Aerials skiers of the U.S. Ski Team competed in their first events of the season Dec. 20-21 at the Utah Olympic Park NorAm in Park City. Electing not to go to China for the first aerials FIS World Cup Events, the team opted for more on-snow training and the NorAm served as good early season competition experience. 

NorAms are the level of competition below World Cups and are the development pipeline for up and coming aerials athletes to prove themselves. Utah Olympic Park (UOP) provided a great site and the weather proved favorable - no wind for three days made for great jumps from the U.S. Team, U.S. clubs and the Canadian Development Team. “It was great to see lots of young aerialists from both countries doing new tricks and having fun!” said U.S. Ski & Snowboard Aerials World Cup and Development Coach Eric Bergoust. 

On Friday Chris Lillis landed in first and Eric Loughran in second. Megan Nick scored the top spot for the women and Winter Vinecki came in second. On Saturday Eric came in first and Alex Bown landed the third spot. On the women’s side Kaila Kuhn came in first, Winter Vinecki earned second and Megan Nick came in third. 

The U.S. Team enters another prep period at the UOP where they will focus on higher degrees of difficulty in their jumps. Their first World Cup is set for January 25, 2020 in Moscow, Russia.

Ryan Cochran-Siegle led the Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team in the parallel giant slalom in Alta Badia, Italy with a 12th place and young River Radamus placed 14th, his best World Cup result so far.

The parallel events are always some of the most entertaining races on the FIS Ski World Cup circuit and this one was no different. Monday’s race took place at night under the lights with a screaming crowd cheering for the .01-second wins and wild recoveries, and groaning at the crashes and upsets. Rasmus Windingstad of Norway grabbed the win over Stefan Luitz of Germany in the big final, while Roland Leitinger of Austria beat out Sunday’s giant slalom winner Henrik Kristoffersen in the small final to take his first World Cup podium in third.

On the U.S. side, Ryan, River and Tommy Ford all qualified for the PGS finals in the last race before Christmas. Tommy was eliminated in the first round by Zan Kranjec of Slovenia, finishing 23rd overall. River and Ryan both made it to the 1/8 final but were beaten out by eventual podium finishers Leitinger and Luitz, respectively.  

This was River’s second time scoring World Cup points, continuing to show that world that he’s one to keep an eye on through the season. “I felt like I’ve been knocking on the door all season and it feels great to get a little breakthrough here,” said River. “This is an awesome event, and I’m psyched to have put a few good runs together under the lights tonight. I’m hungry to keep the momentum rolling into the next races in January.”

Brian McLaughlin and Steven Nyman also started in today's qualifier, but did not qualify for the race. Cochran-Siegle showcased his consistency and speed, taking his eighth point-scoring result of the season out of nine starts so far. 

Next up, the men have a short Christmas break before heading to Bormio, Italy for two downhill races—including the downhill rescheduled from Val Gardena, Italy—and an alpine combined.

RESULTS
Men’s Parallel Giant Slalom

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The first U.S. Rev Tour FIS NorAm stop of the season took place at Copper Mountain Dec. 16-21 and young freeskiers and snowboarders kicked off their season with style. The event kicked off with two days of snowboard halfpipe competition on Dec. 17 and 18. 

U.S. Snowboard Rookie Team member Jack Coyne started the event with a second-place. “I’m super stoked to be here at the Rev Tour,” said Jack. "There’s more camaraderie than any other event I’ve been to and I’m so happy to be here with everybody.” 

Third place finisher Rakai Tait of Australia could not have been more excited for winner Shuichiro Shigeno. “It’s so great to be out here among all the up-and-coming riders,” said Rakai. “I’m stoked for Shuichiro. It was so rad to see his excitement on top of the podium.” 

American Zoe Kalapos finished in second place.  “It was so much fun,” said Zoe. “I was really cold in the morning, but I was really excited to ride," said Zoe. "The pipe was great and the girls were all sending so it turned out to be a really great contest.” 

Men
1. Shuichiro Shigeno (JPN)
2. Jack Coyne (USA)
3. Rakai Tait (AUS)

Women
1. Brooke Dhondt (CAN)
2. Zoe Kalapos (USA)
3. Manon Kaji (JPN)

On day two of snowboard halfpipe, U.S. Snowboard Team member Lucas Foster found his way to the podium. “It was a great couple days of snowboarding,” said Lucas. “ I did some of the best runs that I’ve ever done and that’s all I really care to do. To be on the podium is just icing on the cake. All we ever really want to do is just do our personal best out here.” 

