World Snow Day

OLYMPIC SPIRIT SHINES ON SUNDAY AT THE HERMITAGE CLUB IN SOUTHERN VERMONT’S DEERFIELD VALLEY

Ted Ligety’s Former Coach Inspires Future Generations of Skiers on FIS World Snow Day

Wilmington, Vermont (15 Jan 2014) - In anticipation of next month’s 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, the Hermitage Club (www.hermitageclub.com), a full-service private ski resort in Southern Vermont’s Deerfield Valley, welcomes families to the 1,400-acre retreat on Sunday, January 19 from 9:45am to 3pm to celebrate FIS World Snow Day.

Mike Day, former coach of Alpine racer Ted Ligety, a 2006 Winter Olympics gold medalist who will compete in Sochi with the U.S. Ski Team, will be on hand to greet young skiers and offer pointers at The Hermitage Club, featuring a 3,200-foot mountain with 46 ski trails. Under May’s tutelage as technical coach for the U.S. Ski Team, Ligety won four World Championships and two Overall World Cup Giant Slalom titles.

On Sunday, Day hopes to inspire children and teens to develop a lifelong passion for skiing and snow sports, one of the objectives of World Snow Day, which will be held in countries ranging from Sweden to South Africa and is billed as “the biggest day on snow all year.”  At the Hermitage Club, one of only nine official host sites nationwide and the closest venue to New York City (3.5-hour drive), skiers can also take the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association SkillsQuest Assessment, during which Eric Harlow, USSA Eastern Region Alpine Program Director and former coach of the National Team and the U.S. Women’s Alpine Ski Team, will oversee drills covering ski fundamentals. Visitors can also train and race with The Hermitage Club’s Director of Snowsports and Alpine Racing, James Lazor, try Telemark lessons, attend a ski tuning clinic and enjoy on-mountain barbeque. 

Free public events are part of The Hermitage Club’s ongoing commitment to the Deerfield Valley, which was devastated by floods during Hurricane Irene in 2011. The Hermitage Club, a $75 million investment by entrepreneur and Avon resident Jim Barnes, has contributed 300 jobs to the local economy and has heightened interest in the Valley as a tourist destination.
 
Sunday’s events are open to the racing public; register at http://hermitageclub.com/wsd/. On February 15, the community is invited back to the Hermitage Club for USSA National Day.

ABOUT THE HERMITAGE CLUBSince 2012, membership at the Hermitage Club has increased by 225% percent, as families seek alternatives to long lift lines and crowded runs at many public resorts. The first full-service private ski club in the Northeast, the Hermitage Club includes a four-star, 18-hole Desmond Muirhead golf course, a four-diamond country inn, a skating pond, and over 15 miles of cross country ski trails. Next season, the year-round resort will unveil an 80,000-square-foot clubhouse, the largest of any ski resort in the country, with an edit suite for GoPro helmet cams, a movie theater, a bowling alley, a lap pool and spa treatment rooms.