U.S. Ski & Snowboard and the entire ski and riding community mourn the passing of Jeff Shiffrin, who passed away unexpectedly on Sunday, February 2nd.  

Jeff Shiffrin with his wife Eileen made Vail, Colo., their home decades ago, and together raised two remarkable alpine ski racers and humans. Taylor Shiffrin was a member of the two-time NCAA Champion University of Denver Ski Team. Olympic and World Champion Mikaela Shiffrin’s skiing success is remarkable.

“I am without words today as we mourn the loss of Jeff Shiffrin,” said Tiger Shaw, CEO of U.S. Ski & Snowboard. “Jeff was a good friend and we will all miss him terribly. Our—and the entire ski world’s—thoughts and prayers go out to his family during this incredibly difficult time.”

Jeff was an anesthesiologist with Vail Health and Anesthesia Partners of Colorado, treating and helping many injured skiers and riders. He was an avid photographer, often having traveled to Mikaela’s World Cup races photographing Mikaela and other U.S. Ski Team athletes. Extremely proud of his daughter, he was rarely in a team picture on the podium because he was always behind the camera capturing the moment. His contributions to all aspects of the skiing and riding world are immeasurable.

Mikaela and Eileen returned from Europe on Sunday afternoon, and Jeff was surrounded by family and close friends during his final hours. He was 65.

In a post on Instagram, Mikaela said, “My family is heartbroken beyond comprehension about the unexpected passing of my kindhearted, loving, caring, patient, wonderful father. Our mountains, our ocean, our sunrise, our heart, our soul, our everything. He taught us so many valuable lessons…but above everything else, he taught us the golden rule: be nice, think first. This is something I will carry with me forever. He was the firm foundation of our family and we miss him terribly. Thank you, from the depths of my heart, for respecting my family’s privacy as we grieve during this unimaginable and devastating time.”

 

 

 

 

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“My family is heartbroken beyond comprehension about the unexpected passing of my kindhearted, loving, caring, patient, wonderful father. Our mountains, our ocean, our sunrise, our heart, our soul, our everything. He taught us so many valuable lessons...but above everything else, he taught us the golden rule: be nice, think first. This is something I will carry with me forever. He was the firm foundation of our family and we miss him terribly. Thank you, from the depths of my heart, for respecting my family's privacy as we grieve during this unimaginable and devastating time.”—Courtesy of Mikaela’s Team 💔🙏

A post shared by Mikaela Shiffrin ⛷💨 (@mikaelashiffrin) on Feb 3, 2020 at 7:15am PST

Mikaela is expected to remain in Colorado, and her return to the World Cup is unknown at this time. 

Jeff is survived by his loving wife Eileen, his daughter Mikaela, his son Taylor and fiancé Kristiana Oslund, as well as his sister Lauren Huelsebusch and her husband Juergen Huelsebusch. Jeff’s memorial will be private. The family requests that, in lieu of flowers, donations be directed to U.S. Ski & Snowboard and the Alzheimer’s Association. 

Read Jeff's obituary, courtesy of the Vail Daily
Read "Remembering Jeff Shiffrin, a rock in Mikaela Shiffrin’s mountaintop" by Tim Layden
 

Finishing up a weekend of speed events with a giant slalom, Tommy Ford led the U.S. men down the dark and bumpy Kandahar track in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, finishing in 11th place.

In the same location as his first World Cup victory in 2013, Alexis Pinturault of France captured his second win of the 2019-20 season. Loic Meillard of Switzerland was second and Leif Kristian Nestvold-Haugen of Norway was third.

It was a warm day in Garmisch, with the temperatures and drizzling rain quickly melting the snow. Course workers added salt to the track to allow it to freeze, but the conditions were tough. Given the inconsistent snow, Tommy was satisfied with his effort and was able to put down two solid runs. “Second run was better up top,” said Tommy. “I was more with it for the rhythm of the course right out of the start, feeling more connected... There were a couple turns where I was trying to push a little too hard for the snow conditions—you kind of had to just ride it and float. All in all consistent day and I’d say a good step in the right direction.”

Behind Tommy, Ted Ligety put in an impressive effort in his second run, finishing fourth second run and 14th overall. “First run was pretty disappointing,” said Ted, who was 25th after first run. “I never really found a rhythm and I was just fighting it the whole way. Second run I found the rhythm a little better and made a good run relatively. Not exactly what I wanted to see from this race, but overall happy to have at least moved up a little bit.”

