Stifel U.S. Alpine Ski Team athlete Mikaela Shiffrin finished second in the second slalom in Spindleruv Mlyn, Czech Republic, just .06 seconds out of first place, and clinched a seventh slalom crystal globe. Paula Moltzan added another top-10 result, finishing in eighth place.

"It is unbelieveable to secure the slalom globe already this season," said Shiffrin. "I have been working hard to get my slalom to a high level again and this season has been very special."

Shiffrin dominated the first run of slalom, but a deteriorating course and flat light hindered many of the racers in the second run. Lena Duerr of Germany took the win, with Zrinka Ljutic of Croatia in third place.

"If I get 86 wins this season it's only special, there is no pressure to do it, its more amazing considering if I am not taking all the risk I will not win the race, I need to be at my highest level," said Shiffrin. 

Moltzan continued to show her dominance this season, with her strong, consistent skiing placing her in the top seven in the overall slalom rankings. It is her fifth top-10 finish in slalom in 2022-23.

Shiffrin, the winningest woman alpine skier of all time with 85 Audi FIS Alpine Ski World Cup wins, is working toward number 86 to tie Sweden’s Ingemar Stenmark as the winningest alpine ski racer ever. Stenmark’s record has held for 34 years. But the fight will wait for another day, with Shiffrin heading into the FIS World Championships, as World Champs results do not count toward the total.

With her result in Spindleruv, Shiffrin clinched her seventh slalom globe, making her the best slalom skier of the 2022-23 season. She last won the slalom globe in 2019. Shiffrin also currently holds the lead for the giant slalom globe (600 points over Lara Gut-Behrami's 482) and the overall lead (1697 points over Petra Vlhova's 966).

Lila Lapanja, Nina O’Brien and Ava Sunshine also raced, but did not qualify for second run. Zoe Zimmermann and Katie Hensien did not finish.

Next the women’s tech team will focus on World Championships Feb. 6-19 in Courchevel-Meribel, France

RESULTS
Women’s slalom

Jaelin Kauf led the Americans for the second night in a row under the lights at Val St. Come with a fourth place finish in the FIS Dual Moguls World Cup. Kauf dueled Britain’s Mikaela Gerken Schofield in a wild ride of a small final where both women pushed each other to their limits. At one point Kauf straddled a mogul but drew on her experience and strength to pull it back and ski in the line to beat Schofield over the finish. In the end, the judges gave it to Schofield who took third place. Japan’s Anri Kawamura won and France’s Perrine Laffont took second. 

“I’m tired,” commented Kauf from the finish area. “It’s bittersweet [to come in fourth], but I am stoked to be back in duals again after such a long time away from competition. I’m bummed to have made such a big mistake in that last run. I thought I was done there for a minute, but basically I just did everything I could to hang on and make it through.”

Elizabeth Lemley, who won her first dual moguls World Cup this season, skied an impressive run against Japan’s Haruka Nakao in the round of eight to advance to the quarterfinal. Lemley met Kauf in the quarterfinal in an American round of friendly fire, but came unstuck in the top section and ended the night in eighth. 

It was another strong showing for the women of the moguls team with seven qualifying for the round of eight: Kauf, Lemley, Alli Macuga, Tess Johnson, Olivia Giaccio, Hannah Soar and Lulu Shaffer. With a field so deep, several rounds of friendly fire knocked a few Americans out from the gate: Johnson lost to Kauf and Soar lost to Shaffer. 

Soar finished 10th, Macuga in 11th and Johnson in 13th.

Shaffer, in her first dual moguls World Cup, skied against Schofield in the quarterfinal, crossing the line first. Schofield took the advance and Shaffer finished in seventh.

Giaccio came up against Laffont in the quarterfinal. Both women went huge with their airs, but Laffont took the round. Giaccio finished in fifth. 

On the men’s side Nick Page and Cole McDonald qualified for the round of eight. Page met Kazakhstan’s Pavel Komolkav for a thrilling match. Both men were neck-in-neck the entire run. Although Page skied clean and fast to cross the line first, the round went to Komolkav and Page ended the night in ninth. 

