If an avalanche breaks off above the slopestyle course during practice, most would call it quits, but for the U.S. Freeski Team slopestyle men competing in Tignes, France, nothing would stop them. On March 15, Tignes experienced a large avalanche boom down from the peaks, just above the slopestyle course, where the men were training for their upcoming competition. Videos were captured of the competitors running away from the looming mist and snow. Fortunately, no one was injured and the slopestyle course stayed intact. This would only fuel the fire for the men to show that nothing would get in their way.

Just three days later, Hunter Henderson, Troy Podmilsak, Konnor Ralph and Cody LaPlante were set to drop into finals on a balmy day. The weather could not have been more perfect and the slopestyle course was in mint condition, with three jumps and three variations of rails. 

Each competitor had two opportunities to put down their best run for the judges. LaPlante laced his first run of the day and scored an 85.00 flat to end up in eighth place as the top American finisher. Rookie team member Ralph followed LaPlante in ninth place with a score of 83.25. Podmilsak completed his first run to score a 78.75 which put him in 12th place for the day. Unfortunately, Henderson had trouble during his two finals runs and was not able to land either, placing him in 16th. 

As it may have not been the results the men were looking for, they were able to acquire another competition day under their belt. The U.S. Freeski Team slopestyle team will look to finish off their season strong in Silvaplana, Switzerland, March 23-25th. 

Results 
Men's slopestyle

Replay 
Tignes Slopestyle World Cup

Stifel U.S. Alpine Ski Team athlete Mikaela Shiffrin skied onto the World Cup podium for the 137th time, taking third in the World Cup Finals slalom in Soldeu, Andorra to tie the record for most alpine skiing World Cup podiums for a woman. She also received her seventh career slalom World Cup crystal globe, marking her the most dominant slalom skier of the 2022-23 season.

“My first several slalom globes, it’s almost like I won them almost without understanding,” Shiffrin reflected after the race. “I had less pressure when I was skiing—feeling young, just trying to earn my spot to be racing on the World Cup still. Now there’s always a little more weight.  Every single race I feel the weight of having to be one of the best in the world no matter what the day is. It’s quite a privilege but somedays it’s quite heavy. But today it didn’t feel heavy, it just felt like a really good opportunity. It was the best way to finish the season in a race.”

Shiffrin’s podium ties her with Lindsey Vonn’s women’s podium record and brings Shiffrin's total podium percentage above 55%, meaning that she podiums in more than half of her World Cup starts. The only men with more World Cup podiums are retired skiers Marcel Hirscher of Austria with 138 and Ingemar Stenmark of Sweden with 155. Shiffrin already has the most alpine skiing World Cup wins in history with 87, having beat Stenmark’s record last week.

Plus, the Stifel U.S. Alpine Ski Team women won the FIS Nations Cup for slalom. The combination of slalom points earned by the slalom team helped achieve this great effort. This is the first time in history that the U.S. has gotten this title. This honor is highlighted by Shiffrin's stellar slalom performance this season as well as Paula Moltzan's top seven slalom ranking season. 

The day was tricky, with warm weather and soft snow. Shiffrin was fourth after first run, and was able to bump up a place to the podium with a fast second run. Stifel U.S. Alpine Ski Team skier Paula Moltzan was sitting in sixth after first run, but had to hike second run and dropped to 16th place. Petra Vlhova of Slovakia took the win with Leona Popovic of Croatia in second place.

On the men’s side, Tommy Ford was the leading Stifel U.S. Alpine Ski Team man, finishing in 18th place. River Radamus did not finish his first run.

"Today was more linked together from top to bottom than I've had for the second half the season. I've had runs here and there but it was good and it felt good to do that again," said Ford. 

Marco Odermatt of Switzerland won his 13th Audi FIS Alpine Ski World Cup of the season by an astonishing 2.11 seconds to tie the men’s single-season win record. He also broke Austrian Hermann Maier’s men’s record of 2,000 points from the 1999-00 season, accumulating 2,042 points so far for the season. Henrik Kristoffersen of Norway was second and Marco Schwarz of Austria was third. Odermatt also took home the GS crystal globe.

