Up-and-comers in aerial skiing had the opportunity to participate in U.S. Ski & Snowboard’s inaugural Aerials Development Camp. The six athletes that qualified included Karenna Elliott, Tasia Tanner, Bobbi Vornheder, Derek Krueger, Finnean Mceneany and Connor Curren. All participating athletes already train together as members of Park City Ski & Snowboard (PCSS). This unique scenario made the camp possible during the current COVID-19 pandemic. 

U.S. Ski & Snowboard Aerials World Cup Coach J.C. Andre and PCSS Head Aerial Team Coach Jack Bouczuk collaborated together to coach these athletes over the course of 4 weeks from early August to early September. Engaging with member clubs is important in creating a seamless transition to the Team and a strong development pipeline. 

“It’s a way for us to connect the next up-and-coming aerials athletes with the Team, and to connect those club coaches with ours,” explained U.S. Ski & Snowboard Sport Development Senior Manager Ashley Diebold. “We are trying to develop a common language amongst National Team coaches, club coaches and development athletes so that we’re all working from the same foundation. The goal is that by creating this opportunity for collaboration between the U.S. Ski Team coaches, club coaches and development athletes we will strengthen our development pipeline and thereby improve athletic experience and outcomes.”

Although the goal is to work towards coaches speaking the same language, a unique perspective is always welcomed by athletes.

“Things can get repetitive in aerials, Jana [Johnson] and I have been coaching these specific athletes for two years,” explained Jack. “So having another coach come in, with a different voice, mixes things up and helps keep these athletes motivated. When development athletes hear “U.S. Ski Team,” [attached to the camp] it gives them hope and courage in pursuing that ultimate goal of making the Team.”

Athletes were asked to set individual goals at the beginning of camp and work with JC on making noticeable improvements throughout the month. “The number one focus was good technical skills, making sure they were all square coming out of the jump and coming into the landing,” explained JC. “Most thought we would be doing more DD (degree of difficulty tricks), but I think the basics are most important. We want the basics to be as close to 100% as possible so that once we move on to DD, there aren’t as many mistakes. I think a lot of them thought they’d be hucking off things, so there was a reality check there. But [towards the end of camp] we’re back to DD, and they see their tricks are better.”

“The main thing that I worked on was making my lay-in on my lay tucks, lay lays, and lay fulls straighter,” said Tasia. “I didn’t really succeed with this until the last couple days of the camp but it’s something that’s really going to make me a better aerialist and I’m really excited to do it on snow.”

“Overall the camp was very productive,” said Derek. “JC helped me perfect all of my skills by starting with the basics and slowly adding on flips and twists until we eventually got to double full full (double backflip with three twists). This past camp I learned that perfecting the small details will make me a better jumper in the long run.”

Opportunities for club coaches and athletes to work with U.S. Ski Team staff creates a more collaborative process in putting athletes on podiums, and facilitates identifying and growing young talent. With such a successful first iteration of the program, both JC and Jack look forward to expanding the camp next year. “Coaching together, hopefully we can create more of a relationship for next summer and in the future,” said JC. 

September 10 marks World Suicide Prevention Day, an opportunity to remember those affected by suicide, create awareness, remove stigma, and to focus efforts on directing treatment to those who need it most.

Mental health and suicide prevention are more than just topics to focus on for one day or one month a year. Findings from a national survey involving over 2,000 U.S. adults (conducted by The Harris Poll) released Sept. 1 found the overwhelming majority (81%) believe, as a result of COVID-19, suicide prevention needs to be a national priority.

As the Olympic National Governing Body of skiing and snowboarding in the United States, U.S. Ski & Snowboard’s mission is to empower athletes to achieve excellence, including providing the resources and tools necessary to ensure mental well being. Through a partnership with The Speedy Foundation, U.S. Ski & Snowboard will provide mandatory QPR Institute training for all staff. QPR Training will also be free and highly encouraged for U.S. Ski & Snowboard athletes, members, and board members. 

QPR Training is based on three steps anyone can learn to help prevent suicide: Question, Persuade, and Refer. The QPR Institute’s mission is to reduce suicidal behaviors and save lives by providing innovative, practical and proven suicide prevention training. Those trained in QPR learn how to recognize suicide warning signs and are better equipped to question, persuade and refer someone in potential danger to help. QPR can be learned in as little as one hour. 

