NEWRY, Maine ??” Sunday River will host the United States Ski and Snowboard Association (USSA) 2006 Masters National Alpine Championships, March 17-25, 2006. The event will include Men’s and Women’s Downhill, Super G, Giant Slalom and Slalom.

Newly expanded to include younger skiers, masters from ages 21 to over 80 compete on the same runs used for World Cup events. Masters are unique among the participants of alpine skiing. Not content to rest upon past successes, masters racers seek to reach their best beyond the public perception of “prime years.” Masters racing is designed for every level of skier ability, from entry-level racers through ex-national team members. Masters racing provides the next step for up and coming accomplished skiers who are late bloomers, NASTAR and college racers, ski instructors, former professional racers and even ex-national team members.

Slalom, giant slalom, super G and downhill are all included in the 200-plus races typically held each season. Masters series are conducted within each of the eight geographic divisions of USSA including Alaska, Central, Eastern, Far West, Intermountain, Northern, Pacific Northwest and Rocky Mountain.

“At the Masters level, you really get to see the history of ski racing in the space of 150 competitors,” says Sunday River’s Marvin Collins, who is VP of Operations and a former Masters Alpine racer. “The older competitors take you back to the 1940s, 50s and 60s style of skiing around the poles, and the younger competitors bring you up through the 70s, 80s, 90s and today’s style of skiing through the poles.”

Sunday River successfully hosted this event in 1996, and recently also hosted Super Series NorAms, The USASA National Championships, Sprint U.S. Freestyle Grand National/FIS Freestyle World Cup, U.S. Snowboard Grand Prix, Chevy Truck Masters of the Board, X-Nix U.S. Snowboard Championships, Chevy Truck U.S. Freestyle Championships, Junior Olympic events and many FIS starts. Additionally, Sunday River has hosted more technical continental cups in the Northeastern U.S. than any other resort in the last five years.

In order to participate in the USSA sanctioned 2006 Masters National Alpine Championships, a racer must be a member of USSA, or a properly registered foreign competitor, and eligible for competition as defined by FIS and USSA. See USSA.org for details.