Under the lights and in front of a deafening crowd at the Intermountain Health Freestyle International at Deer Valley, the Stifel U.S. Freestyle Ski Team aerials athletes put on a show, with Winter Vinecki winning her third World Cup of the 2023-24 season and Connor Curran taking home his first career World Cup victory.

The weather was not in the athletes’ favor, with heavy snowfall through qualifications slowing down the snow, ultimately taking away the triple jump opportunity from the athletes due to unsafe conditions. All athletes could only go off the double jump, which made it a different ballgame. Most of the men compete triples, as well as some of the women, with many not training doubles regularly.

Going into qualifications, where the top 12 advance through to finals, the U.S. women put an impressive seven into the finals, led by Karenna Elliot qualifying in second place. For the men, three advanced through, stacking the finals lineup on both sides with American athletes. 

In the finals, the men and women went one after the other. Kaila Kuhn landed the second best score and advanced easily to super finals, alongside Vinecki and teammate Tasia Tanner. Vinecki, who has been the only woman throwing triples in competition, needed to put her best double tricks down alongside the strong field of women. The same rang true for the men. 

Curran, who stated he wasn’t “throwing his best tricks in training” easily advanced through to finals, winning qualifications. Going into the finals with confidence, Curran then moved to super finals alongside his teammate and Olympic champion Chris Lillis.

At the end of the night under the Deer Valley lights, it was six women and six men in the super finals. Vinecki threw down a back-double-full-full, besting all of the competitors and skied into the finish area, all smiles to take her fourth career win. Vinecki further solidified herself as the strongest aerials athlete on the circuit, continuing to lead the overall World Cup standings

“I had to throw a trick that I only had done once in training her in the last two months,” said Vinecki. “I’m happy to have just put it to my feet and excited to be on top! It’s incredible. All of my family is right here and just got to see me win—I’m so happy.” 

On the men’s side, Curran successfully landed a full-double-full, scoring a 102.22, putting him into first place. He was only barely beaten by Alexandre Duchaine of Canada, who threw a back-double-full-double-full, one of the most complex tricks to throw in competition, to best Curran’s score by less than a half of a point, landing a 102.57. With that, Curran, who was part of Park City Ski & Snowboard before he made the Stifel U.S. Freestyle Ski Team, stepped on the podium for the first time on his home course. Lillis finished the evening just off the podium in fourth place. 

“I’m really excited,” said Curren. “I think that’s about it. I don’t know how to really describe it; I’m just so excited. I had no idea. I’m just so glad I got to be here—I was just focusing on the jump I was going to do and make it to my feet. At the end, I was just trying to beat myself.”

Curren’s career-best place before tonight was 13th at the 2023 Intermountain Health Freestyle International at Deer Valley. One year later, the young star was on the podium, making a mark with a second place in one of the more challenging World Cups on the circuit. “It means the absolute world,” he said. “I can’t wait to do it again. It’s always been a dream to podium here at Deer Valley. I’m just so stoked that I got my dream going.”

RESULTS
Women
Men

At the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix at Mammoth Mountain, the weather won, canceling the events due to unsafe riding conditions for both the men's and women's freeski halfpipe contests. With the cancelation, the men's and women's freeski halfpipe final results came from the qualification results that went down earlier this week, resulting in a Stifel U.S. Freeski Team podium sweep. 
 
2024 X Games gold medalist Alex Ferreira took first, X Games bronze medalist Hunter Hess was second and Nick Goepper took third place - his career first World Cup halfpipe podium. Outside of the podium, the U.S. men continued to dominate, with the top eight spots held by Americans. David Wise was just off the podium in fourth, Matt Labaugh fifth, Birk Irving sixth, Cassidy Jarrell seventh and Aaron Durlester eighth. 

For the women, Svea Irving led the way, closing out the domestic World Cup schedule with a fourth place. Teammate Riley Jacobs was sixth. 

With being the last domestic World Cup on the calendar, Irving, for the second year in a row, was crowned National Champion for freeski halfpipe, alongside teammate Ferreira for the men. 

A big shoutout goes to the operations team at Mammoth Mountain for putting safety first and doing everything they could to put on a safe event. 

RESULTS
Women
Men 

The Stifel Loppet Cup is a go! On Friday, Feb. 2, the International Ski & Snowboard Federation (FIS) officially gave the green light to the local organizing committee during the scheduled snow control meetings, giving the go-ahead for Minneapolis' Wirth Park to host the first World Cup in the United States in more than 23 years.  

Due to low snow conditions and unseasonably warm temperatures, the snow at the Wirth Park trailhead is low, however, due to the efforts of the Loppet Foundation community and the local organizers, enough snow was maintained and harvested and systems are in place to successfully host the race.

