On another cold and beautiful day on the Saslong in Val Gardena, Italy, the Americans stacked three into the top six in the FIS Ski World Cup downhill, led by Bryce Bennett (Squaw Valley, Calif.) with a career-best fourth place - just off the podium by six hundredths. Fellow “Twin Tower” Steven Nyman (Sundance, Utah) was fifth, followed by Travis Ganong (Squaw Valley, Calif.) in sixth. The American downhillers showed their depth, as the United States was the only nation to have three men finish inside the top 10. 

The track was perfect, and the snow was dry, buff and consistent - a little reminiscent of Colorado snow. The vibe was good from the start of the day, as the men were greeted by a nine-piece band outside of the Alpino Plan, a cherished Val Gardena race tradition, where they start at the hotel, making the rounds in town, and ending in the athlete team hospitality at the resort. Norway was once again victorious, with the Attacking Viking Aleksander Aamodt Kilde skiing a blazing fast run and winning by nearly one second, ahead of Austria’s Max Franz.

Nyman came down bib 12 and skied into third place, but his “Twin Tower” teammate Bennett came down bib 14 into third place just three hundredths faster, pushing Nyman into fourth. It looked like the podium was going to stick, but then the Swiss Beat Feuz snuck into third place ahead of Bennett by a mere six hundredths. With solid training runs under his belt and confidence to boot, Ganong came down bib 31 and skied into sixth place. Seven-hundredths separated Bennett and Ganong.

It’s been a solid and strong start for Bennett, who was 12th in Lake Louise, ninth in Beaver Creek - tied with Nyman, and fourth in Val Gardena. Just hundredths have separated he and Nyman, and they are now in a tie from a time differential standpoint. It’s a tie on the year for the Twin Tower time title, folks! "It was a solid run for me," Bennett reflected, "I'm pretty happy with it. I knew I could do well here. Obviously I wanted to do a little bit better, and I knew I was capable of that. This is for sure my favorite downhill, and one that I know I can perform my best on, with my skillset. But, I'm happy with the day. I'll take it!"

Though he had a couple of minor mistakes, Nyman - who was out with two different knee injuries for much of the last two seasons - was happy with the performance, "...for the most part, I skied the way I wanted to ski," he said. "The hill really shaped up. It was kind of soft and slow the first day, but the track got faster and faster and it's just great confidence builder here for me here. I love this hill...to be able to push for the win and know that I can compete for that top step is the reason I'm still racing. I'm really happy with the way I'm currently performing, I definitely can make steps forward...and my body is getting there. It's pretty cool to be so tight with Bryce right now." 

Ganong, who is also returning from a season-ending knee injury in Bormio last season, is feeling more and more comfortable on his skis. "We're showing that we have what it takes now," Ganong commented, "it's been a year or so of inconsistencies with the speed team. We're starting to get in our groove now and the pieces of our team are in a really good spot. Now having a solid team result like this will definitely help as we go into the next part of the season. For me, coming off my knee injury, I'm just stoked to be back racing and being able to be competitive. I feel like I'm skiing really relaxed, which is nice. The first couple of races I was nervous, I was scared about my knee, and now I'm just relaxing and enjoying skiing." 

Two more Americans stuck it into the top 30 from the back, including Tommy Biesemeyer (Keene, N.Y.), who went from bib 50 to 27th, and Wiley Maple (Aspen, Colo.) who skied from bib 53 to 28th.

The men will continue the pizza and pasta tour with a giant slalom on Sunday and a parallel giant slalom on Monday in Alta Badia.

RESULTS
Men’s Downhill

HOW TO WATCH
All times EST.
Preliminary schedule, subject to change
*Same-day delayed broadcast

Saturday, Dec. 15
8:00 p.m. - Men’s downhill - Val Gardena, ITA - NBCSN-TV*

Sunday, Dec. 16
3:45 a.m. - Giant slalom run 1 - Alta Badia, ITA - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
7:00 a.m. - Giant slalom run 2 - Alta Badia, ITA - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
6:00 p.m. - Giant slalom run 2 - Alta Badia, ITA - NBCSN-TV*

Monday, Dec. 17
12:00 p.m. - Men's parallel giant slalom - Alta Badia, ITA - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold

Fans can catch all the action in spectacular high definition via NBC Sports online atNBCSports.com/Live or through the NBC Sports app which is available on the iTunes App Store, Google Play, Windows Store, Roku Channel Store, Apple TV and Amazon Fire. Exclusive commercial-free coverage will be available for subscribers of the NBC Sports Gold Pass, available here: https://www.nbcsports.com/gold/snow.

