Clear, blue skies and an unforgiving course provided a beautiful backdrop for Jaelin Kauf to claim her first World Cup win of the season at the Shymbulak FIS Dual Moguls World Cup event in Kazakhstan. Sunday’s win marks Jaelin’s seventh career World Cup victory, and her third podium of the 2019-2020 season - all of which have been battled out on the duals course. 

“I'm really stoked to be on top of the podium,” said Jaelin. “It’s a big confidence booster. I’ve been using this year to try new things and not worry too much about results. But it feels good to get that result and be on top again.” 

Jaelin shared the podium with Australia’s Jakara Anthony in second and France’s Perrine Laffont in third. 

At only 220 meters long, the Shymbulak course did not provide a lot of runway, skiers had to fight for every turn to gain an edge on their competitors. Athletes pushed themselves and their competitors to the limit on the firm and icy moguls and there was no shortage of carnage on the Shymbulak course. 

Anything can happen in duals, but Jaelin’s veteran experience and pure enjoyment of skiing a dual event allowed her to push through the course all day long to ski strong and tight - even as skiers blew out around her, including Jakara and Perrine. 

“The course was definitely a little crazy with small and sharp moguls,” explained Jaelin. “It was easy to get caught up and thrown off. I focused on staying light and making sure I was really soft, not getting caught up, and putting my run down and skiing as fast as I could.” 

Three American women advanced to the round of 16: Jaelin, Tess Johnson and Hannah Soar. Hannah skied a tight race against Japan’s Kisara Sumiyoshi but did not advance to the quarter finals. She finished the day in ninth. 

Tess beat Russia’s Anastasiia Smirinova to advance to the quarter finals where she met Perrine. Tess upset Perrine’s undefeated streak at the dual mogul event in Deer Valley Feb. 8 and was looking for a similar result in Kazakhstan, but it was not meant to be. “Tess really gave this course hell all week,” said Head Moguls Coach Matt Gnoza. Tess ended the competition in seventh place.

Kai Owens also started for the U.S. and although did not advance to the round of 16, skied a solid run for a good score and ended the day in 17th. “As a World Cup rookie, it’s a huge learning experience being on this three-week trip, and it was nice to see that from her,” said Matt.

On the men’s side, Japan’s Ikuma Horishima claimed victory over Canada’s Mikael Kingsbury in the big final. Canada’s Laurent Dumais rounded out the podium in third.

Kalman Heims was the only American man to advance to the round of 16 after beating Brad Wilson in a friendly fire during the round of 32 in a tight duel. Kalman went a little too much on the top air against Switzerland’s Marco Tade, and couldn’t corral it back with the firm snow, which cost him moving into the quarter finals. He finished the competition in 16th. Brad finished in 19th. 

Rookies Alex Lewis and Nick Page skied great runs, but were unfortunately seeded against the day’s top skiers, Ikuma and Mikael, in the round of 32. Alex finished in 23rd and Nick in 25th. Emerson Smith finished 31st. 

The duals-only event provides a different dynamic than a moguls World Cup. “I thought it was so much fun,” said Jaelin of the duals-only stop. “In training you’re focusing less on little specific things, and more on putting your whole run to beat other girls to the bottom.”

“The team does love to ski dual events, they are hungry for that,” said Matt. “One of the takeaways from today is we did spend our summers not just training the same stuff over and over, so we’re very comfortable in training all the different lines and getting familiar with the course, no matter what we get dealt in duals can rise to the occasion. The prep work is paying off for these duals-only events.”

The Freestyle World Cup tour continues next week to Krasnoyarsk, Russia, for aerials and another dual moguls competition, both of which are new stops on each tour. “I’m excited to move to a different course,” said Jaelin. “[This one] beat us up a little bit, it was tough on the body. I’m excited to go see somewhere else we've never been.” 

Results
Women’s dual moguls
Men’s dual moguls

Ryan Cochran-Siegle led the Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team in Sunday’s alpine combined, finishing 18th. 

