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Megan McJames of the 2010 U.S. Olympic Ski Team tucks through a practice run in the giant slalom course Saturday at Snow King Mountain. More members of the U.S. and French ski teams are expected to train on the Town Hill in the coming days in preparation for the Vancouver Olympics. NEWS&GUIDE PHOTO / BRADLY J. BONER

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The United States women’s technical ski team could have gone anywhere in North America to train for the Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver.

With limitless options, it chose Snow King.

Of course, the team has connections here. Both head coach Trevor Wagner and assistant coach Seth McCadam are former Jackson residents. But the primary reason the team chose to train here is, of course, Snow King itself.

That was evident Tuesday morning when two U.S. Olympic team members – Hailey Duke and Megan McJames – began carving up a slalom and giant slalom course which has been groomed to near perfect conditions.

“This is the best snow we’ve trained on ever in our history,” Wagner said.

Tuesday marked the beginning of a 10-day Olympic training session at Snow King that also will include the French women’s team, which arrives later this week. Racers will sign autographs on Monday after a race on the King.

Duke, 24, and McJames, 22, arrived Monday night and will train each morning this week before flying to Vancouver for Friday’s opening ceremonies. A third U.S. Olympian, Sarah Schleper will arrive to train at Snow King after the opening ceremonies.

The training sessions will be highlighted by a National Development System race for 50 women, including three members of the U.S. team, Sunday and Monday at the Town Hill.

It may seem inconvenient for the athletes to train in Jackson, fly to Vancouver for opening ceremonies, and come back to continue training. However, it isn’t anything new for these athletes.

“Compared to our usual travel schedule,” Duke said, “it’s pretty tame.”

Duke is a first-time Olympian and has been a World Cup skier since 2007. She was all smiles as she carved turns under a sunny sky Tuesday morning.

A native of Boise, Idaho, she has skied and raced in Jackson many times while growing up. She said it is a thrill to spend 10 days training here.

“I’ve always had good times in Jackson,” Duke said. “It feels like home. The accessibility is awesome.”

“We can stay right here at Snow King [Resort],” she said. “It’s right in town. Everything is at your finger tips. I mean, Bubba’s isn’t that far away.”

The race training will be a bit of a homecoming for the two team coaches. Wagner lived in Jackson until he was 13 before his family moved to Montana.

“This is where I learned to ski and ski race right here on this hill,” Wagner said. “It’s cool to be back here.”

McCadam, meanwhile, lived in Jackson and worked for the Jackson Hole Ski & Snowboard Club for eight years before being hired by the U.S. Ski team five years ago.

“It’s strange, but cool,” he said of returning. “This was home for a while. It’s fun being back here.”

The women’s team chose to train at Snow King for a variety of reasons, including his connections at the ski club, the technical aspects of the mountain and the amenities of Jackson, McCadam said. Park City, where the team’s headquarters are and also where the U.S. men are training, was another potential choice.

“Trevor and I know the contacts here and we know what we’re going to get,” McCadam said. “We wanted to get out of that Salt Lake scene. There’s so much other stuff there with the training center there and more media. We wanted to get everyone away to a nice little town. We knew the Jackson community would be supportive of us coming here.”

Jackson and Snow King was Wagner’s top choice.

“We could have picked anywhere we wanted to go, and we picked here,” Wagner said. “You can stay right there, you’ve got a great town and great people. That’s the biggest thing, the people. You’ve got the Ski Club and everyone here willing to help.”

The connections to Jackson are not limited to the athletes and coaches. The team’s alpine technical advisor, Tom Johnston, is a Pinedale native who worked for the Jackson Hole Ski Club for 14 years. Johnston is in charge of preparing the course at Snow King to simulate the conditions the team will experience in Whistler.

To do that, Johnston, with the help of Snow King, used a snow cat to pull up about six inches of snow on the course before a layer of water was added underneath.

“We just opened it up with the cats and applied water to it,” Johnston said. “All the World Cup courses add water so it’s more dense and holds up for the racers. We’re trying to match that. The temperatures we’ve gotten the last few days has made it perfect. We probably added three-quarters of an inch of water, the same you’d get in a three-quarter-inch downpour. The machine tilled it five times and then Mother Nature did the rest overnight.”

The conditions at Snow King have made Johnston’s job easier. He said the snow is strong all over the course, unlike places like Park City, where weak spots exist.

“This is probably some of the best snow I’ve seen in the country this year,” Johnston said. “It’s just perfect. These guys did a great job of making snow this year. Snow King should be applauded. I don’t know if the community realizes what a great thing they’ve got here.”

While Duke and McJames trained Tuesday morning, Snow King was otherwise void of locals skiing and snowboarding. The mountain should attract more Jackson residents this weekend for the Pre-Olympic race Sunday and Monday. The U.S. team will stay in Jackson through Feb. 19 before returning to Vancouver.

The women’s Olympic giant slalom will be held on Feb. 24, while the women’s slalom will be held Feb. 26.