Over Presidents Day weekend, Feb. 17-19, Minneapolis, Minnesota will welcome the best cross country skiers in the world, including the Stifel U.S. Cross Country Ski Team, to Wirth Park for two races: a sprint and a distance 10k.

More information can be found on the official Stifel Loppet Cup website.

Giaccio First, Kauf Second at Deer Valley

On the first day of competition at the 2024 Intermountain Health Freestyle International at Deer Valley, Stifel U.S. Freestyle Ski Team athletes Olivia Giaccio and Jaelin Kauf went one-two in the moguls competition, with three of their teammates in the top six, including Hannah Soar in fourth, Alli Macuga fifth and Kasey Hogg sixth. Nick Page finished fifth. 

On a challenging weather day, that started with rain then transitioned to snow, Deer Valley Resort welcomed the best moguls skiers in the world back to the infamous Champion course, the 2002 Olympic venue, for what many call the “Super Bowl of Freestyle Skiing.” 

With qualifications kicking off in the afternoon, the top 16 athletes advanced to the finals. On the women’s side, that included nearly the entire U.S. roster, led by Giaccio, Kauf, Soar, Lemley, Macuga, Hogg and Tess Johnson. 

In the women’s final, all the women were throwing down impressive tricks despite the heavy snowfall and variable course conditions. After the first run in finals, the U.S. women made a statement going into super finals with five out of six super final positions: Giaccio, Kauf, Soar, Macuga and Hogg. 

The highlight of the evening came with the final athlete descending onto the course. With a roaring crowd, filled with friends, family and steadfast moguls fans, the atmosphere was electric, cheering on Giaccio through the bumps. On the second hit, Giaccio threw a cork 1080, and landed perfectly to win the competition. It was the first time in history a woman won a competition with that trick. It is also Giaccio’s first win since the 2021-22 season, where she took home a victory in Ruka, Finland. 

“It was just incredible. That was my first Deer Valley podium,” said Giaccio. “To do it under the lights with my friends and family, seal in with a win and to get the first (women’s) moguls win with a 1080 in the run was incredible. Something I’ve dreamed of.”

Kauf, who landed in second place, secured her 33rd career World Cup podium and celebrated with her teammate. “This is such an incredible event. It’s all of our favorite every year. We look forward to it every single year,” said Kauf. “So stoked for all of our girls to be skiing so well and so stoked for Olivia for getting that win today!”

For the men’s race, Park City local Page led the men, finishing in fifth place. It was a redemption story for the accomplished Page, who has World Cup wins under his belt but had a tough time on his local hill last season and did not make finals. This year was different, sending it into the finals and throwing a cork 1440 on his final hit to thrill the crowd and take fifth. “I’m happy, really happy,” said Page. “After a poor performance last year, I definitely wanted to come back with some vengeance this year. It really felt like everything came together. And landing that 14 in front of the home crowd was pretty cool. I could hear the cheers right when I finished and it was electric.”

In the finals, similar to the women, the U.S. men stacked it into the round of 16. Landon Wendler eighth, Charlie Mickel 10th, Cole McDonald 11th and Dylan Walczyk 13th. 

The Intermountain Health Freestyle International continues Friday with an aerials event Friday night and dual moguls Saturday. 

RESULTS
Women
Men

On Thursday, February 1 at the FIS Alpine Junior World Championships in Portes du Soleil, France, the U.S. claimed third place in the evening mixed team parallel event. The U.S. team consisted of Stifel U.S. Ski Team athletes Liv Moritz, Elisabeth Bocock, Cooper Puckett and Camden Palmquist. The squad prevailed through four rounds to come out on the podium behind Norway and Sweden and ahead of North American neighbor Canada. 

“It was a super fun event and everyone skied so well,” said Camden Palmquist. "It was awesome to get a medal as a team because everyone had a a really important run that got us there," said Cooper Puckett. 

"I had never done a parallel before so this was an exciting first," added Elisabeth Bocock.

It was a busy night program with a big crowd watching on the sidelines. The surface was solid and the athletes did their best to ski away with the green light in each round.

“The snow held up better than I think any of us expected and was sweet until the end," said Palmquist.  

In the first round, the U.S. team won against Finland getting their groove established. Next the team beat out Switzerland in the quarterfinals.

"It was a really good fight, and cool to beat Switzerland in the second round who the U.S. lost to last year," said Bocock. 

In the semifinal, it was a tight race between the U.S. and Sweden with a tie-breaking time coming into play, moving the U.S. into the small final against Canada to battle for third place. But Canada could not keep up the pace against the U.S. team with two disqualifications and the U.S. took third by a commanding lead. 

