COPPER MOUNTAIN - The Copper Mountain Snowboard Series grew so much in its first 20 years, it needed a new name.

The largest snowboard series in the nation, founded in 1986, no longer contains the word "snowboard" in its moniker because it's not just for the pole-less anymore.

"We've featured skiing events for three years now, but we're changing the name this year because it's been creating confusion," fourth-year Copper Series director Paul Krahulec said.

The Copper Series' United States of America Snowboard Association (USASA) events include slalom, giant slalom, halfpipe, slopestyle and boardercross for boarders and halfpipe, slopestyle and skiercross for skiers.

Krahulec believes national growth trends in competitive freestyle skiing haven't fully spread to Summit County, in part, because many freestyle skiers have been unaware of their ability to compete at Copper.

"That's great news," local pro skiercross competitor Brian Connelly said after hearing about the name change. "I've been in a few races at Copper, but they seemed to shun the skiers. It wasn't advertised. If I called the Summit Daily, they would say, 'Yeah, they'll let skiers in,' but that's it; nobody knew about it."

"My first gut reaction was being bummed they were changing the name," said former series competitor Justin Reiter, who is a current member of the U.S. Alpine Snowboard Team. "Because I think it is the oldest snowboard series in the nation. ... But, I thought about it more and the fact that they're opening the doors to all athletes who ride on snow, whether it's on one stick or two, is cool."

Reiter, who began competing in the Copper Snowboard Series as an 11-year-old, looks back on his pre and early teen years as an important stage in his fledgling career.

"Small races like that are essential to the development of snowboarding in the U.S.," Reiter said. "People don't just wake up and they're Shaun White. Riding with your buddies isn't enough. You've got to go through the steps."

Reiter broke in to the Copper series as a member of the (USASA), then moved up to the USSA (United States Ski and Snowboard Association) before eventually being named to the U.S. team.

Krahulec described this year's schedule as "a global mix" of USASA events, the new collegiate USCSA (United States Collegiate Ski and Snowboard Association) qualifiers and USSA/FIS events.

Chevy Revolution Tour comes to town

Another change to this year's Copper Series is that it will mark a stop on the USSA Chevrolet Revolution Tour, a series Krahulec describes as a middle ground between amateur and pro competition.

Copper's scheduled installment of the late-January event has already proven to be quite popular.

"The 80 spots in men's slopestyle sold out in 12 hours," Krahulec said. "You need a USSA license and a FIS license to compete, so these are athletes who are serious about throwing down."

Not to mention making it to the next level - the top three men and women from each Revolution Tour halfpipe event will pre-qualify for the 2007-08 Snowboard Grand Prix.

Branching out to include the college crowd

In a constant effort to increase clientele, this year's Copper Series will include the college ranks.

This is the first year the USCSA has partnered with the USASA, and the organizations will co-host a three-day regional qualifying competition at Copper in February. The USCSA national finals are scheduled for Winter Park.

Although the USCSA expanded to include snowboarding three years ago, this will likely be the first year teams from the Rocky Mountain Conference, such as the University of Colorado, Denver University and Colorado College, will have organized snowboarding teams, according to USCSA president Paul Wojick.

"I think it's great," said Colorado Mountain College ski coach George Thomas in regards to the USCSA snowboarding movement. "CMC's had a ski team forever, but now the snowboarders outnumber the skiers on campus. That's been the evolution, I guess."

Despite the fact that USCSA/USASA snowboarding is still a new concept, it's one that will likely entice at least a few members of the Rocky Mountain Conference to compete at Copper.

According to George, snowboard programs at the eight participating schools are in various stages of their infancy. In the case of CMC, the snowboard team will start out as a club sport. The local college's ski team is school sponsored.

"Out of all the snowboarders in the school, only a handful are interested in competing at this point," George said. "It's all experimental this year, but having an event at Copper puts the opportunity right in front of them. I think it should turn out pretty well."

For more info on the Copper Series, including a complete event schedule, visit www.copperseries.com



Adam Boffey can be contacted at (970) 668-4634, or at aboffey@summitdaily.com.