McDonald was on the hunt for another duals podium. He beat Finland’s Severi Vierela in the round of eight to come up against Mikael Kingsbury in the quarterfinal. To beat the King you have to ski the run of your life, and McDonald took up the challenge with gusto. 

“This was my fourth time dueling Mikael, so I had a lot of experience going against him,” reflected McDonald. “I knew I had to give it my all. My goal in the start gate was to try to beat him across the line. I was just 0.1 seconds behind him; it was quite a close dual.” 

McDonald finished the night in seventh. 

Sweden’s Walter Wallberg won the night, Kingsbury took second and Sweden’s Filip Granefors took third. 

Dylan Walczyk finished 20th, Landon Wendler 27th and Dylan Marcellini 45th.

Moguls competes next on home snow at the Intermountain Health Freestyle International at Deer Valley Resort Feb. 2-4, 2023. 

RESULTS
Women’s Dual Moguls
Men’s Dual Moguls

Colby Stevenson was first and Mac Forehand second for the men's ski slopestyle contest on the second day of the X Games. Despite heavy snow that significantly slowed the skiers down throughout the four runs, Stevenson continued to raise the bar after every lap through the course. 

Of the 10 athletes competing, three were from the U.S. Freeski Team: Colby Stevenson, Alex Hall and Mac Forehand. Forehand secured his second X Games medal of his career with a silver in today's contest and was left speechless.

"I just walked away with a silver medal," said Forehand. "I can't really put what I'm feeling into words right now. I'm just so excited. Onto big air tomorrow night, let's go!"

This is the third X Games gold medal and second slopestyle medal of Stevenson's career. Last night, he was third in the men's ski knuckle huck. "This fuels the fire," he said. "Days like this, when I go out and put down my best runs - it makes me want to keep doing it until I can't. This is what dreams are made of baby!"

On a course that was tight, technical and did not provide any room for error, the athletes knew they had to land their tricks and get their rotations around. This type of course played to Stevenson's strengths as he performs best when he can get into his "flow state" and not have much time to think. 

Onto the next. Forehand and Hall will compete in the big air contest tomorrow to wrap up X Games and Stevenson will pack up to head to the next contest at Mammoth Mountain for the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix. 

Julia Kern advanced to the finals for the second consecutive weekend, finishing fifth in the FIS Cross Country World Cup classic sprint in Les Rousses, France Saturday.

After struggling to advance through the semifinals earlier this season, Kern seems to have hit her sprinting stride. Last weekend in Livigno, Italy, Kern was sixth in the individual freestyle sprint, then she partnered with Rosie Brennan to finish third in the team sprint. 

Saturday in Les Rousses, Kern was 10th in qualifying, then took commanding wins in her quarterfinal and semifinal heats. In the finals, she was well-placed midway through the race before Norway’s Kristine Stavaas Skistad, the day’s top qualifier, turned on the gas and skied away with the victory. Sweden’s Emma Ribom was second and Majam Dahlqvist was third.

Competing in her first World Cup sprint this season, Hailey Swirbul finished 12th after advancing to the semifinals as a Lucky Loser. Rosie Brennan was 17th. Jessie Diggins overcooked a corner in qualifying, went off course, and recovered, but missed qualifying in the top 30.

In the men’s race, Ben Ogden was seventh-fastest in qualifying. He won his opening quarterfinal but was not able to advance through the semifinals and finished 11th overall. 

World Cup racing continues Sunday in Les Rousses with a 20k classic mass start. The women race at 6:45 a.m. EST, and the men race at 8:45 a.m. EST. Both races will stream live on SkiandSnowboard.live.

RESULTS
Women’s classic sprint
Men’s classic sprint

STANDINGS
Women’s World Cup sprint
Men’s World Cup sprint
Women’s World Cup overall
Men’s World Cup overall

The Stifel U.S. Alpine Ski Team men’s speed took on an Audi FIS Alpine Ski World Cup super-G in Cortina, Italy Saturday. 

