The Hydro Flask U.S. Snowboard Cross Team loaded back up in the start gate Sunday morning for their final round of racing at the Gudauri World Cup in Gudauri, Georgia. 

Coming off a 10th place finish in Saturday's round of racing, Olympian Jake Vedder was notably determined to get back to challenging the top spot, winning the men's small final and taking fifth overall. He was joined by teammate Tyler Hamel, who jumped from 31st place in yesterday's competition to eighth, securing his best World Cup finish to date. American Senna Leith also improved on his previous result, jumping from 26th place on Saturday to 11th place on Sunday. Canadian Eliot Grondin took his second win of the weekend, and an exciting photo finish awarded the second place spot to Australia's Cameron Bolton, who took a last-minute fall and slid through the finish line, barely edging out Italy's Omar Visintin, who rounded out the podium in third.

Stacy Gaskill was once again the top Hydro Flask U.S. Snowboard Cross team athlete on the women's side, taking seventh in Saturday's competition and eleventh in Sunday's round of racing.

After months of international travel, the Hydro Flask U.S. Snowboard Cross Team takes a well-deserved break before returning to competition March 2-3 in Sierra Nevada, Spain. 

RESULTS
Men
Women

On the final night of competition at the 2024 Intermountain Health Freestyle International at Deer Valley, the crowd was roaring and the dual moguls action even better, with three Americans on the podium. Jaelin Kauf took second, Olivia Giaccio third and Dylan Marcellini took home his first career World Cup podium in third place in front of 10,000 cheering fans. 

It was a successful three days of competition, highlighted by moguls, aerials and dual moguls events, attracting the best freestyle athletes in the world to Utah. But Saturday was special, with the enormous crowd for duals only getting bigger as the evening progressed. With endless action, tough crashes and the athletes putting it all on the line, the dual moguls competition brought entertainment and thrills. 

Going into the first round of dual moguls, it was the round of 64 for men and round of 32 for the women. With the men kicking off the event, an abrupt change of weather conditions nuked snow onto the Champions course, creating a challenging course with heavy, slow snow and extremely limited visibility. As the night continued on, the snow did not let up and the athletes had to adapt. 

Going into finals, 11 Americans advanced through to the finals, including eight women and three men. On the men’s side, Marcellini and Nick Page punched their tickets from round to round, and eventually battled each other in the small finals for third place. Both had stellar runs, but a small mistake by Page propelled Marcellini into the third place position, with Page fourth. 

It was Marcellini’s first World Cup podium; his previous best dual moguls finish was 15th place. But he had a fourth place in last year’s single moguls, and knew that he could put down on this course. “It means so much to me to be able to do this at home,” said Marcellini. “I got fourth here last year and that was a surreal moment. To be able to top this this year was another step up the ladder and feels great.” 

Marcellini had a tough week, having crashed while training and hurt his ribs and hip, but ignored the pain and sent it in front of his friends and family. “It means so much to my mom and my dad and everyone who supported me along this way,” he said. “It’s just awesome to be able to put down a result for them and for everybody that has been there for me, that supported me that believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself.” 

Also making finals, Charlie Mickel finished 14th. Ikuma Horishima of Japan took the win with Benjamin Cavet from France in second. 

In the women’s race, the pressure was on, with World Cup overall leader Jakara Anthony of Australia being the one to beat. In the small final, Giaccio dualed Japan’s Hinako Tomitaka, and put down a solid run to just narrowly beat her for the third place position, landing on the podium for the second time this weekend and adding her eighth World Cup podium to her 2023-24 season. Next up was the superfinal, with Kauf dualing Anthony. It was neck and neck down Champions. Kauf, known as the fastest women’s moguls skier in the world, put down a solid run but was unable to beat Anthony, ultimately getting second place. It was Kauf’s ninth podium of the season and 34th overall. 

“This is probably my favorite day of the year—duals day at DV is hard to beat,” said Kauf. “To take home two silvers in front of friends and family at Deer Valley is a perfect way to end the weekend. There are so many people coming to support me and it makes it fun. It is super special standing at the top of the course and hearing that crowd.”  

Hannah Soar and Kasey Hogg were also in the top 10, with Soar finishing seventh and Hogg eighth. Tess Johnson was 11th, Lulu Shaffer 14th and Liz Lemley 15th. Alli Macuga took a hard crash but is OK and finished 16th. 

RESULTS

Women’s dual moguls
Men’s dual moguls

After waiting out weather at Mammoth Mountain, the Stifel U.S. Freeski Team athletes finally kicked off their contest on the last day of the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix. Olympic champion Alex Hall took home the win with Olympic silver medalist Colby Stevenson in second place in the men’s event, while Eleanor Andrews was second and Jay Riccomini third in the women’s event.

Moving forward with the contest was due to the hard work of the Mammoth Park Crew. With two feet of snowfall and high wind gusts, the conditions were unsafe and not in the athletes’ favor coming out of X Games. One of the biggest challenges is always the travel; getting from Aspen to Mammoth is always tricky. With only a day or two turnaround, many of these athletes competed battling exhaustion, soreness and anticipation with a schedule constantly changing.