To register for complimentary (normally $29.95), online & on-demand QPR training via The Speedy Foundation, follow the steps below:

1. Click here: qprtraining.com/setup
2. Enter this code: SPEEDYFOUND
3. Select Create Account
4. Complete and submit your registration form
5. QPR will display (and email you) the newly created Username and Password
6. You can then log-in to begin training at qprtraining.com
7. Learn to save a life.

Mandatory staff QPR training is an important step in U.S. Ski & Snowboard’s recently revamped internal mental health committee’s plan and oversight of the organization’s mental health resources. This internal committee is led by USOPC Sr. Sport Psychologist Alexander Cohen and U.S. Ski & Snowboard Sports Medicine Director and Lead Physical Therapist Gillian Bower, with participation from key staff members and coach and athlete representation. U.S. Ski & Snowboard has also made an annual commitment to complete the NCAA Mental Health Best Practices Self Assessment. Results and recommendations are reported directly to the mental health committee for review and implementation.

More detail on the newly structured committee will be posted on the organization’s mental health and wellness section of usskiandsnowboard.org prior to the start of the 2020-21 competition season.

If you or someone you know is experiencing an urgent mental health issue, we encourage you to text HOME to 741741, or call (800) 273-8255 to speak to a mental health professional. In the process of helping yourself, you may be inspiring courage in others to seek help as well.

If you are a U.S. Ski & Snowboard athlete, member, or staff, and feel you need support or would like to talk, don’t hesitate to reach out to USOPC Sr. Sport Psychologist Alexander Cohen as a resource.

Alexander Cohen, Ph.D., CMPC
Sr. Sport Psychologist
United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee
alexander.cohen@usoc.org
(O) +1 719-866-3180 (M) +1 719-216-6376

QPR Institute
QPRInstitute.com
QPR For Sports
QPR Quiz

Mental Health Resources
USOPC/Team USA
The Speedy Foundation
Michael Phelps Foundation
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
American Foundation for Suicide Prevention
Crisis Text Line
Mental Health First Aid
 

As the Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team heads over to Europe, President and CEO of U.S. Ski & Snowboard, Tiger Shaw, and Alpine Director Jesse Hunt, caught up with Ski Racing Media's Karina Schwartznau about the effort it took to get athletes to Europe safely in the midst of COVID-19. 

In an article published on August 29, Karina wrote, 

While the U.S. Ski Team athletes were hard at work with on-snow training at Mount Hood in Oregon this summer, U.S. Ski & Snowboard staff were busy finding ways to get many of those athletes into Europe for training this fall. 

The European Union closed its borders to all travel when COVID struck. Those restrictions had prevented any travel into Europe, but in June, as the infection rate was deemed under control, restrictions for professional athletes and individuals with critical work were loosened in certain countries. While most travelers from the U.S. remain banned, the ski team jumped at the opportunity, and many of its athletes departed for Europe this week. 

“If you are a professional athlete and can make a compelling case to the border police right when you land in the EU, they have the ability to say you’re allowed in,” said Tiger Shaw, president and CEO of USSS. “Now if you catch the border police in a bad mood, they may say turn around, get back on the airplane and go back to the United States.“

National team athletes expect to be able to make a compelling case, especially those traveling to train before Soelden. If the ultimate goal is to have the best athletes in the world and the highest level of competition in Soelden, it’s certainly in Austria’s best interest  to allow the likes of Ted Ligety and Mikaela Shiffrin into the country to train and prepare for the race; however, each team member will make their own case when reaching border control in Europe. 

“We will try to alert the border patrol through the American consulate when they are landing,” said Shaw. “They may or may not be able to give a heads up to the board police to help them.” 

Upon entering the country, quarantine and COVID testing is guided by local health officials. Some countries require quarantine, whereas others allow a quick test, and if the results come back negative, quarantine ends after 24 hours.

Currently, the men's and women's speed teams, as well as the women's tech team and men's development team are in Europe. 

Read the full article at SkiRacing.com.

The U.S. Ski & Snowboard Cross Country Sport Committee has approved a plan to restructure the cross country national racing calendar into a number of regional events for the 2020-21 season in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This decision has no bearing on NCAA competitions, which are governed separately by the NCAA. Decisions for all other U.S. Ski & Snowboard domestic event calendars will be made independently and based on an assessment of each sport’s unique set of circumstances and variables. 

The events impacted include the SuperTour, U.S. National Championships, and the Junior National Championships. These events will be replaced with high-level regional and divisional competitions, at the discretion of local organizing committees and regional governing bodies. 

