U.S. Ski & Snowboard, formerly known as the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association, is the national governing body for Olympic skiing and snowboarding. Founded in 1905, the organization provides leadership and direction for skiers and snowboarders from over 400 member clubs. The association is headquartered in Park City, Utah. U.S. Ski & Snowboard and its local clubs coordinate nationwide programs in seven distinctly different Olympic sports—alpine, cross-country, disabled, freestyle, ski jumping, Nordic combined, and snowboarding. It is responsible for all aspects of competitive skiing and snowboarding from grassroots programs through elite international teams, including training and fielding the annual U.S. Ski Team and U.S. Snowboarding, as well as the Olympic teams in skiing and snowboarding. U.S. Ski & Snowboard is composed of over 30,000 athletes, officials and coaches, with a network of over 100,000 parents, volunteers and supporters. It is the most diverse of any Olympic sports organization with six different athletic sport programs that account for nearly 50 percent of the Olympic Winter Games events.
Governance
U.S. Ski & Snowboard is governed by a 21-person board of directors and six sport committees including alpine, cross country, disabled, freestyle, jumping/Nordic combined, and snowboarding. The board and committees meet several times a year including the annual U.S. Ski & Snowboard Congress in May. It is also supported by the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Foundation, which is represented by a board composed of athletes and American business leaders. U.S. Ski & Snowboard works under the auspices of the U.S. Olympic Committee as the national governing body for Olympic skiing and snowboarding in the USA. And the organization also works under the International Ski Federation as the national association for skiing and snowboarding.
Development pipeline
Interested young boys and girls generally begin competing through one of U.S. Ski & Snowboard's 400 local clubs located in communities around the country, generally at ski and snowboard resorts. Clubs provide introductory education and training, as well as competition programs. USSA sanctions over 4,000 local competitions each year across all sports, with each event conducted by a U.S. Ski & Snowboard club. One of the U.S. Ski & Snowboard's key roles is providing education to ski and snowboard coaches who work with young athletes, and over 5,000 officials who conduct competitions according to USSA and FIS competition rules. Each sport is also organized at a regional and divisional level, with slight variances by sport. Alpine skiing, for example, is organized in three regions: Eastern, Rocky/Central and Western. Within those regions are divisions including Eastern, Southern, Central, Rocky Mountain, Intermountain, Far West and Alaska. In some areas, such as New England, there are also state-based organizations. Local organizations host U.S. Ski & Snowboard sanctioned competitions. Competition programs are held within each region or division leading up to national and international events. From these competitions, athletes earn points and are ranked nationally with the highest ranking athletes earning nominations to join the U.S. national teams, which compete at the World Cup level. U.S. Ski & Snowboard is one of the only Olympic sports associations in America to support a full-time standing national team in every sport. Teams are nominated each spring or summer based on results. Teams for FIS World Championships and Olympic Winter Games are selected by specific criteria and named for those individual events. Recently, U.S. Ski & Snowboard adopted virtual reality technology to better prepare its olympic team for the Pyeongchang games.
History
In 1904, a meeting was held in Ishpeming, Michigan, to discuss formation of a national ski association, but it wasn't until 1905 that the National Ski Association officially formed. Ishpeming Ski Club President Carl Tellefsen proposed that a meeting be held after the 1905 jumping meet, in order to found a ski association which, among other duties, would oversee jumping tournaments. In 1905, the association was formally organized during a meeting attended by officers from the Ishpeming, Michigan; the Minneapolis, Red Wing and Stillwater, Minnesota; and the Eau Claire, Wisconsin ski clubs. On February 21, 1905, Carl Tellefsen announced formation of the National Ski Association with himself as its first president. In 1962, the 57-year-old National Ski Association renamed itself the U.S. Ski Association and moved its offices to Colorado Springs, Colorado. In 1976, the USSA and the U.S. Ski Team agreed to part ways. The USSA continued to control the rules and governance of the sport, as well as the coordination of travel programs for recreational skiers, while the U.S. Ski Team focused solely on the elite national team. In 1988, the USSA and U.S. Ski Team merged again under the direction of Thomas Weisel, who proposed the creation of a 15-person "super board" responsible for governing both organizations. Howard Peterson, who was the CEO of the USSA at the time, was put in charge of the new organization as CEO and the USSA subsequently moved its national offices from Colorado Springs to its current location in Park City, Utah. In 2017, USSA announced it was rebranding itself as U.S. Ski & Snowboard, bringing its multitude of sports under one mark and brand.
Location
U.S. Ski & Snowboard is located at 1 Victory Lane, Park City, Utah 84060. In May 2009, U.S Ski & Snowboard moved into its new national training and education facility, the Center of Excellence. The facility serves as a training base for elite athletes as well as an education center, providing valuable information to U.S. Ski & Snowboard's 425 local clubs nationwide through Center of Excellence TV.