France’s Alexis Pinturault was the second-fastest in the super-G portion of the alpine combined, and skied the fastest slalom run of the day, earning his second alpine combined victory of the season and the discipline globe to boot. Switzerland’s Mauro Caviezel was second, .99 seconds out, while Norway’s Aleksander Aamodt Kilde rounded out the podium in third, 1.25 seconds off the pace. 

With a 9:45 am first run start time, athletes enjoyed considerably better conditions for the super-G portion of the alpine combined, in which Bryce Bennett grabbed a solid ninth-fastest time, while Ryan was 11th, Ted Ligety 18th, George Steffey was 30th, and Kyle Negomir 42nd. 

The Americans struggled in the slalom portion of the combined, with the springlike conditions creating a deep groove in the surface. Ted opted not to start in the slalom portion of the combined, while Ryan finished 18th and Bryce played it smart for the finish, ending up in 21st overall but (more importantly) earning a valuable FIS super-G result (Note: competitors in the combined could get a separate FIS super-G result, but only if they successfully complete both runs of the race). George Steffey—who was starting in just his second World Cup—was en route to his first World Cup points when his tips crossed in the slalom, and he did not finish. Kyle Negomir was 36th. 

With his third-place, Aleksander Aamodt Kilde continues to lead in the overall standings with 1082 points, while Alexis Pinturault moved up one spot to second, with 1048 points, followed by Henrik Kristoffersen—who was 11th in Sunday’s uncharacteristic alpine combined start, making it his second-ever World Cup AC start —with 981 points. 

Up next, the men will ski a giant slalom on Monday. 

Women’s Alpine Combined in La Thuile, Italy Canceled
Due to heavy snowfall, Sunday’s alpine combined in La Thuile, Italy was canceled and it will not be replaced. Like Saturday, the event was slated to be held in front of limited spectators as a matter of precaution against the coronavirus, which is providing ongoing concerns.

Federica Brignone won the alpine combined globe, as she won both of the alpine combined races on this season’s calendar, making it the first globe of Federica’s career. She currently leads in the overall standings by 153 points ahead of Mikaela Shiffrin, who is still absent from the World Cup tour following her father’s passing. Corinne leads the fight for the super-G globe by 19 points over Federica, with just one super-G race remaining at World Cup Finals. Mikaela’s return to Europe and to competition is still unknown. 

The originally scheduled giant slalom and slalom series in Ofterschwang, Germany on March 7-8 has been canceled and will not be replaced. Up next for the women is a tech series including parallel slalom, giant slalom and slalom events in Åre, Sweden on March 12-14. 

RESULTS
Men’s Alpine Combined

STANDINGS
Men’s Overall
Men’s Alpine Combined
Women’s Overall
Women’s Alpine Combined

HOW TO WATCH
All times EST

Monday, March 2
3:15 a.m. - Men’s giant slalom run 1, Hinterstoder, AUT - NBC Sports Gold
6:00 a.m. - Men’s giant slalom run 2, Hinterstoder, AUT - NBC Sports Gold

*Same-day delayed broadcast
**Next-day broadcast

Note: All televised events to stream across NBCSports.com, NBC Sports app, OlympicChannel.com, and Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA app. 

Exclusive commercial-free coverage will be available for subscribers of the NBC Sports Gold Pass, available here: https://www.nbcsports.com/gold/snow.

Julia Kern won the bronze medal in the freestyle sprint at the FIS U23 Cross Country World Championships in Oberwiesenthal, Germany, Saturday. Sweden went 1-2 with Emma Ribom winning the gold, and Johanna Hagstroem taking the silver.

"I felt really strong all day,” Julia said. “Our skis felt awesome all day, and my family from Germany was out cheering, which made it extra special.”

