I've been so consumed with Olympic coverage (and the baseball playoffs) that I almost didn't notice the official announcement of the 2008 U.S. Snowboarding Team. The official World Cup season begins tomorrow. It's a little hard for me to believe since the temperature in my hometown is still reaching over 100 degrees.

With nearly the entire '07 roster returning, U.S. Snowboarding will feature a squad that tallied three World Championships medals (one gold), 15 World Cup top-3s (six wins), 11 Chevrolet U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix podiums (three wins), two Junior World Championships medals and six X Games medals (three gold) last winter. U.S. Snowboarding also gathered dozens of podiums at other major competitions, including the Grand Prix, Chevrolet Revolution Tour, Race to the Cup, US Open, Vans Cup and USASA Nationals.

"Across the board, U.S. Snowboarding continues to work with the best riders in the country," said Forster. "From some of the top pros in the industry to the best young up-and-coming talent, this year's roster is set to be successful at every level of snowboarding as we set our focus on preparing for the 2010 Olympic Games."

Continuing to build its development program, U.S. Snowboarding's halfpipe squad again will integrate a Rookie Team that includes major up-and-coming talent like Matt Ladley (Steamboat Springs, CO), Dylan Bidez (Minturn, CO) and Brooke Shaw (Litchfield, CT). Veterans of the Rookie Team include Louie Vito (Sandy, UT), who was runner-up to teammate Tommy Czeschin (Mammoth Mountain, CA) in the '07 Chevrolet U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix standings, and Ellery Hollingsworth (Stratton Mountain, VT), who made the jump to the Pro Team./i>

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