A Letter from the CEO: The 2025-26 Season is Here
It’s an exciting time at U.S. Ski & Snowboard! Last night we hosted our 59th Annual NYC Gold Medal Gala presented by J. Crew, where we set a fundraising record, raising $3.2 million that will directly benefit the athletes and organization, including an exciting panel with Lindsey Vonn and Lauren Macuga. And tomorrow… the season officially begins.
Saturday marks the start of the 2025-26 season with the first World Cup in Sölden, Austria for both men’s and women’s alpine. With less than 24 hours until the season officially begins and nearly 100 days until the Opening Ceremony of the Milano Cortina Olympic Winter Games, the wait is over. We’re ready to get started.
As we head into Sölden, I want to take a moment to reflect on how far we’ve come in the last year. Right now, we’re in one of the strongest positions we’ve ever been in – athletically and financially – and with the Olympic and Paralympic Games on the horizon, we’re poised to capitalize on the global attention that’s coming our way.
Which brings me to my first point: saying thank you.
Many people make all of this possible. When I look at how far we’ve come the last few years, I’m reminded that our strength lies in our people – those who care deeply about our athletes, our sports and one another. It’s said often in our world, but it’s true: none of this is done alone. Every podium finish, every career best result, every milestone represents the effort of so many people. We may have 10 sports and 240 athletes, but behind them stand 200+ staff, more than 60 partners and suppliers, 32 board members, 85 trustees, 70 ambassadors, 7,178 coaches, 350 clubs, more than 35,000 U.S. Ski & Snowboard members and millions of fans. We’re one team and that’s what makes this organization extraordinary.
My next point: our impact.
Our impact is visible across every facet of the organization. Financially, we’re stronger than ever, with more than 80% of our funding directly supporting our
athletes and a model of care that ensures our athletes have everything they need to keep going. Commercially, we’ve entered a new era, securing major multi-year partnerships.. Just this year, we’ve signed or expanded partnerships with Stifel, J.Crew, Dunkin’ and Cloudflare. And in just these last two weeks, we announced new agreements with iCapital, Db, Prevagen, Xfinity and U.S. Army’s 10th
Mountain Division.
These partnerships aren’t just signed contracts – they’re affirmations of our credibility as a sports team. In the last year, our commercial sales have grown, with 10 partners added. Zooming out, since 2021, we’ve increased commercial revenue by 150% and our overall revenue has increased by more than 75%. On the digital side, from 2023-24 to the 2024-25 season, our digital impact reached new heights. Social media impressions grew by 140%, while earned media impressions skyrocketed from 31 billion to 700 billion. These numbers reflect the incredible momentum behind our athletes, our teams and the growing excitement for snow sports across the world.
And as we prepare for the next decade, we know our impact off the snow is just as important as what we achieve on it. Through initiatives like HERoic, which champions women in sport, and Easy Green, our sustainability program focused on preserving winter for generations to come.
My third point: the future.
Looking ahead, Milano Cortina is just 100 days away and the preparation period going into the Games has been going very well for our athletes and teams. Throughout this summer, we have been busy gearing up, whether it's on snow, in the gym or in the media, with many of our athletes traveling around the world for media summits and commercial shoots, and several publications traveling to Park City to capture our athletes in their element. It’s been exciting and busy getting ready for the season, but the wait is over, and now we’re counting down 100 days until we head to Italy.
But Milano Cortina is not the only Games we’re preparing for – Salt Lake City-Utah 2034 is less than nine years away. That may seem distant, but in reality, it’s right around the corner. We have a rare opportunity to help shape not just the Olympic and Paralympic Games, but the future of American skiing and snowboarding.
On the heels of the Paris Games, the Olympic and Paralympic movements are more popular than ever, and we are redefining what it means to be the future of sports excellence. Today, we’re one of the most substantial National Governing Bodies in the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic system. Our mission remains clear: to champion competitive snowsports, develop U.S. champions and make the United States the best in the world at skiing and snowboarding. We’re setting a gold standard in how an NGB can operate, but we’re not complacent. We know there’s always more we can do and that drive propels us into this season and beyond.
My last point: the exciting season ahead.
We’ll host 10 World Cup events across the United States this season - including the Stifel Copper Cup presented by United Airlines, an Audi FIS Alpine World Cup at Copper Mountain and the Stifel Lake Placid Finals, a COOP FIS Cross Country World Cup, in March. Our athletes make us proud on a daily basis… We have the winningest skier of all time, Mikaela Shiffrin, looking to build on her already historic career. She’s joined by an incredible group of teammates across all our teams - like Nick Goepper from the Stifel U.S. Freeski Team, aiming for his fourth Olympic medal in an entirely new discipline; Hydro Flask U.S. Snowboard Team athlete and two-time Olympic champion Chloe Kim; the winningest American cross country skier in history, Jessie Diggins; Olympic champion Lindsey Vonn aiming to complete her comeback in Milano Cortina; 2022 Beijing Olympic medalist Alex Hall; the world’s top-ranked moguls skier Jaelin Kauf; and the most decorated Para snowboarder in history Brenna Huckaby, and there are so many more athletes I could mention.
All that said, to the U.S. Ski & Snowboard family, which includes our athletes, their families, our members, donors, partners, suppliers, fans and more – thank you for your continued support, dedication and excitement around our sports. The season starts tomorrow, and we’re ready.
Let’s go!
Best,
Sophie