It was a beautiful Sunday in Beaver Creek for the Xfinity Birds of Prey super-G, an Audi FIS Alpine Ski World Cup. Norwegian skier Aleksander Kilde won the weekend, two days in a row at the Birds of Prey hill. Swiss skier Marco Odermatt took second. 

The track held up nicely for the racers coming down with many making big leaps up the leaderboard. Stifel U.S. Alpine Team athlete River Radamus had an electric run, going from bib 57 to 16th place in the super-G. He was the top American finisher for the day. 

“I've come to this race since 2018 now and I'd never been able to score. It just slipped through my fingers so many times,” said Radamus. “The crowd just brings it alive and you want to perform for the home crowd so much, knowing that your family and friends and neighbors are all in the crowd. Makes this a special moment.”

Radamus and the men’s speed crew head to Europe for the next World Cup races. 

The U.S. Aerials Ski Team has a strong showing at the first FIS Freestyle World Cup aerials event of the season in Ruka, Finland. Kaila Kuhn was the top American woman, finishing just off the podium in fourth place, while Olympic gold medalist Chris Lillis was the top man in fifth place.

The women’s team jumped well on a classic cold and clear evening in Finland, with all four women qualifying for finals. Both Kuhn and Winter Vinecki made it to the super finals, and Kuhn put down a strong jump to just miss the podium by less than 2 points. Winter Vinecki had a little trouble on her landing which bumped her down to sixth place. Olympic bronze medalist Megan Nick was seventh and Dani Loeb was 12th.

On the men’s side, Olympic champions Justin Schoenefeld and Lillis qualified for finals with Lillis moving to super finals. Lillis pushed the degree of difficulty throughout the night, but couldn’t quite find the podium to finish in fifth. Schoenefeld was eighth. In his first World Cup, 18-year-old Ian Schoenwald just missed qualifying for finals, finishing in 13th place. Connor Curran, Quinn Dehlinger and Derek Krueger also competed and did not qualify for finals.

Next, the aerials team heads back to the states for training and doesn’t compete again till the end of January. The moguls team heads over to Idre Fjall, Sweden on Monday for a moguls and dual moguls competition. The team has had success at the venue, including four podiums in 2021.

RESULTS
Women’s Aerials
Men’s Aerials

The U.S. Snowboardcross Team had two athletes in the top 10 in the first Snowboardcross (SBX) World Cup races of the season in Les Deux Alpes, France. 

Six athletes made the SBX finals, including Hagen Kearney, Jake Vedder, Cody Winters, Stacy Gaskill, Lindsey Jacobellis and Faye Gulini. 

"The weather was once again very challenging for the event," says Rob Fagan, Head Coach of the U.S. Snowboardcross Team. "High winds and limited visibility created extra challenges outside of an already challenging track, but the team is in good spirits and as a group it was great to see all athletes and staff fully supporting the six athletes who made the finals." 

The weather was a large factor this weekend as new snow and wind changed the flow of the course, which ultimately led to the finals being moved from Friday, Dec. 3 to today, Dec. 4. However, despite the conditions, Gulini and Vedder performed incredibly against the best in the world and finished in the top 10, with Gulini in sixth and Vedder in seventh. 

On the women's side, 2x Olympic gold medalist Lindsey Jacobellis and Stacy Gaskill qualified for the quarterfinals but did not advance to the big or small finals. Jacobellis ended the day in 12th and Gaskill 16th. Acy Craig (24th), Briana Schnorrbusch (31st) and Yoshi Kohlwes (32nd) did not qualify for finals. 

For the men's finals, Cody Winters was 24th, Hagen Kearney 31st. Senna Leith (36), Alex Deibold (43), Nick Baumgartner (46), Connor Schlegel (52) and Tyler Hamel (58) did not qualify for finals. 

"We are proud of all the 14 U.S. athletes competing here in France. After a challenging fall training and multiple World Cup calendar changes, we are happy to get the 2022-23 season started," said Fagan.

Next up, the team will travel to Cervinia, Italy for the next races. 

RESULTS

Women's Results

Men's Results 

Diggins Ninth in 20k Classic Mass Start

Coming off a victory in the 10k and a fourth in the skate sprint, Jessie Diggins rounds out the Cross Country World Cup in Lillehammer, Norway with a ninth place in today's 20k classic mass start and teammate Gus Schumacher skied a smart race and ended the weekend with a 17th place finish. 