Rounding out the Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team, Ryan Cochran-Siegle also scored points, finishing in 22nd. River Radamus and Brian McLaughlin did not qualify for a second run.

The men’s tech teams head next to Chamonix, France for a slalom and parallel giant slalom on Saturday and Sunday.

RESULTS
Men’s Giant Slalom

STANDINGS
Overall
Giant Slalom

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Official event hashtags: #worldcupgap

HOW TO WATCH 
All times EST

Sunday, Feb. 2
4:00 p.m. - Men’s giant slalom, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, GER - NBCSN*

*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. 

After a frustrating week full of cancellations, the Rosa Khutor organizing committee was able to run a successful super-G on Sunday—the first World Cup alpine race at the venue since the 2014 Olympics. Alice Merryweather led the way for the Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team, snagging a career-best super-G result, in 17th. 

The Italians continued their hot streak of fast skiing on Sunday, with Federica Brignone leading the way and countrywoman Sofia Goggia trailing by just .20 seconds. Joana Haehlen skied her way on to the podium for the second-straight weekend, landing in third—her first-ever super-G podium result. This is the fourth 1-2 finish for the Italian women's team this season.

For the second year in a row, Mother Nature was unkind to Rosa Khutor, dumping snow and pouring rain on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday—cancelling all three downhill training runs. An alternate plan was put into place for Saturday, to run a training run in the morning followed by the race, but the surface was not safe for a race. Temperatures were warm and the surface did not freeze overnight, so the course crew watered and salted the bottom of the track, and—for the most part—the track set up for a safe super-G race on Sunday morning. 

The "hurry up and wait" game proved to take its toll on athletes throughout the week. "It was definitely challenging to sit around for most of this week," reflected Alice Merryweather. "There isn't that much to do around here, so we've been playing spikeball and doing workouts to kill time, and I was feeling pretty antsy and mentally drained by today. Still, everyone was pumped up to actually race, and I just channeled all the pent-up energy into my run today. My skiing was far from perfect, but it's still a step in the right direction and I'm happy with the progress I've been making in super-G this season!" 

With Sunday's victory, Federica took the lead in the super-G standings, with 216 points. Corinne Suter of Switzerland has 200 points, while Mikaela Shiffrin—who opted to sit the Sochi speed series out—sits in third with 186 points. Mikaela maintains her lead in the overall, but Federica closed the gap to 270 points and sits in second with 955 points ahead of Slovakia's Petra Vlhova, with 830. 

Alice McKennis also scored points, landing in 27th. Breezy Johnson and Jackie Wiles also started on Sunday, but did not finish. Both are OK. Many of the women struggled on the watered, bumpy bottom pitch, with 12 athletes DNFing. 

Up next for the women is a speed series in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. 

RESULTS
Women’s Super-G

STANDINGS
Overall
Super-G

HOW TO WATCH 
All times EST

Saturday, Feb. 2
6:30 a.m. - Women’s super-G, Rosa Khutor, RUS - Olympic Channel*
7:30 a.m. - Men’s giant slalom run 2, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, GER - Olympic Channel.com, NBC Sports Gold
4:00 p.m. - Men’s giant slalom, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, GER - NBCSN*

*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. 

The final day of the Land Rover U.S. Grand Prix did not disappoint with U.S. skiers and riders claiming five podiums throughout snowboard slopestyle and freeski halfpipe World Cup competition. 

Despite a 4.4 magnitude earthquake in the midst of the event, U.S. Snowboard Team riders Jamie Anderson and rookie Dusty Henricksen took the top spots in slopestyle. Dusty, a Mammoth Lakes, Calif. local, earned his first-ever World Cup win in only his second World Cup final of his career.

“I’m ecstatic to pull up to Mammoth where I grew up riding and walk away with my first win,” Dusty said in disbelief. “I honestly couldn’t ask for more. It could not have been a better day or a better course. It’s super flowy, fun, and fast. It meant the world to have all my boys and supporters out here watching.”