Stifel U.S. Alpine Ski Team athlete Ryan Cochran-Siegle led the way for the men’s team placing 21st. River Radamus had a fantastic race, and even with a large mistake and went from bib 58 to 27th place.

“I think I over-skied it. You can’t be too conservative on it,” said Cochran-Siegle. “It’s definitely a unique track to ski, but it’s fun.”

Kyle Negomir, Bryce Bennett and Erik Arvidsson also raced, placing 32nd, 35th and 36th place, respectively.

Swiss skier Marco Odermatt took the win on Saturday, after taking a short hiatus following a minor injury he sustained in Kitzbuhel, Austria. Second place went to Aleksander Aamodt Kilde of Norway, and in third was Italian skier Mattia Casse.

The conditions were excellent, with some describing the snow as Colorado snow, with sunny skies above and a comfortable temperature. The men will take to the course Sunday for another shot on the Cortina track.

RESULTS
Men's super-G

HOW TO WATCH

Sunday, Jan. 29, 2023
3:15 a.m. FIS Alpine World Cup, Women's slalom, run 1, Spindleruv Mlyn, Czech Republic, streaming on skiandsnowboard.live 
6:15 a.m. FIS Alpine World Cup, Women's slalom, run 2, Spindleruv Mlyn, Czech Republic, streaming on skiandsnowboard.live 
4:15 a.m. FIS Alpine World Cup, Men's super-G, Cortina, Italy, streaming on skiandsnowboard.live 

Mikaela Shiffrin continued her hot streak of wins in Spindleruv Mlyn on Saturday with her 85th career Audi FIS Alpine Ski World Cup victory, leaving her just one shy of 86 wins. Paula Moltzan was fifth.

Shiffrin smoked it down first run, taking the lead by 0.29 seconds ahead of German skier Lena Duerr. The strong skiing continued into second run with Shiffrin laying it down for the second-fastest second run time, taking the win by 0.60 seconds ahead of Lena Duerr in second and 1.31 seconds ahead of Wendy Holdener in third place.

“It has been so nice to come back here and race a slalom here,” said Shiffrin. “My feeling is so good on my skis right now. Even with a mistake on the course, I didn't care. I am going to keep going because I just want to ski like crazy."

Shiffrin is hot on the trail for the magic number of 87 World Cup wins, which will give her the most World Cup wins by any alpine skier ever, surpassing Sweden’s Ingemar Stenmark record of 86, which she may tie on Sunday.

“I don’t feel a lot of pressure to get this record because now I am so close and I am trying to take a breather to enjoy the moment,” said Shiffrin.

Stifel U.S. Alpine Ski Team athlete Paula Moltzan also had a fantastic day in fifth place and the third fastest second run time.

“It was a pretty good second run,” said Moltzan. “I knew the tempo was really high top to bottom so I'm just staying with that tempo right out of the gate and I hope to carry this momentum into tomorrow,” said Moltzan.

Stifel U.S. Alpine Ski Team athletes Zoe Zimmerman, Nina O’Brien, Katie Hensien and Lila Lapanja also raced placing 31st, 34th, 36th and 38th. They did not qualify for a second run.

The women’s tech team will take on another slalom race Sunday before the World Championships in February.

RESULTS
Women's slalom

HOW TO WATCH

Sunday, Jan. 29, 2023
3:15 a.m. FIS Alpine World Cup, Women's slalom, run 1, Spindleruv Mlyn, Czech Republic, streaming on skiandsnowboard.live 
6:15 a.m. FIS Alpine World Cup, Women's slalom, run 2, Spindleruv Mlyn, Czech Republic, streaming on skiandsnowboard.live 
4:15 a.m. FIS Alpine World Cup, Men's super-G, Cortina, Italy, streaming on skiandsnowboard.live 

The first of three days of unrivaled X Games competition wraps up in Aspen with strong results in the women's ski big air, men's ski knuckle huck and men's snowboard. 