Diggins started the race in the lead pack and promptly finished in the lead pack, only 5.5 seconds back from the winner, Frida Karlsson of Sweden. In typical mass start fashion, it was chaos from the start, as over 57 racers descend onto the 3.3k lap course. "It was pretty clear it was a chaotic day out there, " Diggins said while laughing. "It is the kind of course that keeps things together. There were a number of attempts to break it up, but everyone just kept coming back together on that long winding downhill." 

On the six-lap course, with spectators cheering at every corner, the women skied a fast and technical race. The Americans again had fast skis, evidenced by the lack of slipping on the steep uphills and gliding on the flats and downhills. 

"Overall, I am happy with where my body is at and where my fitness is at, there are always things I want to work on and there are always learning opportunities out there. I definitely took some lessons away from this race that I want to apply forward to the next classic race," said Diggins. 

Teammates Alayna Sonnesyn finished 36th, Sophia Laukli 39th and Julia Kern 44th, all scoring World Cup points for their top 50 finishes. 

Schumacher Top 20 in Lillehammer

Gus Schumacher had a great day on the course, skiing with the pack and finishing in 17th place. Throughout the laps, Schumacher steadily chipped away and had energy until he crossed the line. 

"It's been a while since I was stringing together good races, so to be getting better and better every time I put a bib on is huge for me," said Gus Schumacher. "Today in particular was a chaotic race, with no big operating features on the course, so the pack stayed together the whole race. Even so, the feeling of being able to be proactive closer to the front and reactive near the back was a good feeling and is a product of feeling good and having good skis. So, I'm stoked about it!"

Schumacher was only 6.6 seconds behind the winner, Paal Goldberg of Norway. Teammates Hunter Wonders was 31st, Zak Ketterson 26th, and Ben Ogden 46th, all scoring World Cup Points. Scott Patterson was 57th. 

The next set of races will be in Beitostolen, Norway where the team will race a classic sprint, a 10k classic and a 4.5k classic/freestyle team sprint. 

RESULTS 

Women's 20k Classic

Men's 20k Classic

The men’s Xfinity Birds of Prey downhill went off Saturday thanks to the help of the hundreds of volunteers and course workers. The workers helped to prepare the hill after the day's previous snow storm that brought 14 inches to the course hill. 

Aleksander Kilde of Norway won the run for his second downhill Audi FIS Alpine Ski World Cup win of the season. Right behind him is another top skier, Marco Odermatt. On the U.S. side, Stifel U.S. Alpine team member Ryan Cochran-Siegle finished in seventh place, his second top 10 result of the season. 

“It was obviously not the same snow we were hoping for. But I think it was a fairly fair race,” said Cochran-Siegle. “I think today I had just a couple little things here and there that pushed me off of that top three. You’ve got to ski with a lot of intensity and I think today was a good step.”

The men’s team described the conditions today as tough with varying light, inconsistent with the previous day's training runs. “It was really tough, the conditions were really dark,” said Travis Ganong. 

The speed men will now look to the men’s super-G on Sunday. 

Watch here. 

The U.S. Freestyle Moguls Team had six athletes in the top 10 at the debut World Cup of the season in Ruka, Finland. 

Olivia Giaccio led the women's team in fourth, with teammate Jaelin Kauf right behind in fifth place. Elizabeth Lemley, an up-and-coming talent on the team, finished in seventh. 

For the men, Nick Page led the way with a fourth-place finish with teammates Dylan Walczyk and Cole McDonald in seventh and eighth. 

RESULTS

Women's Moguls

Men's Moguls 

Jessie Diggins finished fourth to lead four U.S. Ski Team athletes into the top 10 in the FIS Cross Country World Cup freestyle sprint in Lillehammer, Norway, on Saturday. Ben Ogden posted a career-best World Cup result, finishing seventh, and Julia Kern and JC Schoonmaker each finished eighth. 

“We had some awesome skis out there,” Diggins said, once again praising the effort of the U.S. service techs. “It was so cool seeing the U.S. Team as a whole having such a great day.”

Diggins posted the fifth-fastest qualifying time and advanced to the finals after finishing second in the opening quarterfinal heat. She then advanced as the Lucky Loser in the semifinal heat. 

Kern was 20th in qualifying and came out swinging when she skied away from the field to take the opening-round win in the fifth heat. In the semifinals, Kern was locked in on the second Lucky Loser position, only to watch it slip away when Norway’s Lotta Udnes Weng crashed in front of her in the closing 200 meters. 

“I was able to react pretty quickly and get around her,“ Kern said. “And I felt really strong coming into the finish, but that little blip and hiccup cost me. But that’s sprint racing.”

