Mt. Hood Series' Tucker Fitzsimmons took home the Open class Rail Jam win to kick off the 30th Anniversary of USASA.
After an incredible warm-up showcase by the Open class riders last night in Saturday evening’s rail jam, the 2019 USASA National Freeski Championships are set to hit high gear on the slopes of Colorado’s Copper Mountain Resort today, Sunday, April 7, where nearly 800 of the country’s best freeskiers will begin four days of competition in halfpipe, slopestyle, ski cross, big air, and at the nightly rail jams.
After the snowboarders kicked off competition at Copper in impressive fashion last week, it’s up to the freeskiers to close out what is a historic USASA National Championships, as the 2019 iteration of the Nationals is made extra special by the fact that this season USASA celebrates 30 years as an organization dedicated to excellence, respect, and fun in skiing and snowboarding.
Of the USASA’s 5000+ members spread across our 32 regional series, approximately 800 of the top skiers from across the country have qualified to compete in Copper. Those skiers are divided into age groups from the 7-and-under Ruggies all the way up to Methuselah 60+ category, as well as the top-tier “Open” class, the adaptive class, and all the other age brackets in between, with all groups featuring competitions for both women and men.
Which is to say that the 2019 USASA Nationals Championships will see the 28 different competitive classes hit the slopes of Copper Mountain for some 92 different competitions over the next four days of action, with 276 medals to be awarded to the top athletes and an incalculable number of memories to made by all.
This will be the 12th-straight season that Copper has hosted the USASA National Championships, and with an agreement in place to continue hosting the event through to at least 2022, the Championships are in excellent hands in a good home for the foreseeable future.
Ski week competition at the 2019 USASA National Championships at Copper Mountain resort runs from Sunday to Wednesday.