For the women, U.S. Snowboard Rookie Team member Tessa Maud finished in second place.  “It was so much fun,” said Tessa. “All the ladies were killing it as always. Finals were so stacked for both men’s and women’s fields. I’m lucky to be on the team and to have my family, friends, and J.J. (JJ Thomas - U.S. Snowboard Development Team Coach) supporting me!”

Men
1. Kaushi Hirano (JPN)
2. Rakai Tait (AUS)
3. Lucas Foster (USA)

Women
1. Manon Kaji (JPN)
2. Tessa Maud (USA)
3. Takara Tamada (JPN)

Freeski halfpipe competition kicked off on Dec. 20 where Zoe Atkin won day one of freeski competition going back-to-back after also winning the Land Rover U.S. Grand Prix World Cup at Copper only one week earlier. 

Riley Jacobs earned third place. “It was a really fun day,” said Riley. “We got to go out early and I was excited because it was my first competition of the year after coming back from an injury.  It was really fun trying to get out and throw some tricks I hadn’t done in a while and to see all of these great people." 

For the men, American Aaron Durlester rounded out the men’s podium in third place. 

Men
1. Andrew Longino (CAN)
2. Jon Sallinen (FIN)
3. Aaron Durlester (USA)

Women
1. Zoe Atkin (GBR)
2. Amy Fraser (CAN)
3. Riley Jacobs (USA)

On day two of freeski competition, Zoe extended her winning streak to three. “Everyone killed it these last two days,” said Zoe. “I had such a great time and it was a really great competition.” 

Also, Amy Fraser was ecstatic to be at Copper Mountain. “I’m stoked to come away happy and healthy,” said Amy. “It’s so rad that Copper has their pipe open and running so early in the season and holds these events for us. I’m stoked to be down here skiing in the USA.” 

For the men, Americans Lennon Vaughan and Tristan Feinberg finished in second and third respectively. Andrew Longino won the event for the second day in a row. 

“I’m super-stoked to stand on the podium two days in a row,” said Andrew. “I’ve never gotten to do that. This is actually my first Rev Tour podium in my life so it’s awesome, and after two beautiful days of skiing, I’m super happy to be out here with all my friends at an all-around a great weekend at Copper."

Men
1. Andrew Longino (CAN)
2. Lennon Vaughan (USA)
3. Tristan Feinberg (USA)

Women
1. Zoe Atkin (GBR) 
2. Rachael Anderson (CAN)
3. Amy Fraser (CAN)

The next Rev Tour stop will be at Mammoth Mountain Ski Area Feb. 4-9 for slopestyle, halfpipe, and big air competition. 

FULL RESULTS
 

Snowy conditions paired with gusts of wind didn’t deter a high level of competition from snowboarders competing in the halfpipe at China’s Genting Secret Garden with U.S. Snowboard team member Maddie Mastro making her second podium of the season, coming in third alongside Chinese team members Cai Xuetong in second and Jiayu Liu in first. 

"It was a challenging day for me, but I'm always happy to land on the podium," said Maddie. "I wasn't able to put down the run I wanted, but that's okay though. The pipe was really good - there was on and off weather and snow, but that didn't slow down any of the riders. I'm excited for the next contest."

Maddie, who became the first woman to land a double crippler in a competition last season during the U.S. Open, was looking to be the first to land the trick in a World Cup competition, but after two attempts, she scaled back to a single crippler to cinch the third-place spot. 

On the men’s side, Ryan Wachendorfer was the top finisher for the U.S. Snowboard Team coming in sixth followed by Chase Blackwell in ninth. 

Next stop for World Cup halfpipe athletes in the New year will be the Laax Open Jan. 13-18, 2020.

TRICK LIST
Jiayu Liu - switch backside air, Haakonflip 720 mute, frontside 540 stalefish, backside 540 mute, frontside 720 stalefish

Cai Xuetong - fronstside 540 melon, backside 540 mute, air-to-fakie melon, cab 720 stalefish, frontside 900 mute, backside air

Maddie Mastro - backside air, frontside 540 stalefish, backside 540 mute, frontside 720 frontside grab, Haakonflip 720 stalefish, crippler.