The men race slalom on Sunday, while the women race giant slalom to wrap up the season. Shiffrin will have a chance to break the World Cup podium tie in tomorrow’s GS, where she has already secured the GS crystal globe. Stream both races live on skiandsnowboard.live or Peacock, or watch the delayed women’s GS broadcast at CNBC at 3 p.m. ET. Watch the recap of today’s women’s slalom on CNBC at 3 p.m. ET.

HOW TO WATCH
all times EST

Saturday, March 18
3:00 p.m. - Women's Slalom, CNBC*

Sunday, March 19
4:00 a.m. - Women's Giant Slalom, Run 1, skiandsnowboard.live, peacocktv.com
5:30 a.m. - Men's Slalom, Run 1, skiandsnowboard.live
7:00 a.m. - Women's Giant Slalom, Run 2, skiandsnowboard.live, peacocktv.com
8:30 a.m. - Men's Slalom, Run 2, skiandsnowboard.live
3:00 p.m. - Women's Giant Slalom, CNBC*

*delayed broadcast

On another day of racing in Falun, Sweden, five Americans advanced to the quarterfinal heats in the skate sprint. Jessie Diggins, Rosie Brennan, Julia Kern and Sammy Smith advanced for the women and Ben Ogden for the men. 

It was another partly cloudy day at the racing complex, with thousands of fans packed in around the sprint course - showcasing the fan base of Swedish skiing. In the qualification round, seven women and five U.S. men were on the start list, among the other 52 other women and 68 men. Diggins, Brennan, Kern, Smith, Novie McCabe, Lauren Jortberg and Hailey Swirbul started for the women, while Zak Ketterson, Luke Jager, JC Schoonmaker, Kevin Bolger and Ogden started for the men. 

A highlight of the day included Sammy Smith, the youngest competitor in the field by nearly three years, qualifying for the heats in her second-ever skate sprint start. Smith is an all-around athlete and when she is not skiing, Smith is an avid soccer player, runner and freestyle skier. 

Overall, Diggins finished 13th, Kern 14th, Smith 27th, Brennan 29th and Ogden 12th.

In the last several weeks, the race schedule has been stacked with the 50k Holmenkollen and a long World Championships program. Fatigue is a real threat to all athletes on the circuit but with only two more locations left to race, athletes are finding what is left in the tank and giving it their all. 

"With all of this racing, my body has just been unpredictable. Today, my body just had nothing and it was tough to find much sprinter power in my legs," said Brennan. "It's time to rest up and a few more races to give some fight for!"

At the end of the day, the team focused on the fast skis and the amount of Americans in the heats - showcasing the depth that this team is building on the international stage. Now, rest is a priority before tomorrow's second-annual 4.5k mixed team relay, which the U.S. Cross Country Ski Team won just one year ago.

Quest for the Overall

Diggins' quest to the FIS overall crystal globe is closer than ever. Before this race, Diggins was 123 points out from the FIS overall crystal globe and is second in the standings for the overall distance globe. After today's sprint, she has narrowed the gap even more, with the next couple of races key in clinching the season. 

"It is an honor to be in the fight at all and sitting second in the overall and distance, but it is not something that I try and focus on or think about a lot because so many things need to line up and go right over the course of the whole season," said Diggins. "It is of course something that is really cool and exciting and fun and especially knowing all the fans that are following it! Me personally, I am trying to focus on every day and racing the best that I can. Each day, I go out there and have some concrete process goals that I am working towards and that is my main focus right now."

Brennan is currently sitting in fourth place in the overall World Cup globe standings while Kern is sitting in fifth and Ogden in 10th for the sprint World Cup overall sprint standings.

RESULTS
Women
Men

The mogul skiers of the U.S. Freestyle Ski Team battled it out Saturday one last time at the Dual Moguls World Cup Finals in Almaty, Kazakhstan to secure the discipline’s Nations Cup. Jaelin Kauf snagged another podium with a second place finish and Olivia Giaccio earned her third-career World Cup podium with a third pace finish. 

Kauf dueled against teammate Hannah Soar in the Quarter Final and Giaccio in the Semi Final to make it to the Big Final against France’s Perrine Laffont. 

“Today was good, really fun,” said Kauf. “Unfortunately, I did have to take out a few teammates.” 