For the women, history was made in the women's ski big air when Canadian skier Megan Oldham landed the first ever triple 14 mute in competition. With the crowd going wild, Oldham officially cemented her place in history as the first ever woman to land this trick in a contest. On the U.S. side, Grace Henderson was the lone American, but made noise when she successfully landed two tricks that she had never attempted in competition and ended up seventh overall. Henderson, who was left speechless after nailing the landing, said, "I am so stoked to be out here at X Games - this is my first one and I landed two tricks I've never done before and landed them both here under the lights with my parents and friends in the crowd... it's just amazing. I cannot believe I am here."

Next was the much-anticipated men's ski Knuckle Huck, an event judged on originality, difficulty, creativity, style and trajectory. Returning X Games champion and Olympic gold medalist Alex Hall was back in the start gate along with teammates Olympic medalist Colby Stevenson, Alex Hackel and Quinn Wolferman. In classic Knuckle Huck fashion, there was 19 minutes of chaos with all athletes getting in as many runs as possible. With the snow falling heavier by the second, each athlete threw tricks that not only made the crowd go wild but defied gravity in the process. At the end of the contest, Jesper Tjader from Norway won the night and the top U.S. spot went to Colby Stevenson who ended the contest on the podium in third.

To close out a busy day, the snowboard SuperPipe welcomed the best riders in the world to Aspen. Lucas Foster was the only U.S. man in the lineup, but proved to be a top contender when he threw down serious amplitude and technical tricks throughout his four laps through the pipe. With a weather delay due to heavy snow stopping competition for a brief time, the pipe may have been slow but the tricks were not. At the end of the night, Scotty James of Australia took his 5th X Games win. Foster ended the day in eighth.

Catch the action tomorrow, Saturday, Jan. 28, LIVE on X Games YouTube and broadcast tape delay on ESPN/ABC. 

Schedule

Jan. 28, 2023

• Men's Ski Slopestyle
• Women's Snowboard SuperPipe
• Women's Ski SuperPipe
• Women's Snowboard Big Air
• Men's Snowboard Big Air

Jan. 29, 2023

• Women's Ski Slopestyle
• Men's Snowboard Slopestyle
• Snowboard Knuckle Huck
• Men's Big Air
• Men's Ski SuperPipe

After five weeks away from the competition circuit, Jaelin Kauf led the U.S. Freestyle Ski Team at the FIS Freestyle Moguls World Cup in Val St. Come, Canada, with her first podium of the season in third place. 

“I’m really stoked with [my result], I've definitely been building this season,” said Kauf. “Felt like I finally put it all the way through and competed really well today. I was just focusing on skiing my run all day, pushing the speed and the turns, and cleaning it up each run as the day went on. That seemed to work. ”

It was the first time mogul skiers competed under the lights in Val St. Come in World Cup competition. The notoriously steep course separated the more technical skiers from the rest of the field with spaced out moguls and a steep transition from the top air. Kauf is known for her skiing and speed and took the challenge in stride, laying down the fastest time for the women of the event in her first finals run at 23.79 seconds. 

Kauf went big back grab to back X in 24.25 seconds for her supers run - the fastest of the women that round - to earn a score of 79.34. She shared the podium with Japan’s Anri Kawamura in first and Australia’s Anthony Jakara in second. 

It was another strong showing for the women of the moguls team with four qualifying for finals: Kauf, Elizabeth Lemley, Olivia Giaccio, and Hannah Soar. Lemley finished 9th, Soar 10th and Giaccio 11th. 

Alli Macuga finished 19th, Lulu Shaffer finished 21st in her World Cup debut, and Tess Johnson finished in 22nd. 

On the men’s side, Nick Page was the sole American to qualify for finals. He had a solid showing all night, throwing his usual big airs, and looked very comfortable in the middle section skiing tight and clean. Page finished in fourth with a score of 80.02, narrowly missing the podium by just 0.54 points. 

Canada’s Mikael Kingsbury earned World Cup victory number 76 in front of his hometown crowd. Sweden’s Walter Walberg finished second and Japan’s Ikuma Horishima finished third.

Cole McDonald finished 19th, Dylan Walczyk finished 33rd, Landon Wendler finished 42nd and Dylan Marcellini finished 43rd in his World Cup debut. Charlie Mickel did not start. 

