TELLURIDE – Hey kids, get your edges sharpened and your bases waxed, because some of the world’s hottest skiers and snowboarders have come to Telluride to compete, and you might just get the chance to catch a few runs with them.

This weekend’s Jeep King of the Mountain Tour features races with a purse, a field and a course to parallel anything this side of the big pond. One-hundred-forty of the top skiers and snowboarders from around the world have converged on this little mountain town to compete for $250,000 in prize money in a race that may someday become an Olympic qualifier.

“The athletes are here in part because they are forecasting that this will be an Olympic qualifier,” said Kipp Nelson, event co-founder. “They don’t want to miss the first big event and fall behind the rest of the crowd.”

While snowboard cross was featured in the 2006 Winter Olympics, the International Olympic Committee just announced in November 2006 that ski cross would be added to the 2010 Winter Olympic lineup.

Often referred to as the on-snow version of motocross, ski and snowboard cross sends four racers careening side by side down the mountain through banked turns and over rollers, jumps and tabletops to the finish line. The first two across the line proceed to the next round.

Nelson considers ski cross and snowboard cross to be classically North American events, and he started The Ski Tour to foster them.

“These events are thought of as North American events,” he said. “They were started here.” While elite-level skiing has traditionally taken place mostly in Europe, Nelson said that by providing comparable events in the States, he can foster the sport as well as its participants.

“It’s like the success of the snowboard halfpipe event. When you have world-class competitions in the U.S. where the kids here can see them, they get behind it and say, ‘That’s what I want to be when I grow up.’ That way, the sport thrives.”

Nelson noted that in the past, top athletes were forced to spend 10 months a year away from home and family, traveling to competitions in Europe. “They would retire, not from lack of competitive drive or ability, but because of time away from home. Now, between Jeep King of the Mountain, the X Games and the World Cup, there are five events here in the U.S. that they can compete in.” Nelson said that Daron Rahlves, Olympic athlete, “thought he was retired from racing a year ago because he just had twins. Now he’s competing again.” Casey Puckett is back on the circuit again as well, aiming for an unprecedented fifth seat in the Olympics; Puckett had also considered retiring from competition to be with his young family, according to Nelson.

According to co-founder Henry Schneidman, the Jeep King of the Mountain Series started in 1994 as an Olympic-format downhill race featuring the greatest downhill athletes in history including Franz Klammer, winner of the 1976 Olympic gold medal.

“In 2002 we changed the format, added women’s events and snowboarding, and kept the tradition of bringing together the world’s best athletes.” Last year the series featured a Y-cross formant, where two racers begin on separate courses and meet on the way to the finish line. This year’s series features Olympic-format cross-style racing for both skiers and snowboarders.

“This year we will have all the Olympic champions from 2006,” Schneidman said. “Now that skier cross is an Olympic event in 2010, it’s a safe bet that the 2010 gold medalist will be racing in Telluride this weekend.”

What’s so special about the Jeep tour that brings these athletes to Telluride?

“From a competition standpoint, these are some of the best-run events in the world,” Schneidman said. “They are the first ski cross and snowboard cross events for the season, and the prize money is the richest in the sport. Besides, Telluride is a phenomenal resort. There will be street parties, a fashion show, it’s all part of the draw. It’s all about living hard and playing hard.”

World Cup ski cross racer Magdalena Jonsson of Sweden agrees. A schoolteacher when she’s not skiing, Jonsson has been recovering from knee surgery – “I get it cleaned out every few years” – and was advised not to race until after Christmas. “I almost didn’t come, but since it was in Telluride, I couldn’t stay away. It’s a long trip here from Europe, but it’s so beautiful. The mountains here are more pointy than the rest of Colorado, more like Europe,” she said.

Mother of two, Jonsson placed a low 14 in her first X Games because she didn't have a babysitter during practice. The next year she came back to win the silver – on her husband’s skis. She borrowed his because she didn’t have any.

Eric Iljans, another Swedish skier, plans to go see some of the music this weekend, as does Brett Buckles, Colorado’s comeback girl (see page TKTK for profile). “I really want to get to as much music as I can, hopefully Macy Grey, Swollen Members,” she said. “I always try to get in as much live music as possible. That’s what I love to do in life.”

Nelson invites all the kids in the area to come out and watch the races, then ski with the pros afterwards.

“After the awards ceremony at the base of lift 4, some of the athletes will be hanging out to take groups skiing and snowboarding,” Nelson said. “These athletes are true role models. It’s not easy being a professional winter athlete. They know how to handle themselves and to market themselves and to relate to the public. This isn’t a stadium event where athletes show up in their limos right before the show and leave right after. These people are here all weekend and they’re not leaving.”

That might even go for the artists as well.

“We’re hoping to get Michael Franti out snowboarding,” Nelson said. “We’re not sure if it’ll happen, he’s a busy guy. But there will be musicians out on the hill. We told them, ‘Hey, the world’s best athletes want to go out cruising with you.’ We figure if the musicians are here for more than just a gig, then they get the vibe of what we’re trying to do.”

The Jeep King of the Mountain races take place Friday, Saturday and Sunday on Misty Maiden, with on-snow awards ceremonies at the base of lift 4. Spectators without lift tickets are invited to watch from the plaza in Mountain Village.