 

 

 

 

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It was an extra special day to finish 🥉 at @jwsc2020 in front of my family who taught me how to ski on these ski trails ❤️ (swipe right to see mini me skiing ☺️) ⁣ ⁣ Thanks to our incredible staff and team for the ripping skis ⚡️ and loud cheering through some crazy weather! Psyched to see what this team can accomplish together this week!! 🇺🇸 #gonnf #usa #home #fullheart (📷: @flyingpoint )

A post shared by Julia Kern (@juliakernski) on Mar 1, 2020 at 1:54pm PST

Julia led three Davis U.S. Cross Country Team athletes into the heats, qualifying third. Hailey Swirbul qualified 21st, and Zak Ketterson qualified 15th. 

As the quarterfinals got underway, the venue was hit with a strong snow squall that dropped a couple of inches of snow, slowing the course conditions. As the heats progressed and the sun finally returned, the course conditions improved. Regardless, racing in quarterfinal heat 5, Julia won as heavy snow fell, charging up the final climb to easily glide across the line with the victory. For Hailey though, she finished fifth in her opening quarterfinal heat - the fastest of the five heats - just 0.24 out of the Lucky Loser position as the heavy snow started to fall. She finished 22nd overall.

Meanwhile, the men’s quarterfinal heats got off to a slow start as heavy snow fell and the first heat saw the top qualifier disqualified for a false start. Zak, racing in heat 3, finished fifth and did not advance to the semifinals. He finished 22nd overall.

In the women’s finals, Julia got boxed-in off the start and settled into fifth position. On the first climb, she tried a move to the inside but got boxed in again. “We learned from watching the juniors (Saturday) that it is really hard to pass,” Julia said. “So my strategy all day was to have the best start possible and be close to the front. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a great start in the final and got boxed out.”

Cresting the top of the final climb and heading into the finish stretch, Julia dug deep, passing both Lena Quintin of France and Katerina Janatovas of the Czech Republic to secure her spot on the podium. “I was feeling really good and tried really hard to find gaps on the climb, but kept getting boxed out and couldn’t get around,” she added. “I am happy to have been able to move up from fifth to third in the end.”

The U23 and Junior Cross Country World Championships continue Monday with the junior women competing in a 5k classic, and the junior men in a 10k classic. Tuesday features the U23 women racing a 10k classic, and the U23 men a 15k classic. All races are streaming live on the official 2020 FIS Junior and U23 Cross Country World Championships Facebook page.

RESULTS
Women’s sprint
Men’s sprint

After four months away from home, Rosie Brennan and the rest of the Davis U.S. Cross Country Ski Team are ready to head back to North America and prepare for the final three World Cup races of the season in Quebec City, Minneapolis, and Canmore, Alberta.

“I think I am definitely feeling some [Ski Tour 2020] fatigue, but more so just season-long fatigue as I’ve haven’t been home since mid-November,” Rosie said after finishing 18th in Saturday’s FIS Cross Country World Cup 10k classic in Lahti, Finland. “I felt pretty good for somewhere around 4k and then fatigue hit hard.”

A handful of athletes toed the line at Lahti Saturday, including Caitlin Patterson, who finished 36th, and Becca Rorabaugh, racing in her first European World Cup, finishing 39th. Norway’s Therese Johaug took the win, her 19th individual victory of the season. Sweden’s Ebba Andersson was second, followed by Finland’s Krista Parmakoski in third.

In the 15k men’s race, Finland's Livo Niskanen won, followed by Russia’s Alexander Bolshunov in second and Norway’s Christer Hans Holund in third. Adam Martin was the top American in 46th, followed by Benjamin Lustgarten in 47th.

The FIS World Cup season continues Sunday with a 4x5k women’s relay, and a 4x7.5k men’s relay in Lahti. The World Cup moves to Drammen, Norway for a freestyle sprint Tuesday, then wraps up the European portion of the tour in Oslo with a 30k race for the women and 50k race for the men March 7-8. 

The tour then heads to North America with freestyle and classic sprints in Quebec City, March 14-15; a freestyle sprint in Minneapolis March 17, and distance races and a team relay in Canmore, Alberta, March 20-22.

