November 20, 2007 (West Yellowstone, MT) – The 2008 SuperTour season will get underway this week in West Yellowstone, MT, but all season long, we will be celebrating a monumental benchmark. This season, the SuperTour will award its millionth dollar in prize money! This achievement is thanks to the collective work that all of you, and others who have been a part of the Tour in previous seasons, have put in over the years to make the SuperTour an unparalleled success. One of USSA’s Core Values is the concept of Team, and the development of the SuperTour has certainly been a sustained team effort, and has provided massive support for the future development of cross country racing in the U.S.

When the NorAm was established in 1997, which has since been re-branded as the SuperTour, our aim was to support long-term athlete development. We did this by providing our top domestic development athletes with a place to come together week after week during the season for head-to-head competition, and to reward them for their successes.

Today’s SuperTour has included significant numbers of foreign competitors. In fact, the SuperTour has typically included over 50 foreign athletes from about a dozen nations in each of the last 5-6 seasons. The SuperTour is recognized by FIS as one of its leading Continental Cup series, and as an avenue leading to World Cup qualification. The SuperTour’s partnership with the FIS World Cup has granted personal start rights in the World Cup to almost a dozen different athletes based on their success in the SuperTour.

Competitors from both the U.S. and abroad use the SuperTour as a springboard to international success. Thus far, seven athletes have gone from winning overall classifications in the SuperTour to a World Championship or World Cup podium within one year of their participation in the SuperTour. This is true validation that the racing experience the SuperTour provides is world class.

In honor of this million dollar season, I want to congratulate you all for the role you’ve played in making the SuperTour what it is today.

Online resources for SuperTour organizers
Check the online resources for organizers and officials. Of special note is the document entitled Recommendations for Race Announcers and Commentators, which was developed by FIS and adapted for use in domestic FIS competitions as a means of standardizing the way the sport is presented on-site, to increase the understanding and excitement associated with the races.

2008 SuperTour Ad and Poster
SkiTrax magazine will be running a SuperTour Ad/Poster advertisement. The artwork has been posted to ussa.org. Organizers are also invited to use the artwork in their own event-specific posters. The ad features 2007 SuperTour overall champion Laura Valaas, who went on to win a silver medal in the World U23 Championship sprint.

What’s new in the SuperTour?
The 2008 SuperTour features some notable changes:

• The schedules for the races in December and during the Midwest Grand Prix have been compressed to allow for additional training time for the athletes in the early season, and for additional recuperation time between the U.S. Cross Country Championships in Houghton and the World Cup races in Canmore, ALB.

• An additional race has been added to the Aspen weekend, giving competitors further incentive to take part in this very popular weekend of racing.

• Fairbanks makes a comeback as the organizer of the SuperTour Finals and U.S. Long-Distance Cross Country Championship. The event will feature nighttime pursuit races to take advantage of the Friday night spectators that come out in force in Fairbanks, and the most physically demanding course of the season during its 30/50km championship races. Cross country skiing is one of the most physically demanding sports, and this John Estle designed course will even put the world’s best athletes to the test with its massive vertical gains and descents.

• The leaders of the SuperTour after the U.S. Cross Country Championships in Houghton will be awarded start rights in the Canadian World Cup races, and in World Cup races throughout the end of the season, up until the World Cup Finals in Bormio, ITA.

Important Decisions from the Cross Country Committee
All TDs and organizers should review the following decisions from the USSA Cross Country Committee – please click here.