Every winter ushers in new athletes, challenges and triumphs, and the 2019-20 competition season was no exception. The men and women of the U.S. Freeski Team found success across World Cup, Youth Olympic, and elite-level competition, once again solidifying the U.S. as a serious contender at the highest level of slopestyle, halfpipe, and big air freeskiing. The U.S. Freeski Team earned 20 FIS World Cup podiums, 12 podiums at X Games and Dew Tour, as well as five Youth Olympic Games medals. 

Although 17 different athletes collected top-three finishes this season on the professional circuit, a few names rise to the top with consistently strong performances throughout the winter.

Following an impressive 2018-19 season, pro team member Alex Hall picked up right where he left off, immediately stringing together three-consecutive wins in big air at X Games Norway 2019; the Modena, Italy World Cup; and perhaps his pinnacle win of the season at the Visa Big Air presented by Land Rover in Atlanta, Ga. Alex executed a walk-off switch left double 1800 Buick to win the event and leave his legacy at SunTrust Park. He finished second overall in the FIS Big Air Cup Standings. 
 

Alex was able to top three big air podiums before the New Year, prior to setting his sights on the slopestyle course. He went on to earn three more podiums at the debut of Dew Tour at Copper Mountain Colo. (slopestyle) as well as X Games Norway 2020 (knuckle huck and slopestyle) at Hafjell Resort. In addition, Alex also found the spotlight as the focal point of multiple film projects including Magma (filmed with teammate Hunter Hess) and Faction’s feature-length film The Collective. His well-rounded approach to freeskiing earned him the prestigious title of the 2020 Newschoolers Skier of the Year. Alex capitalized on every element of his craft including big air, slopestyle, rail-jams, film, and even the new X Games knuckle huck event. 

Also excelling from the U.S. Freeski Slopestyle and Big Air Team was Colby Stevenson, who gained a new level of confidence in 2020, which materialized into numerous podiums. Colby collected top-three finishes across three different World Cup slopestyle events including Seiser Alm, Italy; Calgary, Alberta, Canada; and the Land Rover U.S. Grand Prix at Mammoth Mountain, Calif. With the final World Cup slopestyle of the season in Silvaplana, Switzerland canceled due to Covid-19 precautions, Colby ended his season in second-place overall, but the top American, in the FIS Slopestyle Cup Standings. Teammates Deven Fagan, Cody LaPlante, and Nick Goepper all joined Colby in the top-10 finishing second, seventh, ninth, and 10th respectively. 
 

Outside of World Cup competition, Colby made history at X Games Aspen 2020 by becoming the first X Games rookie to win gold in freeski slopestyle. Not only did Colby earn gold as his first X Games medal, but he doubled up by winning the inaugural ski knuckle huck event to complete his rock star X Games debut. 

Other notable performances from the men of the U.S. Freeski Slopestyle and Big Air Team included rookie team athletes Deven Fagan and Cody LaPlante, each earning their first-ever World Cup podiums. Deven took third-place on home soil at the Land Rover U.S. Grand Prix at Mammoth Mountain, Calif. stomping a 1440 with authority on the last jump. Cody thrived in Europe rounding out the podium in third-place in Font Romeu, France, where he beat out a slew of Olympians and World Champions. Not only did Cody hold his own against an incredibly strong field, but he also did it in his first slopestyle competition back from ACL and meniscus surgery.

Speaking of comebacks, Cody wasn’t the only one to work his way back from rehab. No one did it better than Whitefish, Mont. local Maggie Voisin. Maggie decided to make her comeback from ACL surgery at the biggest event of the year: X Games Aspen. As Maggie’s fan’s and teammates watched her drop into the slopestyle course at Buttermilk Mountain, any lingering doubt that she had fully recovered quickly dissipated and her streak began. She gradually improved in every X Games competition for the remainder of the season earning bronze in Aspen slopestyle, silver in Norway’s big air, and gold in Norway’s slopestyle. However, Maggie’s post-recovery accomplishments were not limited to X Games. She also collected podiums at the Land Rover U.S. Grand Prix and Dew Tour. Her success was a direct result of her work ethic and drive to be back at the top of the sport. To close out the season in Norway, Maggie stomped a beautiful double cork 1260 safety as the perfect cherry on top of an amazing comeback contest season.
 

Also representing the women of the U.S. Freeski Slopestyle Team was Caroline Claire, who won the Seiser Alm, Italy, World Cup slopestyle. She stomped a switch double cork 900 and took home her third podium in three years at Seiser Alm. Caroline also earned the Newschoolers Breakthrough Award. The all-female segment in The Collective was named the "Ladies Choice Best Female Edit," in which Caroline had a significant part. In addition, although she did not reach the World Cup podium, rookie team member Marin Hamill finished second overall in the FIS Cup Standings, a remarkable accomplishment for the 18-year-old. 

U.S. Freeski athletes continued to display their grit in the halfpipe with multiple athletes rebounding from injury. Both Olympic medalists David Wise and Brita Sigourney wasted no time finding their way back to the podium, each earning second-place at the Land Rover U.S. Grand Prix at Copper Mountain, Colo. David was returning from a broken femur and Brita from a tibia and fibula spiral fracture. Although on a different recovery timeline, Lyman Currier found the podium again for the first time following an ACL injury in 2014. He earned two third-place finishes at the Secret Garden, China, and Mammoth Grand Prix World Cups. 

However, throughout the entire season, it was veteran Aaron Blunck who took the reins. Aaron finished in the top-three at five of the seven events he entered, displaying pure dominance and poise. Although his season was full of highlights, none compared to his winning performance at the Land Rover U.S. Grand Prix at Mammoth Mountain, Calif., where all three of his runs would have won the event. Head freeski judge Steele Spence described Aaron's runs as, “three of the best pipe runs of all time. They were the hardest runs and he executed them perfectly.” Aaron’s consistency would earn him the FIS Halfpipe Crystal Globe and his second X Games Aspen medal. 

Alex Ferreira would earn X Games Aspen gold and became the first Aspen local to ever win back-to-back gold medals in any X Games discipline. In addition, fellow Colorado local Birk Irving also continued to prove himself as a contender, claiming podiums at the first and last halfpipe World Cups of the season. To kick off the season, Birk won the Winter Games NZ landing a never-been-done double-cork-720 that defied gravity. Birk closed out the season at the Calgary Rodeo World Cup in Canada with a third-place. 
 

Although the 2019-20 season was cut short, fans around the world had the chance to experience the Winter Youth Olympic Games Lausanne 2020 in Switzerland, where young American freeskiers thrived and made their presence known. Combined, U.S. Freeski athletes earned five medals (two bronze, two silver, one gold). U.S. Rookie Team members Hunter Carey and Hanna Faulhaber earned second and third respectively in the halfpipe. Teammate Hunter Henderson took third in slopestyle, while pro team member Kiernan took home a gold in slopestyle and a silver in big air. 