The battle for the top position pitted Kauf and Laffont together for one last time this season. Kauf had the advantage down the middle section but Laffont managed to cross the finish line first to take the win. “I was just trying to get to that top air first, make Perrine chase me a little. I focused on skiing my run and keeping it as clean as possible. She kind of snuck ahead on that bottom air and got me. I left it all out there, that’s all I can do.”

With this result Kauf ends the Dual Moguls season ranked third overall. “I am really stoked with that.”

Giaccio battled teammate Alli Macuga in the Small Final to take third. Giaccio has been knocking on the door of podium positions all season, so to end the tour on this note felt especially sweet. 

“It feels really good, feels like a little bit of a relief in a sense to know that I can kind of break that barrier again,” Giaccio said. “It’s been tough throughout the season feeling so close yet so far. I’m thankful that I managed to make it happen. Big thanks to my coaches, to my family and my mentors for helping me push through run by run.”

Macuga’s fourth place finish marks a career best for the newly minted Rookie of the Year. It was a strong showing for the women overall, with five going two through six: Kauf (second), Giaccio (third), Macuga (fourth), Lulu Shaffer (fifth - a career best) and Soar (sixth). Tess Johnson finished tenth and Kasey Hogg finished twelfth.

On the men’s side Dylan Walczyk was the top American finisher in sixth place. The Americans met some heavy hitters in the quarter final round. Landon Wendler dueled against Sweden’s Walter Wallberg to finish the day seventh. Nick Page met Canada’s Mikael Kingsbury and finished the day in eighth. Cole McDonald finished 11th, Charlie Mickel 19th and Asher Michel 25th. Kingsbury won, Wallberg finished second and Australia’s Matt Graham took third. 

Moguls finishes their competitive season at Waterville Valley Resort for U.S. Freestyle Nationals March 22-26. 

Head Coach Bryon Wilson was proud to finish the tour strong and looks forward to the work ahead. “It was a really great weekend here in Kazakhstan,” he said. “Leaving here with four medals, and leaving with both Nations Cups in moguls and dual moguls is incredible. 

“I am impressed with the development crew and excited where we’re headed as a team. It fires me up going into prep season! We’re going to take a couple days to finish off the season at Nationals, get a little breather, and then back to work this spring and summer.”

RESULTS
Women’s Dual Moguls
Men’s Dual Moguls
Women’s Discipline Standings
Men’s Discipline Standings 

The theme today was to give it all you had and that was what the U.S. Cross Country Ski Team did in the 10k classic in Falun, Sweden. 

With the snow falling harder as the hours passed by, making the wax conditions tougher by the minute, the U.S. posted solid results in the third to last World Cup of the season, with four in the top-15. 

The women started the day and found four in the top-30. Jessie Diggins led the team and finished in fourth place, Rosie Brennan was close behind in sixth, Novie McCabe in 14th and Hailey Swirbul in 30th. This is Diggins' best-ever individual classic distance race. 

Diggins had a strong race, staying consistent within the top-10 in the individual start. In the early splits, Diggins was running between third and sixth place, chasing the times of her competitors, mainly Kerttu Kiskanen of Finland, the ultimate winner of the day, Katharina Hennig of Germany and Anne Kjersti Kalvaa of Norway. Diggins put on a strong performance and with today's results, is less than 150 points away from Tiril Udnes Weng for the overall FIS World Cup crystal globe and sits in second place for the overall distance trophy - making the last races of the season key in clinching the season. 

"First of all, so stoked for my teammates out there today. That was so cool to see. On the women's side, to have three in the top-15 was awesome," said Diggins. "For me, I was really happy with my race. This was my best-ever individual career result classic distance race and i'm looking forward to the next!"

Brennan had another top-10 result, showing her consistency on the circuit. Brennan, who has raced nearly every race this season, showcased how strong she is by her sixth place result. Through the splits, she was always in the mix, having the fastest time in the early splits and only falling a few spots towards the end. Brennan crossed the line in sixth, only 44.5 seconds back from Niskanen, adding more World Cup points to her resume and closing the gap even more for the FIS overall World Cup crystal globe, where she sits in fourth. 