In the overall World Cup standings, Jessie Diggins currently sits sixth, Sadie Maubet Bjornsen is seventh, Rosie is 15th, and Sophie Caldwell is 23rd. Jessie, Sadie and Sophie are all scheduled to race in Drammen Tuesday.

RESULTS
Women’s 10k classic
Men’s 15k classic

WORLD CUP STANDINGS
Women’s overall 
Men’s overall 

HOW TO WATCH 
All times EST

Sunday, March 1
10:00 a.m. - Women’s 10k, Lahti, FIN - NBCSN**
4:50 a.m. - Women’s 4x5k relay, Lahti, FIN - OlympicChannel.com, NBC Sports Gold
6:20 a.m. - Men’s 4x7.5k relay, Lahti, FIN - OlympicChannel.com, NBC Sports Gold
10:30 a.m. - Women’s 4x5k relay, Lahti, FIN - Olympic Channel*

*Same-day broadcast

Note: All televised events to stream across NBCSports.com, NBC Sports app, OlympicChannel.com, and Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA app

Exclusive commercial-free coverage will be available for subscribers of the NBC Sports Gold Pass, available here: https://www.nbcsports.com/gold/snow.

In the FIS Ski World Cup’s return to the Aosta Valley for the first time in four years, Alice Mckennis led the Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team in the super-G in La Thuile, Italy, taking 27th.

Nina Ortlieb of Austria—the 23-year-old daughter of Austrian Olympic champion Patrick Ortlieb—collected her first World Cup win. Federica Brignone of Italy excited the home crowd by keeping it close, finishing just .01 seconds behind Nina. Corinne Suter of Switzerland was third, only .07 seconds behind the winner. 

Federica’s 11th podium of the season continued her excellent winter and extended her lead for the overall World Cup globe by 153 points ahead of Mikaela Shiffrin, who is still absent from the World Cup tour following her father’s passing. Corinne leads the fight for the super-G globe by 19 points over Federica, with just one super-G race remaining at World Cup Finals.

Behind Alice Mckennis, Breezy Johnson snuck into the points, finishing 30th. Alice Merryweather finished just out of the top 30 in 34th, which unfortunately left her in 26th place overall in the discipline—one place and one point outside of making the World Cup Finals. Jackie Wiles skied out of the course and did not finish.

The women next race an alpine combined at the same venue. Like Saturday, the event will be held in front of limited spectators as a matter of precaution against the coronavirus.

RESULTS
Super-G

STANDINGS
Overall
Super-G

HOW TO WATCH 
All times EST

Sunday, March 1
1:00 a.m. - Women’s super-G, La Thuile, ITA - NBCSN**
5:00 a.m. - Women’s alpine combined super-G, La Thuile, ITA - Olympic Channel.com, NBC Sports Gold
8:00 a.m. - Women’s alpine combined slalom, La Thuile, ITA - Olympic Channel, Olympic Channel.com, NBC Sports Gold

*Same-day delay broadcast
**Next-day broadcast

Note: All televised events to stream across NBCSports.com, NBC Sports app, OlympicChannel.com, and Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA app. 

Exclusive commercial-free coverage will be available for subscribers of the NBC Sports Gold Pass, available here: https://www.nbcsports.com/gold/snow.

Travis Ganong fought to a 15th-place finish to lead three Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team athletes into the top 20 despite challenging, springlike conditions in Saturday’s super-G at Hinterstoder, Austria. 

Heavy snow pounded the Austrian resort, forcing the cancellation of Friday’s originally scheduled alpine combined and creating a challenge for race organizers to prep for the remainder of the weekend. Though they did what they could to prep the track, including a water and salt program that set up well with the colder temperatures on Friday night. However, with increasing temperatures and a 12:30 pm start time, the snow was sticky and inconsistent—which seemed to affect the entire FIS Ski World Cup field as they were trying to find their flow and rhythm. 

