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The hills at the Utah Olympic Park will determine some of the Americans who get to vie for medals in Pyeongchang.
The U.S. Ski & Snowboard announced Saturday morning that the Utah Olympic Park in Park City will host the Olympic Team Trials for both ski jumping and Nordic combined.
The trials are scheduled for Dec. 30 and 31 in Park City, and both trials are being dubbed winner-take-all events with tickets to the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in South Korea on the line.
The nordic combined trials are scheduled to begin Dec. 30. Athletes will compete on one single jump at the Olympic Park's 100-meter hill.
They'll then race in a 10k cross-country ski race on the trails at the base of the jumps to determine who is headed to South Korea. Brothers Bryan and Taylor Fletcher, both residents of Park City, are considered front-runners in the event.
NBC will carry live national coverage of men's and women's ski jumping trials Dec. 31. The winner of each event receives one of the first Olympic spots of any winter sport. The rest of the ski and snowboard teams are expected to be named in January.
"Our sport is fortunate to continue to take advantage of legacy opportunities nearly 16 years after the 2002 Olympics in Utah," said Tiger Shaw, president and CEO of U.S. Ski & Snowboard in a release. "The Utah Olympic Park will be an amazing backdrop for our athletes in an event that will showcase our sport nationwide on NBC."
The ski jumping trials will be just the second in history for women aiming to qualify for an Olympic Games. The 2013 Olympic trials were the inaugural qualifiers after a lengthy effort, spearheaded by the U.S. women's ski jumping team, to have women's ski jumping included in the Olympics.
Park City's Sarah Hendrickson, the 2013 world champion and 2014 Olympian, is expected to compete for another shot after enduring some injury-riddled World Cup seasons the last few years. Kevin Bickner recently finished the best season by a male U.S. jumper in over a decade, setting an American distance record.
According to a release, U.S. Ski & Snowboard is producing the event in concert with the United States Olympic Committee and the Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation with support from the Utah Sports Commission and Park City Chamber and Visitors Bureau.
The Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation has played host to more than 175 national and international competitions since the Olympics.
"The Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation strives to develop a 'living legacy' with vibrant youth sport programs and community engagement," Colin Hinton, president and CEO of the Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation, said in a release. "The opportunity to host the Olympic Trials allows us to continue to support winter sport while inspiring future athletes and the local community."
Twitter: @chriskamrani