In the finals, Diggins was well-positioned on the first of two laps, but racing up the final climb into the finish, the Swedish duo of Emma Ribom and Maja Dahlquist put the hammer down and finished 1-2 with Norway’s Tiril Udnes Weng in third.

“I had the skis, I just didn’t have the gas and the sharp race form feeling in that final, but that’s OK. I’m really happy with the day and the performance,” Diggins said. 

In an impressive showing for the young U.S. men’s team, three qualified for the heats, including Ogden, Schoonmaker, and Luke Jager, who posted a career-best World Cup freestyle sprint result, finishing 25th.

“Ben and JC and Luke, they skied so well,” Diggins added. “I was really, really impressed. They were (so close) to getting into the final too. It was cool to feel that energy as a team out there today.”

Ogden and Schoonmaker, who qualified 20th and 24th respectively, each won their opening quarterfinal heats to advance. Racing in the second semifinal heat, both were in the mix heading in the final 200 meters but came up short with overall World Cup leader Paal Goldberg of Norway leading countryman Ansger Evensen across the line to finish 1-2. 

In the men’s finals, Norway’s Johannes Kleabo put on another sprint show, skiing to his 55th World Cup victory. Italy’s Frederico Pellegrino was second, and Norway’s Evan Northug was third.

World Cup racing wraps up Sunday in Lillehammer with a 20k classic mass start.

RESULTS
Women’s freestyle sprint
Men’s freestyle sprint

Jessie Diggins skied to her 13th individual World Cup win - tying her former teammate Kikkan Randall for the most U.S. World Cup Cross Country victories - in Friday's opening 10k individual start in Lillehammer, Norway.

"First and foremost, I want to say thanks to the wax techs and the team. I am really proud of their effort because my skis were so awesome out there," said Jessie Diggins in a post-race reflection. "I went into the race with the plan of trying to ski really smooth, pace it evenly, work the transitions and the corners and push hard into the downhills and maximize every second that I could." 

On a fast, 3.3k loop course lined by numerous American fans, fast skis, high tempo, and quick transitions made all the difference for Diggins. Germany's Katharina Hennig was sitting comfortably in the hot seat until Diggins skied through every time check with positive splits. Hennig held on for second, 3.8 seconds back, with Heidi Weng of Norway rounding out the podium in third. 

"My fitness and brain were in a really good place and today I felt like when I asked my body to go deep into the pain cave, it responded," said Diggins. 

Julia Kern and Sophia Laukli also posted top 30 results, finishing 25th and 29th respectively. Alayna Sonnesyn was 32nd, and Lauren Jortberg was 48th in her first World Cup distance race.

With the win, Diggins has racked up 250 World Cup starts, 41 podiums and 15 overall World Cup wins, including a U.S. Team Sprint win in Quebec in 2012, and a Mixed Team victory in Falun, Sweden, last season.

In the men's 10k, Zak Ketterson led the U.S. Ski Team, finishing 26th. Gus Schumacher was 32nd, Scott Patterson 40th, Hunter Wonders was 45th, and Ben Ogden was 56th.

"The fans were pretty fun," Ketterson said. "I actually noticed the cheering the most while I was skiing around the course on my warmup. Tons of American and Norwegian fans cheering for me and asking me silly questions. Can always rely on Norway to provide an awesome World Cup experience."

Racing continues in Lillehammer Saturday with a freestyle sprint, followed by a 20k classic mass start on Sunday. All events are streamed LIVE on skiandsnowboardlive.com.

RESULTS
Women's 10k freestyle individual start
Men's 10k freestyle individual start
 

Release courtesy of the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee

U.S. Ski & Snowboard announced today it is honoring the University of Utah as the winner of its 2022 U.S. Ski & Snowboard Collegiate Impact Award, which honors the top-contributing school on the 2022 U.S. Olympic skiing and snowboarding teams in Beijing. As part of the recognition, Mark Harlan, director of athletics at Utah, will be honored during the Team USA Collegiate Recognition Awards that will run in conjunction with the National Football Foundation’s 64th Annual Awards celebration on Dec. 6, 2022, in Las Vegas.

At the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022, 16 U.S. Olympians on the alpine and cross country ski teams competed collegiately. Utah had six current student-athletes representing Team USA in Beijing – more than any other school on U.S. Ski & Snowboard – and the Utes are being recognized with the 2022 U.S. Ski & Snowboard Collegiate Impact Award for this contribution. The athletes that competed for both U.S. Ski & Snowboard and University of Utah at the Games include Keely Cashman (alpine), Kevin Bolger (cross country), Luke Jager (cross country), Mo Lebel (alpine), Novie McCabe (cross country) and Sophia Laukli (cross country).