After strong performances by the rookies at the Youth Olympic Games, it’s no surprise that they also topped the NorAm Cup Standings. Hunter Henderson and Rell Harwood claimed the NorAm slopestyle and big air titles, while Hanna took home the halfpipe title. 

The 2019-20 professional freeski competition season resulted in success at every level across all disciplines for U.S. athletes. There is no question as to the depth and breadth of the U.S. Freeski Team moving into the first of two Olympic selection years. The U.S. Freeski Team is primed and on track to set the tone as we take one step closer to the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic season.

Relive all the top moments of the year with the videos below!
 

The final day of the Land Rover U.S. Grand Prix did not disappoint with U.S. skiers and riders claiming five podiums throughout snowboard slopestyle and freeski halfpipe World Cup competition. 

Despite a 4.4 magnitude earthquake in the midst of the event, U.S. Snowboard Team riders Jamie Anderson and rookie Dusty Henricksen took the top spots in slopestyle. Dusty, a Mammoth Lakes, Calif. local, earned his first-ever World Cup win in only his second World Cup final of his career.

“I’m ecstatic to pull up to Mammoth where I grew up riding and walk away with my first win,” Dusty said in disbelief. “I honestly couldn’t ask for more. It could not have been a better day or a better course. It’s super flowy, fun, and fast. It meant the world to have all my boys and supporters out here watching.”

After Dusty stomped the final run of the day to take the top spot with a beautiful backside triple cork 1440, you heard a loud, “We all knew” come from Dusty’s fan base in the finish area. Coming off of Youth Olympic Games gold and then qualifying first at the Laax Open World Cup, Dusty’s trajectory was clear to anyone who has been watching his progress. Dusty currently leads the FIS Snowboard World Cup slopestyle standings, followed by Judd Henkes in second.

Judd, who also calls Mammouth Mountain home, grabbed third. This is Judd’s second podium in two years at the Mammoth Grand Prix and his second-consecutive podium in World Cup slopestyle competition this season after a third-place finish at the 2020 Laax Open. 

“I think being at home in familiar territory played a part in my success these last two Grand Prixs at Mammoth,” said Judd. “I’m headed to Dew Tour next week and hope to improve on my performance here.”

After earning his third World cup podium of his career, it’s clear Judd’s still hungry for the remainder of the 2019-20 competition season including pinnacle events like Dew Tour and the U.S. Open. 

For the women, Jamie Anderson earned her second win in two weeks following a gold medal performance at X Games Aspen. In her first World Cup slopestyle of the year, she came out firing with smooth style and consistency in classic Jamie fashion. 

“Coming to Mammoth after X Games is really nice because its really positive energy in California,” said Jamie. “It’s warm, our whole teams here, and I love competing in the Grand Prix. To be able to put down my first run and stay in first and have the chance to take a victory lap feels amazing. What made today even more special was my dad, my doctor, my first ever coach, and a lot of good people were able to come out to support today.”

Competition continued on Saturday with arguably the best freeski halfpipe contest of the season where Aaron Blunck took the victory. Aaron has reached the podium in every contest he has competed in this season (five events) including an X Games silver medal performance last week. 

“After the first run today I was feeling it,” said Aaron. “I just thought to myself, why not give it everything I got. I am feeling really good right now and I don’t ever back down. That’s just not the type of person I want to be. I thought my dad would be extremely proud of me if I continued to give it my all and that’s what I did. Also, to share the podium with Noah Bowman and Lyman Currier is amazing, I look up to them both.”

Head freeski judge Steele Spence described Aaron's runs as, “three of the best pipe runs of all time. They were the hardest runs and he executed them perfectly.”

Aaron came out of the gate on a mission immediately putting down an incredible run, but that was just the beginning. Aaron improved each time he dropped into the pipe. His second and third runs were entirely made up of double-cork variations. Aaron owned the three highest scores of the day.

Teammate Lyman Currier stepped up on his last run to earn third place and his second World Cup podium of the season. 

“I’m feeling awesome to make the podium today,” said Lyman. “It was such a heavy competition today and a beautiful day in Mammoth. It seemed to be a competition for second place today. Blunck was on one and it was insane.”

The competition undoubtedly had some amazing moments including U.S. Freeski Team member Hunter Hess landing a 1620 on his run. Kiwi Nico Porteous landed a 1620 rotation at X Games last week for the first time in halfpipe competition. 

Led by Aaron, there are currently seven U.S. Freeski Team athletes in the top-10 of the FIS Freeski Halfpipe Cup Standings including Birk Irving, Lyman Currier, Taylor Seaton, Jaxin Hoerter, David Wise, and Hunter Hess. 

For the women, U.S. Freeski Team member Brita Sigourney finished in a respectable fourth place landing back to back 900’s in her second and third run. U.S. Rookie Team member Hanna Faulhaber finished in seventh in her first-ever World Cup final. 

The U.S. Freeski and Snowboard Slopestyle and Halfpipe Team continue competition next week at the Dew Tour in  Copper Mountain, Colo. In addition, U.S. athletes are also heading to the Calgary World Cup for freeski halfpipe competition. 

CUP STANDINGS
Women’s snowboard slopestyle 
Men’s snowboard slopestyle 
Women’s freeski halfpipe
Men’s freeski halfpipe 

RESULTS
Women’s snowboard slopestyle 
Men’s snowboard slopestyle 
Women’s freeski halfpipe
Men’s freeski halfpipe 
 

Five Americans podiumed in freeski slopestyle and snowboard halfpipe today at the Land Rover U.S. Grand Prix FIS World Cup on a beautiful day at Mammoth Mountain, Calif. Colby Stevenson led the U.S. Freeski Team with a second-place finish. This is Colby’s second consecutive World Cup slopestyle podium and fourth consecutive podium in three events. 

“I came out feeling healthy today and that is probably the biggest factor playing into my recent success,” said Colby. “I tried to come into finals today with the right mindset trying to have fun. The weather cooperated which made for a great day of skiing and it definitely boosted my confidence having a sunny day with hardly any wind. I’m just trying to keep the ball rolling.”

U.S. Freeski Rookie Team member Deven Fagan finished in third place right behind Colby. This is Deven’s first-ever World Cup podium. 

“This is crazy,” said Deven. “My brother (Kiernan Fagan) and I pretty much swapped positions from last year at this contest. My goal was to podium today and I’m really happy with the run I put down. I definitely improved from qualifiers by doing a 1440 on my last jump. I also changed up my rails a little bit.”

Colby and Deven plan to head to Southern California to get some surfing in ahead of their next competition to unwind and regroup. Andri Ragettli, the winningest freeskier in World Cup history, topped the podium for his sixth World Cup win. 

For the women, U.S. Freeski Team member Maggie Voisin earned her second consecutive third-place finish following her return from ACL surgery. 