After Dusty stomped the final run of the day to take the top spot with a beautiful backside triple cork 1440, you heard a loud, “We all knew” come from Dusty’s fan base in the finish area. Coming off of Youth Olympic Games gold and then qualifying first at the Laax Open World Cup, Dusty’s trajectory was clear to anyone who has been watching his progress. Dusty currently leads the FIS Snowboard World Cup slopestyle standings, followed by Judd Henkes in second.

Judd, who also calls Mammouth Mountain home, grabbed third. This is Judd’s second podium in two years at the Mammoth Grand Prix and his second-consecutive podium in World Cup slopestyle competition this season after a third-place finish at the 2020 Laax Open. 

“I think being at home in familiar territory played a part in my success these last two Grand Prixs at Mammoth,” said Judd. “I’m headed to Dew Tour next week and hope to improve on my performance here.”

After earning his third World cup podium of his career, it’s clear Judd’s still hungry for the remainder of the 2019-20 competition season including pinnacle events like Dew Tour and the U.S. Open. 

For the women, Jamie Anderson earned her second win in two weeks following a gold medal performance at X Games Aspen. In her first World Cup slopestyle of the year, she came out firing with smooth style and consistency in classic Jamie fashion. 

“Coming to Mammoth after X Games is really nice because its really positive energy in California,” said Jamie. “It’s warm, our whole teams here, and I love competing in the Grand Prix. To be able to put down my first run and stay in first and have the chance to take a victory lap feels amazing. What made today even more special was my dad, my doctor, my first ever coach, and a lot of good people were able to come out to support today.”

Competition continued on Saturday with arguably the best freeski halfpipe contest of the season where Aaron Blunck took the victory. Aaron has reached the podium in every contest he has competed in this season (five events) including an X Games silver medal performance last week. 

“After the first run today I was feeling it,” said Aaron. “I just thought to myself, why not give it everything I got. I am feeling really good right now and I don’t ever back down. That’s just not the type of person I want to be. I thought my dad would be extremely proud of me if I continued to give it my all and that’s what I did. Also, to share the podium with Noah Bowman and Lyman Currier is amazing, I look up to them both.”

Head freeski judge Steele Spence described Aaron's runs as, “three of the best pipe runs of all time. They were the hardest runs and he executed them perfectly.”

Aaron came out of the gate on a mission immediately putting down an incredible run, but that was just the beginning. Aaron improved each time he dropped into the pipe. His second and third runs were entirely made up of double-cork variations. Aaron owned the three highest scores of the day.

Teammate Lyman Currier stepped up on his last run to earn third place and his second World Cup podium of the season. 

“I’m feeling awesome to make the podium today,” said Lyman. “It was such a heavy competition today and a beautiful day in Mammoth. It seemed to be a competition for second place today. Blunck was on one and it was insane.”

The competition undoubtedly had some amazing moments including U.S. Freeski Team member Hunter Hess landing a 1620 on his run. Kiwi Nico Porteous landed a 1620 rotation at X Games last week for the first time in halfpipe competition. 

Led by Aaron, there are currently seven U.S. Freeski Team athletes in the top-10 of the FIS Freeski Halfpipe Cup Standings including Birk Irving, Lyman Currier, Taylor Seaton, Jaxin Hoerter, David Wise, and Hunter Hess. 

For the women, U.S. Freeski Team member Brita Sigourney finished in a respectable fourth place landing back to back 900’s in her second and third run. U.S. Rookie Team member Hanna Faulhaber finished in seventh in her first-ever World Cup final. 

The U.S. Freeski and Snowboard Slopestyle and Halfpipe Team continue competition next week at the Dew Tour in  Copper Mountain, Colo. In addition, U.S. athletes are also heading to the Calgary World Cup for freeski halfpipe competition. 

CUP STANDINGS
Women’s snowboard slopestyle 
Men’s snowboard slopestyle 
Women’s freeski halfpipe
Men’s freeski halfpipe 

RESULTS
Women’s snowboard slopestyle 
Men’s snowboard slopestyle 
Women’s freeski halfpipe
Men’s freeski halfpipe 
 

Under heavy winds and rain, it was a tough day on Fitz’s Freefall at WinSport Canada Olympic Park for the U.S. at the FIS World Cup moguls in Calgary, Alberta. Tess Johnson posted the top American finish with an eighth place. 

