As several snowboarders from Central Oregon vie to make the U.S. Olympic team, the question arises: How do they qualify?

The answer is a complicated one, but to start, the primary selection of the team is derived from results at World Cup events where the athletes are tested against comparable Olympic-caliber fields of competitors.

In this case, the Central Oregon snowboarders are trying to make the team in snowboardcross or parallel giant slalom (PGS).

According to ussa.com, the Web site for the United States Ski and Snowboard Association, the 16-member team will take up to two athletes per gender in boardercross and PGS, and three athletes per gender in halfpipe. This leaves two ”discretionary” selections. If those go to the halfpipe event, then boardercross and PGS men and women are left with a total of just eight spots.

To qualify for the Olympics in these events, a boarder needs a top four or higher World Cup result during the selection period. The selection period is made up of four World Cup events for PGS and five for snowboardcross, also known as boardercross or SBX. Three of these events remain for each discipline (see information box).

If more than two athletes of either gender in SBX and PGS have had a World Cup top-four result, then ties will be broken as follows, according to ussa.com:

* Highest single finish in World Cup competition during the selection period.

* Second-highest finish in World Cup competition during the selection period.

* Highest world ranking after the selection period.

If no athletes claim a top-four result – which will not be a problem in SBX but could be in PGS – then one athlete per gender in PGS will be selected using an average of the top two World Cup results during the selection period, according to ussa.com.

The USSA and the U.S. Olympic Committe will likely take more athletes in halfpipe than in snowboardcross and parallel giant slalom because they see more potential for medals in the halfpipe, according to snowboardcross competitor Leslee Olson of Bend. An Olympic qualifier for the halfpipe – the U.S. Grand Prix – will be held at Mount Bachelor, Jan. 6-8.

”Our goal is to be the best in the world, which translates into winning more medals than any other nation at the Olympics in skiing and snowboarding,” said Alan Ashley, USSA vice president of athletics, in a press release. ”We reached our goal of 10 medals in 2002 at Salt Lake City and we’re confident that we’ll have the most skiing and snowboarding medals next February. Our selection process allows us to select those athletes who are skiing or riding the best as we head into the Olympics.”