The U.S. Para Snowboard Team completed their second snowboard cross World Cup event of the season in Pyhä, Finland, Wednesday morning with five athletes on the podium, bringing the podium count for this event to 10 overall. 

It was a freezing, windy day in central Finland, with temperatures hovering around -2 degrees Fahrenheit. Athletes adorned tape across their faces to protect themselves from the environment. 

Brenna Huckaby continued to dominate her field, finishing first once again in the LL1/LL2 classification. Huckaby has podiumed in every World Cup event so far this season. Following behind Huckaby was Dennae Russell, who finished third for the second time this weekend. 

On the men’s side, Mike Schultz (LL1) earned his best result of the season, finishing second.

“The last two weeks in Finland have been a lot of fun with the team and super productive with my performance. With the delayed start to my season, I couldn't be happier with my results after the two World Cup events and bringing home a couple of silver medals,” said Schultz. “Next up, [I am continuing] preparation back in Minnesota for my next World Cup snowboard cross and banked slalom competitions in Italy.” 

Keith Gabel (LL2) also had a season's best performance and first podium.

“I feel boardercross suits my riding style well [vs boarder cross]. I’ve been training hard at my home mountains in Aspen and coaching with the local program, so that’s forced me to rethink some of my riding and make some adjustments,” said Gabel. “My focus moving forward is to continue my progress this season, chipping away at my weaknesses and building on my strengths. The World Cup season is a marathon, and it’s important to focus on the process vs the results.”

Mike Minor also finished third in the UL classification, adding his second podium of the week. Joe Pleban (LL2) finished sixth. 

Looking forward, the team is sticking in Pyhä for a few more weeks to continue training before heading into their next World Cup in Grasgehren, Germany, for two more snowboard cross events Feb. 22-23. 

RESULTS
Women
Men

It was another big day of results in Planica, Slovenia for the 2024 U23 FIS Ski World Championships with Stifel U.S. Ski Team athletes Haley Brewster and Novie McCabe both in the top five, led by Brewster in second, securing her career-first U23 World Championships silver medal in the 20k mass start skate race.

On the fourth day of back-to-back races in Planica, it was the U23 athletes' turn on the challenging 20k course. In a mass start format, 45 women descended onto the course. Through the first several kilometers of the race, it was McCabe leading the pack, with Brewster in tow, alongside her fellow Americans, Kendall Kramer and Anabel Needham. At the halfway mark, McCabe continued her lead and Brewster was starting to make her move into the top 10, sitting around sixth place between Italy's Sara Hutter and Germany's Helen Hoffman.

Into the final hill and finish straight, it all came down to the sprint to the finish. As the athletes crested the final climb, McCabe got caught up in France's Maelle Veyre skis and had an unfortunate fall, which took her out of contention for the podium, but that did not slow McCabe down. Pushing across the line, and finishing fourth, McCabe adds another top 10 result to her U23 resume. 

"It was a very cool day today! It was fun to be in the mix, and I had some insanely good skis so that was definitely helpful," said McCabe. "Quite proud of the team effort, pretty awesome skiing by everyone! Skiing with Haley was definitely a highlight and super cool to see her end up on the podium!"

For Brewster, today's silver medal is her first medal won at the U23 World Championships and her first top five of the championships, topping her 13th place in the skate sprint earlier in the week. 

"It was definitely pretty fun," said Brewster. "It was very warm and the best part was getting to ski with Novie!"

Kendall Kramer finished within the top 20, in 17th place with Anabel Needham in 31st. For the men, Stifel U.S. Ski Team athlete John Steel Hagenbuch was the first American to cross the line in 17th, with Brian Bushey in 28th, Logan Moore in 37th and Elijah Weenig in 39th. 

Now, the U23 athletes will take a day to rest before the 10k classic interval start on Feb. 10. Tomorrow, Jan. 9, the Junior World Championships team will race the 10k classic. 

RESULTS
Women
Men

John Steel Hagenbuch of the Stifel U.S. Cross Country Ski Team is taking home a bronze medal at the first race of the 2024 U23 FIS Ski World Championships, marking himself as the third-fastest U23 sprinter in the world today, Feb. 6. 

On-site in Planica, Slovenia, Steel Hagenbuch is on one of the biggest podiums of his career. After only eight World Cup starts, with a career-best result in the Östersund 10k in 13th, he is setting the tone for the championships and adding his first U23 World Championships medal to his resume. 

It was another warm day in Planica. On the same sprint course that the Junior World Championship athletes skied less than 24 hours earlier— where U.S. athlete Sammy Smith took home a silver medal— it was the U23’s chance. On the start list were several athletes who have consistently races on the World Cup circuit, many of them even racing through to the semifinals in sprints– the sprint field was strong in Planica. 