“I’m super happy to get back on the podium here in Mammoth,” said Maggie. ‘I’m also really grateful that Mammoth and mother nature brought us sunshine and no wind for finals today. I can’t believe I went back-to-back with podiums at X Games and the Grand Prix.”

U.S. Rookie Team members Marin Hamill finished fifth and Rell Harwood finished seventh, each landing solid runs from top to bottom. Swiss freeskier Sarah Hoefflin topped the podium following a double X Games medal performance last week. Isabel Atkin of Great Britain finished second. 

Land Rover U.S. Grand Prix competition continued with men’s and women’s snowboard halfpipe where U.S. Snowboard Team members Taylor Gold and Maddie Mastro each earned second place. Maddie landed her double crippler for the first time in competition since her win at the 2019 U.S. Open. Coming off of a challenging X Games, Maddie was elated to put it down.

“I couldn’t be more stoked,” said Maddie. “I have been working so hard this season and I have tried the double crippler in multiple different contests this year. It’s nice to show everyone what I already know, which is I can stomp that trick when I want to. I am as happy as I could be right now.” 

Taylor also landed his signature trick with a double Michalchuck 1080 on his third run. However, it was his first run which held down second-place throughout the entirety of the competition and resulted in his second consecutive World Cup podium.

“I feel really good,” said Taylor. “To be honest, I didn’t expect my first run to hold up in podium position all the way through the competition, but I felt really good to put it down. I was really excited to land my new trick on my third run, but just couldn’t make it all the way down the pipe. It was a super fun event and amazing to have nice weather here.”

At X Games, teammate Chase Josey coined Taylor’s double Michaelchuck 1080 the “Chuck Taylor” and it seems to be sticking. 

“You know, I’m not going to fight it,” he said jokingly. “I really like it to be honest. I think it has a nice ring to it.”

Competition continues on Saturday at the Land Rover U.S. Grand Prix with snowboard slopestyle and freeski halfpipe finals at Mammoth Mountain, Calif. Tune in on the Olympic Channel and NBC Sports to catch all of the action live. 

RESULTS
Women’s freeski slopestyle
Men’s freeski slopestyle 
Men’s snowboard halfpipe
Women’s snowboard halfpipe

START LISTS
Women’s snowboard slopestyle
Men’s snowboard slopestyle
Women’s freeski halfpipe
Men’s freeski halfpipe

HOW TO WATCH
Subject to change
All times EST
*Same-day delayed broadcast
** Next-day broadcast

FREESKI
Friday, Jan. 31
12:30 p.m. - Men and women’s slopestyle, Land Rover U.S. Grand Prix, Mammoth, Calif. - NBCSN, NBCSports.com, NBC Sports Gold.

Saturday, Feb. 1
6:35 a.m. - Men and women’s skicross, Megeve, FRA - Olympic Channel.com, NBC Sports Gold
4:00 p.m. - Men and women’s halfpipe, Land Rover U.S. Grand Prix, Mammoth, Calif. - Olympic Channel.com, NBC Sports Gold

SNOWBOARD
Friday, Jan. 31
4:00 p.m. - Men and women’s halfpipe, Land Rover U.S. Grand Prix, Mammoth, Calif. - NBCSN, NBCSports.com, NBC Sports Gold

Saturday, Feb. 1
1:00 p.m. - Men and women’s slopestyle, Land Rover U.S. Grand Prix, Mammoth, Calif. - NBCSN, NBCSports.com, NBC Sports Gold
5:00 p.m. - Men and women’s halfpipe, Land Rover U.S. Grand Prix, Mammoth, Calif. - NBC**
11:30 p.m. - Men and women’s halfpipe, Land Rover U.S. Grand Prix, Mammoth, Calif. - NBCSN**

Sunday, Feb. 2
3:00 p.m. - Men and women’s slopestyle, Land Rover U.S. Grand Prix, Mammoth, Calif. - NBC**

Note: All televised events to stream across NBCSports.com, NBC Sports app, OlympicChannel.com, and Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA app, Exclusive commercial-free coverage will be available for subscribers of the NBC Sports Gold Pass, available here: https://www.nbcsports.com/gold/snow.
 

The FIS Ski World Cup men’s tour will take on the mighty and deceiving Kandahar track in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, while the women attempt to get races off in 2014 Olympic venue in Rosa Khutor, Sochi, Russia. 

The Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team downhillers and giant slalom skiers head to Garmisch to take on a downhill and giant slalom on Saturday and Sunday, respectively. Though warm weather has plagued the World Cup classic downhill and erased the first downhill training run on Thursday, the organizers salted the track and the downhillers were able to get in a training run⁠—albeit with soft snow and less-than-ideal conditions⁠—on Friday. In Friday’s first and only downhill training run, Ryan Cochran-Siegle led the way with the fifth-fastest time, .48 seconds off France’s Johan Clarey’s time, while 2017 Garmisch winner Travis Ganong was just a tenth back, tied for seventh. 

It's a dark, bumpy ride down the Kandahar in Garmisch, and after the noise of Wengen's Lauberhorn and Kitzbuehel's Hahnenkamm, it can be quite deceiving. The downhillers have talked about how many have let their guard down in Garmisch, and how it has come back to bite them. The classic track is challenging and has claimed its fair share of victims in the past—including, and especially, in 2017 when 11 athletes DNFed and two (including Steven Nyman) were airlifted from the track with season-ending injuries. 

The giant slalom crew will return to action on Sunday, led by Olympic champion Ted Ligety and this year’s Beaver Creek victor, Tommy Ford. Though the giant slalom crew has had a break since Adelboden, they’ve gotten a solid training block at the Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team’s European official training base in Alpe Cimbra ski area – Folgaria, Lavarone in Italy. Keep an eye on both Ted and Tommy, and remember—Ted’s last podium was in 2018 in Garmisch on this track, prior to the PyeongChang Olympics. 

Steven, Travis, Ryan, Bryce Bennett, Sam Morse, Sam Dupratt and Jared Goldberg enjoyed their annual visit to the U.S. Army base in Garmisch on Wednesday evening, signing autographs for families of servicemen and servicewomen in Garmisch. This is a tradition the Team has enjoyed for the last 20+ years, and it’s a hearty American welcome that makes the athletes feel at home in Garmisch. 

The women’s speed team traveled to Rosa Khutor, in Sochi, Russia for a downhill on Saturday and a super-G on Sunday, but heavy snowfall has severely affected the schedule, with cancelled downhill training runs on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Snow continues to fall at Rosa Khutor, though organizers are optimistic they’ll be able to nail down an aggressive schedule on Saturday that includes a downhill training run at 8:00 a.m. CET followed by a race at 10:30 a.m. CET. The speed series in 2019 was cancelled entirely due to heavy snowfall. 