France’s Perrine Laffont earned her fifth-straight World Cup victory, Kazakhstan’s Yuliya Galysheva claimed second and Canada’s Justine Dufour-Lapointe rounded out the podium in third. 

Tess, who has been working on progressing her run, skied her new trick package with a heli mute grab on top and her classic back x on bottom air. "Today was a super fun day of skiing and I was able to put down my best run so far with my new trick, heli mute," said Tess. "It’s been challenging throwing a new trick in comp, but I’ve gotten a little better every event and I can feel a major breakthrough coming. And I’m so excited to continue this progress at the best event of all time in Deer Valley next week!"

In her second career World Cup start, Kai Owens skied a beautiful top cork and big bottom x to smash into the top-10 with a tenth place finish. “In her second World Cup start to get a top ten, hallelujah, she did awesome,” said Head Moguls Coach Matt Gnoza. “It was a nice rookie statement. We haven’t had really someone since Jaelin making that kind of statement right away.”

"I am super excited with my performance, and I had an amazing time skiing the course, it was super fun!" said Kai. "I was happy with my skiing, and overall execution."

Jaelin Kauf finished 14th. She performed her new top cork to bottom x but a slight bobble in the middle moguls section kept her out of the superfinal. Hannah Soar just missed finals with a 17th place. 

On the men’s side Canada’s own Mikael Kingsbury wowed the Canadian home crowd with his 60th career World Cup victory. Sweden’s Walter Wallberg finished second and Kazakhstan’s Dmitriy Reikherd finished third. 

Brad Wilson finished 11th, leading five American men into the points: Dylan Walcyzk (16), Nick Page (21), Tom Rowley (26) and Alex Lewis (27). “This is Brad’s second start this year,” said Matt. “To go from 17th last week to make finals this week, he had a nice run to continue to carry momentum into Deer Valley, which is a course that he likes.”

The moguls World Cup tour heads next to Deer Valley Resort for the 2020 Intermountain Healthcare Freestyle International FIS Ski World Cup Feb. 6-8. 

Results
Women’s moguls
Men’s moguls

Travis Ganong landed in a season-best fifth-place in Saturday's downhill, to lead five Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team downhillers into the top 30 on the Kandahar track in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. 

In a race where the top 20 were separated by a mere 1.01 seconds, hometown hero Thomas Dressen emerged victorious in Saturday’s downhill over Norway’s Aleksander Aamodt-Kilde in second, .16 seconds back and France’s Johan Clarey, .17 off the pace. Travis missed the podium by one-tenth of a second. On almost any other downhill day, that performance would have landed him in the top three. 

Though he was slow out of the gate, Travis made up a significant amount of time in the middle section and bottom of the Kandahar track. “It’s kind of frustrating to be .45 of a second out on the first 13 seconds and then coming into the finish .27 out, so for sure I left a lot of time on the hill,” he reflected. “But, I’m really happy with how I skied and it’s always good to have a good result here. There’s always this mystique around Garmisch of being dark and bumpy and gnarly...for my style of skiing, it really works here. I like it a lot.” 

In 2017, Travis won first of two downhills in Garmisch—a rescheduled downhill from Wengen. On that same day, teammate Steven Nyman was having the fastest run of the day before he hit the net, injured his knee and was airlifted off the track. Steven ran 11th that day and Travis was 12th. He stood in the start shack for about 20 minutes as they airlifted his teammate, with little idea what was going on, attempting to maintain focus on his run. He came down into first that day. “A bittersweet day for sure,” as he said in our second edition of “Cellar Talks” prior to Saturday’s downhill. The following season, Travis injured his knee. He’s been steadily progressing since his return, with solid results last season and continued strength in the 2019-20 season.  

“The last time I raced here was the year I won, because the next year I blew out my knee, and the next year was cancelled...I have really good feelings on this hill, it just really makes sense to me,” Travis reflected. “The really fast sections into one big turn where you have to nail the timing and carry speed to the next section...yeah, I had good feelings today. The season’s almost coming to an end now, we have two more downhills before finals, and it’s really good to just have a nice solid result, score a bunch of points, and put myself in a good position for the end of the season and next year, too. I’m really happy with my race, and I guess I like this hill a lot.” 

