Snow shortage postpones Junior Freeskiing Tour stop in Crested Butte

Snow Show fashion.

A blizzard of snow business is about to hit Denver with the start of this week's Snow Snowconvention, and it's now snowing in the high country.

But it's too little, too late to keep the Junior Freeskiing Tour on schedule.

Yesterday, the organization postponed the event originally slated for February 2-5 in Crested Butte until the end of March, citing the poor conditions.

Crested Butte's Junior Freeskiing Tour stop -- last year, with snow.

This comes in the wake of news from Colorado Ski Country that skier visits were down over 10 percent this season, thanks to those same poor conditions.

Here's the official word on the Junior Freeskiing postponement:

Salt Lake City, Utah -- January 23, 2012

Stop one of the Junior Freeskiing Tour, February 2-5 in Crested Butte, Colorado is postponed until March 29-April 1. This delay will provide junior skiers with the best possible snow conditions for the competition and ensure a top quality event.

"Much of the west has experienced low snow conditions this year and in order to give our athletes the highest quality event, we are forced to wait for additional significant storms," says JFT Director Jeff Berman. Famous for its rocky and steep terrain, Crested Butte requires considerable snowfall to be competition ready. This event now serves as stop 4 on the tour.

Junior Freeskiing athletes need to compete in just 3 out of 5 stops on the tour in order to win the overall title.

The tour kicks off at Crystal Mountain on March 1and continues on to Squaw Valley, Grand Targhee, Crested Butte and finishes with the Championships at Snowbird April 4-7.

For more information visit www.jrfreeskiing.com.

One season's poor snow conditions are a blip in the history of Colorado skiing. Read how snowboarding finally gained a place in the Colorado Ski Hall of Fame in this November cover story, "Skiers may scoff, but snowboarders are finally being accepted by the slopes' old guard."