During the qualification round, Steel Hagenbuch was sixth, behind his Stifel U.S. Ski Team teammate Brian Bushey who crossed the finish line in third. Alongside both Bushey and Steel Hagenbuch, was Walker Hall qualifying in 23rd, all punching their ticket to the sprint heats. 

Into the quarterfinals, Steel Hagenbuch won his heat, .13 seconds ahead of Preben Horven on Norway, advancing through to the semifinal heat. Both Hall and Bushey did not advance out of the quarters but still added a top 30 to their U23 World Champs resume.

Into the quarters, Steel Hagenbuch was fourth, typically that would end an athlete's day as he did not finish in the top two or in the lucky loser position, but his heat was the fastest of the two semis, giving him the green light to race in a skate sprint final. 

Into the final, he was the lone American up against the top juniors from Norway, France, Switzerland and Sweden. Off the start line, the Dartmouth Ski Team star turned on the gas and skied a smart race, crossing the finish line in third, snagging his first U23 World Championships medal and capping off one of the best races of his career. 

“Considering that I was relieved to even make the heats, it was a really incredible day to go all the way to the final,” said Steel Hagenbuch. “It was not possible without a great support team, cracked skis, and a whole lot of luck. This is definitely my best sprint ever, so I’m grateful for such good timing! There were a lot of really strong competitors out there, and I was happy with how I executed my race plan of attacking on the second part of the course. It was easy to get nervous lining up with some really strong sprinters, but I was confident in my climbing and finishing speed after a solid qualifier. After today, the motivation is really high headed into my main focus - the 20km skate mass start on Thursday!”

At the end of the day, Steel Hagenbuch led the team in third, Hall in 18th, Bushey in 21st, Elijah Weenig in 45th. For the women, Haley Brewster of the Stifel U.S. Ski Team was the leading American in 13th, Anabel Needham 23r and, Nina Seemann 28th; Novie McCabe did not start. 

Next up is the 20k mass start, scheduled for this coming Thursday, Feb. 8. Tomorrow, the World Champs Junior athletes will race the 20k.

RESULTS
Men
Women

The U.S. Para Snowboard team dominated their first snowboard cross World Cup of the season this morning in Pyhä, Finland, where five U.S. athletes found the podium, including Brenna Huckaby taking first place in the women's LL1-LL2 category. 

Despite a gentle snowfall, the sun peeked through the clouds to shine over the snowboard cross course in central Finland, displaying the snow ghosts around the racers. The team has been spread worldwide since their last World Cup event in Landgraaf, Netherlands, in November, training, spending time with family and for many, doing professional speaking events. But after a week-long training camp in Pyhä, the athletes were prepared to take on their first World Cup event of 2024. 

Huckaby led the way for the U.S. women in the LL1/LL-2 classification, landing on the top box for the first time this season following up two podiums (one second, one third) in Landgraaf. Huckaby’s preferred event is snowboard cross over banked slalom, and with a record of two Paralympic snowboard cross medals (one gold, one bronze) and four World Championship medals (two gold, two silver) in snowboard cross, it is clear as to why. “⁠It feels really good to be back in a start gate! This season is all about how far I can push my riding, and we are off to a great start with that,” said Huckaby. “In the past two [Paralympic] games cycles, this was the year I was pregnant with each of my daughters and I’ve always been focused on recovering. Since I’m not going to be pregnant this game cycle, I’m excited to see how much progress I can make. My goal is to get as strong as possible and push my snowboarding limits [moving forward].”

Joining Huckaby on the podium was Dennae Russell, one of the U.S. team's emerging athletes who finished in third. Just off the podium was Courtney Godfrey, another emerging athlete who unfortunately took a hard fall during the qualification rounds but finished fourth. 

On the men's side, Mike Schultz (LL1) and Keith Gabel (LL2) led the team, both finishing on the podium in second place. Joe Pleban finished seventh in the LL2 class. Mike Minor rounded out the podium in third place in the men's UL classification.

“As always, I’m happy to race in the place I call home,” said Minor, speaking to his home base in Finland. “It feels really great to step onto the podium at our first boardercross event of the year.  I had a really rough start to the big finals heat.  I made a crucial mistake in the start section, which caused me to spin out 180 degrees and switch into turn one. I then needed to throw a cab 180 to regain my regular stance, which left me far in the back of the pack. There was a wreck about halfway down the course, though, which ended up putting me back into the podium mix. I have a few things I need to clean up moving forward. I’m happy with my overall performance today, especially coming off a rough injury last week.”