Competition continues Jan. 28 with dual moguls

“I’m really excited for tomorrow,” commented Kauf. “I’ve been pushing the speed on the women’s side and that’s going to play to my advantage in duals. [Skiing] under the lights is so much fun. It adds another level of excitement.”

RESULTS
Women’s Moguls
Men’s Moguls

Three-time Olympic medalist Nick Goepper announced that he is retiring from competitive freeskiing.

“With great excitement and emotion I’d like to announce my retirement from full time competition,” posted Goepper, age 28, on Instagram. “Starting today would have been my 12th @xgames Aspen. Reminiscing over the last 10+ years of spinnin’ to win it has truly been the biggest blessing what this sport has given me. I could never express enough appreciation for the support of my sponsors, family, friends, coaches, and countless other supporters.”

Goepper hails from an unconventional spot for a professional skier—a small ski hill in Indiana called Perfect North Slopes, far from the mountains where many of his compatriots grew up, where he sold candy bars to pay for ski passes.

Goepper’s first World Cup podium came in 2013, and he dominated the field for the greater part of the next decade. He competed in three Olympic Games—Sochi 2014, PyeongChang 2018 and Beijing 2022—and medaled in all three of them. He won a silver in slopestyle in Sochi, sweeping the podium with teammates Joss Christensen and Gus Kenworthy, a silver in slopestyle in PyeongChang and a bronze in slopestyle in Beijing, standing on the podium with teammate Alex Hall. He also won two medals in the FIS World Championships: a bronze in 2013 in Voss-Myrkdalen, Norway and another bronze in 2019 in Park City.

Since the 2022 Olympics, Goepper has begun commentating at elite freeski and snowboard events, such as the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix at Copper Mountain in December. He also competed at the World Skate Games 2022 in November, where he scored a top 10 finish in inline skating.

Congratulatory messages poured into Goepper’s announcement—from U.S. Ski & Snowboard Team teammates to competitors from other countries to sponsors, meme accounts and more.

“With great pleasure I can’t wait to watch the next generation take over and put freeskiing on a global stage,” Goepper continued. “What’s next? Who knows. I’ll still be skiing, I’ll still be around.”

Jessie Diggins was back on the podium in the Les Rousses 10k skate individual start, ending the day in third place. Diggins had a strong race, maintaining a top-three time throughout every kilometer marker on the course. Rosie Brennan was within reach of podium and powered through for a fifth-place result among the strong field of women. 

"It was so fun to be back on the podium and honestly so happy for the whole team," said Diggins. "It's been so cool this week and last weekend to see the first World Cup starts for some of our team. Today, I made a promise to myself that I was going to go out there and ski it like it was my first World Cup start and feel all the emotions. I made sure to appreciate all the really good parts of getting to race and the feelings of representing your country."

Julia Kern was just out of top ten in 11th. Hailey Swirbul made her 2023 World Cup debut and finished 23rd, Alayna Sonnesyn 32nd, Sarah Goble 34th and Alex Lawson 35th. This was Goble and Lawson's first World Cup start of their careers.

"It was such a fun day! The whole experience was completely different which made for a lot of excitement," said Goble. "The energy out on the course was wild with all the fans. It was also pretty cool to see how dialed team USA is with everything on race day, and how supportive the women of each other. I feel proud of my first World Cup race. I paced well and kept fighting, so overall I’m happy with how it went."

"It was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before! So much excitement and fun vibes from both the team and fans at the venue," Lawson said post-race. "It was definitely different than racing in the US, and took a bit for me to get my bearings. The staff and other athletes were so helpful and supportive though and I’m super excited to be here and keep the momentum rolling."

For the men, Scott Patterson led the way finishing the 10k skate within the top 30, in 24th. Finn O'Connell was next in 50th, Peter Wolter (first World Cup start!) in 56th, Will Koch in 63rd and Zak Ketterson in 65th.

Next up: individual classic sprint tomorrow, Jan. 28. Watch live on skiandsnowboard.live.

RESULTS

Women

Men