It was a picture-perfect day for the FIS Freestyle World Cup moguls in Thaiwoo, China, and Jaelin Kauf (Alta, Wyo.) took full advantage, claiming victory with a 360 on the top air and a backflip and cross on the bottom. She shared the podium with Australia’s Jakara Anthony, who finished second, and France’s Perrine Laffont in third.

“I love this course. I love competing here. The moguls don’t get too beat up, they’re more ‘overlappy’ which I like and I’m able to just push my speed through and go big on the airs,” said Kauf, who has a history of success in Thaiwoo. Last season she finished first and second over two days of competitions.

“Jaelin is the queen of Thaiwoo," said Head Moguls Coach Matt Gnoza. "She had a smoke-show of a run in the first final but left a little on the landing. When she skied out of the gate for her second run she shut all the doors and had quite the outstanding performance. Jaelin put pressure on the woman in first and Jakara just couldn’t catch her.”

It’s hard to catch Kauf when she’s the fastest skier on the course, especially when the course is Thaiwoo and is known for being challenging. “Jaelin has the strength of being a skilled skier on top of her speed. She has the ability to charge through and some of the stuff that catches other skiers here in Thaiwoo but doesn’t catch her,” Gnoza added.

Three American women qualified for finals and Nessa Dziemian (East Hampstead, N.H.) created some momentum for herself with a seventh-place finish. This is her first top-10 finish since coming back from an ACL injury.

On the men’s side, Canada’s Mikael Kingsbury won his 51st career World Cup, Japan’s Ikuma Horishima finished second and Kazakhstan’s Dmitriy Reikherd finished third. Bradley Wilson (Butte, Mont.) returned to form in great fashion with a seventh place while not feeling one hundred percent. “Brad came out and competed to seventh place on one day of training and no inspections from being sick in bed. He just saddled up and went, it was a gutsy performance. He’s a warrior to not let that sickness get him,” said Gnoza.

Another notable finish for the men was Hunter Bailey (Vail, Colo.) who finished 14th. “Hunter did his job today cutting his bib number in half by making finals. This positive momentum will carry over throughout the season,” noted Gnoza.

The World Cup moguls fun continues in Thaiwoo, China, on Sunday with dual moguls. “It’s going to be a fun day tomorrow. Jaelin just unhooked the dog from the chain, giving her serious momentum going into duals. Brad is a duals animal and will be healthier tomorrow. Those two are going to be tough to beat!” said Gnoza.

“I’m really excited for duals," said Kauf, who now has five World Cup victories. "I love duals and seems like forever since I’ve skied them. Finishing today with a win feels amazing and I’m super stoked going into tomorrow."

RESULTS
Women’s moguls
Men’s moguls

HOW TO WATCH
All times EST.
Preliminary schedule, subject to change

Sunday, Dec. 16
12:20 a.m. - Men and women’s dual moguls, Thaiwoo, CHN - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
12:30 a.m. - Men and women’s dual moguls, Thaiwoo, CHN - Olympic Channel-TV

The day started with a love, hate, relationship with the modified superpipe for freeskiers on day two of the Dew Tour in Breckenridge, Colorado. But by the end of the day, Devin Logan (West Dover, Vt.) showed some slopestyle love to court a third-place finish.

“I definitely think I had a little bit of an advantage with all the slopestyle skiing I have done over the years with this modified pipe,” said Logan. “You have the natural pipe in there, but playing with the tombstones and the regular jump landings cater to a slopestyle background. I think my experience helped and we had a lot of fun. I’m stoked to land on the podium.”

Canadians Rachel Karker and Cassie Sharpe finished in first and second respectively. Karker echoed logan statements. “I skied slope for the majority of my skiing career,” she said. “I think the weird angles were a lot easier to handle having some jump experience.”