Out of the gate bib 1, Austria’s Vincent Kriechmayr put on a show for the home crowd, in what would end up being the fastest run of the day. Early bib numbers certainly seemed to be an advantage, as the course was deteriorating with each athlete. Switzerland’s Mauro Caviezel was second, a mere .05 off of Vincent, while Matthias Mayer rounded out the podium in third, .08 back. 

“It snowed a lot the last 36-48 hours, and so there’s no chance to do anything the last few days...there was tons of snow,” said Travis after the race. “And then they just freshly groomed the hill, watered it, and it got cold last night so it was actually OK this morning—if we had started the race at 9 or 10 it would have been pretty fun, good snow, fair race. But then, unfortunately, it got super warm and the snow was just garbage—it was some of the worst snow I’ve ever raced in. I’ve trained on worse snow, but normally we would never race when it’s like that. 

Ryan Cochran-Siegle came down eighth, visibly frustrated in the finish after having made a couple of mistakes. Steven came down 12th, and wasn’t too far behind Ryan. Then, Travis came down bib 19, also struggling to find his flow...but it was a struggle for the whole field, with the margin between 1 and 30 being +4.22 seconds—a 1-30 gap rarely seen in speed. Ryan ended up just behind Travis in 16th, with Steven in 19th.   

“Again, I think it was good for the first 10-15 guys, but then it warmed up, broke down, and the salt didn’t really work because of all the fresh snow and it wasn’t wet enough,” he continued. “It was just a pretty tough day. It’s such a cool hill...it’s a rad hill. It’s one of the best super-G hills we get to run. It’s just too bad the conditions were so bad, but we still got the race in.” 

Kyle Negomir also started but finished outside of the points in 49th. River Radamus and Sam Dupratt did not finish. Tommy Ford, who was 11th on this track in 2011 in super-G, decided not to start as the conditions were not ideal for his late bib number (59). 

Norwegian Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, who came into the race leading the super-G standings, had a big lead on the top before getting jammed up and DNFing. Mauro took the lead in the super-G standings, with 365 points over Vincent’s 362 points. Aleksander sits in third in the standings, with 336 points, but is still leading the overall standings over teammate Henrik Kristoffersen, with 1022 points over Henrik’s 957. 

The men head to Kvitfjell, Norway next weekend for their final speed series prior to World Cup Finals. Kvitfjell is a track that the Americans have traditionally really enjoyed and Travis was fifth on last season in super-G to lead the charge for the Americans. “Central Europe has just been so warm these days, so it will be nice to get back up to Norway,” Travis said. “And it’s going to be cold and really good conditions and it’s always so fun to ski there—back on really good snow, more like North America-snow.”

Up next, Friday’s originally scheduled alpine combined will be on Sunday, followed by giant slalom on Monday. 

RESULTS
Super-G

STANDINGS
Overall
Super-G

HOW TO WATCH
All times EST

Sunday, March 1
3:45 a.m. - Men’s combined super-G, Hinterstoder, AUT - NBC Sports Gold
6:45 a.m. - Men’s combined slalom, Hinterstoder, AUT - NBC Sports Gold

Monday, March 2
3:15 a.m. - Men’s giant slalom run 1, Hinterstoder, AUT - NBC Sports Gold
6:00 a.m. - Men’s giant slalom run 2, Hinterstoder, AUT - NBC Sports Gold

*Same-day delayed broadcast
**Next-day broadcast

Note: All televised events to stream across NBCSports.com, NBC Sports app, OlympicChannel.com, and Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA app. 

Exclusive commercial-free coverage will be available for subscribers of the NBC Sports Gold Pass, available here: https://www.nbcsports.com/gold/snow.

U.S. Snowboard Pro Team member Jamie Anderson earned her eighth U.S. Open victory in Friday’s slopestyle finals, and dedicated her win to the late Jake Burton Carpenter.

“This feels really good,” said Jamie. “I can’t believe my first run held. This one feels like the best one yet for sure. I love snowboarding and I love this event. Big shout out to Jake [Burton Carpenter], I definitely rode for him and everything he has brought to the industry that we all get to enjoy.”