“We recognize that cross country skiing has unique challenges in hosting national-level events that are dissimilar to other disciplines,” said Davis U.S. Cross Country Team Program Director Chris Grover. “Together with the input of clubs and regional leaders, we have created solutions that work for our national cross country skiing community pertaining to competition for the 2020-21 season.

This restructuring allows athletes to remain in their respective regions to race while allowing organizers to offer high-level competitions. Additionally, this will help organizers reduce the financial demands that are tied to hosting a national-level event, which in most cases includes attracting a significant number of participants required to balance their event budgets.

National cross country events have unique challenges related to conducting competition in a COVID-19 environment that does not exist in other ski and snowboard sports such as race format (physical distancing), lead time (early season events), host venue regulations, as well as the financial model mentioned above. These event organizers will no longer be obligated to pay prize money equal to national levels of competition, nor will they be sanctioned as National Championship-level or Continental Cup (COC) level events.

“By restructuring our national cross country events calendar now, before the race season, local organizing committees, divisions, and regions are better positioned to start planning an effective and motivational race calendar for their area, potentially sanctioning races via U.S. Ski & Snowboard and/or the FIS to attract quality competition,” Grover added. “We will also assist our SuperTour, U.S. Nationals, and Junior Nationals organizing committee partners by allowing them to suspend portions of their planning and potentially avoiding the commitment of further financial and time investments.”

Selection criteria for all international events have been modified to consider regional racing, rather than national-level racing. In addition, athletes may be considered for international trips via discretion by assessing performances from regional events. Discretionary Selection Review Committees have been established for all of these selections, as well as mechanisms to solicit community feedback from the divisions prior to many selections. This system will allow for stand-out regional and divisional competition results to be recognized and considered for international team selection. The move to utilize discretion in these selection criteria is intended as a fix during the current pandemic only, and selection will return eventually to criteria that focus principally on objective selection. 

Two-time Olympic champion and Land Rover ambassador Mikaela Shiffrin recently joined American soccer player, two-time FIFA Women's World Cup champion, and Olympic gold medalist Kelley O'Hara on the Just Women's Sports podcast to talk about her love of training, handling pressure, and overcoming heartbreak. 

In her recently launched podcast, Kelley has interviewed some of the world's best athletes, including teammate and soccer star Alex Morgan, Olympic gold medalist snowboarder Chloe Kim, and more. 

Record-breaking ski racer Mikaela Shiffrin sits down with Kelley to talk about the influence of her family on her ski career, how she built her foundation by focusing on training rather than competing (and why, if she could, she’d only train), why she never felt pressure as a teen prodigy but does so now, how she recovered from a near-crash to win Olympic gold, what made the 2018 Olympics such a complicated experience, her record-breaking 2019 season, and what she’s learned about herself in the wake of her father’s passing. 

Mikaela’s creds: 

• 2x Olympic gold medalist (2018, 2014)
• Olympic silver medalist (2018)
• 5x World Champion (4 Slalom, 1 Super G)
• 3x Overall World Cup champion
• Most World Cup wins in a season (17)
• Most all-time World Cup slalom wins (43)
• 2nd most all-time World Cup wins by a female skier (66)
• Youngest slalom champion in Olympic history

Suggested:

• Skiing phenom Mikaela Shiffrin has found her voice (Los Angeles Times)
• Olympian Mikaela Shiffrin on dealing with performance anxiety (People)
• Raising ski great Mikaela Shiffrin, and finding balance (New York Times) 
• Who is Mikaela Shiffrin (Outside TV)

Listen to the podcast via SPOTIFY | APPLE PODCASTS | STITCHER

Brothers Casey and Jesse Andringa of the U.S. Moguls Ski Team are not only known for their skill and talent on the snow, but also for their unique style and exuberant personalities. The two brothers are seeking to re-elevate freestyle skiing into mainstream snowsports culture, and will be showcasing their lives in their new web series “The Andringa Show.”

“The Andringa Show” will treat viewers to an inside look at what Casey and Jesse get up to in training, competing and beyond. “We do a lot of unusual things and have unusual methods to help accompany our training,” said Casey. “A lot of it is pretty funny and we wanted to share it with people. Life on the team is a lot different than most people would think, so we wanted to showcase how we live it.” 

“We already do a lot of filming, so why not make a little show about it?” said Jesse. 