U.S. Freeski Team members Brita Sigourney (Carmel, Calif.) finished just outside the podium in fourth putting down a very stylish run followed by U.S. Rookie Team members Abigale Hansen (June Lake, Calif.) and Svea Irving (Winter Park, Colo.) in fifth in sixth respectively.

The ladies snowboard slopestyle program followed suit with an exciting contest. U.S. Snowboard Team member and Olympian Julia Marino (Westport, Conn.) finished second, claiming her first ever Dew Tour podium. As this is a non-Olympic year and Dew Tour did not need to serve as a qualifier, there was more flexibility with competition format. Dew Tour organizers chose to divide the slopestyle competition into a jumps and rails, essentially creating two contests for slopestyle athletes and making for a long day on the hill. Luckily the weather was beautiful and the riders pushed the sport once again.

“I actually prefer the rails and jumps all being part of one run,” said Marino. “But this was a nice change, the weather was beautiful and that’s the most important thing. As competitive snowboarders, we always adapt to whatever situation we are given. It was a long day and we are all really tired and it’s a relief it’s over. At the beginning, it was really hard, but I think after a couple practices we all adjusted. This is my first Dew Tour podium so I’m pretty hyped!”

PyeongChang big air gold medalist Anna Gasser of Austria topped the podium and Finland’s Enni Rukajarvi finished in third. In the jumps section, double-gold medalist Jamie Anderson (S. Lake Tahoe, Calif.) made her three-jump combination look stylish and effortless. However, Anderson needed a bit more technicality to compete with Gasser who was firing on all cylinders, linking a backside double cork 1080 and a switch double underflip. Gasser was also the first female snowboarder to land a cab triple underflip in Stubai, Austria this fall.

Anderson looked to step up to Gasser with a double underflip 900 and frontside double cork 1080 combination, but unfortunately, she slid out the last 180 of her 1080 rotation putting her in second leading into the rails competition. Marino finished fourth in the rails section landing her first run but struggling with the backside 720 on her next two runs. Gasser did not slow down though, adding a frontside 900 to the last jump of her final run solidifying her position. In the jumps section, It was Gasser, Norwegian Silje Norendal and Anderson in the top three spots moving into the rails section of the slopestyle program.

Anderson showed her rail prowess right off the bat with a strong run, but it was Marino who would lead the way. Marino started her rail run very smooth with full presses and good speed. She upped the difficulty on her final run landing her in second-place at the end of the rails competition. Enni Rukajarvi from Finland finished first, Marino in second, and Spencer O’Brien from Canada finished in third to close out the rails competition. Marino’s rail performance would put her in second-place overall to finish the slopestyle competition.

As Marino was wrapping up the post-competition press conference, her eye caught Finnish snowboarder Rene Rinnekangas dropping into the modified pipe to kick off the snowboard team challenge competition on a TV in the Dew Tour Press Center. Marino’s excitement for the sport of snowboarding was incredibly refreshing as she spoke out during in a lull in the press conference exclaiming, “Rene is the definition of what it means to be a snowboarder and I love watching him ride. He just has so much fun.” Marino’s statement serves as a reminder that all these athletes are also true fans of the sport.

The team challenge proved to be a great show. Team DC grabbed the win led by Toby Miller (Mammoth, Calif.) in the modified superpipe, the Capita Team took second with U.S. Snowboard Team members Chase Josey (Sun Valley, Idaho) in the modified halfpipe and Nikolas Baden (Steamboat Springs, Colo.) on the slopestyle jumps, while Team Rome took third.

“I’m feeling great to walk away with a win with Team DC,” said Miller. “It's really cool to have this aspect of snowboarding. It’s an individual sport so if you don’t do well, you are the only one who suffers. In the team challenge, if you don’t do well your whole team comes down with you. Mons and Sebbe both had amazing runs to seal the deal for us. My mentality was you have to have creativity and fun and utilize the course, but at the same time, I wanted to make sure I did my traditional halfpipe tricks. I ended up taking second and Chase Josey won with an insane run”

As Miller referenced, there was no lack of creativity and style in the modified superpipe part of the team challenge with Miller throwing a lawn dart front flip on the first feature and Josey with a switch method and a disaster on the coping to close out his run. Not to mention Baden showing full control in the jumps section.

“This is just such a unique and cool course,” said Josey. “It reminds me of Danny Davis’ Peace Park. It’s fun to find new lines and honestly watch everyone else is a good time.”

