Prominent among them is 20-year-old Callan Chythlook-Sifsof of Girdwood, who is competing in a World Cup event for the first time since tearing her ACL a year ago in Argentina.
The weekend races are the first in a series of five qualification stops for aspiring Olympians.
"Training has been going as good as it can be," Chythlook-Sifsof told U.S. Snowboarding. "I feel like I'm riding even better than when I was on snow before. This is the first competition since my knee injury, everything feels really good and I can't wait to start racing."
No more than two athletes -- perhaps one -- will make the U.S. Olympic team in boardercross, making Chythlook-Sifsof's bid particularly challenging.
The competition includes Lindsey Jacobellis of Stratton Mountain, Vt., the most successful World Cup boardercross athlete, male or female, riding for the U.S.
Jacobellis was the Olympic silver medalist in 2006 and is the only woman on the U.S. Snowboarding's A team. Joining Chythlook-Sifsof on the B team are Marni Yamada of Seattle and Brooke Shaw of Connecticut.
"We trained for a few days before coming here, so that was good. Everyone is looking really strong, but it's hard to tell at this point. You don't really know how everyone else is riding," U.S. Snowboarding head coach Peter Foley said in a press release. "This is the first of five Olympic selection events, so it's huge. It seems like everybody is on it so far.
"They're all prepared and they know what to do."
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