The team takes on another snowboard cross event tomorrow in Pyhä at 3:30 am ET.

RESULTS
Women
Men

Sammy Smith of the Stifel U.S. Cross Country Ski Team started off the 2024 FIS Ski Junior World Championships with a silver medal in the first race of the championships, the skate sprint. This is the best-ever sprint result for any American at the Junior World Championships, and only the second silver medal the American women have historically won at the championships. 

On location in Planica, Slovenia, the best junior athletes in the world are having their turn on the same course as the FIS Ski World Championships a year earlier, with 450 athletes and 42 countries present. Smith, who has been racing on the World Cup for the majority of the season, including taking home her career-best result just a week ago in Goms, Switzerland in 21st, has been a force despite only being 18 years old. 

Smith is a multi-sport athlete. She is also a soccer player, having represented the USA at the FIFA U-17 World Cup over the summer and grew up as a freestyle skier. But, it's ski season, which means Smith is solely on skis and finding success at every turn in the process. 

"I’m super excited about today’s race," said Smith. "I was not thrilled with my qualifier. I knew I made some mistakes that cost me some time, but I was really happy with how the heats went. It was a competitive field and congrats to all the other racers on an awesome day! Hopefully, I’ll be able to carry some of this momentum into 20k and 10k classic!" 

Smith, skied a tactical and smart race. Typically excelling on courses with challenging hills, Smith adapted to the flatter Planica course well. Qualifying in fifth, she was in good company with all of her U.S. teammates making it through to the heats, all landing within the top 30. Stifel U.S. Ski Team's Ava Thurston led the U.S., qualifying in second, alongside Smith in fifth, Evelyn Walton of the Dartmouth Ski Team in 27th and Middlebury Ski Team's Sofia Scirica in 29th.

In the heats, Smith was the only American to advance, winning her quarterfinal heat. In the semis, Smith crossed the line in second, punching her ticket to her first Junior World Championships final. She fought for a podium position alongside Gina Del Rio of Andorra and Milla Grosberghaugen Andreassen of Norway. On the final hill, Smith turned on the gas and jump-skated into podium position. With the finish line in sight, Smith ultimately crossed the line in second, making history in the process. 

At the end of the race day, Smith led the team in second, while Thurston was 21st, Walton in 25th and Scirica in 30th. For the men, Zachary Jayne (University of Utah Ski Team) was just out of the top 30 in 32nd, Trey Jones (University of Colorado Boulder Ski Team) was 39th, Lucas Wilmot (Jackson Hole Ski Team) 48th and Matt Seline (University of Alaska Anchorage Ski Team) in 67th. 

"We're launching the week on a high note," said Stifel U.S. Cross Country Ski Team Development Coach, Greta Anderson. "Our athletes arrive with significant ambitions, and it's incredibly rewarding for all of us to see them achieve their objectives collectively. Sammy's second-place finish in the sprint is a testament to the hard work and determination that defines our team. It's an ideal beginning to our week. Every one of our female athletes made it through the qualification rounds today. Meanwhile, our male competitors gave their all in their first international starts and fought hard to the finish line." 

With Smith's silver medal, she is etching her name in the Junior World Championship history books. 

Next up, the U.S. Junior World Championships team will race the 20k on Feb. 7. Tomorrow, Feb. 6, the U23 team will race the skate sprint on the same course. 

RESULTS
Women
Men

The Hydro Flask U.S. Snowboard Cross Team loaded back up in the start gate Sunday morning for their final round of racing at the Gudauri World Cup in Gudauri, Georgia. 

Coming off a 10th place finish in Saturday's round of racing, Olympian Jake Vedder was notably determined to get back to challenging the top spot, winning the men's small final and taking fifth overall. He was joined by teammate Tyler Hamel, who jumped from 31st place in yesterday's competition to eighth, securing his best World Cup finish to date. American Senna Leith also improved on his previous result, jumping from 26th place on Saturday to 11th place on Sunday. Canadian Eliot Grondin took his second win of the weekend, and an exciting photo finish awarded the second place spot to Australia's Cameron Bolton, who took a last-minute fall and slid through the finish line, barely edging out Italy's Omar Visintin, who rounded out the podium in third.

Stacy Gaskill was once again the top Hydro Flask U.S. Snowboard Cross team athlete on the women's side, taking seventh in Saturday's competition and eleventh in Sunday's round of racing.

After months of international travel, the Hydro Flask U.S. Snowboard Cross Team takes a well-deserved break before returning to competition March 2-3 in Sierra Nevada, Spain. 