The last competition of the day would take place right off Main Street under the lights with the snowboard and freeski streetstyle competition. After earning the top score in the Team Challenge Jibs competition for Faction yesterday, Alex Hall (Park City, Utah) clinched the first place finish in his second of three Dew Tour competitions this weekend. Teammate Colby Stevenson (Park City, Utah) claimed second-place. For the snowboarders, Brandon Davis (Mammoth Lakes, Calif.) finished third.

“The course had a good speed, dope rails, and was pretty fun!” said Hall. “I’m in the individual competition tomorrow so I came out just wanting to have fun. It’s so fun skiing with all of our friends and we all just feed off each other to go bigger.”

It was an amazing day two at Dew Tour for U.S. Ski & Snowboard athletes. Saturday’s schedule including men’s snowboard modified superpipe as well as men’s freeski slopestyle.

A total of six hours of Winter Dew Tour coverage will air on NBC and NBCSN, with DewTour.com live streaming all finals through Sunday, Dec. 16. All finals will stream live on Facebook, Periscope, Twitch, Daily Motion, Youtube, TWSnow.com, Newschoolers.com, Powder.com, adventuresportsnetwork.com, and Snowboarder.com.  The new Dew Tour app will also exclusively offer live scoring in addition to the live stream.

TRICK LIST

Ladies Freeski Modified Halfpipe
1. Rachel Karker: Left Alley-Oop 360 Mute, Left Flair Mute, Right Flair, Left 900 Safety, Straight Air Tail, Left 720 Safety.

2. Cassie Sharpe: Backflip, Left 900 Tail, Right 900 Safety, Left Flair, Carve, Straight Air, Right 360.

3. Devin Logan: Left Alley-Oop 360 Safety, Straight Air Mute, Right Flair, Left 540 Japan, Right 540 Japan, Left 540, Switch Left Alley-Oop 540.

Ladies Snowboard Slopestyle

JUMPS
Anna Gasser - 96.67 -  Cab Underflip 900 Mute, Cackside Corked 1080 Melon, Frontside 900 melon

Jamie Anderson - 86.33 - Backside Indy 540, Cab Underflip 900 Mute, Lightly Scrubbed Frontside 1080 Mute

Silje Norendal - 85.33 - Cab 900 Melon, Backside 720 Mute, Frontside Rodeo Indy 720

RAILS
Enni Rukajarvi - 92.00 - 50-50 Back 360, Front Board 270, Switch Back 180 Bump, 50-50 180 Out, Switch Lipslide to 50-50 to 180 Out

Julia Marino - 90.00 -  Lip Slide 270 Out, Front Boardslide Fakie, Half Cab Bump, Gap to Lipslide, 50-50 Frontside 360

Spencer O’Brien - 84.00 - 50-50 to Front Board out of the Stanley Rail, Backside Lipslide, Backside 50-50 to Frontside 360 out, Noseslide Pretzel 270 out of the Mountain Dew Rainbow feature.

OVERALL
Anna Gasser - 177.67
Julia Marino - 170.66
Enni Rukajarvi - 169.67

RESULTS
Women’s freeski modified superpipe
Women’s snowboard slopestyle
Snowboard Team Challenge

HOW TO WATCH
*Subject to change
All times in EST

Saturday, Dec. 29
4:00 p.m. - Dew Tour Show, Breckenridge, Colo. - NBC

Sunday, Dec. 30
5:00 p.m. - Dew Tour Show, Breckenridge, Colo. - NBC

Thursday, Jan. 3
11:00 p.m. -  Dew Tour Show, Breckenridge, Colo. - NBCSN

Tuesday, Jan. 8
11:30 p.m. - Dew Tour Show, Breckenridge, Colo. - NBCSN

EVENT SCHEDULE
*Subject to change
All times in MST

FREESKI
Saturday, Dec 15
12:00 p.m. – 1:15 p.m. - Men’s slopestyle jump finals
1:45 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. - Men’s slopestyle jib finals

Sunday, Dec. 16
9:15 a.m. – 10:15 a.m. - Men’s modified superpipe final presented by Toyota

SNOWBOARD
Saturday, Dec 15
10:30 p.m. – 11:30 p.m. - Men’s modified superpipe final presented by Toyota

Sunday, Dec. 16
10:45 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.- Women’s modified superpipe final presented by Toyota
12:00 p.m. – 1:15 p.m. - Men’s slopestyle jump final
1:45 p.m.  – 3:00 p.m. - Men’s slopestyle jib final

U.S. Ski & Snowboard, the Olympic National Governing Body (NGB) of ski and snowboard sports in the USA, welcomes the decision announced Friday, December 14, by the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) to back Salt Lake City as a possible future Olympic Winter Games destination.

