In its 10th year, Ron Kruszewski, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Stifel Financial Corp. and U.S. Ski & Snowboard Trustee, hosted the annual Stifel U.S. Ski Team fundraiser in St. Louis. The yearly event broke previous records, raising $1.375 million for all ski teams under the U.S. Ski & Snowboard umbrella, including alpine, cross country, freestyle, freeski, ski jumping, nordic combined and Para alpine. 

This year’s theme was “Una Notte Bianca a Cortina,” a nod to the upcoming 2026 Milano Cortina Olympic & Paralympic Winter Games, providing guests with a touch of Italy around every corner. A beautiful evening played host to several athletes, a live band, a silent auction, food, drinks and dancing, with all proceeds directly benefitting the Stifel U.S. Ski Team as they prepare for the upcoming season. 

“The amount of time, effort, love and support this community—and that starts with Ron and Amanda (and Stifel!)—has put into our sports and the Stifel U.S. Ski Team is otherworldly and something very special. Thank you,” said Olympic gold medalist and Stifel U.S. Alpine Ski Team athlete Mikaela Shiffrin in a recent Instagram post. 

“This was my first time attending this event in St. Louis and it exceeded all expectations! Ron and Amanda worked so hard on this fundraiser and it was such a beautiful night with everyone,” said 2022 Olympian and Stifel U.S. Alpine Ski Team athlete Bella Wright. 

It was a star-studded event filled with U.S. Ski & Snowboard athletes such as Mikaela Shiffrin, Alex Ferreira, Lauren Macuga, Alli Macuga, Jaelin Kauf, Noah Elliott and Bella Wright. In addition to the winter athletes, highly regarded sportscaster Joe Buck was also in attendance to cheer on the fundraising efforts. 

“Going into the Olympic season knowing we have so many people behind us athletes really make a difference. So thankful and looking forward to more Stifel events in the future,” said Wright. 

The event, hosted by Kruszewski and Amanda Perkins, has become one of the organization's largest fundraisers, bringing together the community in and around St. Louis, Missouri. Those in attendance included U.S. Ski & Snowboard trustees, long-time supporters and ski and snowboard guests. 

Greetings Eastern Region! 

Save the date for our Fall 2025 Committee Meetings

When: 
October 17th & 18th, 2025

Where:
Lake Placid Olympic and Para-olympic Training Center and virtual on ZOOM

Schedule of events: 

October 17th, 2025

• 9am-12pm: Eastern Development committee meeting (EDC) 
• 1pm-4pm: Eastern Children's committee meeting  (ECC) 

Saturday October 18th, 2025

• 9am-12pm: Eastern Alpine competition committee (EACC) Fall meeting OPTC Adirondack Room

Sincerely,
Martin, Spencer, Roger, Dani

Martin Guyer
Eastern Regional Alpine Director

Please reach out directly for virtual meeting links

Prep Period Conditioning!

Our inaugural East “RDP” Conditioning Project this week was awesome! Big thanks to:

• GMVS for hosting, housing us, letting us use their high performance facilities

• BMA Coach Brennan Smith for coming and helping support the project

• Burke, GMVS, Waterville Valley, and Bretton Woods for letting us steal (and support!) a few of our region’s top male and female athletes for a few days

• The ATHLETES!!! for attending, putting in the effort, and asking fantastic questions and soaking it all in!

• Barbara Ann Cochran (Olympic Gold medalist!) for an awesome sport psychology session - such incredible, authentic perspective!

• Paula Moltzan for leading by example, putting in the work! … and also pointing us to a killer hike on a beautiful Vermont day!

• Professor Ryan Cochran Seigle for sharing his experience through an honest, organic conversation with these promising development athletes

Short, sweet, local. In three days we got a lot done with a group of young up and coming Eastern men and women from YOB 2006 through 2009. Fitness testing, volleyball, trunk and mobility, gorgeous and intense Green Mountain hiking, sport psychology, weight lifting education and application, force plate testing, and interactive, personal conversation with Olympic and World Cup wisdom.

Our East staff collaborated to organize this project and make it happen “on the ground”.

Whether you are part of one of our regional high performance centers or a grass roots program, take from this summary what you will, but in general I (RK) encourage the following:

• We have a LOT to offer within our region.

• Enjoy and make the most of your time ON snow. Volume on two planks on white frozen crystals of H20 adds value. And is FUN!!!

• Enjoy and make the most of your time OFF the snow. Attention to fitness and athleticism in the gym and in other sports helps you build a foundation for success ON SNOW. It helps not only physically, but also mentally. When you do the work, when you are prepared (with your conditioning, your tuning, your nutrition, your sleep, etc.), it builds your confidence and helps you face the variables that are outside your control. Apply it to what you love (skiing) and it will become intuition for life in other contexts.

Keep making the most of your summer months!

Cheers,

Roger, Martin, Daniel and Spencer