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BRIGHTON, Utah - Two-time Olympic Gold Medalist Seth Wescott and Visa today announced the activities for the "Visa Seth Wescott Ride With Me SBX Tour" at Brighton Resort.  Wescott, the first and only gold medalist in snowboardcross (SBX), will be in the Salt Lake City area March 11-12 and his appearances will include a series of SBX clinics, press conference, autograph/photo session and champion celebration party.

A true global ambassador for the sport, Wescott has been a Team Visa athlete since 2004 and was recently signed through the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games. The 2010 Visa Seth Wescott Ride With Me SBX Tour was kicked off last weekend at his home mountain at Sugarloaf Resort, and includes a full day of activities at Brighton Resort, then  continues on to The Summit at Snoqualmie in Washington this weekend. The national tour, which features Wescott traveling across the nation to celebrate his Olympic victory and share his passion for the sport of snowboarding, is supported by Visa, Sprint, Boyne Resorts, Norway Savings Bank and Bern Unlimited.   

"It has always been my goal to grow the sport of snowboardcross and I am looking forward to connecting with fans and thanking them for their continued support," said Wescott.  "The excitement for the Olympics and snowboardcross is at an all-time high following the Vancouver Games, and with the help of my sponsors, we are able to build upon that buzz with this national tour and hopefully get more people interested in the sport."  
 
"As an Olympic sponsor for more than two decades and the longest standing sponsor of the US Ski and Snowboard Association, Visa has a history of supporting the growth of new and emerging Olympic sports.  We believe they are important to keeping the Olympic Games relevant and popular," said Michael Lynch, head of global sponsorship, Visa.  "We look forward to helping Seth pursue his dream of introducing snowboardcross to the next generation of Olympic athletes and watching him defend his title in the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games."

Tour events take place at Brighton Resort on Friday, March 12, 2010.  The day begins with free snowboardcross clinics, led by Wescott, at 10am and 11:30am.  Snowboarders of any age can register Friday morning and enrollment is limited; first come, first served access.  An autograph signing and photo session follows at 2pm in the resort's Milly Chalet.  The session is open to all visitors, 2-4pm, and attendees can receive a commemorative poster signed by Wescott.  A "Toast to Seth" party begins at 4:30pm in Molly Green's, located at the base of the mountain, where pub guests can celebrate his back-to-back wins and have a chance to mingle with Wescott and other fans.

A Press Conference is scheduled for Thursday, March 11 at 4pm.  The conference is open to credentialed media and takes place in Salon A/B located on the main level of the Salt Lake City Marriott Downtown on 75 South West Temple; 801.531.0800.

"We are excited to host Seth in Utah following his amazing victory at Cypress Mountain," said Randy Doyle, general manager of Brighton Resort. "The opportunity for local snowboarders to spend time with him on the course we've designed for these clinics and for anyone to stop by the resort to meet him is tremendous and we're honored to have him with us this week," Doyle said.

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About Seth Wescott: Maine native Seth Wescott is one of the most accomplished and decorated athletes in snowboarding history highlighted by two Olympic and one World Championships gold medals. A member of the U.S. Snowboarding team for more than a decade, he is the first and only athlete to win Olympic gold in snowboardcross and the first ski or snowboarder to win two gold medals since Andrea Mead Lawrence 1952. Wescott is a four-time U.S. National Champion, eight-time Winter X Games medalist, and three-time World Championships medalist. For more information, please visit www.sethwescott.com or www.sugarloaf.com/seth.

About VISA: Visa is a global payments technology company that connects consumers, businesses, financial institutions and governments in more than 200 countries and territories to fast, secure and reliable digital currency. Underpinning digital currency is one of the world's most advanced processing networks-VisaNet-that is capable of handling more than 10,000 transactions a second, with fraud protection for consumers and guaranteed payment for merchants. Visa is not a bank, and does not issue cards, extend credit or set rates and fees for consumers. Visa's innovations, however, enable its financial institution customers to offer consumers more choices: Pay now with debit, ahead of time with prepaid or later with credit products. For more information, visit www.corporate.visa.com.

About Sprint Nextel: Sprint Nextel offers a comprehensive range of wireless and wireline communications services bringing the freedom of mobility to consumers, businesses and government users. Sprint Nextel is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies, including two wireless networks serving more than 48 million customers at the end of the fourth quarter of 2009 and the first 4G service from a national carrier in the United States; industry-leading mobile data services; instant national and international push-to-talk capabilities; and a global Tier 1 Internet backbone. The company's customer-focused strategy has led to improved first call resolution and customer care satisfaction scores. For more information, visit www.sprint.com.

About the Brighton Resort: Located in Big Cottonwood Canyon just outside of Salt Lake City, UT, Brighton was founded in 1936 and is among America's oldest alpine ski areas.  Known as "the place where Salt Lake City learns to ski and ride," Brighton prides itself on having one of the best beginner ski programs in the United States.  Its terrain, amenities, and people are friendly and make skiing and snowboarding fun, not intimidating and 100% of Brighton's terrain is accessible by high speed lifts.  Brighton is a member of the Boyne Resorts family of resorts and attractions.  For more information, please visit www.brightonresort.com.  

Jared Winkler, Brighton Resort - (801)532-4731 x268, jwinkler@brightonresort.com
Drew Johnson, Octagon - (207)775-1500 x25, drew.johnson@octagon.com
Fletcher Cook, Fleishman-Hillard for Visa - (415)318-4202, fletcher.cook@fleishman.com