Jamie’s win serves as her fourth-consecutive contest victory, including X Games Aspen, the Land Rover U.S. Grand Prix and Dew Tour. Not to mention, she was named "Women’s Rider of The Year," at the SNOWBOARDER Awards while at Dew Tour. 

Jamie’s winning run included a backside lipslide, boardslide 270 out, backside 540, switch backside 540, boardslide 450 out on cannon box, and a cab double cork 900. Jamie’s cab double cork 900 is the trick that kept her out of finals after two failed attempts in last year’s semi-final round, so it's only fitting that its what closed out her gold medal run at the open.

The contest was chock-full of progression from the women including double cork 1080 attempts and a double crippler from Austria’s Anna Gasser on the first transition feature. 

“It’s inspiring as ever,” said Jamie, speaking to the level of riding by the whole field. “I think this is my 13th U.S. Open and holy smokes, the level of progression is unbelievable. I’m so happy to be here with all the youngsters. They are setting my heart on fire with what they are doing to the sport. I’m just happy to be out here, almost 30, and still charging. I'm feeling better than ever. I used to think 30 is old, but I'm still getting into my prime.”

Anna earned the silver, and Japan’s Miyabi Onitsuka took the bronze. U.S. Snowboard Pro Team member Hailey Langland finished fifth. 

For the men, U.S. Rookie Team member and first-place qualifier Dusty Henricksen earned silver, and defending champion Red Gerard took the bronze. Although Dusty scored victories at the Youth Olympic Games and the Land Rover U.S Grand Prix this season, it’s clear a star was born at the 2020 U.S. Open.

“I was just trying to let it ride. This has literally been my dream since I started snowboarding. This has been the most life-changing season I have ever had and I can’t ask for more. I’m pretty hyped!”

Dusty had two very memorable tricks in his run including a switch noseslide pretzel 630 cork Melon on the cannon box dubbed the “Dust Roll” by Tom Monterosso, editor of SNOWBOARDER Magazine. In addition, he landed a backside quad cork 1800, which has never been landed before in elite-level slopestyle competition. Dusty tried it for the first time ever on run two. 

“That was the first time I’ve ever tried that trick,” said Dusty after run two. “I figured what’s another flip. I’m pretty stunned I was able to put it to my feet.”

Although Dusty didn’t land it cleanly on his first try, he perfected it on his third run and second ever attempt. One of the most decorated competitive snowboarders in history, Canadian rider Mark McMorris, called the backside quad cork 1800 the scariest trick in snowboarding.

When asked how Dusty’s been able to keep his composure on the U.S. Open stage, his answer made it clear that his attitude towards competition is very much ahead of his time. 

“It’s a pretty mellow vibe out here,” he said. “I’m just riding with the boys so how can you get too scared.”

Japan’s Yuki Kadono finished off the podium and took victory for the first time since his gold medal performance in 2015. 

Competition continues at the 38th Annual Burton U.S. Open Saturday with men and women’s modified halfpipe competition. Head over to Vail, Colo. or tune in below to catch the action live. 

REPLAY
Women’s snowboard slopestyle finals
Men’s snowboard slopestyle finals

RESULTS
Men’s and Women’s Snowboard Slopestyle 

HOW TO WATCH
Broadcast Live on Red Bull TV and BurtonUSOpen.com
Subject to change
All times EST

Saturday, Feb. 29
1:00 p.m. - Women’s Halfpipe Finals - Vail, Colo 
4:00 p.m. - Men’s Halfpipe Finals - Vail, Colo
 

The FIS Ski World Cup tour moves onward for the Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team, despite challenging variables in both Hinterstoder, Austria for the men, and La Thuile, Italy for the women. 

Weather threatens both the men’s series in Hinterstoder—which features a super-G, alpine combined and giant slalom—as well as the women’s alpine super-G and alpine combined in La Thuile. 