Ryan Cochran-Siegle skied a super solid run, landing in 12th, followed by Jared Goldberg in 20th—his best result so far this season, Bryce Bennett in 23rd, and Steven Nyman in 29th. Ryan is currently sitting in 12th in the downhill standings, with Travis in 14th, Steven in 18th and Bryce in 19th. The level of competition in men’s downhill at the moment is high, with a lot of guys who have the ability to reach the podium. “Even with the shortened race, it was still almost a full-length downhill at 1:40, and it’s amazing how tight the race was,” Travis said.

“I think the conditions ended up being really good today, and everyone was pushing," he continued. "The level is really high in downhill right now, there are different guys on the podium and winning every week, so it’s really competitive. I’m not sure how tight it is behind me, but it’s always nice to be that close to a podium...it’s amazing how competitive it is. The amount of guys that are skiing really really well and pushing is at an amazing level right now, so it’s always good to have a good result when the level is that high.”

Sam Dupratt also started for the Americans—his career-first World Cup downhill—finishing in 47th. 

Up next for the men is a giant slalom on Sunday, in which Olympic champion Ted Ligety and this year’s Birds of Prey GS victor Tommy Ford will lead the charge for the Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team. Ted’s last career podium was a third place in Garmisch prior to the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics. 

WATCH: Take a pause and watch our second edition of Cellar Talks, with the Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team downhillers.

RESULTS
Men’s Downhill

STANDINGS
Downhill
Overall

FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL
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Official event hashtags: #worldcupgap, #worldcupsochi

HOW TO WATCH 
All times EST

Saturday, Feb. 2
12:30 a.m. - Men’s downhill, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, GER - NBCSN*
2:30 a.m. - Women’s super-G, Rosa Khutor, RUS - Olympic Channel.com, NBC Sports Gold
4:00 a.m. - Men’s giant slalom run 1, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, GER - Olympic Channel.com, NBC Sports Gold
6:30 a.m. - Women’s super-G, Rosa Khutor, RUS - Olympic Channel*
7:30 a.m. - Men’s giant slalom run 2, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, GER - Olympic Channel.com, NBC Sports Gold
4:00 p.m. - Men’s giant slalom, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, GER - NBCSN*

*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. 
 

For the second-straight year, weather in Rosa Khutor (Sochi), Russia has provided a challenge for race organizers and the FIS Ski World Cup, forcing them to cancel the women's downhill scheduled for Saturday. 

Heavy amounts of snow and rain pounded the site of the 2014 Olympics site during the week, affecting the surface and making it impossible to get a downhill training run scheduled. Downhill training runs were canceled on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday before a plan was made to have a downhill training run on Saturday morning prior to Saturday's race. Snow fell throughout the night, stopping at 3:00 a.m., and though organizers tried hard to prep the surface, the track was not safe for the athletes to ski on Saturday morning. FIS, together with the Jury, made the call to cancel the downhill and shift their focus to prepping the track for Sunday's super-G. 

Current overall, super-G and slalom World Cup standings leader Mikaela Shiffrin, who is competing in all six disciplines, has wisely opted to sit out Rosa Khutor and instead rest and recover prior to the next block of races. Mikaela also is currently sitting in second in the downhill and giant slalom standings. Mikaela, who was leading in the super-G standings last year heading into the speed series in Rosa Khutor, received a hefty amount of disgruntlement from fans and media who did not understand the decision to sit out. Mother Nature was on Mikaela's side then, as well as in Val d'Isere, France earlier this season, and now today as well. 

The organizers are optimistic they can prepare the surface for the super-G on Sunday. The organizers are watering the super-G track on Saturday afternoon and hoping temperatures drop considerably so it will set up appropriately. 

HOW TO WATCH 
All times EST

Saturday, Feb. 1
5:30 a.m. - Men’s downhill, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, GER - Olympic Channel, Olympic Channel.com, NBC Sports Gold

Saturday, Feb. 2
12:30 a.m. - Men’s downhill, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, GER - NBCSN*
2:30 a.m. - Women’s super-G, Rosa Khutor, RUS - Olympic Channel.com, NBC Sports Gold
4:00 a.m. - Men’s giant slalom run 1, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, GER - Olympic Channel.com, NBC Sports Gold
6:30 a.m. - Women’s super-G, Rosa Khutor, RUS - Olympic Channel*
7:30 a.m. - Men’s giant slalom run 2, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, GER - Olympic Channel.com, NBC Sports Gold
4:00 p.m. - Men’s giant slalom, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, GER - NBCSN*

*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. 