“Being a collegiate athlete is an incredible feat. Athletes learn how to balance academics and sport while competing for their team, which are crucial skills to both the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Team and Team USA,” said U.S. Ski & Snowboard President and CEO Sophie Goldschmidt. “We are thrilled to present the University of Utah with the 2022 U.S. Ski & Snowboard Collegiate Impact Award, and thank them for being such an important part of our sports. We look forward to seeing what our mutual athletes can accomplish next!”

U.S. Ski & Snowboard joins seven other National Governing Bodies that will participate in this year’s Team USA Collegiate Recognition Awards—a celebration that will honor sport-specific contributors (NGB Collegiate Impact Awards) and overall Team USA contributors (Team USA Collegiate Impact Awards) to the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020 and the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Beijing 2022.

More information about the Team USA Collegiate Recognition Awards and Team USA’s collegiate footprint in Beijing can be found online at TeamUSA.org/CollegiateImpact.

*NOTE: Student-athlete is defined by the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee as any individual who is/was a member of a collegiate roster (varsity/club/other) and/or competed in outside competition for a university or college. Student-athletes impacted by transfer circumstances were included in the totals for each institution attended.

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A partnership with the U.S. Ski & Snowboard became official last May: the Omini brand will kit all sports for the next 10 years. 

Release courtesy of Kappa.

Torino, 29 November 2022 – After the announcement on May 10th of a 10-year partnership between Italian brand Kappa® and U.S. Ski & Snowboard, the first winter collection produced by Kappa®’s R&D center is now available online at Kappa.com and inside the main retail stores.

The first Kappa® US SKI & SNOWBOARD offer – activewear version of the racing clothes worn by the athletes on the U.S. team – includes: ski jacket and pants, fleece sweater, ultra-light down jacket, heat-sealed windproof, waterproof down jacket, cotton T-shirt, tracksuit (hoodie + pants), visor hat and a wool hat in dark navy blue with U.S. Ski & Snowboard team logos. There will also be, for a few exclusive items, in white and red, designed to represent colors of the Stars and Stripes.

Six young athletes from U.S. Ski & Snowboard are protagonist of the advertising campaign shot in Salt Lake City (Utah, USA) last October, including alpine skier Bella Wright, freestyle moguls skier Kai Owens, freeskier Jay Riccomini, cross country skier Luke Jager and up-and-coming athletes Izzy Worthington and Bo Giddings.

It is the first time that a single outerwear and racing suit brand appears on the uniforms of all the winter sports teams of the U.S. Ski & Snowboard: alpine ski, snowboard, freestyle, freeski and cross country.

The new Kappa® 4CENTO 400 KOMBAT SL 2022 US uniforms immediately conquered the first two podiums in the FIS Ski World Cup 2022-23 season with a double victory by Mikaela Shiffrin in Levi, Finland, on 19 and 20 November.

ABOUT KAPPA®

Kappa® is one of the brands owned by BasicNet SpA, an Italian company that also owns Robe di Kappa®, Jesus Jeans®, K-Way®, Superga®, Sabelt®, Briko® and Sebago®, leading clothing, footwear and accessories brands for sport and leisure. BasicNet operates worldwide through a network of entrepreneurs who, under license, produce or distribute products with the Group’s trademarks. BasicNet provides these companies with research and development, product industrialization and global marketing services. All business processes take place solely via the internet, which makes BasicNet a “fully web integrated company”. BasicNet, based in Turin, has been listed on the Italian Stock.

ABOUT U.S. SKI & SNOWBOARD

U.S. Ski & Snowboard is the Olympic National Governing Body (NGB) of ski and snowboard sports in the USA, based in Park City, Utah. Tracing its roots directly back to 1905, the organization represents nearly 200 elite skiers and snowboarders in 2022, competing in seven teams; alpine, cross country, freeski, freestyle, snowboard, nordic combined, and ski jumping. In addition to fully funding the elite teams, U.S. Ski & Snowboard also provides leadership and direction for tens of thousands of young skiers and snowboarders across the USA, encouraging and supporting them in achieving excellence. By empowering national teams, clubs, coaches, parents, officials, volunteers, and fans, U.S. Ski & Snowboard is committed to the progression of its sports, athlete success, and the value of team. For more information, visit www.usskiandsnowboard.org