On the men’s side, strong winds and heavy snowfall forced a cancellation of Friday’s originally scheduled alpine combined. The organizing committee, together with FIS, worked hard to ensure that the men will ski a full weekend program, meaning they will now ski a super-G race on Saturday, followed by an alpine combined on Sunday, and a giant slalom on Monday. 

Travis Ganong, who was recently seventh in the Saalbach, Austria super-G to lead the Americans, will look to lead the charge on Saturday in the super-G, while Bryce Bennett and Ryan Cochran-Siegle will headline Sunday’s alpine combined, followed by Tommy Ford—who just podiumed in the Yuzawa Naeba giant slalom and is ranked fifth in the giant slalom standings—will lead the Americans on Monday in giant slalom. 

For the women, Alice Merryweather, who is currently ranked 24th in the super-G standings, will lead the women’s speed team into battle in La Thuile, hoping to stamp her ticket to World Cup Finals and secure a spot in the top-25 ranked skiers in the world coming out of this weekend. Teammates Breezy Johnson, Alice McKennis, and Jackie Wiles will also start for the Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team.

Many of the globes are still up for grabs, making it an exciting time of the season. With her win in the last alpine combined, Italy’s Federica Brignone became the overall leader with 1,298 points—73 points ahead of Mikaela Shiffrin, and 159 points ahead of Petra. At this point, the current overall leader Mikaela's return to Europe and return to competition is unknown. 

Looking ahead, FIS shared earlier on Friday that "due to the present situation on the race hill and unfavorable weather forecast, the women's FIS World Cup races in Ofterschwang scheduled for March 7-8 have been canceled. Despite all efforts it was not possible to find a replacement for the races."

Check out how and who to watch below. 

MEN’S STARTERS
Bryce Bennett
Ryan Cochran-Siegle
Sam Dupratt
Tommy Ford
Travis Ganong
Ted Ligety
Kyle Negomir
Steven Nyman
River Radamus
George Steffey

WOMEN’S STARTERS
Breezy Johnson
Alice McKennis
Alice Merryweather
Jackie Wiles

START LISTS
Women’s Super-G
Men’s Super-G

HOW TO WATCH 
All times EST

Saturday, Feb. 29
4:30 a.m. - Women’s super-G, La Thuile, ITA - Olympic Channel, Olympic Channel.com, NBC Sports Gold
6:30 a.m. - Men’s super-G, Hinterstoder, AUT - NBC Sports Gold

Sunday, March 1
1:00 a.m. - Women’s super-G, La Thuile, ITA - NBCSN**
3:45 a.m. - Men’s combined super-G, Hinterstoder, AUT - NBC Sports Gold
5:00 a.m. - Women’s alpine combined super-G, La Thuile, ITA - Olympic Channel.com, NBC Sports Gold
6:45 a.m. - Men’s combined slalom, Hinterstoder, AUT - NBC Sports Gold
8:00 a.m. - Women’s alpine combined slalom, La Thuile, ITA - Olympic Channel, Olympic Channel.com, NBC Sports Gold

Monday, March 2
3:15 a.m. - Men’s giant slalom run 1, Hinterstoder, AUT - NBC Sports Gold
6:00 a.m. - Men’s giant slalom run 2, Hinterstoder, AUT - NBC Sports Gold

*Same-day delay broadcast
**Next-day broadcast

Note: All televised events to stream across NBCSports.com, NBC Sports app, OlympicChannel.com, and Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA app. 

Exclusive commercial-free coverage will be available for subscribers of the NBC Sports Gold Pass, available here: https://www.nbcsports.com/gold/snow.

In the U.S. Aerial Ski Team’s penultimate World Cup stop, Chris Lillis landed on top of the podium at Oi Qaragai Ski Resort in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Megan Nick claimed her second-career World Cup podium with a second-place finish. 

This was the first aerials World Cup competition held in Kazakhstan and eight Americans qualified for finals: Madison Varmette, Kaila Kuhn, Winter Vinecki, Ashley Caldwell, Megan, Quinn Dehlinger, Justin Schoenefeld and Chris. 