RESULTS
Men
Women

On the final night of competition at the 2024 Intermountain Health Freestyle International at Deer Valley, the crowd was roaring and the dual moguls action even better, with three Americans on the podium. Jaelin Kauf took second, Olivia Giaccio third and Dylan Marcellini took home his first career World Cup podium in third place in front of 10,000 cheering fans. 

It was a successful three days of competition, highlighted by moguls, aerials and dual moguls events, attracting the best freestyle athletes in the world to Utah. But Saturday was special, with the enormous crowd for duals only getting bigger as the evening progressed. With endless action, tough crashes and the athletes putting it all on the line, the dual moguls competition brought entertainment and thrills. 

Going into the first round of dual moguls, it was the round of 64 for men and round of 32 for the women. With the men kicking off the event, an abrupt change of weather conditions nuked snow onto the Champions course, creating a challenging course with heavy, slow snow and extremely limited visibility. As the night continued on, the snow did not let up and the athletes had to adapt. 

Going into finals, 11 Americans advanced through to the finals, including eight women and three men. On the men’s side, Marcellini and Nick Page punched their tickets from round to round, and eventually battled each other in the small finals for third place. Both had stellar runs, but a small mistake by Page propelled Marcellini into the third place position, with Page fourth. 

It was Marcellini’s first World Cup podium; his previous best dual moguls finish was 15th place. But he had a fourth place in last year’s single moguls, and knew that he could put down on this course. “It means so much to me to be able to do this at home,” said Marcellini. “I got fourth here last year and that was a surreal moment. To be able to top this this year was another step up the ladder and feels great.” 

Marcellini had a tough week, having crashed while training and hurt his ribs and hip, but ignored the pain and sent it in front of his friends and family. “It means so much to my mom and my dad and everyone who supported me along this way,” he said. “It’s just awesome to be able to put down a result for them and for everybody that has been there for me, that supported me that believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself.” 

Also making finals, Charlie Mickel finished 14th. Ikuma Horishima of Japan took the win with Benjamin Cavet from France in second. 

In the women’s race, the pressure was on, with World Cup overall leader Jakara Anthony of Australia being the one to beat. In the small final, Giaccio dualed Japan’s Hinako Tomitaka, and put down a solid run to just narrowly beat her for the third place position, landing on the podium for the second time this weekend and adding her eighth World Cup podium to her 2023-24 season. Next up was the superfinal, with Kauf dualing Anthony. It was neck and neck down Champions. Kauf, known as the fastest women’s moguls skier in the world, put down a solid run but was unable to beat Anthony, ultimately getting second place. It was Kauf’s ninth podium of the season and 34th overall. 

“This is probably my favorite day of the year—duals day at DV is hard to beat,” said Kauf. “To take home two silvers in front of friends and family at Deer Valley is a perfect way to end the weekend. There are so many people coming to support me and it makes it fun. It is super special standing at the top of the course and hearing that crowd.”  

Hannah Soar and Kasey Hogg were also in the top 10, with Soar finishing seventh and Hogg eighth. Tess Johnson was 11th, Lulu Shaffer 14th and Liz Lemley 15th. Alli Macuga took a hard crash but is OK and finished 16th. 

RESULTS

Women’s dual moguls
Men’s dual moguls

After waiting out weather at Mammoth Mountain, the Stifel U.S. Freeski Team athletes finally kicked off their contest on the last day of the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix. Olympic champion Alex Hall took home the win with Olympic silver medalist Colby Stevenson in second place in the men’s event, while Eleanor Andrews was second and Jay Riccomini third in the women’s event.

Moving forward with the contest was due to the hard work of the Mammoth Park Crew. With two feet of snowfall and high wind gusts, the conditions were unsafe and not in the athletes’ favor coming out of X Games. One of the biggest challenges is always the travel; getting from Aspen to Mammoth is always tricky. With only a day or two turnaround, many of these athletes competed battling exhaustion, soreness and anticipation with a schedule constantly changing.

For athletes like Hall and Stevenson, who both scored medals at X Games, the momentum from Aspen carried straight into this year’s Toyota U.S. Grand Prix. Both of these contests bring together the best athletes in the world and they continue to push the boundaries. Hall did a switch Tokyo 270 on pretzel k-fed on first rail, slid the whole down flat down with a backseat pretzel 2, and finished his run with a signature right double cork 10 safety bring back 9. Stevenson did a switch disaster 4 on the dfd into dub 16 lead Japan, into both way switch double 14s on the bottom two jumps, lacing them both.

“It was a really tough week!” said Hall. “We showed up right from X Games so we were pretty smoked… Really stoked for all the homies who laid one down and the skiing was incredible for how tough it was out there. Also huge shoutout to the park crew because it snowed like two feet two days ago and they dug the whole thing out so I don’t even know how the course is standing.”