RESULTS
Women's Results
Men's Results
 

The men struggled with low visibility and snowy course conditions at the FIS Ski World Cup giant slalom in Alta Badia, Italy, with Ryan Cochran-Siegle and Tommy Ford leading the way for the Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team in 19th and 20th, respectively.

With multiple podiums in Alta Badia under his belt, Henrik Kristoffersen of Norway finally took his first win on the famed Gran Risa. Frenchman Cyprien Sarrazin put down a blazing fast second run and skiing from bib 35 (and 22nd place first run!) to second. Zan Kranjec of Slovenia was third.

After days of heavy snowfall throughout Europe caused a shortened super-G on Friday and canceled Saturday’s downhill in Val Gardena, the men hoped for better conditions in Alta Badia for the tech events. But while the snow had let up slightly overnight, the morning proved a different animal with the men waking up to more dumping snow.

“They were able to inject a little bit last night and it felt like it was going to be pretty good in sections, but it rotted and the snow was pretty crummy,” said Tommy, who recently won the giant slalom in Beaver Creek, Colo. “It was hard to finish turns and keep a clean edge. It was a rattle ride the whole way down both runs.”

It was rough for all the World Cup men, with plenty of DNFs and many not able to maintain their first run results due to course conditions. But Ryan looked at it as a learning experience.

“Personally, I haven’t been skiing a lot of GS. I feel fine about (the result)—not overly enthusiastic, but not too down by any means. Tommy and I both want more and know we can have more, but it takes a bit of executing on race day,” said Ryan. “Moving forward, we’re trying to learn from how we can ski better in these conditions. They are challenging conditions, but also not the norm on the World Cup.”

River Radamus and Brian McLaughlin started, but did not qualify for a second run. Ted Ligety was in the podium-hunt first run, but got a little off-balance over a roller, causing him to miss a gate and DNF.

Next up, the men ski a parallel giant slalom on Monday on the Gran Risa. “It’s always a pleasure to be in Alta Badia, whether it’s in these kinds of conditions or not,” said Tommy good-naturedly. “Now we’re preparing for tomorrow—the parallel event. Should be pretty good!”

RESULTS
Men’s Giant Slalom

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Official event hashtags: #swcaltabadia #granrisa (Alta Badia)

HOW TO WATCH 
All times EST

Sunday, Dec. 22
7:30 p.m. - Men's giant slalom, Alta Badia, ITA - NBCSN (replay)

Monday, Dec. 23
9:00 a.m. - Men’s parallel giant slalom qualifying, Alta Badia, ITA - Olympic Channel.com, NBC Sports Gold
12:00 p.m - Men’s parallel giant slalom, Alta Badia, ITA - Olympic Channel, Olympic Channel.com, NBC Sports Gold

*Same-day 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

The Davis U.S. Cross Country Ski Team women’s team of Julia Kern and Sophie Caldwell finished fifth in the team sprint in Planica, Slovenia Sunday. The men’s team of Kevin Bolger and Logan Hanneman finished seventh. 

Qualifying began with similar conditions the athletes faced during Saturday’s individual sprint - rain and wet snow surfaces. But by the time the finals were underway, the rain had changed to heavy wet snow, which resulted in challenging conditions and significantly slower lap times.

The FIS Cross Country World Cup season continues with the first event of the 14th edition of the FIS Cross-Country Tour de Ski, a 10k freestyle mass start for the women, and a 15k freestyle mass start for the men Saturday, Dec. 28 in Lenzerheide, Switzerland.

RESULTS
Women’s freestyle team sprint
Men’s freestyle team sprint

Unfortunately, due to strong winds and heavy snowfall, the jury together with the organizing committee at Val d'Isere France decided to cancel the women's downhill.

On Saturday, due to weather, the women's downhill was cancelled then pushed to Sunday to replace the alpine combined. With a weather pattern coming in to Val d'Isere forecasted to bring over one meter of snow, the organizers were uncertain but hopeful about the rescheduled race on Sunday. In the end, it proved to be too unsafe to hold a fair race, and the entire series has been cancelled. It is unclear when and where the races will be scheduled, but stay tuned for more information. 

Current FIS Ski World Cup leader Mikaela Shiffrin had opted out of the weekend's races to train and focus on tech events for the upcoming Lienz, Austria giant slalom and slalom races on Dec. 28-29, which⁠—once again⁠—proved to be the right decision for more reasons than one. Not only did she get some valuable training in, but Mikaela maintains her lead in the overall by 165 points over Italy's Federica Brignone. And, so it seems, Mikaela even wins when it comes to the weather. 