“The possibility of having a future Olympic Winter Games in the USA is incredibly exciting,” said Tiger Shaw, President and CEO of U.S. Ski & Snowboard. “Colorado and Utah have created many of the world’s best athletes in our sports and both have been very supportive in hosting world-class events. We are very appreciative of the passion and commitment from both states, Denver and Salt Lake City, and those propelling the bids. Naturally, we are excited that U.S. Ski & Snowboard’s home state of Utah is the home of the USOC’s chosen bid city of Salt Lake City. The 2002 Salt Lake City Olympic Legacy Foundation, Utah Sports Commission and generous citizens have kept current and grown the Olympic venues, providing exceptional development opportunities for Olympic hopefuls. This impact will only grow with an Olympic bid. 

“This news also raises excitement levels even higher about the forthcoming 2019 FIS Snowboard, Freestyle and Freeski World Championships, taking place in Utah in February 2019,” Shaw continued. “Those events will include a number of sports that will make their FIS World Championships debut ahead of their first appearance at an Olympic Winter Games in Beijing, 2022, and the opportunity to showcase how ready Utah is to stage world-class snowsports competitions just raises the stakes even higher for the events that will take place from February 1 to 10, 2019. This is truly an incredible time to be part of the winter sports community in the USA!”

About U.S. Ski & Snowboard
U.S. Ski & Snowboard is the Olympic National Governing Body (NGB) of ski and snowboard sports in the USA, based in Park City, Utah. Tracing its roots directly back to 1905, the organization represents nearly 200 elite skiers and snowboarders in 2018, competing in seven teams; alpine, cross country, freeski, freestyle, snowboard, nordic combined and ski jumping. In addition to the elite teams, U.S. Ski & Snowboard also provides leadership and direction for tens of thousands of young skiers and snowboarders across the USA, encouraging and supporting them in achieving excellence. By empowering national teams, clubs, coaches, parents, officials, volunteers and fans, U.S. Ski & Snowboard is committed to the progression of its sports, athlete success and the value of team. For more information, visit www.usskiandsnowboard.org 

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Tom Webb
Director of Marketing and Communications
tom.webb@usskiandsnowboard.org

The second World Cup stop for the U.S. Moguls Team in Thaiwoo, China, is double the fun, with two days of events: moguls and dual moguls Dec. 15-16.

There is no better place for what will be the only opportunity for these athletes to compete back to back events before World Championships in Utah in February 2019. Thaiwoo built a venue just for moguls: it has its own lift, lodge, and snowmaking system. Each night the resort turns on the snow guns to give the course a fresh covering of snow, making landings ideal for moguls competition.

Coming off of a successful first World Cup event in Ruka, Finland, the team is ready to get back in the start gates. “I’m really pumped about this weekend’s competition in China. After finishing third in Ruka I’m going in with a lot of confidence while making sure to stay present and focused on the task at hand. I’ve always loved skiing this course so it should be a fun time!” said Tess Johnson (Vail, Colo.). “This course has a reputation of having a really tight rhythm of moguls which definitely suits my style of skiing.”

The strategy going into a two-event competition weekend is different than your average World Cup event. The team has focused on quality over quantity during their training days. “It will be important to conserve energy going into a two-day competition. In order to reach the podium, athletes will need to perform in three mogul runs on Day One and four to six dual mogul runs on Day Two. It will be important to still have fuel in the tank towards the end of the dual mogul competition so they can push the limits with their speed. The competition will be a great warm-up for the World Championships at Deer Valley in February,” explains Head Moguls Coach Matt Gnoza.

When asked about strategy for two days of competition, Casey Andringa (Boulder, Colo.), explains, “Two days of competing isn’t much different than one honestly. You’re still going out there and giving it every single thing you can each of those days. The tricky part is just recovering mentally and physically the night before and keeping that hype up for the next day no matter what went on during Day One.”