For athletes like Hall and Stevenson, who both scored medals at X Games, the momentum from Aspen carried straight into this year’s Toyota U.S. Grand Prix. Both of these contests bring together the best athletes in the world and they continue to push the boundaries. Hall did a switch Tokyo 270 on pretzel k-fed on first rail, slid the whole down flat down with a backseat pretzel 2, and finished his run with a signature right double cork 10 safety bring back 9. Stevenson did a switch disaster 4 on the dfd into dub 16 lead Japan, into both way switch double 14s on the bottom two jumps, lacing them both.

“It was a really tough week!” said Hall. “We showed up right from X Games so we were pretty smoked… Really stoked for all the homies who laid one down and the skiing was incredible for how tough it was out there. Also huge shoutout to the park crew because it snowed like two feet two days ago and they dug the whole thing out so I don’t even know how the course is standing.”

Mac Forehand also had a solid day, taking fourth place after throwing a switch 4 disaster pretzel 2 on the flat down into 2 on front cork 6, ending his run with double cork 9 lock with mute. 

Rounding out the U.S. men, Konnor Ralph was ninth and Troy Podmilsak 15th.

The women’s qualification round was canceled and they were only able to compete in finals due to weather. With only one round and variable conditions, they need to be extremely consistent.

In her first ever World Cup, Andrews stepped on the podium in second place. She did a front swap pretzel front 2 out of the first rail into switch 270 disaster on the flat down. On the jumps, she did a switch 5 mute into right cork 7 safety into left cork 7 mute, with style. She competes for the Killington Mountain School and is coming out of Youth Olympic Games in Gangwon, South Korea, where she received fifth place in freeski big air last week.

Jay received third place, his second podium in as many events after snagging third in LAAX. He did a switch 2 disaster on the flat down, into a misty 450 out of the cannon rail, ending his run with a cork 7 tail grab, lacing it.

Mathilda Gremaud out of Switzerland finished in first place. Behind the podium, Elaina Krusiewski was sixth and Rell Harwood was eighth.

After podiuming in the last slopestyle, Riccomini sits in second overall in the slopestyle standings with Hall and Forehand tied for first in the overall. It will be a tight race for the Crystal Globe going into the final two slopestyle events of the season.

Eleanor Andrews and Alex Hall both also received a national champion awards for this season.

The next stop for the slope athletes is Calgary for the next World Cup or staying in Mammoth for Revolution Tour. With another incoming storm, hopefully athletes get to celebrate with some storm riding and extra freshies in the meantime.

RESULTS
Women’s slopestyle
Men’s slopestyle

The weather finally cleared at Mammoth Mountain for Maddie Mastro to snag third place in the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix halfpipe. Bea Kim finished just off the podium in fourth place for the women, while Chase Josey was fourth for the men. 

After a few days of wind and heavy snowfall, the weather window opened on Saturday for the men and women to compete in the halfpipe finals, after putting down qualifications on Tuesday.

Mastro put down a strong second run to bump teammate Bea Kim to fourth place. Bea Kim finished in the top four in all four World Cups. Japanese riders Mitsuki Ono took first place and Sena Tomita second. 

Kinsley White was eighth, her first top 10 in a World Cup. Chloe Kim, fresh off an X Games gold medal, could not put down a clean run and finished 10th. 

On the men’s side, Josey finished fourth, following a heavy-hitting Japanese podium sweep. Former Hydro Flask U.S. Snowboard Team athlete Louis Vito, who now competes for Italy, finished fifth—an impressive feat for the 35 year old veteran.

Yuto Totsuka won the event, with his teammates Ruka Hirano and Kaishu Hirano in second and third, respectively.  

Rounding out the Hydro Flask U.S. Snowboard Team, Levko Fedorowycz finished 11th and Kade Martin 14th. With the World Cup tour wrapping up in the United States after Copper and Mammoth, Josey and Mastro were named national champions in halfpipe.

Next, the halfpipe team leaves California before the atmospheric river dumps feet of snow on Mammoth Mountain and heads to Calgary, Canada for their final World Cup of the season.

RESULTS
Women’s halfpipe
Men’s halfpipe

On Saturday, February 3 in Portes du Soleil, France, Ryder Sarchett won the FIS Alpine Junior Worlds alpine men’s giant slalom race. The Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation and University of Colorado Boulder ski team athlete beat out the competitive field by a mere 0.06 hundredths of second to take the win.

"It was a really good day, perfect weather warm with amazing snow. I knew it could be a good day and I sent it," said Sarchett. "Gave it all I had." 

The sun was overhead and the conditions were strong in Portes du Soleil for the final Junior Worlds alpine event. The women raced a slalom and the men finished the day off with the giant slalom. 

Sarchett knifed down a stellar first run, already in podium contention in third place. But come second run, Sarchett did not hesitate on his skis and laid down an extremely fast run to take the win over international competitors Alban Cannaferina Elezi of France in second and Sweden’s Fabian Ax Swarts in third place. It was a dramatic finish with very slim margins, with Sarchett ahead of second place by 0.06.

Sarchett joins an impressive list of previous American Junior World Champions. He is the first giant slalom champion since world champion River Radamus took the title back in 2019. Other previous Junior World Champions include world champion Paula Moltzan, Olympic silver medalist Ryan Cochran-Siegle and World Cup winner Steven Nyman to name a few.  

RESULTS
Men's giant slalom

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

RESULTS
Women
Men

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

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

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

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

RESULTS
Women
Men 

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

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

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

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

Giaccio First, Kauf Second at Deer Valley

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

RESULTS
Women
Men

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

RESULTS
Team parallel