Current overall, super-G and slalom World Cup standings leader Mikaela Shiffrin, who is competing in all six disciplines, has wisely opted to sit out Rosa Khutor and instead rest and recover prior to the next block of races. Mikaela also is currently sitting in second in the downhill and giant slalom standings. If the weather subsides and the races happen, keep an eye on Breezy Johnson—who scored a pair of top-10 results in her second and third World Cup races back from injury last weekend in Bansko, Bulgaria. 

WATCH: Take a pause and watch our second edition of Cellar Talks, with the Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team downhillers.

Check out how and who to watch below. 

MEN’S STARTERS
Bryce Bennett
Ryan Cochran-Siegle
Sam Dupratt
Tommy Ford
Travis Ganong
Jared Goldberg
Ted Ligety
Brian McLaughlin
Steven Nyman
River Radamus 

WOMEN’S STARTERS
Breezy Johnson
Alice McKennis
Alice Merryweather
Jackie Wiles

RESULTS
Men’s Downhill Training Run 1

START LISTS
Women’s Downhill Training Run
Men’s Downhill

FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL
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Twitter
Official event hashtags: #worldcupgap, #worldcupsochi

HOW TO WATCH 
All times EST

Saturday, Feb. 1
3:30 a.m. - Women’s downhill, Rosa Khutor, RUS - Olympic Channel, Olympic Channel.com, NBC Sports Gold
5:30 a.m. - Men’s downhill, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, GER - Olympic Channel, Olympic Channel.com, NBC Sports Gold

Saturday, Feb. 2
12:30 a.m. - Men’s downhill, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, GER - NBCSN*
2:30 a.m. - Women’s super-G, Rosa Khutor, RUS - Olympic Channel.com, NBC Sports Gold
4:00 a.m. - Men’s giant slalom run 1, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, GER - Olympic Channel.com, NBC Sports Gold
6:30 a.m. - Women’s super-G, Rosa Khutor, RUS - Olympic Channel*
7:30 a.m. - Men’s giant slalom run 2, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, GER - Olympic Channel.com, NBC Sports Gold
4:00 p.m. - Men’s giant slalom, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, GER - NBCSN*

*Same-day broadcast

Note: All televised events to stream across NBCSports.com, NBC Sports app, OlympicChannel.com, and Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA app. 

Exclusive commercial-free coverage will be available for subscribers of the NBC Sports Gold Pass, available here: https://www.nbcsports.com/gold/snow. 

Under sunshine and blue skies with excellent conditions, Emma Resnick (Vail, Colo.; Ski & Snowboard Club Vail) led two Americans into the top 10 at the Lausanne 2020 Youth Olympic Games' giant slalom on Sunday. 

Emma almost pulled off the move of the day in the style of her family friend, double-Olympic champion Mikaela Shiffrin. Twelfth after the first run of the day, the 16-year-old tore down the slope in the afternoon, winning the second run by three tenths and finishing with a time of 1:02.79, just 0.33 seconds outside the medals in fourth at Sunday's Youth Olympic Games giant slalom in Lausanne, Switzerland. Nicola Rountree-Williams (Edwards, Colo.; Independent/Private) was eighth.

Alpine Development Director Chip Knight said that "it's a long giant slalom course with terrain, and the hill preparation is absolutely top-notch. Both Nicola and Emma skied solidly first run. The plan was to attack the upper 3/4 of the hill and then ski tactically smart through the rolls at the bottom, and they both did that well." 

Chip said that Dan Stripp, women's program director at Ski and Snowboard Club Vail (SSCV) and Emma's coach set the second run, using the terrain at the top more creatively, which added another important element to the hill. "Emma attacked the second run, skiing on the edge and looking for speed through the terrain. She made time the whole way and was especially fast over the tunnel and through the compression at the bottom. Nicola skied aggressively and well too, but she scrubbed speed through the terrain at the top and bottom that cost her time. " 

In the end, both women grabbed promising results that bode well for the future of the Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team in women's giant slalom. 

"This is a really high-quality field at the top end, with 15-20 really good skiers in the race," added Chip. "And the Youth Olympic Games stage adds another level to the environment. It’s encouraging to see our athletes compete as well as they did today, and have strong finishes in the top 10. Now they know they can ski with anyone in the race, and they will have confidence moving forward into the slalom and the team event."

Up next is men’s giant slalom, on Monday. Daniel Gillis (Guilford, Conn.; Burke Mountain Academy; 2002), Maxx Parys (Bethel, Maine; Gould Academy; 2002), and Trent Pennington (Shalimar, Fla.; Ski and Snowboard Club Vail; 2002) will start for Team USA. 

RESULTS
Women's giant slalom

START LIST
Men’s giant slalom

SCHEDULE
(All times EST)
January 13 – Men's Giant Slalom – 4:00 a.m.
January 14 – Women's and Men's Slalom – 3:00 a.m.
January 15 – Parallel Mixed Team Slalom – 5:00 a.m.

HOW TO WATCH
Live stream of the Olympic Channel will be up in the U.S. at TeamUSA.org/Lausanne2020, and can be found on OlympicChannel.com – free of charge with no log-in needed. 

On a day rife with challenging weather and course holds due to fog, the 37-year-old veteran Steven Nyman remained unfazed on his favorite track of the circuit, scoring his best super-G result at Val Gardena, Italy, since 2006 to lead the Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team in 13th. 

It was a shortened super-G from the beginning, with the start lowered to Mauer 1 at 11:45am CET. From there, the fog rolled in and spiraled a bit out of control with at least eight holds before the organizers finally called the race after 48 athletes. Austrian Vincent Kriechmayr took the victory, with Norwegian Kjetil Jansrud on his heels in second by just .05 seconds, and German comeback kid Thomas Dressen rounding out the podium in third, .22 seconds out. 

After Steven pulled a ballerina move at 110 km/hour in one of the fastest sections of the course in Thursday's one and only downhill training run, he refocused and pulled himself together for the super-G on Friday, despite the long course holds due to inclement weather. 

"My boots were starting to hurt they were on for so long," Steven said with a laugh in the finish. "I skied really well, I had one mistake entering the Ciaslat, and they say if it wasn't for that, I could have been on the podium, but I really am happy with the way I executed overall. It's a sprint race, it's short, this super-G is always a sprint race—you gotta really gun. But from the beginning during inspection, I saw the course and it made sense to me the way they set over the terrain. I really liked it. I liked the way it flowed, and I'm happy."

Steven is also known as “King of the Saslong” for winning the downhill in 2006, 2012 and 2014. In fact, only two skiers have bested his three victories—Kristian Ghedina and Franz Klammer, each with four. Coincidentally, Steven and Bryce’s serviceman, Leo Mussi, was Kristian Ghedina’s serviceman for those four victories as well. So it’s safe to say that Leo Mussi is actually the “King of the Saslong.” Steven was also third on the Saslong in 2016. He's hoping that Friday's skiing is a good omen for Saturday's downhill in this place that is so near and dear to his heart. 

