Julia Mancuso Raffle (10/25/2007)

Julia Mancuso (www.juliamancuso.com), coming off the best season for a female alpine ski racer since 1984, has announced a new partnership with her helmet and goggle sponsor POC, awarding a free helmet to a lucky fan each remaining race weekend of the current FIS World Cup season.

Mancuso and POC have partnered in the 2007-08 season to produce the first ever signature helmet for a female US ski racer, the Skull Comp.

Retailer demand for the signature helmet from America's skiing golden girl has been overwhelming. Stefan Ytterborn, POC's CEO, said: "Collaborating with an athlete, you never know what to expect. The general ambition is all about product input, to be able to improve constantly. Another aspect is of course visibility. When starting off together with Julia, I couldn't dream about what she would bring, to us and to the sport in general. Julia is like a fairy tale. She looks and skis like a princess but with attitude. Her attitude is different than the majority of today's athletes. She has a life, besides racing and she enjoys it. She's a modern person that kids like to identify themselves with and I tell you, there are just as many boys out there aspiring on the Julia Mancuso phenomenon as there are girls".

Mancuso autograph cards will be handed out to the fans at each venue. Each card will have a unique number; the number will be drawn and published at www.pocski.com and www.juliamancuso.com, the week after the race and one of Julia's autographed signature helmets will awarded to the lucky fan.

"It's such a wonderful crowd, no matter where we go. Especially the kids. It feels good to give something back to these enthusiastic crowds and in the best of cases, inspiring a kid, to try even harder and possibly encourage him or her, in their own skiing career" said Julia.

After capturing the Olympic Giant Slalom Gold Medal in 2006, Mancuso followed up her golden season with her first World Cup win, four of them in fact. 2007 was the third consecutive "breakthrough" season for Mancuso; in addition to her first four World Cup wins (in three different disciplines), she scored six other podiums, a World Championships Silver Medal, the second place ranking in each of the Downhill and Super Combined standings and a third place overall ranking for the 2007 season, the best ranking for a US female alpine ski racer since 1984. Mancuso was also the #1 overall ranked skier in the world during the 2007 season, a first for an American since 1983.