Five Americans podiumed in freeski slopestyle and snowboard halfpipe today at the Land Rover U.S. Grand Prix FIS World Cup on a beautiful day at Mammoth Mountain, Calif. Colby Stevenson led the U.S. Freeski Team with a second-place finish. This is Colby’s second consecutive World Cup slopestyle podium and fourth consecutive podium in three events. 

“I came out feeling healthy today and that is probably the biggest factor playing into my recent success,” said Colby. “I tried to come into finals today with the right mindset trying to have fun. The weather cooperated which made for a great day of skiing and it definitely boosted my confidence having a sunny day with hardly any wind. I’m just trying to keep the ball rolling.”

U.S. Freeski Rookie Team member Deven Fagan finished in third place right behind Colby. This is Deven’s first-ever World Cup podium. 

“This is crazy,” said Deven. “My brother (Kiernan Fagan) and I pretty much swapped positions from last year at this contest. My goal was to podium today and I’m really happy with the run I put down. I definitely improved from qualifiers by doing a 1440 on my last jump. I also changed up my rails a little bit.”

Colby and Deven plan to head to Southern California to get some surfing in ahead of their next competition to unwind and regroup. Andri Ragettli, the winningest freeskier in World Cup history, topped the podium for his sixth World Cup win. 

For the women, U.S. Freeski Team member Maggie Voisin earned her second consecutive third-place finish following her return from ACL surgery. 

“I’m super happy to get back on the podium here in Mammoth,” said Maggie. ‘I’m also really grateful that Mammoth and mother nature brought us sunshine and no wind for finals today. I can’t believe I went back-to-back with podiums at X Games and the Grand Prix.”

U.S. Rookie Team members Marin Hamill finished fifth and Rell Harwood finished seventh, each landing solid runs from top to bottom. Swiss freeskier Sarah Hoefflin topped the podium following a double X Games medal performance last week. Isabel Atkin of Great Britain finished second. 

Land Rover U.S. Grand Prix competition continued with men’s and women’s snowboard halfpipe where U.S. Snowboard Team members Taylor Gold and Maddie Mastro each earned second place. Maddie landed her double crippler for the first time in competition since her win at the 2019 U.S. Open. Coming off of a challenging X Games, Maddie was elated to put it down.

“I couldn’t be more stoked,” said Maddie. “I have been working so hard this season and I have tried the double crippler in multiple different contests this year. It’s nice to show everyone what I already know, which is I can stomp that trick when I want to. I am as happy as I could be right now.” 

Taylor also landed his signature trick with a double Michalchuck 1080 on his third run. However, it was his first run which held down second-place throughout the entirety of the competition and resulted in his second consecutive World Cup podium.

“I feel really good,” said Taylor. “To be honest, I didn’t expect my first run to hold up in podium position all the way through the competition, but I felt really good to put it down. I was really excited to land my new trick on my third run, but just couldn’t make it all the way down the pipe. It was a super fun event and amazing to have nice weather here.”

At X Games, teammate Chase Josey coined Taylor’s double Michaelchuck 1080 the “Chuck Taylor” and it seems to be sticking. 

“You know, I’m not going to fight it,” he said jokingly. “I really like it to be honest. I think it has a nice ring to it.”

Competition continues on Saturday at the Land Rover U.S. Grand Prix with snowboard slopestyle and freeski halfpipe finals at Mammoth Mountain, Calif. Tune in on the Olympic Channel and NBC Sports to catch all of the action live. 

RESULTS
Women’s freeski slopestyle
Men’s freeski slopestyle 
Men’s snowboard halfpipe
Women’s snowboard halfpipe

START LISTS
Women’s snowboard slopestyle
Men’s snowboard slopestyle
Women’s freeski halfpipe
Men’s freeski halfpipe

HOW TO WATCH
Subject to change
All times EST
*Same-day delayed broadcast
** Next-day broadcast

FREESKI
Friday, Jan. 31
12:30 p.m. - Men and women’s slopestyle, Land Rover U.S. Grand Prix, Mammoth, Calif. - NBCSN, NBCSports.com, NBC Sports Gold.