"Hopefully it's a good omen for tomorrow, but again, the weather today...lots of waiting, lots of having to stay in the game and stay focused," reflected Steven. "You thought it was over, you thought it was back, you thought it was over, so you never really know, and tomorrow's going to be the same game. Luckily I've skied this a lot and I know what to do on the downhill track, so we'll see what happens. There is a lot of wetness in the snow, but the snow was still dense. They've done a great job to maintain the snow despite all of the course holds and the snow falling up top, and the rain at the bottom. I trusted my technician, I know he makes some good skis here in Gardena, so it came down to me and my performance." 

Sam Dupratt, who scored his career-first World Cup points at none other than Kitzbuehel, Austria, in super-G (29th), scored a career-best on Friday when he tied for 22nd with France's Brice Roger. Sam gave big accolades to the organizer for getting the race off and making it happen. 

"Today was awesome," exclaimed Sam. "Hats off to the organizer for pushing so hard to make this happen and sorry to the athletes that got cut off. Definitely the longest day in my skiing career. I had my boots off eating an apple strudel and drinking a cappuccino 10 minutes before I raced. It was super hard to be focused for so many hours leading up to it. I really needed this race to happen since my season has started off poorly. I tried to use that motivation from being slow in the past few races to fuel the focus and desire to send it in less than ideal conditions."

"Super stoked to score my personal best this week but planning to keep the ball rolling," Sam continued. "This was only my fifth World Cup super-G start, so it really helps to have some results to help convince myself that I belong here and that I can ski with the best skiers in the world."

Ryan Cochran-Siegle and Travis Ganong were also able to get out of the start gate before the race was called, but ended up outside of the top 30 in 35th and 38th, respectively. Tommy Biesemeyer was two shy of the start gate when the race was cancelled, and Jared Goldberg also was unable to start due to the cancellation. 

Up next, the men will watch video and refocus for Saturday's Saslong classic downhill, a favorite of the American downhillers. Last year, the American men went 4-5-6—Bryce Bennett-Steven Nyman-Travis Ganong—on the Saslong. Time for some podium-hunting! 

RESULTS
Men's Super-G

WATCH 
The Americans go 4-5-6 in 2018 Val Gardena Downhill

FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL
Instagram
Facebook
Twitter
Official event hashtags: #skiworldcupvalgardena, #worldcupvaldisere, #swcaltabadia #granrisa (Alta Badia)

HOW TO WATCH 
All times EST

Saturday, Dec. 21
4:15 a.m. - Women’s downhill, Val d’Isere, FRA - Olympic Channel, Olympic Channel.com, NBC Sports Gold
5:45 a.m. - Men’s downhill, Val Gardena, ITA - Olympic Channel, Olympic Channel.com, NBC Sports Gold
8:30 p.m. - Women’s downhill, Val d’Isere, FRA - NBCSN*

Sunday, Dec. 22
3:30 a.m. - Men’s giant slalom run 1, Alta Badia, ITA - Olympic Channel.com, NBC Sports Gold
4:30 a.m. - Women’s alpine combined super-G, Val d’Isere, FRA - Olympic Channel.com, NBC Sports Gold
7:00 a.m. - Men’s giant slalom run 1, Alta Badia, ITA - Olympic Channel, Olympic Channel.com, NBC Sports Gold
8:00 a.m. - Women’s alpine combined slalom, Val d’Isere, FRA - Olympic Channel, Olympic Channel.com, NBC Sports Gold
7:30 p.m. - Women’s alpine combined, Val, d;’Isere, FRA - NBCSN*

Monday, Dec. 23
9:00 a.m. - Men’s parallel slalom qualifying, Alta Badia, ITA - Olympic Channel.com, NBC Sports Gold
12:00 p.m - Men’s parallel slalom qualifying, Alta Badia, ITA - Olympic Channel, Olympic Channel.com, NBC Sports Gold

*Same-day broadcast
**Next-day broadcast

Note: All televised events to stream across NBCSports.com, NBC Sports app, OlympicChannel.com, and Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA app

Exclusive commercial-free coverage will be available for subscribers of the NBC Sports Gold Pass, available here: https://www.nbcsports.com/gold/snow.

The FIS Alpine World Cup Tour show must go on⁠—and indeed it will, in Val Gardena and Alta Badia, Italy for the men (“Pizza and Pasta Tour”: commence!), and Val d’Isere, France for the women. 

With some tricky weather coming through Europe, bringing rain and warmer temperatures—and what sounds like A LOT of snow over the weekend in Val d’Isere, France—the men’s and women’s World Cup circuits will brace themselves and cross their fingers/hold their thumbs. Perhaps, even, they’ll pray to Ullr (God of snow) for the best outcome. 

In the first of two downhill training runs in Val d’Isere, the Austrian women were the fastest skiers of the day, led by Ramona Seibenhofer. Alice McKennis led the American women in 15th, followed by a much more aggressive and confident Jackie Wiles, in 22nd, and Alice Merryweather in 44th. Of course, training days are for figuring out and dialing in line, set-up, etc—so it was a learning day for the women, who haven’t been at this venue in two years (due to weather last season). 

“I’ve felt really confident coming into the season, and feel really good on my skis and feel like I’m in a strong body position, so it’s obviously very exciting to do well and to realize some of your goals,” reflected Alice McKennis following her training run. “But, I knew coming into the season I was skiing well, and to follow through with the skiing I had in training feels really good.” The biggest adjustment in coming back for Alice may not be finding her form, but rather learning all of the new faces on tour. 

“I don’t know who anybody is,” Alice laughed. “It’s quite a lot of younger, newer faces, and I’m definitely one of the older ladies out here. But I’m enjoying it all the same, and it’s kind of cool to see some of the younger racers. It’s a very strong field and there are a lot of young women that are skiing really well technically, and I love watching that.”

The women will kick off the series with a downhill on Saturday followed by an alpine combined on Sunday. Winds are expected to be upwards of 160 km/hour on Friday, which may throw a wrench in the plans for the second downhill training day. That said, it is supposed to clear up for Saturday’s downhill. On Saturday evening, a weather pattern is coming in that is likely to dump more than a meter (100 cm) of snow on Sunday, continuing into Monday through the holiday week. At this point, the weather does not look like it will be kind to the alpine combined women in Val d’Isere, but only time will tell. 

Mikaela Shiffrin, who had a tough day in Courchevel’s giant slalom on Tuesday, announced on Thursday that she will sit out the Val d’Isere series to focus on the upcoming tech events in Lienz, Austria on Dec. 28-29th. On Twitter, she shared a series of tweets as she was making her decision, confirming for fans and media on Thursday that she would be sitting the Val d'Isere series out: 

At this point, with the impending weather, it seems like Mikaela’s decision will be a smart one, as she will get some valuable time training slalom and giant slalom—her bread and butter events—as well as some quality time spent over Christmas with her team and her family.  

