By USSA

STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo. — Less than one week before the 2010 Games open in Vancouver, the U.S. Olympic moguls team has returned to the site of its Olympic Trials event and are putting the finishing touches on their runs before they are Vancouver Bound.

“The camp is going great here in Steamboat. It is like a breath of fresh air after the tense Olympic qualifying World Cups,” 2002 Olympic silver medalist Shannon Bahrke (Tahoe City, CA) said. “I am able to focus on what I want to do in Vancouver and not worry about anything else. I only have one job to do now.”

“Steamboat has a long and proud freestyle tradition, so it only seems appropriate that Ski Town USA hosts the U.S. Olympic Moguls Team as it makes final preparations for the Vancouver Olympics,” said Andy Wirth, Steamboat Ski and Resort Corp.’s senior vice president of sales and marketing. “The resort has worked extensively with the U.S. Ski team to ensure the training venue on Voo Doo is similar in as many ways as possible to the one that America’s best athletes will be competing on in Vancouver.”

Tearing up the Voo Doo run before they cross the Canadian border on Sunday, U.S. Moguls Coach Scott Rawles says training at Steamboat Springs is the perfect way to send off the athletes.

“It is always great to come back to a resort town with such a great history of sending athletes to the Olympic Games,” Rawles said. “Steamboat will be a great place to get back our focus after taking a week off after a series of grueling January World Cups.”

Steamboat completely rebuilt its moguls run in order to help prepare the moguls athletes for what the course at Cypress Mountain will be.

“Steamboat has done an excellent job preparing the course for us, building the jumps so they will be similar to the ones that will be up in Vancouver,” Bahrke said.

The Team starts its journey to Canada on Sunday, before the Olympic Opening Ceremony officially kick off two weeks of athletic competition on Friday. Women’s moguls will get underway on Feb. 13.