"Today's race was great!" said Brennan. "I really like the courses here and felt really good throughout the race and now trying to focus on each day and get the most out of the few races we have left. Really looking forward to some sprint action tomorrow!" 

Rounding out the women was McCabe. McCabe is back in Europe just days after she won both NCAA National Championships races in Lake Placid, NY. McCabe, who is having a strong season, crossed the line in 14th, one of her best races on the World Cup circuit. 

Hailey Swirbul was 30th, adding more crucial World Cup points to her list and 17-year-old Sammy Smith was 41st in her second World Cup start (first distance start!) of her career.

For the men, the day was highlighted by Ben Ogden. Ogden went out in classic Ben fashion - fast. Marking himself as the guy the beat, Ogden held some of the fastest times at the 1.5k, 2.5k, 3.3k and 4.3k time checks for the majority of the race, even beating out Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo on crucial parts of the course. At the end of the day, Ogden ended the day in 13th place - not his best career result - but one of the fastest and most consistent races we have seen from Ogden. 

"Ben is only 22 years old and is showing consistency in his results," said Kikkan Randall in the live commentary during the race. "He put himself out there and held it for over 6k and pretty soon, he will become more consistent longer into the races, it's fun to watch."

Next to Ogden was teammate Scott Patterson, who crossed the line in 17th, only one minute and eight seconds back. Patterson led a strong race, charging on the steep uphills, skiing around the fast turn clean and tactically skiing the downhills. Patterson, a strong distance skier, has been consistent all year, which showed in another top-20 result on the biggest stage. 

Rounding out the men's team was Zak Ketterson and Luke Jager. Jager, returning to the World Cup circuit after heading back to the USA for the NCAA National Championships, finished the day in 35th and Ketterson, back on the circuit after spending time at home, was 41st. The men's podium showcased the strength of Norway, with Klaebo in first, Martin Loewstroem Nyenget in second and Harald Oestberg Amundsen in third. 

Now, the team will reset for tomorrow's skate sprint in Falun.

RESULTS
Women's
Men's 

OVERALL WORLD CUP RESULTS
Women's
Men's

Elite international moguls competition wrapped Friday at Shymbulak, Kazakhstan at the FIS World Cup Finals. Jaelin Kauf led the Americans with a second-place, her sixth podium of the season, to finish in the moguls discipline ranked third overall. Tess Johnson made her first super finals appearance of 2023 to close out her season with a third place finish. France’s Perrine Laffont won for the women. 

“It was really fun today, the course was my favorite of the days, today,” said Kauf. “I decided to throw cork in super finals, which may be the first time I have done it in competition. They were going well in training and I really wanted to do one in World Cup this year. I felt good about it. I was pretty confident of hitting how I wanted to and taking it to my feet.”

Kauf qualified in second for the super final round and was all smiles at the start gate, a signal that she was about to turn it on. She switched up her usual air package to execute top mute to bottom cork 7, with signature fast skiing in the middle section - almost maxing out her speed points - to earn a score of 76.30. Laffont just edged her out for first with a score of 77.96. 

In her super final run Johnson skied top cork to her bottom signature venom grab. She was aggressive and strong in the middle section, attacking the course to earn third place. 

“I am super proud of my runs,” said Johnson. “It’s been a little bit of a frustrating season results-wise, so I am really happy to have put down some clean T to Bs with high DD. I was having a lot of fun skiing today with all of the women.”

Seven women represented the U.S. in finals with six finishing in the top ten: Kauf in second, Johnson in third, Hannah Soar in sixth, Olivia Giaccio in eighth, Alli Macuga ninth and Kasey Hogg in tenth. Lulu Shaffer finished 11th. 

Nick Page was the top U.S. finisher for the men, skiing into fifth place and finishing his season ranked fourth overall. Page wowed the field in his super finals round by throwing a cork 14 on the bottom air, the highest degree of difficulty trick possible for the men and the first one thrown in World Cup competition all season. At the finish fellow competitor Matt Graham (Australia) asked Page if the trick was in his plan for the day, to which Page responded it was if he made it to Supers. 

Landon Wendler had a career-best day with his first super finals appearance. He skied cork 7 to a fast and strong middle section and finished with cork 7 grab. He went huge on the bottom and got a little tripped up in the landing to finish sixth. “Landon’s final run was insane, literally perfection,” noted Johnson. Cole McDonald finished 16th.