The men are primed and ready to compete at two of their favorite venues on the circuit, with stops in Val Gardena, Italy for a speed series followed by a giant slalom and parallel giant slalom on the Gran Risa at Alta Badia, Italy. Weather has been tough in Italy, with warm temperatures and rain, as thick fog forced the cancellation of Wednesday's downhill training run. Thursday’s first and final downhill training run proved to be a success for the Americans, with Bryce Bennett—who loves Val Gardena, and has had career-bests on the track, including fourth last season—leading the Americans in fifth, followed by teammate Jared Goldberg in eighth, Travis Ganong in 26th, Ryan Cochran-Siegle 28th, Sam Morse 34th, Wiley Maple 49th, Sam Dupratt 58th and Tommy Biesemeyer 67th. 

Steven Nyman, also known as “King of the Saslong” for winning the downhill in 2006, 2012 and 2014—only two skiers have bested his three victories—Kristian Ghedina and Franz Klammer, each with four. Coincidentally, Steven and Bryce’s serviceman, Leo Mussi, was Kristian Ghedina’s serviceman for those four victories as well. So it’s safe to say that Leo Mussi is actually the “King of the Saslong.” In Thursday’s training run, Steven finished last. Now, you may all be scratching your heads at his time, which was 7.69 seconds off Norwegian Kjetil Jansrud’s pace. “Why?” you may ask? Well, because in one of the fastest sections of the course, Steven pulled a ballerina move at 110 km/hour. 

“It's wet and currently drizzling. It's been this way for a few days,” Steven said of the weather in Val Gardena. “Today we got a window in the morning to get the run done and it happened! The snow was good and held up. They did a great job with prep considering. There's a new section on the track that is interesting. It is before the Mauer jumps. The jumps were big with some kicks to them, which will be shaved down to remove the kicks for Saturday. And, I did a ballerina move on the last turn. I caught an edge and it spun me around but I somehow didn't catch another edge and flap down I stayed on my feet going backwards into the net but did a reverse wedge pulled it off and kept going.” He is lucky to have walked away from that one unscathed. 

Bryce, who led the way in 2018, in fourth, says Val Gardena holds a special place in his heart. “Val Gardena has a soft spot in my heart,” he said in an interview to the International Ski Federation (FIS) earlier this fall. “I enjoy Italy, especially that part of Italy, and the course itself fits my skiing style. I've also done well there a number of times so that always helps. My main motivation is classic downhills…downhills with history.” With the fifth-fastest time on Thursday, despite some mistakes, Bryce knows what he has to do to make up time. And, rest assured, he will. 

On the men’s giant slalom side, all eyes will be on Beaver Creek, Colo. winner Tommy Ford. With Val d’Isere having been cancelled, the men are chomping at the bit to ski one of their favorite tracks on the tour: the Gran Risa in Alta Badia, Italy. Tommy scored a career-best (at the time) fifth in Alta Badia in 2018, leading four into the points. 

It’s bound to be an action-packed weekend, so make sure to tune in! See below for all of the details on who and how to watch. 

MEN’S STARTERS
VAL GARDENA
Bryce Bennett
Tommy Biesemeyer
Ryan Cochran-Siegle
Sam Dupratt
Travis Ganong
Jared Goldberg
Wiley Maple
Sam Morse
Steven Nyman

ALTA BADIA
Ryan Cochran-Siegle
Tommy Ford
Ted Ligety
Brian McLaughlin
River Radamus

WOMEN’S STARTERS
Alice McKennis
Alice Merryweather
Jackie Wiles

RESULTS
Men’s Downhill Training Run
Women’s Downhill Training Run

START LIST
Men’s Super-G

WATCH 
The Americans go 4-5-6 in 2018 Val Gardena Downhill

FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL
Instagram
Facebook
Twitter
Official event hashtags: #skiworldcupvalgardena, #worldcupvaldisere, #swcaltabadia #granrisa (Alta Badia)

HOW TO WATCH 
All times EST

Friday, Dec. 20
5:30 a.m. - Men’s super-G, Val Gardena, ITA - Olympic Channel, Olympic Channel.com, NBC Sports Gold

Saturday, Dec. 21
4:15 a.m. - Women’s downhill, Val d’Isere, FRA - Olympic Channel, Olympic Channel.com, NBC Sports Gold
5:45 a.m. - Men’s downhill, Val Gardena, ITA - Olympic Channel, Olympic Channel.com, NBC Sports Gold
8:30 p.m. - Women’s downhill, Val d’Isere, FRA - NBCSN*

Sunday, Dec. 22
3:30 a.m. - Men’s giant slalom run 1, Alta Badia, ITA - Olympic Channel.com, NBC Sports Gold
4:30 a.m. - Women’s alpine combined super-G, Val d’Isere, FRA - Olympic Channel.com, NBC Sports Gold
7:00 a.m. - Men’s giant slalom run 1, Alta Badia, ITA - Olympic Channel, Olympic Channel.com, NBC Sports Gold
8:00 a.m. - Women’s alpine combined slalom, Val d’Isere, FRA - Olympic Channel, Olympic Channel.com, NBC Sports Gold
7:30 p.m. - Women’s alpine combined, Val, d;’Isere, FRA - NBCSN*

Monday, Dec. 23
9:00 a.m. - Men’s parallel giant slalom qualifying, Alta Badia, ITA - Olympic Channel.com, NBC Sports Gold
12:00 p.m - Men’s parallel giant slalom, Alta Badia, ITA - Olympic Channel, Olympic Channel.com, NBC Sports Gold

*Same-day broadcast
**Next-day broadcast

Note: All televised events to stream across NBCSports.com, NBC Sports app, OlympicChannel.com, and Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA app

Exclusive commercial-free coverage will be available for subscribers of the NBC Sports Gold Pass, available here: https://www.nbcsports.com/gold/snow.

U.S. Ski & Snowboard has announced its 2020 team for the Winter Youth Olympic Games Lausanne 2020 set for January 9 - 22 in Switzerland. Nominations include those age-eligible athletes who qualified based on published selection criteria in the 2019 winter season. 

Lausanne is known as the “Olympic Capital,” and has been the home of the modern Olympic Movement for more than 100 years. More than 50 international sporting organizations are based in this region. The Youth Olympic Games (YOG) serves to inspire the next generation to embody the Olympic values of Respect, Friendship, and Excellence. Competing in a location so steeped in Olympic history and tradition will set the tone for what is sure to be an awesome few weeks of competition. America’s next generation of ski and snowboard greats will compete for youth Olympic glory and put the world on notice. 

Since the last YOG, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) increased alpine quotas for major nations to two athletes per-gender. The U.S. finished top-eight in the Hodler Cup at the Junior World Ski Championships, qualifying alpine for a third spot per gender. 

