marketer for the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association. But the USOC hopes to involve the rest of the women’s winter Team USA as well, if possible.
No commitments have been made, and complicated questions about competition schedules and the event budget still must be addressed. After a meeting Dec. 7 ended without any conclusions, officials hope to decide before the end of this month whether to proceed.
A USOC spokesman confirmed the talks continue but declined to elaborate given the preliminary nature of the meetings.
The concept grew out of the successful Olympic trials staged by the USOC and USSA in December 2013, Jaquet said. More than 20,000 people attended and sponsors were pleased. USOC marketing chiefs are always looking for new ways of filling in the gaps in the Olympic cycle, so they explored ways to replicate its trials’ success and turn it into an annual series involving many sports under a single umbrella.
“Then the conversation morphed into, ‘Why don’t we make this about a celebration of women’s Olympic sports?’” Jaquet said. “Since that felt like more of a unique property, and that’s really what we’ve concentrated on since.”
The Utah Olympic Park would host the event.
The first year would be structured around a sanctioned international World Cup competition, Jaquet said, and become the Olympic trials a year later.
Even if the USOC fails to attract other sports like bobsled, luge or figure skating to the event, Jaquet said he’s optimistic about making the ski and snowboard component part happen.
“We still need to get a little bit more comfort on where all the money’s coming from,” he said. “But I would say that’s the only impediment. We know the venue is solid. We’ve created space on the international calendar, and this totally falls within our goal of creating athlete opportunities on home snow.”
The International Ski Federation sets its annual schedule in March. The USSA has tentatively asked for a slot for this event, should planning proceed.
Other than trials, the USOC hasn’t staged a recurring domestic multisports event since the U.S. Olympic Festival ended its run in 1995.
