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Days after Hollywood vacated Park City and the Sundance Film Festival, stars of the slopes move in to take their place.
Park City plays host to both the annual Visa Freestyle International World Cup at Deer Valley Resort and the Visa U.S. Grand Prix at Park City Mountain Resort the next three days.
The Freestyle World Cup will feature an additional aerials event starting Thursday morning to make up for the cancelled World Cup stop in Lake Placid, N.Y., earlier this season. The Grand Prix ski halfpipe finals take place Friday afternoon, while the snowboard halfpipe finals are scheduled for Saturday afternoon.
There will be a noticeable absence from the annual World Cup stop: American moguls legend Hannah Kearney retired in 2015 at the age of 29 after a banner career that featured 46 World Cup wins, 71 podiums, 10 World Cup titles, three World Championship gold medals and two Olympic medals, including a gold at the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver.
Thursday morning features men's and women's aerials qualifiers and finals, which will serve as a prelude to the men's and women's mogul finals that evening.
Without Kearney, the U.S. will be looking to Mikaela Matthews, the 24-year-old who is ranked No. 3 on the World Cup circuit behind Canadian sisters Chloe Dufour-Lapointe and Justine Dufour-Lapointe, the reigning women's Olympic champion in moguls.
K.C. Oakley, who defeated both Dufour-Lapointe sisters a year ago at Deer Valley, is out while recovering from a back fracture and thumb surgery.
Mikael Kingsbury of Canada has dominated the men's field at Deer Valley in recent years and remains atop the mogul World Cup circuit heading into Thursday night's event.
American Ashley Caldwell headlines the aerials. The 22-year-old is ranked No. 1 on the World Cup tour in women's aerials. Caldwell won the 2015 event at Deer Valley. Her and fellow jumper Kiley McKinnon became the first U.S. duo to place 1-2 on a World Cup podium since 1989.
The U.S. Grand Prix is in its 20th season, the longest-running domestic competition associated with the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association.
Park City resident Maddie Bowman, a gold medalist at the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia, recently won her fourth consecutive X Games gold medal in women's SuperPipe on Jan. 29. She headlines the women's ski halfpipe final alongside Olympic silver medalist Devin Logan.
Fifteen-year-old Chloe Kim of La Palma, Calif., won her second-straight X Games gold medal in women's SuperPipe at last week's X Games. Fellow American Arielle Gold finished second with a silver. Matt Ladley of Steamboat Springs, Colo., won X Games gold in the men's SuperPipe.
Twitter: @chriskamrani —
VISA Freestyle International World Cup
At Deer Valley, Park City
Thursday » Men's aerial finals, 10:20 to 10:40 a.m., women's aerial finals, 1 to 1:20 p.m., men's and women's mogul finals, 7 to 8 p.m.
Friday » Men's and women's aerial finals, 8 to 8:50 p.m.
Saturday » Men's and women's dual moguls final, 7 to 8:20 p.m.
Visa U.S. Grand Prix
At Park City Mountain Resort
Friday » Ski halfpipe finals, noon to 1:30 p.m.
Saturday » Snowboard halfpipe finals, noon to 1:30 p.m.