Saturday, Feb. 1
6:35 a.m. - Men and women’s skicross, Megeve, FRA - Olympic Channel.com, NBC Sports Gold
4:00 p.m. - Men and women’s halfpipe, Land Rover U.S. Grand Prix, Mammoth, Calif. - Olympic Channel.com, NBC Sports Gold

SNOWBOARD
Friday, Jan. 31
4:00 p.m. - Men and women’s halfpipe, Land Rover U.S. Grand Prix, Mammoth, Calif. - NBCSN, NBCSports.com, NBC Sports Gold

Saturday, Feb. 1
1:00 p.m. - Men and women’s slopestyle, Land Rover U.S. Grand Prix, Mammoth, Calif. - NBCSN, NBCSports.com, NBC Sports Gold
5:00 p.m. - Men and women’s halfpipe, Land Rover U.S. Grand Prix, Mammoth, Calif. - NBC**
11:30 p.m. - Men and women’s halfpipe, Land Rover U.S. Grand Prix, Mammoth, Calif. - NBCSN**

Sunday, Feb. 2
3:00 p.m. - Men and women’s slopestyle, Land Rover U.S. Grand Prix, Mammoth, Calif. - NBC**

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.
 

The FIS Ski World Cup men’s tour will take on the mighty and deceiving Kandahar track in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, while the women attempt to get races off in 2014 Olympic venue in Rosa Khutor, Sochi, Russia. 

The Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team downhillers and giant slalom skiers head to Garmisch to take on a downhill and giant slalom on Saturday and Sunday, respectively. Though warm weather has plagued the World Cup classic downhill and erased the first downhill training run on Thursday, the organizers salted the track and the downhillers were able to get in a training run⁠—albeit with soft snow and less-than-ideal conditions⁠—on Friday. In Friday’s first and only downhill training run, Ryan Cochran-Siegle led the way with the fifth-fastest time, .48 seconds off France’s Johan Clarey’s time, while 2017 Garmisch winner Travis Ganong was just a tenth back, tied for seventh. 

It's a dark, bumpy ride down the Kandahar in Garmisch, and after the noise of Wengen's Lauberhorn and Kitzbuehel's Hahnenkamm, it can be quite deceiving. The downhillers have talked about how many have let their guard down in Garmisch, and how it has come back to bite them. The classic track is challenging and has claimed its fair share of victims in the past—including, and especially, in 2017 when 11 athletes DNFed and two (including Steven Nyman) were airlifted from the track with season-ending injuries. 

The giant slalom crew will return to action on Sunday, led by Olympic champion Ted Ligety and this year’s Beaver Creek victor, Tommy Ford. Though the giant slalom crew has had a break since Adelboden, they’ve gotten a solid training block at the Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team’s European official training base in Alpe Cimbra ski area – Folgaria, Lavarone in Italy. Keep an eye on both Ted and Tommy, and remember—Ted’s last podium was in 2018 in Garmisch on this track, prior to the PyeongChang Olympics. 

Steven, Travis, Ryan, Bryce Bennett, Sam Morse, Sam Dupratt and Jared Goldberg enjoyed their annual visit to the U.S. Army base in Garmisch on Wednesday evening, signing autographs for families of servicemen and servicewomen in Garmisch. This is a tradition the Team has enjoyed for the last 20+ years, and it’s a hearty American welcome that makes the athletes feel at home in Garmisch. 

The women’s speed team traveled to Rosa Khutor, in Sochi, Russia for a downhill on Saturday and a super-G on Sunday, but heavy snowfall has severely affected the schedule, with cancelled downhill training runs on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Snow continues to fall at Rosa Khutor, though organizers are optimistic they’ll be able to nail down an aggressive schedule on Saturday that includes a downhill training run at 8:00 a.m. CET followed by a race at 10:30 a.m. CET. The speed series in 2019 was cancelled entirely due to heavy snowfall. 

Current overall, super-G and slalom World Cup standings leader Mikaela Shiffrin, who is competing in all six disciplines, has wisely opted to sit out Rosa Khutor and instead rest and recover prior to the next block of races. Mikaela also is currently sitting in second in the downhill and giant slalom standings. If the weather subsides and the races happen, keep an eye on Breezy Johnson—who scored a pair of top-10 results in her second and third World Cup races back from injury last weekend in Bansko, Bulgaria. 