“I couldn't be happier,” said Chris. “It was a new event on a new site, so a lot of unknowns. Over the course of the season, I've been working on a plan with Vlad and it’s been working, especially for the last two weeks. That was definitely one of the best jumps of my career during the super final. Moving forward I’m feeling deadly.” 

Chris was on fire all day, landing all of his competition jumps to his feet. His super final double full full full was in spectacular form, earning him a score of 121.27 that could not be topped. Head Aerials Coach Vladimir Lebedev could be heard cheering from the knoll and Justin gave him a big bear hug as he skied into the finish area. This is Chris’ second career World Cup win and third-career podium, he now is ranked sixth in the men’s aerials World Cup standings. Chris shared the podium with Switzerland’s Primin Werner in second and Belarus’ Pavel Dik in third.

Quinn made his first finals appearance in his only fifth-career World Cup start. “It was such an incredible experience to be apart of,” said Quinn. “It came as a huge surprise which made that much better. On the other hand, it was a bummer it didn’t go as well as I would have liked. But I’m looking forward to being part of more of them!” Ending the competition in 11th place marks a career-best for Quinn. Justin finished fifth, Eric Loughran in 13th, Jon Lillis in 14th and Alex Bowen in 17th. 

With a score just 0.58 points off the top spot, Megan earned a second-place finish, her second podium of the season and her career - this finish moves her into fourth overall for the women’s standings. Megan shared the podium with winner Nadiya Mokhnatska of Ukraine and Kazakhstan’s own Zhanbota Aldabergenova, who came in third. 

“I’m just trying to stay focused on consistency and working towards higher DD moving forward,” said Megan on her competition mindset. “Kazakhstan is beautiful and everyone has been so welcoming here. Everyone was really stoked to jump on a brand new site.”

Kaila earned another fifth place in her second-career super final appearance. Winter finished sixth, Madison in ninth, Ashley in 12th and Megan Smallhouse in 15th. 

“I just want to talk about how the team’s been molding [this season],” commented Chris. “We know where we are, we know where we want to be. We have one goal as a team, one standard that we’re pushing ourselves to. That’s a large part of the success, whether myself, Megan, Justin, or the whole team, that we’re all looking for. Our goal is to work hard. The whole team has taken a transformation in how we work each day. Every training day is a grind, we all have that increase in a heightened sense of worth ethic. So when it comes to comp day you can look back on all of that hard work, which leads to more confident jumping.” 

The Aerials Team has a few days in Kazakhstan to rest and recharge before heading to their last World Cup competition in Krasnoyarsk, Russia. 

Results
Women’s Aerials
Men’s Aerials 

U.S. Ski & Snowboard continues to foster and cultivate a culture of diversity and inclusion in a new and exciting opportunity for girls ages 12 and up. In partnership with Woodward Park City, U.S. Ski & Snowboard is hosting a Girls’ Mini-Camp March 6-7, 2020. 

During this two-day camp, participants will work with U.S. Ski & Snowboard coaches and athletes to develop acrobatic skills in a safe learning environment. The camp begins on Friday evening at the Center of Excellence, home of U.S. Ski & Snowboard - the same training facility used by Olympic athletes - where participants will get comfortable jumping and twisting on the trampoline developing crucial air-awareness. On Saturday morning they’ll take their new, honed skills to snow at Woodward Park City to ski and ride with some of the best athletes in the world. 

Confirmed athlete-ambassadors are:

Morgan Schild, moguls
Avital Shimko, moguls
Olivia Giaccio, moguls
Darian Stevens, freeski slopestyle
Jade Thurgood, snowboard slopestyle

The program includes dinner on Friday, breakfast on Saturday, and all facility and rental fees. Scholarships are available, please contact Kate Anderson at kate.anderson@usskiandsnowboard.org.

Space is extremely limited, reserve your spot today!