Canada’s Mikael Kingsbury won for the men, Kazakhstan’s Pavel Komolkav took second and Graham came in third. 

Macuga was awarded FIS Rookie of the Year for her skiing this season, an awesome accomplishment for the D-Team athlete. “I am beyond happy with my results,” she said. “As the season went on [Rookie of the Year] definitely became a goal. Huge thanks to family and friends and all my sponsors and teammates and coaches, and everyone who’s been supporting me this season!”

With strong results throughout the season and a deep field of American skiers, the U.S. once again clinched the Nations Cup for Moguls. “I am very proud of our whole team,” said Head Moguls Coach Bryon Wilson. “We had a lot of contributors this year, not only national team members, but other athletes that came up through clubs and qualified for World Cup starts. I am very proud of U.S. moguls skiing overall and thankful for our staff, couldn't do it without them.”

The U.S. Freestyle Moguls Ski Team will wrap their international season tomorrow with Dual Moguls World Cup Finals. Another Nations Cup is on the line and you can bet the team is hungry to take it. 

RESULTS
Women’s Moguls
Men’s Moguls
Women’s Moguls Discipline Standings
Men’s Moguls Discipline Standings

Following a successful two races in Spain, March 16th, the men and women snowboardcross team completed another race day out in Veysonnaz, SUI to add to their already decorated competition season. The weather could not have been more perfect, with all riders seeing blue skies and a light breeze. 

The U.S. women started off strong with many who qualified into the 1/8th finals bracket including Lindsey Jacobellis, Stacy Gaskill, and Brianna Schnorrbush. After battling it out in the first rounds, Jacobellis, Gaskill, and Schnorrbush all advanced onto semifinals, where they would eventually all duel it out for the top spots in the small final. Ultimately, Jacobellis won the small final, which placed her fifth overall, followed by Schnorrbush in second and sixth overall, and rounding it out for the U.S. ladies, was Gaskill in third and seventh overall. 

For the men, the 1/16th finals saw, Senna Leith, Jake Vedder, Nick Baumgartner, and Hagen Kearney who all were hungry to advance to the 1/8th bracket. However, it was only Vedder, the lone U.S. athlete, to advance to the next rounds of races. He placed great times thereafter, but unfortunately was not able to advance passed that. His day concluded with a respectable 11th place, followed by Leith in 19th, Baumgartner in 22nd, and Kearney in 28th. 

The U.S. snowboardcross team will look to finish off their season with a team event in Mt. St. Anne Canada, Mar. 24-26th. 

Results

Women's Results

Men's Results

Ryan Cochran-Siegle secured his season best result in today’s super-G in Soldeu, Andorra. Cochran-Siegle ended in fourth place, just shy of the podium by 0.14 hundredths.  

“I definitely got lucky with my bib draw so I just tried to do my best to take advantage of that,” said Cochran-Siegle.

The top spot went to the super-G FIS overall super-G crystal globe winner, Swiss skier Marco Odermatt. Second place went to Austrian skier Marco Schwarz, and third place went to Norway’s Aleksander Aamodt Kilde.

It was sunny and very warm for the men’s race which influenced the results the later the day went on. The course workers tried to help the situation with salt, but the warm sun pierced its way through the snow. Despite the varying conditions, Cochran-Siegle is happy to end the season on a high note and work towards the future to make next season better.

“Best result of the year, but also knowing I can't hide behind the rest of the season, I want to get a lot better than how I was performing this year,” said Cochran-Siegle. “So figuring it out mentally, physically, then also just the equipment and my approach on race day.”

Cochran-Siegle plans to take some time off and start his prep for the next season ahead.

Mikaela Shiffrin also raced today in the women’s super-G. Shiffrin landed in 14th place.

“I'm looking forward to the final two races this season,” said Shiffrin. “It can always be a little bit tiring at World Cup finals. But it's also kind of such a pleasure to be here racing with no pressure from the globe.”

Similar to the men, the winner of the super-G also went to the overall super-G FIS crystal globe winner, Lara Gut-Behrami. Second place went to Italian skier Federica Brignone, and third place to Norway’s Ragnhild Mowinckel.  