“We have a good group of young athletes on our [alpine] team,” said U.S. Ski & Snowboard Alpine Development Director Chip Knight. “These are all U18 athletes, so it will be the first major international championship event of their careers. They are all really excited to participate, and to compete for medals with the best athletes their age in the world.”

Because of a fourth overall team performance in the Marc Holder Award standings in 2018, the International Federation du Ski (FIS) and the IOC awarded the United States three Youth Olympic starts per gender in the disciplines of cross country, ski jumping and nordic combined - a step up from the usual one per gender in previous years. The Marc Hodler Award is based on total Junior World Nordic Ski Championships, including a nation’s points awarded for cross country, ski jumping and nordic combined. 

Snowboard and Freeski athletes will compete in halfpipe, slopestyle/big air, and ski/snowboardcross events. Quota spots for U.S. athletes were earned based on the team’s performance at FIS Junior Worlds in 2019. Some of the standout performances at the 2019 FIS Junior Worlds events included a men’s podium sweep in Freeski halfpipe, two podium finishes in Freeski slopestyle, two podium finishes in Freeski big air, one podium finish in Snowboard halfpipe, and one podium finish in Snowboard slopestyle. 

“We have a really strong team of development athletes nominated to this team and we are looking forward to a fun and exciting event and experience in Switzerland,” said Sport Development Senior Manager for Freeski and Snowboard Ashley Diebold. 

For the full roster of athletes representing the United States, visit teamusa.org.

2020 U.S. Ski & Snowboard Youth Olympic Team
(Hometown; Club; USASA Series (if applicable); Year of Birth)

Alpine
Women
Lauren Macuga (Park City, Utah; Park City Ski & Snowboard Club; 2002)
Emma Resnick (Vail, Colo.; Ski and Snowboard Club Vail; 2003)
Nicola Rountree-Williams (Edwards, Colo.; Independent/Private; 2002) 

Men
Daniel Gillis (Guilford, Conn.; Burke Mountain Academy; 2002)
Maxx Parys (Bethel, Maine; Gould Academy; 2002)
Trent Pennington (Shalimar, Fla.; Ski and Snowboard Club Vail; 2002)

Cross Country
Women
Kendall Kramer (Fairbank, Alaska; Nordic Ski Club of Fairbanks; 2002) 
Sydney Palmer-Leger (Park City, Utah; Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation; 2002)
Nina Seemann (Bondville, Vt.; Stratton Mtn School, 2002)

Men
Will Koch (Peru, Vt.; Stratton Mtn School; 2002)
Brian Bushey (Montpelier, Vt.; Green Mtn Valley School; 2002)
Kai Mittelsteadt (Bozeman, Mont.; Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation; 2002)

Snowboard 
Halfpipe
Men
Jack Coyne (Edwards, Colo..; Ski & Snowboard Club Vail; Rocky Mountain Series; 2002)
Kolman LeCroy (Mammoth Mountain, Calif.; Mammoth Mountain Ski and Snowboard Team; Mammoth Unbound Series; 2002)

Women
Tessa Maud (Carlsbad, Calif.; Mammoth Mountain Snowboard Team; Unbound Series; 2003)
Athena Comeau (Rutland, Mass.; New Hampshire Series; 2002)

Slopestyle/Big Air
Men
Jake Canter (Evergreen, Colo.; Aspen Valley Ski & Snowboard Club; Aspen Snowmass Series; 2003)
Dusty Henricksen (Mammoth Lakes, Calif; Mammoth Mountain Snowboard Team; Unbound Series; 2003)

Women
Ty Schnorrbusch (Monroe Township, N.J.; Tom Anderson, Rocky Mountain Series 2002)
Courtney Rummel (West Bend, Wisc.; Adam Junio; Midwest Best Series; 2003)

Snowboardcross
Men
Connor Schlegel (Highlands Ranch, Colo.; Vail Ski & Snowboard; Rocky Mountain Series, 2002)
Theo McLemore (Pittsburg, Penn; ISTC; Rocky Mountain Series, 2002)

Women
Acy Craig (Stowe, Vt.; Carrabassett Valley Academy, Southern Vermont Series, 2002)
Madeline Lochte-Bono (Durango, Colo.; ISTC; Rocky Mountain Series, 2003)

Freeski 
Halfpipe
Men
Connor Ladd (Lakewood, Colo.; Rocky Mountain Series; 2003)
Hunter Carey (Winter Park, Colo.; Winter Park Competition Center; Rocky Mountain Series; 2002)

Women
Svea Irving (Winter Park, Colo.; Winter Park Freeride Team; Rocky Mountain Series; 2002)
Hanna Faulhaber (Carbondale, Colo.; Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club; Rocky Mountain Series; 2004)

Slopestyle/Big Air
Men
Kiernan Fagan (Brownfield, Maine; Wy’East Mountain Academy; Rocky Mountain Series; 2002)
Hunter Henderson (Madbury, N.H..; Waterville Valley BBTS; New Hampshire Series; 2002)

Women
Montana Osinski (Darien, Conn.; Stratton Mountain School; Southern Vermont Series; 2003)
Jenna Riccomini (Port Matilda, Penn.; Team Summit; Rocky Mountain Series; 2004)

Skicross
Men
Eli Derrick (Harrisonburg, Va.; Carrabassett Valley Academy; Maine Mountain Series; 2002)

Ski Jumping
Men
Erik Belshaw (Steamboat Springs, Colo.; Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club / USANS; 2004)
Landon Lee (Eau Claire, Wisc.; Flying Eagles Ski Club / USANS; 2002)

Women
Annika Belshaw (Steamboat Springs, Colo.; Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club / USANS; 2002) 
Paige Jones (Park City, Utah; Park City Ski & Snowboard / USANS; 2002)

Nordic Combined 
Men
Niklas Malacinski (Steamboat Springs, Colo.; Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club / USANS; 2003) 
Carter Brubaker (Anchorage, Alaska; Team Alaska / USANS; 2003) 

Women
Tess Arnone (Steamboat Springs, Colo.; Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club / USANS; 2003)
Alexa Brabec (Steamboat Springs, Colo.; Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club / USANS; 2004) 

LIVE STREAM
Live stream of the Olympic Channel will be up in the US at TeamUSA.org/Lausanne2020 starting with Opening Ceremonies. It will be free of charge with no log-in needed. You can see their schedule here: https://www.olympicchannel.com/en/live/.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
For the full schedule of events, visit Lausanne2020.sport. 

Luke Winters scored his first-ever World Cup points on Sunday, finishing 19th in the FIS World Cup slalom in Val d’Isere, France.

After Saturday’s race was canceled due to heavy snow and wind, the skies turned blue for Sunday’s rescheduling of the slalom. To the home crowd’s delight, Frenchman Alexis Pinturault blew away the field, winning the race by 1.44 seconds for only his third slalom win ever. Andre Myhrer of Sweden was second and Stefano Gross of Italy was third.