A clean exit from the top air will be a key to success for the Thaiwoo course as it will set the tone for the rest of the run. The Thaiwoo course is built uniform and each of the four lines are very consistent. Athletes will have to choose a line that best suits their exit turn to maximize scores. The long middle section will allow skiers to stand tall and show off their carving, absorption and quiet upper body position.

Competing in China presents its own unique cultural challenges. “We have a few athletes that have been here multiple times so they have been showing some of the rookies the ropes. As a team, we get more familiar with Chinese culture each year. This will be our third trip to Thaiwoo, so by the time 2022 comes around we will have everything figured out,” explains Gnoza.

The moguls team has historically had success in China. Last season five U.S. athletes finished in the top 10, Jaelin Kauf (Alta, Wyo.) took first and second over two days of competitions. Bradley Wilson (Park City, Utah) finished third in 2016. Kauf and Wilson both excel in Dual Moguls, anticipate a strong showing from them on Dec. 16. Johnson will look to build on her success from Ruka last week. “Tess won a dual event at the end of last season so she seems to be getting on a roll as she climbs the ranks of the World Cup Tour,” said Gnoza. Other athletes to watch will be Olivia Giaccio (Redding, Conn.), who has made the necessary adjustment in her run during training to put her in a good position for a podium, and Andringa, who will look to qualify in a higher position in the early rounds to set him up for success during super finals.  

“I’m fired up to be in China right now. Ruka was a good start to the season, did my stock tricks and had some mistakes but still got in that top 10,” says Andringa. “I can’t wait to start putting some grabs in my run and to keep cutting my bib number down each event!”

Starters
Women
Jaelin Kauf
Tess Johnson
Olivia Giaccio
Ali Kariotis
Nessa Dziemian
Alex Jenson

Men
Bradley Wilson
Casey Andringa
Dylan Walczyk
Jesse Andringa
Hunter Bailey
Jack Kariotis

HOW TO WATCH
All times EST.
Preliminary schedule, subject to change

Saturday, Dec. 15
12:20 a.m. - Men and women’s moguls, Thaiwoo, CHN - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
12:30 a.m. - Men and women’s moguls, Thaiwoo, CHN - Olympic Channel-TV

Sunday, Dec. 16
12:20 a.m. - Men and women’s dual moguls, Thaiwoo, CHN - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
12:30 a.m. - Men and women’s dual moguls, Thaiwoo, CHN - Olympic Channel-TV

On a cold Friday in Val Gardena, Italy, under blue skies and sunshine, the Attacking Vikings Aksel Lund Svindal and Kjetil Jansrud sandwiched Italy’s Christof Innerhofer in impressive fashion, while three Americans snuck into the top 30 to grab FIS Ski World Cup super-G points.  

Running bib six, Innerhofer had determination in his eyes, coming across the finish line with a 1.00-second advantage and skiing so fast it seemed almost impossible to beat. However, 36-year-old veteran Svindal proved the racehorse that he is once again, sneaking ahead of Innerhofer by just five hundredths to take the lead and grab his first World Cup victory of the season. A highlight of the day, and the “bibo award” recipient, France’s Johan Clarey rocketed from bib 50 to finish just off the podium in fourth place.

The Americans have an on-hill partnership with the Norwegians, Norway’s head coach, Christian Mitter said in his course report to the guys, “There are two different types of skiers down here – the ones who pretend to want to ski fast, and those who want to ski fast.” His report was spot on to the big guy Svindal, and they capitalized with that on a course where skiing the terrain rather than over-skiing the course was key.

Travis Ganong (Squaw Valley, Calif.) was the best American finisher on the day, landing in 24th, followed by Steven Nyman who jumped from bib 64 to land in the points in 26th, and Ryan Cochran-Siegle (Starksboro, Vt.) in 29th. Nyman, who has won three times on Saslong in downhill, continues to look comfortable on the track, and both he and Ganong are gaining confidence with each journey down the mountain as they return from knee injuries sustained during the 2018 season.

“It was OK...big mistake in the Ciaslot section," Ganong reflected after his run. "I’m getting back into the rhythm now and looking forward to tomorrow. With every run, I’m relearning how to find race speed again. For me, the main thing right now is finding that comfort on the track.”

