Verizon Luge Challenge Brings Ultimate Sliding Experience To Five Ski Resorts This Winter

NEW YORK -- Gordy Sheer, a three-time Olympian and 1998 Olympic silver medalist, will join USA Luge National Team coaches and athletes in

demonstrating proper sliding technique to Verizon Luge Challenge participants at five U.S. ski resorts this winter.

Through its sponsorship, Verizon Communications brings the luge experience to thousands of people -- free of charge -- in a safe, slope-side setting.

The participating resorts and dates for the 2001 Verizon Luge Challenge program are as follows:

• Seven Springs Mountain Resort, Champion, Pa. -- Jan. 20-21
• Ski Windham, Windham, N.Y. -- Feb.3-4
• Waterville Valley Ski Resort, Waterville Valley, N.H. -- March 3-4
• Bromley Mountain, Manchester Center, Vt. -- March 10-11
• Park City Mountain Resort, Park City, Utah -- March 17-18

The afternoon features timed races, with results flashed on an electronic scoreboard. "Racers" are timed against a course standard set by USA

Luge National Team athletes and coaches. The event is conducted in four categories: men (ages 18 and over), women (ages 18 and over), boys (ages 10-17)

and girls (ages 10-17). The five individuals who clock the fastest times in each age group will win prizes including Laserluge sleds and ski items from Fox

River, LaCrosse Footwear, Marker Outerwear and UVEX Sports.

The family event also features a live DJ, free hot chocolate and prize drawings.

"The Verizon Luge Challenge program continues to gain popularity as an alternative winter activity," said Pat Hennebry, director of corporate

sponsorships for Verizon Communications. "This year, we're delighted to bring this adrenaline-pumping event to winter sports enthusiasts in the West, as

well as in the Northeast."

As a founding sponsor of USA Luge, Verizon (formerly NYNEX and later Bell Atlantic) has helped the U.S. National Luge Team rise to become a world-class

competitor, winning more than 190 international medals since 1990. Team USA made history in 1998 by winning the first U.S. Olympic medals, a silver and a

bronze, during the Winter Games in Nagano, Japan.
USA Luge continues to excel in international competition. During 2000, the team won the gold medal in the Inaugural Winter Goodwill Games doubles

competition, the overall World Cup doubles' bronze medal, the World Championship bronze medal, Inaugural Challenge Cup overall silver medal and gold, silver

and bronze at the 2000 Junior World Championships.

For more information, log on to USA Luge's official Web site, www.usaluge.org.

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ), formed by the merger of Bell Atlantic and GTE, is one of the world's leading providers of communications services.

Verizon companies are the largest providers of wireline and wireless communications in the United States, with more than 101 million access line equivalents and

more than 26 million wireless customers. A Fortune 10 company with more than 260,000 employees and approximately $60 billion in 1999 revenues, Verizon's

global presence extends to 40 countries in the Americas, Europe, Asia and the Pacific. For more information on Verizon, visit www.verizon.com

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