Shiffrin has already secured her fifth overall globe, the slalom globe and the giant slalom globe for her record-breaking season.

“I'm motivated to just finish the season strong, and I think, actually quite a few athletes are so looking forward to see how it turns out,” said Shiffrin.

Shiffrin will now look to the final tech races on March 18 and 19. She will collect her globes there too.

RESULTS

Women's super-G

Men's super-G

To cap off the final downhill race of the season, Breezy Johnson and Isabella Wright landed in the top-10, in sixth and seventh - a top result of the 2022-23 season for for the downhill duo.

“The speeds were definitely faster for me so I kind of felt like there were a couple of mistakes,” said Johnson. “But overall I am happy with my skiing today!”

Wright and Johnson ran third and fourth in the start order on the hot, spring day in Soldeu. When Wright came down the track, she was in second, Johnson bumped her down by just fourth hundredths of a second when she crossed the finish line. The two looked on to the coming racers hoping their spots would stick and they did! At the end of the day, Wright's seventh place was her best result of the season. 

“It was a very close race between third through the top 10,” said Wright. “But I am happy that I put a run today top to bottom, there were some things I can of course fix and improve on.”

This race also marks the end of the season for Johnson and Wright. A season filled with ups and downs but they ended it on a high note and look forward to what's next. 

“This has definitely been my toughest season ever,” said Johnson. “I think just coming back and dealing with new staff, just changing course conditions from what I'm used to and my recent injury was hard,” said Johnson. “I'm just happy to end the downhill season on this note,” said Wright.

The speed women will now take some deserved time off before they ramp back up to prepare for the next season.

“I just want to thank everybody who's followed along all season. It has not been the easiest season but I'm really grateful to everybody who stuck around for me and everybody else and I hope we have more to show next season,” said Johnson.

RESULTS

Women's downhill

HOW TO WATCH

Women’s super-G – 5:00 a.m. (Peacock, skiandsnowboard.live)
Men’s super-G – 6:30 a.m. (skiandsnowboard.live)

On Wednesday, March 15, in Soldeu, Andorra, Travis Ganong kicked out of the start for the last time. 

“It was a pleasure being a downhiller for the last 17 years and not many people get to do this, especially at this level,” said Ganong. “Fighting for podiums and winning races and I mean, it's just unbelievable being in this place and being a contender.”

Ganong announced his retirement from World Cup ski racing prior to the Aspen, Stifel America’s Downhill, with the intentions of making World Cup Finals his final race.

“It was a little weird being at the start knowing that I would never be there again,” said Ganong.  “I tried, and I pushed pretty good in some sections. I wasn't really willing to push 100%. But I'm happy to just have one last downhill.”

Ganong finished in 20th place and was cheered into the finish by family and friends who flew all the way across the globe to bring in the longtime racer. He was quickly doused in a bottle of champagne from his fiancé, Marie-Michèle Gagnon, as he approached the rest of his family. Many hugs, posters and love were given in the finish to show appreciation to the racer’s storied career.

“You get to the point where you've taken so much risk in your career and as a racer, and you've pulled off some amazing results and you start to balance the risk versus reward and you realize there's way more in life and then racing,” said Ganong.

Ganong may be done with racing, but his love for skiing runs deep. You will likely see Ganong in mountains all over the world participating in backcountry skiing, resort skiing, and more outdoor adventures to fill his newfound time.

“I am super excited to not be stressed out all winter long and just enjoy the mountains, the winter, get back to the roots of the passion of why I started skiing in the first place which is more around free skiing and connecting with nature and sharing moments in the mountains with friends,” said Ganong.

The winner of the final downhill of the season went to Austrian Vincent Kriechmayr, second and third went to two German skiers, Romed Baumann and Andreas Sander.  Stifel U.S. Alpine Ski Team athletes’ Ryan Cochran-Siegle and Jared Goldberg also raced and ended up in 17th and 18th position.

RESULTS

Men's downhill

HOW TO WATCH

Women’s super-G – 5:00 a.m. (Peacock, skiandsnowboard.live)
Men’s super-G – 6:30 a.m. (skiandsnowboard.live)