The brothers look forward to sharing the “good times, and not so good times, and the hilarity of it all,” as each works towards competing on the 2020-21 FIS World Cup tour. Jesse recently returned from shoulder surgery to training-as-usual with the Team. Casey, who had just returned to water ramping after undergoing knee surgery last year, unfortunately sustained a wrist injury and will work through that rehab process before getting back to training again. Casey and Jesse hope to be back skiing the world together again soon, with their ultimate goal of making the 2022 Olympic team together. 

If you know Casey or Jesse, you know their show will be anything but ordinary. From demoing campers to building motorbikes, creating the world’s weirdest sandwiches to surfing, rock climbing and camping, and the blood, sweat and tears it requires to be a professional moguls skier, viewers will get to experience it all. 

“The Andringa Show” will air on YouTube and fans can expect at least an episode per month, more depending on content and schedules. For show updates and information, follow Casey and Jesse on Instagram, and be sure to subscribe to their YouTube channel.

In August, the Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team is typically training in the Southern Hemisphere, whether it be in New Zealand or South America. Obviously this year, COVID impacted training outside of the U.S., so U.S. Ski & Snowboard staff worked hard with resort partners to ensure athletes didn't miss a beat. High Performance Director Troy Taylor recently caught up with SKI to talk about it all. 

August marks a time when the U.S. Ski Team usually sends athletes to South America for on-snow training to test new equipment and get ready for early season competitions. This year, things are different. In early March the FIS World Cup Tour came to an abrupt end due to COVID-19. April and May are normally off-months for the athletes, but this year the team worked tirelessly through those months to organize extensive protocols, including reworking their online athlete platform to check and monitor coronavirus symptoms.

Thanks to these efforts and the hospitality of domestic resorts, the athletes have not missed any days on snow this summer. Copper Mountain in Colorado, plus Mt. Bachelor and Mt. Hood in Oregon, are among the ski areas that have found ways to accommodate the U.S. Ski Team.

Troy shared details of the U.S. Ski & Snowboart COVID protocol, which has been stringent and enforced, as SKI reported. 

Due to the pandemic, Taylor and the team initially worked with the Olympic and Paralympic committee to work on testing facilities and protocols. The team’s USADA lab, usually reserved for drug testing, was converted into a COVID-19 testing facility capable of performing a saliva-based coronavirus test that provides results within hours. 

Taylor explained that although rapid testing is extremely beneficial for the team, it is a priority of the team to test in a responsible manner that does not affect the testing capabilities of local hospitals. The team is “respectful of mountain communities and works to avoid any burden on their healthcare,” says Taylor. Athletes are required to have two negative tests within 24 hours of each other after every travel day and before they can attend team events.

The protocols in place have been stringent and enforced. Athletes not only have to report symptoms twice a day, but the team must also complete surveys on a weekly basis for contact tracing purposes. The U.S. Ski Team has fostered a safe environment for athletes to train in, but “everything is ultimately up to the discretion of the athlete—if they don’t feel comfortable at the Center of Excellence or at a camp or joining a bubble, they are not required to,” says U.S. Ski Team athlete George Steffey...

Up next, the athletes will look to travel to Europe for final on-snow training prep camps prior to the much-anticipated FIS Ski World Cup kickoff in Soelden, Austria Oct. 17-18th. 

Read the full article on SKIMag.com.

The road to recovery can be a long, lonely road with many bumps along the way. But when an athlete sees the light at the end of the tunnel, and with the tremendous support from family, friends, and teammates, they know that the hard work will pay off.

Davis U.S. Cross Country Team member Hannah Halvorsen is finally starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel as she recovers from the devastating injuries suffered when she was hit by a car while crossing a street in downtown Anchorage last November. In addition to head, back, and neck injuries, she also suffered a serious knee injury that required surgery. 

Hannah’s road to recovery, which she has documented on her Instagram feed, began with a trip to the U.S. Ski & Snowboard’s Center of Excellence in Park City, Utah in January where she was able to focus 100% of her attention on recovery and specifically building core and leg strength. All the while, she was following her teammates on the World Cup and Super Tour circuits and taking inspiration from them, knowing that with continued progress, she would be able to rejoin them later in the season. 

 

 

 

 

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Look out huge gains over here.

A post shared by Hannah Halvorsen (@hannah.g.halvorsen) on Jan 15, 2020 at 1:59pm PST

Hannah was excited to cheer her team on at the 2020 Coop FIS Cross Country World Cup in Minneapolis, which would have been the first time cross country skiing World Cup competition took place on U.S. snow in 19 years. However, COVID-19 threw everyone a curveball and forced the cancelation of those plans for Hannah, as well as  the annual spring team training camp in May in Bend, Oregon. Regardless of the pandemic setbacks, Hannah has kept her eye on the prize of returning to 100% health. Earlier this summer, she returned to Anchorage to train with her Alaska Pacific University (APU) teammates, and while she has had to hold herself back at times, she continues to make tremendous progress.