But the story of the day was 22-year-old Luke, who shocked the crowd when he skied into second place in the first run after starting 40th. “I’ve been skiing fast, so I knew I could get in there, but coming through and seeing second was exciting!” said Luke. “Second run, I’m just going to try and do the same thing—not try and get too riled up. There’s a little more pressure, but I think I can handle it. It’s good to make it to the finish line and be fast at the same time.”

Having spoken between runs about Bode Miller as one of his ski racing heroes, Luke’s second run was reminiscent of a Bode run: fast, but with a few major errors. He managed to hang on to finish, taking 19th place overall—his first World Cup finish and World Cup points.  

“After I had those mistakes, all I wanted was to get down and get my first World Cup points,” said Luke. “I’m happy with it. It’s hard to be mad. There were some nerves, but it’s part of the game.”

It was only Luke’s eighth World Cup start, but not his first flash of brilliance. He holds the U.S. national title for both slalom and the alpine combined, won a bronze medal in the 2018 Junior World Championships in super-G, and was in contention for World Cup podium in the Levi slalom in November, before he crashed five gates from the finish. What people may not know, though, is that Luke has been working hard and skiing fast in training, with his small team of newly-hired men's World Cup slalom coach Ryan Wilson, and technician Marko Skube. Rather than head to Beaver Creek, Colo. to compete on home soil, Luke and his team opted to head to Val d'Isere to train prior to the weekend, which proved to be the right decision. 

The last time an American had a men’s slalom podium was in March 2011, when Nolan Kasper took second in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, but Luke is part of a group of young U.S. tech athletes who are building to World Cup podium level. With plenty of more slalom races on the books for the 2019-20 season, keep an eye out for Luke and his Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team teammates to surprise more European crowds on the World Cup tour.

Luke’s result in Val d’Isere gives him enough World Cup points to slot him into the top 30 racers going into January’s slalom races in Zagreb, Croatia. River Radamus also started the slalom in Val d’Isere, but DNFed first run.

The originally scheduled Val d’Isere giant slalom has been pushed to a later date. Next up, the men start what they call the "pizza and pasta tour" as they head to Val Gardena, Italy for speed events. Val Gardena is a place where the American men feel at home, and have had a lot of success—including last year when Bryce Bennett, Steven Nyman and Travis Ganong went 4-5-6 in the downhill. 

RESULTS
Men’s Slalom

WORLD CUP STANDINGS
Overall
Slalom

With perfect conditions, sunshine and hero snow prepared superbly once again by the legendary Talon Crew, Travis Ganong led four Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team athletes into the points at the Xfinity Birds of Prey World Cup in Beaver Creek, Colo. 

In what was an incredible run, the young Swiss Marco Odermatt skied what Travis called a “1 out of 100 run” - pushing the line all the way down. At one point, it resulted in a near-crash as Marco took the pizza-rather-than-french-fry-approach, but he miraculously pulled it off and skied confidently into first place. Norway’s Attacking Viking Aleksander Aamodt Kilde skied into second, just a tenth off of Marco’s time, with Austrian Matthias Mayer rounding out the podium in third. 

The course set today was a classic, more technical super-G set. For that reason, it favored the more technical super-G skiers, while the classic downhillers who excel on more downhill-like super-G sets, like Italy’s Dominik Paris, Switzerland’s Beat Feuz and Norway’s Kjetil Jansrud struggled with today’s super-G set - “too technical,” Dominik said in the finish area, followed by  some expletives. On the flip side, the technical set benefited guys like Marco, as well as France’s Alexis Pinturault, who finished just off the podium in fourth. 

Travis was the lone American to finish in the top-10, though he led four athletes into the top 30 on Friday. Ryan Cochran-Siegle finished tied for 18th, Steven Nyman was 24th, and Ted Ligety finished 28th from bib 64 - in what appeared would be a top-five run before Ted made a mistake into the flats and lost time. 

It was a smooth run with solid and error-free skiing for Travis, who normally makes up a ton of time on the bottom, but today he was fast on the top. “The top section was normally my nemesis, but today the flow was amazing up there and the snow was really easy, reflected Travis. “I had a really good feelings on the top, then lost a little time on the bottom, but I’m super fired up to land in sixth.”

Once again the Talon Crew did an incredible job, making the track “a joy to ski,” as many guys said in the finish. “I just really had a fun and enjoyable run,” Travis said after his run. “The snow was perfect - it was money, the Talon Crew did an awesome job preparing the track as always! Anyone can win a super-G, it’s about who is willing to take the most risk and pull it off, watching Odermatt - he took way too much risk, but somehow it worked out for him and that’s tough to beat. That’s on the limit super-G, and that’s what’s fast.” Travis will bring the confidence from today’s run into tomorrow’s downhill. 

Kyle Negomir, Sam Dupratt, and River Radamus also started for the American squad but did not land in the top-30, while Tommy Ford and Thomas Biesemeyer started but did not finish. 

Up next for the men will be the “real event” (as Ryan - who is skiing in all three events this weekend at Beaver Creek - joked in the finish area with Steven) - downhill on Saturday at the Xfinity Birds of Prey World Cup.  

FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL
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Facebook
Twitter
Official event hashtags: #bcworldcup

RESULTS
Men’s Super-G

HOW TO WATCH
All times EST

Saturday, Dec. 7
1:00 p.m. - Men’s downhill, Xfinity Birds of Prey, Beaver Creek, Colo. - Olympic Channel,  Olympic Channel.com. NBC Sports Gold
2:30 p.m. - Women’s downhill, Lake Louise, Alberta - Olympic Channel, Olympic Channel.com, NBC Sports Gold
11:00 p.m. - Men’s downhill, Xfinity Birds of Prey, Beaver Creek, Colo. - NBCSN*

Sunday, Dec. 8
11:40 a.m. - Men’s giant slalom run 1, Xfinity Birds of Prey, Beaver Creek, Colo. - Olympic Channel, Olympic Channel.com. NBC Sports Gold
1:00 p.m. - Women’s super-G, Lake Louise, Alberta - Olympic Channel, Olympic Channel.com, NBC Sports Gold
2:30 p.m. - Men’s giant slalom run 2, Xfinity Birds of Prey, Beaver Creek, Colo. - Olympic Channel, Olympic Channel.com. NBC Sports Gold
5:00 p.m. - Men’s giant slalom run, Xfinity Birds of Prey, Beaver Creek, Colo. - NBC
6:00 p.m. - Women’s super-G, Lake Louise, Alberta - NBCSN*

*Same-day broadcast

Note: All televised events to stream across NBCSports.com, NBC Sports app, OlympicChannel.com, and Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA app.

Exclusive commercial-free coverage will be available for subscribers of the NBC Sports Gold Pass, available here: https://www.nbcsports.com/gold/snow.