Cochran-Siegle continues to show strength and depth in his three-discipline skiing, grabbing points in five of seven starts across three disciplines – downhill, super-G and giant slalom – so far this season. “There was some good skiing, but I over-skied a couple of sections that cost me quite a bit of time,” said Cochran-Siegle. “The snow is really good and the terrain was fun to ski. The weather shaped up to be really nice, so it’s always a lot of fun racing. It was enjoyable to ski, I just need to look for a little more speed.”

Cochran-Siegle will look ahead to Sunday’s giant slalom at Alta Badia, feeling strong in training this week at the new men’s team training base in Folgaria, Italy. “I have a lot of confidence. We adjusted some things in Folgaria after Val d’Isere giant slalom, and I think I just need to ski a consistent run all the way down and I can be in there. Just doing my best and keeping it locked in all the way through.”

The men will now shift their focus to the big show tomorrow – downhill – led by “King of the Saslong” Nyman, who has won three times in Val Gardena. “To hold the record [of four wins on this track] with Franz Klammer and Kristian Ghedina would be huge, but the true King of the Saslong is my technician, Leo Mussi. He also was the technician for Ghedina, and he’s won four times while I’ve won three times, so I can never catch up to him [Leo Mussi],” Nyman commented with a big grin.

The men will continue the pizza and pasta tour with a downhill - the headliner event of the weekend - on Saturday in Val Gardena, followed by giant slalom on Sunday in Alta Badia. 

RESULTS
Men’s super-G

HOW TO WATCH
All times EST.
Preliminary schedule, subject to change
*Same-day delayed broadcast

Saturday, Dec. 15
5:30 a.m. - Men’s downhill - Val Gardena, ITA - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
8:00 p.m. - Men’s downhill - Val Gardena, ITA - NBCSN-TV*

Sunday, Dec. 16
3:45 a.m. - Giant slalom run 1 - Alta Badia, ITA - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
7:00 a.m. - Giant slalom run 2 - Alta Badia, ITA - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
6:00 p.m. - Giant slalom run 2 - Alta Badia, ITA - NBCSN-TV*

Monday, Dec. 17
12:00 p.m. - Men's parallel giant slalom - Alta Badia, ITA - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold

Fans can catch all the action in spectacular high definition via NBC Sports online atNBCSports.com/Live or through the NBC Sports app which is available on the iTunes App Store, Google Play, Windows Store, Roku Channel Store, Apple TV and Amazon Fire. Exclusive commercial-free coverage will be available for subscribers of the NBC Sports Gold Pass, available here: https://www.nbcsports.com/gold/snow.
 

The three-run women’s freeski slopestyle final kicked off the Dew Tour with great performances from all the athletes Thursday at Breckenridge, Colo. U.S Freeski Pro Team member Maggie Voisin (Whitefish, Mont.) finished third with a great run, including a massive left rodeo 900 mute.

“I am super, super excited,” said Voisin. “My strategy was to put down a strong run on both the jumps and rails section and fortunately I was able to do that. Thinking back five years ago today on my 15th birthday I got my first Dew Tour podium. I’m happy to be back up there five years later.”

In order to podium Voisin had to fend off an all-star field including Swiss PyeongChang slopestyle gold and silver medalists Sarah Hoefflin and Mathilde Gremaud. However, it was Estonian Kelly Sildaru finishing in first-place and French skier Tess Ledeux in second-place this time around.

In the jumps competition, the ladies came out and set the bar high. Sildaru landed back to back switch 1080s in different directions, as well as Ledeux landing a left double cork 1080. Voisin held back on unleashing the left double cork 1260 which she landed at the Stubai, Austria, World Cup in slopestyle, but still laced together a solid jumps section.

The rails section results mirrored the jump section with Slidaru leading the way followed by Ledeux, and Voisin in second and third respectively. The level of skiing continued to impress in run one Voisin stayed smooth throughout the entirety of a very large and challenging rails section. Highlights included Sildaru’s front swap pretzel 450 and Ledeux’s switch on 450 out.

“Where women’s freeskiing is going right now is so unbelievably exciting,” said Voisin. “It’s so fun to be a part of and is an honor to be right alongside these ladies pushing the sport.”