“The biggest mood booster of late has been rejoining team training. I have done countless hours of training and physical therapy on my own over the past months and I have an even bigger appreciation for what it means to be surrounded by a team.”
 – Hannah Halvorsen, Davis U.S. Cross Country Team

But those countless hours of training alone are paying big dividends.

“Hannah has made an amazing return to training,’ said APU coach Erik Flora. “Her incredible hard work and perseverance have brought her back months earlier than I would have projected. The thing that has impressed me the most is that while she is making this impressive return she is coming back with more focus and positively inspiring her teammates to step up their level as well. I see her returning stronger than ever.”

 

 

 

 

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Virtual @alaskarunforwomen up the mountain in honor of all those who are fighting or have fought breast cancer. 💕 #alaskarunforwomen

A post shared by Hannah Halvorsen (@hannah.g.halvorsen) on Jun 23, 2020 at 12:53pm PDT

“I have seen some really positive progress and I am in a much better place than I expected to be at this time of the training season,” Hannah said. “If you asked me two months ago I would’ve said I wouldn’t be able to roller-ski until the fall, but I am able to ski with my teammates and even do low-level threshold.

“I can’t do the high-intensity training...but I can do the warm-up and cool down, and I do a pulled back version that is more focused on technique while my team is doing intervals,” she continued. “That said, having a lot of unexpected improvement has made it hard to stay the course. I am constantly tempted to try to jump into speed or go faster in threshold [workouts]. I have done that a few times now and sometimes I think I get away with it. But after a few times the inflammation in my spine and neck will flare up and then I am set back again with pain.”

Building toward intensity training is the near-term goal for Hannah, but it is a learning process between managing the pain while building strength and speed. 

 

 

 

 

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I want to be the skier who races fast, but drives the speed limit. #thatsthedream #workinonit

A post shared by Hannah Halvorsen (@hannah.g.halvorsen) on Aug 5, 2020 at 12:05pm PDT

“It is a long road,” Erik said. “She is progressing faster than projected. She is getting back to normal training with dry-land including roller skiing, running, and strength. Every week she is improving.”

While there are a number of uncertainties in regard to events as the 2020-21 competition season nears, one thing that is certain is that when Hannah is ready to race, she will return stronger, faster, and mentally tougher. 

“I am on the right end of that curve and starting to get in a productive groove and prioritizing things in the right order so that I can maintain my health for the short and long term,” she said. “Being asked to find more patience when I feel like I have been patient for nine months is hard, but the progress I have made has been motivating and I am excited to see where I can take this if I do it the right way.”

Follow Hannah’s journey on Instagram at @hannah.g.halvorsen

Jesse Andringa returned to snow ahead of schedule after undergoing surgery to correct a shoulder injury he sustained earlier this year. Due to the impacts of COVID-19, Jesse’s return was less conventional than he had planned for, progressing from rehab to stay-at-home mandates, and then straight to snow during moguls’ sanctioned on-snow training camp at Official Training Site Timberline Lodge & Ski Area, Ore. in July. 

“The camp went really well,” Jesse said. “I basically started really easy, just doing flats. I progressed with straight airs and backflips and easier tricks, made sure that it was feeling good. I tipped in on back X and ate it pretty hard and was totally fine, [it was a] relief to know that I could crash on it.”

 

 

 

 

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everyone is posting all their dub 10s.. so heres mine... jk lol i cant be doing that yet with my shoulder @idoneusa

A post shared by Jesse Andringa (@jesse_bare) on Jul 30, 2020 at 11:36am PDT

In March, Jesse underwent surgery for his right shoulder, which he dislocated twice during World Cup competition in the 2019-20 season. During the quarantine period, which coincided with his recovery timeline, Jesse focused solely on the rehab process. “I spent so much time rehabbing, I gained my mobility and strength back quickly, doing two PT sessions a day. Fortunately, my mom is a physical therapist so I was able to do work when I couldn’t get into a clinic [due to COVID-19].”