WATCH: Take a pause and watch our second edition of Cellar Talks, with the Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team downhillers.

Check out how and who to watch below. 

MEN’S STARTERS
Bryce Bennett
Ryan Cochran-Siegle
Sam Dupratt
Tommy Ford
Travis Ganong
Jared Goldberg
Ted Ligety
Brian McLaughlin
Steven Nyman
River Radamus 

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

RESULTS
Men’s Downhill Training Run 1

START LISTS
Women’s Downhill Training Run
Men’s Downhill

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HOW TO WATCH 
All times EST

Saturday, Feb. 1
3:30 a.m. - Women’s downhill, Rosa Khutor, RUS - Olympic Channel, Olympic Channel.com, NBC Sports Gold
5:30 a.m. - Men’s downhill, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, GER - Olympic Channel, Olympic Channel.com, NBC Sports Gold

Saturday, Feb. 2
12:30 a.m. - Men’s downhill, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, GER - NBCSN*
2:30 a.m. - Women’s super-G, Rosa Khutor, RUS - Olympic Channel.com, NBC Sports Gold
4:00 a.m. - Men’s giant slalom run 1, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, GER - Olympic Channel.com, NBC Sports Gold
6:30 a.m. - Women’s super-G, Rosa Khutor, RUS - Olympic Channel*
7:30 a.m. - Men’s giant slalom run 2, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, GER - Olympic Channel.com, NBC Sports Gold
4:00 p.m. - Men’s giant slalom, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, GER - NBCSN*

*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. 

The U.S. Moguls Team is back on Mountain Standard Time for World Cup competition in Calgary, Canada. With limited available daylight on the Calgary course, qualifications are split over two days: the men qualified Friday and the women will qualify Saturday, with finals for both taking place on Saturday. 

Dylan Walczyk led the American men, qualifying in 13. Brad Wilson snuck in at 16, riding the bubble for most of the round. The men had a quick training window, with only one full day under their belts before qualifiers. Head Coach Matt Gnoza noted that this actually may have worked in Brad’s favor. “He had a real veteran presence in training [Thursday]. He was really focused, he never over or under does it and is able to lean on his experience.”

The Team is in good spirits as the Calgary event is one of the favored stops on the tour. Being close to the downtown area and only 20 minutes from the airport is a welcome change from hours-long bus rides. 

The Calgary course is steep, a “skiers’ course” as Matt likes to call it, with nice long landing pads so athletes can really push it in their jumps. This will favor the U.S. women, as all come from a heavy skiing background.

Leading the American women is Jaelin Kauf who brought her new trick, a cork 7, to competition last week in Tremblant. She’s been working hard to progress her run, watch for her to bring it all together this week. Hannah Soar, who had a career-best finish in singles with a sixth place in Tremblant has been skiing well in training. She will look to continue to build on the momentum she’s created for herself this season. Matt notes that Tess Johnson “is looking good, skiing really well. We’re focusing on her skiing this week rather than jumping. She seems excited about that, she’ll get to showcase her stuff on this skiers’ course.” Kai Owens is coming off of her first World Cup start with an 11th place finish. “Now she realizes where she is and what she’s here to do,” said Matt. “Training and continuing to be smart as a rookie will be key here for Kai.”

“I had some struggles [Thursday] morning, I’m starting to figure it out,” Kai reflected about her training. “It’s part of my process in learning the course and getting used to it - making some mistakes and learning from them. I’m feeling more excited and less nervous for this [World Cup]. I’m still trying to keep a good approach, keep calm and just do my skiing.”

Finals are set for Saturday, Feb. 1 for the last competition before the Team returns to home snow at the 2020 Intermountain Healthcare Freestyle International FIS Ski World Cup at Deer Valley Resort Feb. 6-8.

U.S. Women Starters
Tess Johnson
Jaelin Kauf
Kai Owens
Hannah Soar

Results
Men’s Moguls Qualifications

HOW TO WATCH 

All times EST

FREESTYLE

Saturday, Feb. 1
3:20 p.m. - Men’s and women’s moguls, Calgary, CAN - OlympicChannel.com, NBC Sports Gold
9:00 p.m. - Men’s and women’s moguls, Calgary, CAN - Olympic Channel*