Mac Forehand also had a solid day, taking fourth place after throwing a switch 4 disaster pretzel 2 on the flat down into 2 on front cork 6, ending his run with double cork 9 lock with mute. 

Rounding out the U.S. men, Konnor Ralph was ninth and Troy Podmilsak 15th.

The women’s qualification round was canceled and they were only able to compete in finals due to weather. With only one round and variable conditions, they need to be extremely consistent.

In her first ever World Cup, Andrews stepped on the podium in second place. She did a front swap pretzel front 2 out of the first rail into switch 270 disaster on the flat down. On the jumps, she did a switch 5 mute into right cork 7 safety into left cork 7 mute, with style. She competes for the Killington Mountain School and is coming out of Youth Olympic Games in Gangwon, South Korea, where she received fifth place in freeski big air last week.

Jay received third place, his second podium in as many events after snagging third in LAAX. He did a switch 2 disaster on the flat down, into a misty 450 out of the cannon rail, ending his run with a cork 7 tail grab, lacing it.

Mathilda Gremaud out of Switzerland finished in first place. Behind the podium, Elaina Krusiewski was sixth and Rell Harwood was eighth.

After podiuming in the last slopestyle, Riccomini sits in second overall in the slopestyle standings with Hall and Forehand tied for first in the overall. It will be a tight race for the Crystal Globe going into the final two slopestyle events of the season.

Eleanor Andrews and Alex Hall both also received a national champion awards for this season.

The next stop for the slope athletes is Calgary for the next World Cup or staying in Mammoth for Revolution Tour. With another incoming storm, hopefully athletes get to celebrate with some storm riding and extra freshies in the meantime.

RESULTS
Women’s slopestyle
Men’s slopestyle

The weather finally cleared at Mammoth Mountain for Maddie Mastro to snag third place in the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix halfpipe. Bea Kim finished just off the podium in fourth place for the women, while Chase Josey was fourth for the men. 

After a few days of wind and heavy snowfall, the weather window opened on Saturday for the men and women to compete in the halfpipe finals, after putting down qualifications on Tuesday.

Mastro put down a strong second run to bump teammate Bea Kim to fourth place. Bea Kim finished in the top four in all four World Cups. Japanese riders Mitsuki Ono took first place and Sena Tomita second. 

Kinsley White was eighth, her first top 10 in a World Cup. Chloe Kim, fresh off an X Games gold medal, could not put down a clean run and finished 10th. 

On the men’s side, Josey finished fourth, following a heavy-hitting Japanese podium sweep. Former Hydro Flask U.S. Snowboard Team athlete Louis Vito, who now competes for Italy, finished fifth—an impressive feat for the 35 year old veteran.

Yuto Totsuka won the event, with his teammates Ruka Hirano and Kaishu Hirano in second and third, respectively.  

Rounding out the Hydro Flask U.S. Snowboard Team, Levko Fedorowycz finished 11th and Kade Martin 14th. With the World Cup tour wrapping up in the United States after Copper and Mammoth, Josey and Mastro were named national champions in halfpipe.

Next, the halfpipe team leaves California before the atmospheric river dumps feet of snow on Mammoth Mountain and heads to Calgary, Canada for their final World Cup of the season.

RESULTS
Women’s halfpipe
Men’s halfpipe

On Saturday, February 3 in Portes du Soleil, France, Ryder Sarchett won the FIS Alpine Junior Worlds alpine men’s giant slalom race. The Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation and University of Colorado Boulder ski team athlete beat out the competitive field by a mere 0.06 hundredths of second to take the win.

"It was a really good day, perfect weather warm with amazing snow. I knew it could be a good day and I sent it," said Sarchett. "Gave it all I had." 

The sun was overhead and the conditions were strong in Portes du Soleil for the final Junior Worlds alpine event. The women raced a slalom and the men finished the day off with the giant slalom. 

Sarchett knifed down a stellar first run, already in podium contention in third place. But come second run, Sarchett did not hesitate on his skis and laid down an extremely fast run to take the win over international competitors Alban Cannaferina Elezi of France in second and Sweden’s Fabian Ax Swarts in third place. It was a dramatic finish with very slim margins, with Sarchett ahead of second place by 0.06.

Sarchett joins an impressive list of previous American Junior World Champions. He is the first giant slalom champion since world champion River Radamus took the title back in 2019. Other previous Junior World Champions include world champion Paula Moltzan, Olympic silver medalist Ryan Cochran-Siegle and World Cup winner Steven Nyman to name a few.  

RESULTS
Men's giant slalom