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Show Nationally recognized LEGACY SKI (VrJDH cacC-HAH m park ciw mm returns to In an effort to build excitement and increase awareness for the 2002 Olympic Winter Games, Park City Mountain Resort has made a major commitment to introduce Utah kids and families to snowsports by again offering the Legacy Ski & Ride Program. For the 2000-2001 Winter Season, Utah kids enrolled in grades kindergarten kinder-garten through 12th grade are offered free skiing and snowboarding lessons, free equipment rentals and free lift tickets good on the "First Time" chair-lift. chair-lift. The Legacy Ski & Ride Program runs almost every Friday and Saturday evening of the 2000- 2001 Winter Season, excluding holidays, and will continue through the 2001-2002 season as w ell. "The Legacy Ski & Ride Program is designed to help bring winter sports to children in Utah w ho would not otherwise other-wise have the opportunity to learn to ski or snowboard," said Vera Greco, president and general manager at Park City Mountain Resort.' "Experiencing w inter sports firsthand is the best w ay, I believe, for kids to truly feel a part of the action and excitement as w e prepare to host the world." The Legacy Ski & Ride Program hosts 200 children each night, or a total of 4,400 children during the 2000-2001 season. Upon preregistra-tion, preregistra-tion, participants are mailed a packet of information on the basics of w inter sports and what tLey can expect from the program. After they have taken part in the Legacy Ski & Ride Program, each child is sent a commemorative com-memorative pin and a bounce-back offer valid for a lessons, equipment rentals and lift tickets for just $10 per person for their entire immediate family. "It is our intent to keep a high percentage per-centage of these young people active in snow sports and a part of the Park City Mountain Resort family." said Greco. "By offering offer-ing free first-time lessons to kids w ho have never skied or snowboarded before and allow ing them an easy and affordable way to return to the resort to improve, the Legacy Ski & Ride Program w ill increase the number of skiers and snowboarders in Utah while at the same time creating creat-ing aw areness of the upcoming upcom-ing 2002 Olympic Winter Games." Utah kids from more shan 150 cities and 400 schools throaghou: the state were introduced to the slopes last winter, the Legacy Ski & Ride Program's inaugural season. They came from as close as the town of Park City, and from as far away as the Nevada. Utah border. Since the program's pro-gram's inception, 4,436 children hav e learned to ski and snowboard all free of charge. It is anticipated that more than 12,000 Utah kids w ill take part in the program by the time the Olympic Winter Games are held in Utah in 2002. The 1999-2000 Legacy Ski & Ride Program w as recognized by the National Ski Areas Associations (NSAA) as one of the "Best Programs to Grow the Sport to New Participants." and is backed up by research conducted by the Snowsports Industries of America (SIA), the national trade association of the ski and snowboard industry. According to SIA's segmentation study results, about 52 percent of dads and 41 percent per-cent of moms would ski more if their children were skiers or snowboarders. SIA also found that proficiency is an M Q 1 In " ' I Pad h , - i ' r I v ' ' IF Pnolo by Scotl Sre indicator of how often people ski or snowboard. Children who start at age 10 (the average age of Legacy Ski & Ride participants) are twice as likely as those starting at age 25 to reach an intermcdiate-to-advanced ability level, and therefore, more likely to ski or snowboard into adulthood. "The idea of introducing free skiing and snowboarding to Utah youth was first dev eloped in reaction to the fact that only approximately seven percent of Utahns ski or snowboard," said Greco. "This is an amazing statistic, not only because Utah is home to 14 of the best and most diverse ski and snowboard resorts in the U.S., but because the state has been chosen to serve as the venue for the granddaddy of w inter sports events the 2002 Olympic Winter Games " The Legacy Ski & Ride Program sponsors include the Salt Lake Organizing Committee. Qwest (formerly U S WEST). Delta Air Lines. Coca-Cola. Coca-Cola. K.SL Television and Eastman Kodak. worldcilp |