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North America's new elite, four-stop skiing competition features the world's best halfpipe & skiercross skiers competing for $500,000

BaseCamp Music Experience to feature over 30 big-name music acts alongside multi-day alpine festival including photo competitions, film festivals, street bonfires, rail jams, and countless parties

Four hours of network television coverage planned for The Ski Tour

Sun Valley, Idaho, November 15, 2006—At last, skiers have a professional tour and music festival to call their own. This winter, The Ski Tour (TST) plays out at four of America's top resorts— Sun Valley, Idaho; Breckenridge Colorado; Aspen/Snowmass, Colorado; and Squaw Valley, California. The world's best skiers will compete in skiercross or skier halfpipe competitions for $500,000—the largest purse in skiing—while a gigantic concert venue will bring some of the nation's biggest music acts to the heart of the mountains. All four events will be nationally televised (in one-hour shows) on network television.

TST will feature an international field of world-class athletes, each having equal opportunity to win the single largest payout in the sport—$125,000 each weekend. Athletes confirmed for the tour include Olympians Daron Rahlves, Eric Schlopy, and Reggie Crist and X Games medalists Tanner Hall, CR Johnson, Simon Dumont, and Zach Crist.

"In recent years the sport of skiing has undergone radical change and progression. Skiing is back on the map and I feel it is at its best," said Zach Crist.  "With the creation of The Ski Tour we now have a chance to showcase the reinvention of skiing to the masses."

In addition to the skiing competition, the BaseCamp Music Experience, presented in conjunction with The Ski Tour, will be the focal point of off-hill entertainment at each of the tour stops. BaseCamp will feature over 30 bands and DJs, including Michael Franti & Spearhead, Blackalicious, Hinder, Donavon Frankenreiter, The Wailers, DJ Logic, DJ Jillian Ann, Swollen Members, Kamphire Collective, and more to be announced.

At most stops, these big-name acts will play in a centrally located, 14,000-square-foot heated pavilion, which will accommodate up to 3,000 people. This structure, erected in the center of town, will occupy a city block. In addition to hosting the headline concert, the pavilion will be the hub for all of the festivities, featuring an array of events throughout the weekend, including street party bonfires, the Limelight Film Festival, rail jams, VIP and athlete parties, locals bar parties, pro photo shootout parties, teen rock & roll parties, fashion shows, and many more activities celebrating mountain culture.

"Our goal with The Ski Tour is to broaden the market of people interested in skiing competition. But the way to do that is to not just focus on the competition," said TST co-founder Kipp Nelson. "We're going to take the entire ski experience—from the first chair to après to late-night entertainment—and turbo charge it into a three-day cultural experience for everyone who loves the mountain lifestyle. If you're only going to go skiing one weekend of the year, you want it to be one of these four."

The launch of TST comes at a pivotal time for skiercross and skier halfpipe as skiercross is expected to join snowboard cross at the 2010 Olympics. TST founders want to see skier halfpipe follow suit. TST will put these sports into the national limelight, helping to promote them as viable Olympic sports.

To successfully execute their vision, co-founders Nelson and Steve Brown have assembled a team of ski industry veterans: Zach and Reggie Crist and CR Johnson to lead athlete relations; MSI (a full service event management company with 10 years experience) and Kevin O'Grady of HOK Events to execute all of the on-hill presence and competition venues; Lynn McCarthy (15 years event and entertainment experience); to direct the look and feel of the off-hill parties and functions; Hatch (45 years combined experience producing sports and lifestyle programming, whose principals produced The Tour de France, Gravity Games, and Winter Olympics) to produce four hours of network television; Bravo Entertainment to produce the concert scene; Keith Carlsen of MSI (former Powder Magazine editor) to spearhead the PR, communications, and media relations; Wirestone, an integrated marketing firm, to produce the TST website and branding, and a multitude of industry insiders who have added their input and attended countless meetings to make sure that all sides of skiing are represented.

For The Ski Tour photos, videos, athlete bios, competition schedules, music updates, and more, visit the newly re-launched www.theskitour.com

The Ski Tour would like to extend a special thanks to its current list of sponsors: Spyder, Paul Mitchell, Icebreaker clothing

THE DETAILS

2007 The Ski Tour dates and locations
$125,000 prize money per stop

January 11-14, 2007

Squaw Valley, California
Tour Finals
March 8-11, 2007          

Keith Carlsen
Director of Marketing, PR, & Communications
Mountain Sports International
keith@mtsports.com
801-349-4632

About The Ski Tour

The Ski Tour is the vision of co-founders Kipp Nelson and Steve Brown, who share the same passion and excitement for skiing competition. Founded in 2005, The Ski Tour's visionaries have a combined 25 years experience competing professionally and contributing to the ski industry. Nelson, who serves on the board of the USSA, and Steve are joined by a diverse Ski Tour management team that together has executed hundreds of professional alpine ski competitions around North America. To learn more about The Ski Tour visit www.theskitour.com

About Sun Valley

There can be only one original. And since 1936, Sun Valley, Idaho, has held that distinction. Born out of a desire to bring the magic of the European ski resorts to America, Sun Valley quickly became a phenomenon, without peer on this continent or any other. Boasting four distinct seasons, each as awe-inspiring as the next, Sun Valley's nearly one million acres of wilderness promise long sunny days, bright starry nights, and a resort experience that your family will cherish for generations.

Vail Resorts, Inc. is the leading mountain resort operator in the United States. The Company's subsidiaries operate the mountain resorts of Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge and Keystone in Colorado, Heavenly in California and Nevada, and the Grand Teton Lodge Company in Jackson Hole, Wyo. The Company's subsidiary, RockResorts, a luxury resort hotel company, manages casually elegant properties across the United States. Vail Resorts Development Company is the real estate planning, development and construction subsidiary of Vail Resorts, Inc. Vail Resorts is a publicly held company traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: MTN). The Vail Resorts company website is www.vailresorts.com and consumer website is www.snow.com.

 
About Aspen Skiing Company

Aspen Skiing Company operates four destination mountains – Snowmass, Aspen Mountain, Aspen Highlands and Buttermilk – and is the home of the ESPN Winter X Games through 2010. Aspen/Snowmass also offers unparalleled nightlife and off-slope activities as well as four award-winning Ski & Snowboard Schools. Aspen/Snowmass is accessible by two of the most convenient airports in the mountains – Aspen Sardy Field (3 miles from Aspen) and Eagle County Airport (70 miles from Aspen). For more information on Aspen/Snowmass, please call 800/525-6200 or 970/925-1220, or visit the company's website at www.aspensnowmass.com.

Legendary Squaw Valley USA boasts 4,000 acres, 6 peaks, 16 bowls, 3 terrain parks and the world's most advanced lift network.  Along with epic skiing and snowboarding, Squaw Valley offers mountaintop ice skating, swimming, snowtubing, night skiing, restaurants, shopping and nightlife galore.