Most people may think of knees when the words “moguls” and “injury” are put together. However, a moguls skier’s shoulders are crucial. “Every bump jolts your shoulder when you pole plant; you need a lot of strength there. You need 100% mobility to stretch, or to tuck it in, or un-tilt, and if you don’t have that then you’re probably going to eat it. Getting my shoulder fixed is definitely going to be a big confidence boost. I have a nice perspective on the sport now [since being away] and what I need to focus on in order to succeed in the future.”

Jesse is hard at work with the rest of the moguls team on the water ramps at Official Training Site Utah Olympic Park, where the team makes their summer home. Jesse looks forward to continuing to build on his gains this spring, so he’s ready to face whatever comes his way this 2020-21 season. 

Jesse’s brother, 2018 Olympian Casey, is also making a comeback from a year off due to injury. The two are stoked to be back training together. “Casey and I are both coming back from injuries. I’m excited to compete with him [again]. I have World Championships in my sights and we’re hoping that by the end of it this season, we’ll both be stepping onto [World Cup] podiums together.”

Follow Jesse and his shoulder all season long on Instagram.

Learn more about how to support the U.S. Moguls Team.

The U.S. Moguls Ski Team brought the heat and raised some serious funds August 18 via “Moguls and Muffins,” a live virtual fundraising event hosted by freestyle legends and fan favorites Trace Worthington and Sean Smith. To date, the team has raised $120,000, exceeding their annual goal of $100,000, and ensuring they are fully funded for the 2020-21 season. 

Broadcast via Facebook Live on the U.S. Ski & Snowboard page, Trace and Sean hosted a virtual breakfast, including muffins, that took fans behind the scenes of the team’s summer training at the Spence Eccles Olympic Freestyle Pool at Official Training Site Utah Olympic Park. They caught up with several athletes, reminisced about the good ol’ days of freestyle skiing and speculated on what the future holds. Viewers heard from Jesse Andringa, Kai Owens and Nick Page, with walk-by appearances from the rest of the team. Olympic moguls champion and U.S. Ski & Snowboard Athlete Gift Officer Hannah Kearney made a special guest appearance as well. 

 

 

 

 

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Sean stepped away and Smitty came on the set for the @usskiteam “Moguls and Muffins” virtual fundraiser. Fun to get back on air with this guy. Happy to report that we helped raise over $110K for the U.S. Mogul Team. Big props to the donors, athletes and staff who rallied for an incredibly successful event. @seanmsmith94 @utaholympicpark @idoneusa #mogulskiing #fundraiser #usskiteam @hannahkearneysflatstanley

A post shared by Trace Worthington (@trace.worthington) on Aug 18, 2020 at 1:02pm PDT

Being fully funded allows the moguls athletes of the U.S. Ski Team to laser-focus on their training, prep work, and competition. Trace, Sean and Hannah, all U.S. Ski Team alumni, know first-hand what a difference that can make.

“It’s night and day,” said Sean after Trace asked what the impact of being funded as an athlete really means. “The money we’re raising today, and the really throughout the year, [these athletes] don’t have to worry about [whether or not they are funded], they don’t have to worry about money because they get to go and just train, lift, eat properly (like these muffins Chef Steve is making) and really just put forth what they have to do to be Best in the World.”

“The funding is absolutely crucial,” Hannah explained. “Every single one of these athletes’ competitors has government funding from their countries…We’re up against that hurdle. The only way these athletes can train to that level and compete against their peers is through donations from the public. ”

This year would have marked the Third Annual U.S. Moguls Team Fundraiser, graciously hosted by moguls superfans Jim and Jeffy Benedict at their home in Colorado. However, due to the impacts of COVID-19 on travel and gathering, and with the health and safety of its athletes and supporters top of mind, U.S. Ski & Snowboard has moved its fundraising efforts to virtual experiences. “Moguls and Muffins” was created to cap off the team’s annual fundraising season as a way to engage with their supporters and fans, and have a little fun along the way. 

The U.S. Ski & Snowboard Foundation works to raise $12 million annually for U.S. Ski & Snowboard’s athletic programs. U.S. Ski & Snowboard athletes receive no direct government funding and rely on the generous support of fans, donors, trustees and corporations to fund their Olympic dreams. The Moguls fundraiser is one fundraising program that enables the freestyle community of donors to support the sport they are most passionate about. Since implementing sport specific fundraisers, the Foundation has seen an increase in revenue to be able to fully fund specific teams. All funds raised directly impact the Moguls Team and anything raised in excess of the goal will either help fill in unforseen gaps this season, or roll over to the 2021-22 season.

To support the U.S. Moguls Ski Team, please click here for more information.