March 20, 2008 (Caribou, Maine) – The Maine Winter Sports Center (MWSC) announces that John Farra has accepted a position as the Nordic Director for the United States Ski Team in Park City, Utah. Farra, a 1992 Olympian, has been with the MWSC since 2002, and Vice President since 2005.

“John has made profound contributions to the Maine Winter Sports Center since he arrived in 2002,” says Andy Shepard, President of the MWSC. “His calm, empowering leadership style has been instrumental in creating one of the top programming and development staff’s in the ski world. When you look at where our alumni have gone, it is clear that the industry also sees the quality of our staff. While we are sorry to see John go, we are all very excited for him in this new opportunity.”

Other former MWSC staff members include: Per Nilsson – Head Coach of the US Biathlon Team, Eli Brown – Head Coach of perennial NCAA powerhouse, University of Utah and Max Saenger – Biathlon Sport Manager for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.

Farra credits his time living and working in Maine for inspiring him and readying him for this new challenge. “Working with community members throughout Maine has proven just how resilient and dedicated Mainers can be”, said Farra. “It has also shown me how magical it is when kids discover the joy of skiing and being outside in the winter, and when those kids infect their whole families with that joy. I’ll take that perspective with me as I work to support the continued development of Nordic Skiing at the US Ski Team. With any luck, I will be issuing a US Ski Team jacket to some of our Maine skiers very soon!”

Farra will head up a team of 10 coaches and service professionals in the sports of Cross Country Skiing, Jumping and Nordic Combined as they help their athletes contend for Olympic, World Championship, and World Cup medals. Farra will also be involved in setting policy and direction for the Development of these Nordic Sports through the country.

As Vice President for the MWSC, Farra leaves a strong legacy of accomplishments and successful initiatives, including overseeing the growth of our Healthy Hometowns programs from 28 communities in 2005 to over 90 programs by the end of the 2008 season.

Farra will start his new position on April 1st, but will return to the County regularly throughout the Spring. His wife Tess, and his two girls Lina and Hanna will remain in Caribou to finish out the school year.

The Maine Winter Sports Center (MWSC) is a charitable and benevolent 501c3 non-profit, economic development corporation, founded in April 1999. The Company operates with ongoing grants from the Libra Foundation of Portland, Maine. Our mission is to re-establish skiing as a life-style in Maine, and then to leverage that lifestyle to create opportunity for rural communities of the state.

Our assets include world-class cross country and biathlon venues in Fort Kent (10th Mountain Center) and Presque Isle (Nordic Heritage Center), Big Rock Alpine Ski Area in Mars Hill, Quoggy Jo Alpine Area in Presque Isle and Black Mountain of Maine in Rumford.

For more information on the MWSC please contact Andy Shepard at 207-232-3304 or visit our website at <http://www.mainewsc.org/>www.mainewsc.org