"Beating Switzerland was huge and I loved being on this team and getting on the podium was so exciting," said Moritz. 

The Junior Worlds athletes now prepare for a men’s slalom and women’s giant slalom on Friday, February 1.

RESULTS
Team parallel 

New on-demand offering adds to the portfolio of North American races
currently streaming live on Outside Watch.

Park City, UT and Boulder, CO (Feb. 1, 2024) – Outside and InFront officially announced a new agreement expanding the availability of international FIS World Cup events for ski and snowboard fans on Outside Watch.

Already the exclusive home of all World Cups that take place in the United States, Outside Watch will now host international World Cup events (besides Austria) on its on-demand  platform following the live event, giving fans in the United States the opportunity to watch the action in their own time. All international events from Jan. 1, 2024, onwards will be available on the Outside Watch website, which is accessible with an Outside+ subscription.

"This partnership further enhances the accessibility of our international World Cups for our fans in the United States, creating a single destination where they can watch this season’s competitions,” said Sophie Goldschmidt, President and CEO of U.S. Ski & Snowboard. "This new agreement reflects a shared commitment to enhancing the viewer experience and bringing the excitement of international ski and snowboard World Cups into our homes in an easier way.”

Outside will continue to live-stream all domestic World Cup events and provide on-demand access for replays of these events immediately following the conclusion of races. “We’re pleased to partner with InFront to make the full range of iconic international competitions available to the Outside audience,” said Robin Thurston, CEO of Outside. “There’s no longer a need to shuffle between different TV platforms to view the performances of Mikaela Shiffrin and other medal favorites.” 

Domestic events will also be on NBC platforms (NBC, CNBC and/or Peacock). International events (outside of Austria) will continue to be streamed live and hosted on demand on skiandsnowboard.live. Austrian events can be streamed on Peacock. Keep up with the TV listings by sport in the links below.

For detailed how-to-watch listings for each World Cup per sport, click the links below.  

Alpine
Cross Country
Freestyle
Freeski
Snowboard

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ABOUT U.S. SKI & SNOWBOARD 
U.S. Ski & Snowboard is the Olympic and Paralympic National Governing Body (NGB) of ski and snowboard sports in the USA, based in Park City, Utah. Tracing its roots directly back to 1905, the organization represents nearly 200 elite skiers and snowboarders competing on 10 teams: alpine, cross country, freestyle moguls, freestyle aerials, snowboard, freeski, nordic combined, ski jumping, Para alpine and Para snowboard. In addition to the elite teams, U.S. Ski & Snowboard also provides leadership and direction for tens of thousands of young skiers and snowboarders across the USA, encouraging and supporting them in achieving excellence. By empowering national teams, clubs, coaches, parents, officials, volunteers and fans, U.S. Ski & Snowboard is committed to the progression of its sports, athlete success and the value of team. For more information, visit www.usskiandsnowboard.org.

ABOUT OUTSIDE
Outside Interactive, Inc. is the premier destination for outdoor inspiration, activation, and reward. Each month, Outside reaches 80 million of the most active consumers in the world across its network of 25 media, digital, and technology platforms, creating an experience for both longtime adventurers and those just getting started. Outside’s mission is to get everyone outdoors, experiencing healthy, connected, and fulfilling lives. Outside’s membership offering, Outside+, bundles best-in-class storytelling, videos, gear reviews, mapping apps, online courses, discounted event access, magazines, and more. Learn more at OutsideOnline.com.

Contact: PR@outsideinc.com

The Stifel U.S. Ski Team men recently visited over 150 U.S. service members in Garmisch during the Garmisch, Germany super-G World Cup race series. The event hosted at the Edelweiss Lodge and Resort set up tables, chairs and a large American flag bringing the U.S. spirit to the alps.

“We have been able to do this type of visit a few times over the years now and it's great to connect with fans and service members in Germany,” said Stifel U.S. Ski Team member Bryce Bennett. “I brought a helmet for us all to sign and gift to the lodge as well, it's nice to feel like you are home in Europe,” said Jared Goldberg. 

The ski team was able to chat with the kids and family of the servicemen on a personal level signing autographs and exchanging words, a memorable experience for the team and for the military members in attendance. 

Towards the end of the event the whole room started chanting "U-S-A!" hyping the racers up for the upcoming competitions. 

The speed men went on to find super-G success amongst their newfound military fans with three top 10 results across the weekend, Ryan Cochran-Siegle and River Radamus leading the team. 

The speed men look forward to coming back to Garmisch in the hopes of connecting with the military personnel again. 