Up next for the women will be the tech series in Lienz, while Alice McKennis and the speed women have a break over the holidays and will return to action in Altenmarkt-Zauchensee on Jan. 11-12 with a downhill and an alpine combined. 

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Official event hashtags: #swcaltabadia #granrisa (Alta Badia)

HOW TO WATCH 
All times EST

Sunday, Dec. 22
3:30 a.m. - Men’s giant slalom run 1, Alta Badia, ITA - Olympic Channel.com, NBC Sports Gold
7:00 a.m. - Men’s giant slalom run 1, Alta Badia, ITA - Olympic Channel, Olympic Channel.com, NBC Sports Gold

Monday, Dec. 23
9:00 a.m. - Men’s parallel giant slalom qualifying, Alta Badia, ITA - Olympic Channel.com, NBC Sports Gold
12:00 p.m - Men’s parallel giant slalom, Alta Badia, ITA - Olympic Channel, Olympic Channel.com, NBC Sports Gold

*Same-day 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.

The future venue of the 2021 Freeski World Championships and the Beijing 2022 Olympic Games, The Secret Garden halfpipe proved to be favorable to the U.S. men who took four of the top-five finishes with Aaron Blunck and Lyman Currier on the podium in second and third, respectively.  It was a close one, but it was the cleanest run of the day that took the top spot with Canadian Noah Bowman in first place.

“It was a great experience over here," said Aaron clearly riding high from a good day. "Getting to ski in China is something I never thought I would do so the whole week I was just stoked to be out here. To get on the podium was just the cherry on top. It’s going to be a great venue for 2022.” 

After a rough first couple of runs, Aaron laced it all together on his final run landing him back on the podium.

For Lyman, getting back on the podium has been a long time coming following an ACL injury in 2014 but the hard work and dedication are paying off.

“It felt so surreal to get back on the podium after multiple seasons of trying to get back to where I was," said Lyman. "I finally feel like I found my confidence again and can put all the doubts that were in the back of my mind behind me. I’m so stoked with how I skied and I’m working to ski even better."

U.S. Freeski members Birk Irving, Jaxin Hoerter and Taylor Seaton each pieced together an impressive run to round out fourth, fifth and sixth place respectively. Hunter Hess landed in eighth and rookie Samson Schuiling finished in tenth place. Meanwhile, on the women’s side, Devin Logan landed in sixth place.

Trick List
Bowman - right 360 stalefish, switch left dub 1080 safety, right 1080 tail, switch left 540 high safety, switch left dub 900 high safety

Blunck - switch left dub 900 japan, switch right dub 1080 japan, left dub flat 900 japan, right dub 1440, switch right ally-oop 720 high safety

Currier - switch left 720 truck, left dub 1260 safety, left dub 1260 mute, right 900 truck driver, left 900 tail, left ally-oop 720 nose grab

RESULTS
Men's Results
Women's Results
 

Alex Hall won his third-consecutive big air event at the Visa Big Air presented by Land Rover at SunTrust Park with a walk-off switch left double 1800 Buick. Not only did he land all three of his runs, but he finished off the night with the biggest score of the competition and locked in the freeski big air hat-trick. 

“It feels great to win three in a row, but I wasn’t thinking too much about the streak,” said Alex. “I was just out there skiing and having fun. It feels insane, especially how well everyone skied, and in front of such a big crowd, it was just special to be a part of it all. I think I can speak for everyone when I say we were having a ton of fun out there and just putting on a show for the people of Atlanta.” 

Earlier this season, Alex earned X Games Norway big air gold, the Modena, Italy, World Cup big air, and tonight, he locked in the victory in Atlanta, Ga. in front of an energetic and supportive crowd. The Atlanta crowd may not have ever witnessed anything like tonight’s event in SunTrust Park, but that didn’t stop them from erupting upon every stomped trick. 

Antoine Adellise of France finished in second and Teal Harle of Canada finished in third. 

For the women, U.S. Freeski Rookie Team member Marin Hamill was the top finisher in qualifiers for the Americans in eighth place just two spots out of the final. Teammates Rell Harwood finish in tenth place, Caroline Claire in 12th, and grace Henderson in 14th. In finals, Swiss freeskiers Mathilde Gremaud and Giulia Tanno earned first and second place, and Great Britain’s Isabel closed out the podium in third. 