Hydro Flask U.S. Snowboard Team athlete Alessandro Barbieri secured the silver medal in Thursday’s halfpipe competition at the Youth Olympic Games. Barbieri, who made his World Cup debut at the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix in Copper Mountain earlier this season, sat in fourth heading into the final run, putting pressure on the rookie for a potential podium finish. Looking as calm and collected as ever, Barbieri dropped into the pipe at the Welli Hilli Park Ski Resort for the final time in Gangwon, South Korea, stomping his third run to earn him a spot on the podium.

“All the training is before and when it’s competition time you’re just on autopilot. That was my autopilot kicking in on that last run. I put it down. I’m stoked,” said Barbieri. “Once I made it to the bottom, it was just a relief of stress. When I saw the second place, it was even better.”

Already a mainstay on the World Cup circuit, Korea’s own Chaeun Lee put down a massive second run to secure the gold in front of his home crowd. Hydro Flask U.S. Snowboard Team rookie Noah Avallone also had a strong performance in finals, taking eighth overall.

Sonora Alba and Rochelle 'Rocke' Weinberg represented the Hydro Flask U.S. Snowboard Team for the women, with Alba taking fourth and Weinberg eighth. Barbieri and Alba will meet back up with Hydro Flask U.S. Snowboard Team teammates to compete in the Snow Rodeo FIS Snowboard Halfpipe World Cup in Canada, February 9-10.

RESULTS
Women's halfpipe
Men's halfpipe

Kate Gray of the Stifel U.S. Freeski Team, who competes in both halfpipe and slopestyle disciplines, took home a bronze medal in the freeski women’s halfpipe competition at the 2024 Youth Olympic Games. 

Gray, who is representing Team USA in Gangwon, South Korea, is originally from Crowley, California outside of Mammoth Lakes and has made quite the impression so far in her young career. She won both freeski halfpipe and slopestyle in USASA Nationals in Copper in 2023 and also won the freeski halfpipe contest at the Mammoth Rev Tour in 2021 and 2022. Building up to this moment, Gray has found abundant success, now supported even more with a Youth Olympic Games bronze medal. 

"It’s been a long time coming," said Gray. "It’s very satisfying, I wanted to walk away with at least one medal and to get it on the last event and it’s definitely a relief that I finally got up there, it feels good."

Alongside Gray in the freeski halfpipe finals was Piper Arnold of the Sierra at Tahoe Competition Team. Arnold finished the day in fourth place, right off the podium. 

On the men's side, Hunter Maytin of the Aspen Valley Ski & Snowboard Club was fifth and Ben Fethke of the Hydro Flask U.S. Snowboard Team was sixth. 

RESULTS
Women's halfpipe

The U.S. Para Alpine Ski Team took on the iconic Olympia delle Tofane track at the Cortina d’Ampezzo World Cup this morning, where Andrew Kurka landed on his first podium and earned his first win since sustaining a shoulder injury at the 2022 Paralympic Winter Games in Beijing, China. 

It was a beautiful bluebird day in Italy, with perfect icy course conditions built for speed. “I really enjoyed this course mostly because it was high speed right from the get-go, so when you’re coming out of the start, you really gotta muscle down and stick your face in it,” said Kurka. “It was a course that wasn’t built to go slow by any means, and that’s where I excel.”

The course set and picturesque conditions allowed far fewer DNFs and DSQs than we have seen this season. On the women’s side, the youngest U.S. Para Alpine Ski Team member, Audrey Crowley, made her World Cup debut in Cortina. On one of the most renowned tracks in World Cup alpine, Crowley has already made a mark on the circuit, finishing fourth in her first World Cup at only 16 years old. Jesse Keefe finished ninth in the men’s standing event, followed by Andrew Haraghey in 12th and Spencer Wood in 13th. On the men’s sitting side, Ravi Drugan finished ninth and Matthew Brewer rounded out the top 10. 

Kurka talked about his long career and how his experience led to his success today. “I was able to take the experience that I have from being on the team for so long and slow down and tactfully maneuver myself in areas that gave me the advantage to help get me to the finish where a lot of people [had to] manage mess ups or crashes, I was able to consciously slip in there. My focus moving into tomorrow is to manage and assess, inspect the course and send it. The Italians set (tomorrow), and with it being their home mountain, I have a feeling they know exactly how this mountain is going to run well. There’s going to be some errors and sketchy stuff, just like there was in the downhill, and that's where I excel. I’m really excited going into tomorrow’s super-G.”

The team is taking on super-G in Cortina tomorrow, starting at 4:30 a.m. ET.

RESULTS
Women
Men