The final FIS Freeski World Cup big air competition will take place in Destne, Czech Republic Feb. 28-29 which will serve as the final stop and crown the World Cup big air champions. 

RESULTS
Men’s freeski finals
Women’s freeski finals

TRICK LIST
MEN
Alex Hall: Left double 1620 Buick (Seatbelt & Cuban), Switch left double 1800 Buick.
Antoine Adelisse: Right triple 1620 Mute, Pre-grab switch triple 1440 Nose.
Teal Harle: Switch left double 1800 Mute, Left double 1620 tweaked Japan. 

WOMEN:
Mathilde Gremaud: Left double 1260 Safety, Right rodeo 900 Lead Tail.
Giulia Tanno: Left double 1080 Safety, Switch left 1080 Tail.
Isabel Atkin: RIght cork 900 Tail, Switch left 1080 Tail.

Press Conference Recording 

HOW TO WATCH
All times EST

FREESKI
Saturday, Dec. 21
7:00 p.m. - Visa Big Air Presented by Land Rover, Atlanta - NBCSN, NBCSports.com, NBC Sports Gold

Sunday, Dec. 22
3:00 p.m. - Visa Big Air Presented by Land Rover, Atlanta - NBC*

Julia Kern overcame challenging snow conditions, rain, and lightning delays to claim her first career World Cup Podium, finishing third Saturday in Planica, Slovenia. Sophie Caldwell was fourth. On the men’s side, Simi Hamilton led three Americans into the heats, finishing 12th, Kevin Bolger was 18th and Logan Hanneman was 25th. 

“The conditions were so crazy and I think that was so fun and amusing,” said Julia, who kept the podium streak going for the U.S. women with the fifth-straight top-three result. “It was weird to stand on the podium, honestly it didn’t feel real, but I am sure the feeling will kick in later.”

“It was so cool to see Julia get her first podium,” Sophie said. “I knew she was going to have a good one as soon as we saw the weather forecast because she’s one of the few people who are tough enough to actually enjoy adverse conditions. It was pouring rain all day long, so the trick to the day was figuring out how to stay warm and dry between races and how to warm up before races. The conditions felt a little surreal, and we even had a delay for a thunder and lightning storm, but I would say we made the best of it and I am just so proud of Julia.”

Julia qualified 20th and stormed into the heats, which were delayed midway through due to lightning and thunder. She won her crash-filled quarterfinal heat, moving into the lead from fifth position with a powerful V1 technique to skate away from the field. In the semifinals, she pulled the same move and again staked away from the field to take the win.

“I felt really good, especially on the V1 sections and into the finish,” she said.

Meanwhile, Sophie qualified fifth. She finished second in her quarterfinal heat and then advanced to the semifinals as one of the lucky losers. 

In the finals, Julia again found herself in fifth, right behind Sophie, with Sweden’s Stina Nilsson, who missed a stroke off the start, charging from the back and moving into the lead heading into the first climb. At the midway point of the race, it looked like Julia was gapped off the back, as Sophie battled for the inside line, almost running off of the snow, to move into third. But Julia dug deep to maintain contact and when Sweden’s Linn Svahn - last week’s sprint winner - fell after making contact with Sophie’s ski, it opened up the inside line for a clear sprint to the finish.

“I was really nervous the first half of the final, but then kicked into gear on the last hill,” Julia said. Sweden’s Jonna Sundling took the victory, with Stina rebounding from her poor start to finish second.

“Today was a really great day for our team,” Sophie said. “Also very cool to have all three men and two women qualify for the heats and have three in the semi and two in the final.”

With her third-place finish, Julia moved up to 25th in the overall World Cup standings. Jessie Diggins is the top Davis U.S. Cross Country Team member in third overall, Sadie Maubet Bjornsen is fourth, Sophie is 18th, and Rosie Brennan is 21st.

Up next, Julia and Sophie, and Simi and Kevin will team up for Sunday’s Team sprint. 

RESULTS
Women’s freestyle sprint
Men’s freestyle sprint

WORLD CUP STANDINGS
Women
Men

HOW TO WATCH
All times EST

Sunday, Dec. 22
5:00 a.m. - Men and women’s team sprint, Planica, SLO - Olympic Channel
6:30 p.m. - Men and women’s team sprint, Planica, SLO - NBCSN*

*Same-day broadcast