Voisin and Sildaru also shared their thoughts on the significance of this season with the 2019 FIS Snowboard, Freestyle and Freeski World Championships right around the corner Feb. 1- 10 in Park City, Utah.

“I am very excited to have the World Championships back in the states and even more importantly in Park City,” said Voisin. “I have been living in Park City for the best six winters, so it’s definitely a home away from home. It’s going to be a really big event and fun to watch”

Sildaru also commented on her excitement to compete in her first ever World Championships. “I have never competed in the real world championships, so I am really looking forward heading to Park City,” she said referring to her experience at the Junior World Championships.
 

U.S. Ski & Snowboard athletes also had a hand in the Team Challenge competition which consists of a modified superpipe, jumps and rails competition with one athlete representing the team in each discipline. Sochi Olympic silver medalist Gus Kenworthy (Telluride, Colo.) delivered in the final competition of the challenge to get Team Atomic the win. Team Faction came in second and Team Head in third with the help of 2018 U.S Toyota Grand Prix winner Aaron Blunck (Crested Butte, Colo.).

“It feels amazing to win the team challenge for Atomic,” said Kenworthy. “It was a long day that started with modified pipe, but Miguel absolutely killed it for us an took the lead. Then Fabian secured our lead even further by putting down a score in the 90s in the jump section and it kind of took the pressure off me a little bit. I definitely didn’t want to be the weakest link, but I knew we had a strong lead and I needed to just put down a good run. It was a really fun day and we had a great squad.”

Team Faction came second which included U.S. Freeski Pro Team member Alex Hall (Park City, Utah) and U.S. Rookie Team member Mac Forehand (Winhall, Vt.), who recently grabbed a podium at the Stubai, Austria, slopestyle World Cup.

“It feels crazy to contribute to a podium for Faction today,” said Forehand. “I never put down my run that well in practice and I’m so happy to finally land my full run. I have never done a run that well in my life. It was amazing skiing with Team Faction and representing the U.S. Freeski Team.”

Teammate Hall dubbed Forehand a “podium junky” as he’s found himself standing atop podiums in both slopestyle contests he’s competed in this season. It was a great day one at the Dew Tour. Stay tuned as U.S. Ski & Snowboard athletes tee off in women’s freeski modified superpipe, women’s snowboard slopestyle, the snowboard team challenge, and the snowboard streestyle competition.

A total of six hours of Winter Dew Tour coverage will air on NBC and NBCSN, with DewTour.com live streaming all finals through Sunday, Dec. 16. All finals will stream live on Facebook, Periscope, Twitch, Daily Motion, Youtube, TWSnow.com, Newschoolers.com, Powder.com, adventuresportsnetwork.com, and Snowboarder.com.  The new Dew Tour app will also exclusively offer live scoring in addition to the livestream.
 

TRICK LISTS
Ladies Freeski Slopestyle

1. Kelly Sildaru:
Jumps: Right 900 Tail, Switch Right 1080 Mute, Switch Left 1080 Mute.
Rails: Front Swap Pretzel 450, k-fed, 360 Nose Drag, Front 270, Switch 270 pretzel 450.

2. Tess Ledeux:
Jumps: Switch Left Bio 900 Mute, Right Cork 720 Tail, Left Double Cork 1080 Safety.
Rails: K-fed, Slide to Switch (wall ride), Switch 180, Slide to Switch, Switch on Front 450 Out.

3. Maggie Voisin:
Jumps: Right 900 Tail, Switch Left 900 Mute, Left Rodeo 900 Mute.
Rails: Switch Left 270 to Forward, Left 270 on, 360, Disaster to Forward, Back Swap Continuing 270.

Modified Superpipe Team Challenge
1. Miguel Porteous: Switch Right Alley-Oop 540 Safety, Right Double Cork 1260 Mute, Left 900 Tail, Right 900 Tail, Left 540 Tail, Switch Left Alley-Oop 540 Safety.

2. Torin Yater-Wallace : Right Alley-Oop Rodeo 720 Bow and Arrow, Right 900 Tail, Left 720 Safety, Switch Right 720 Mute, Right Rodeo 900 Safety, Switch Air to Forward.

3. Birk Irving: Right Alley-Oop 360 Mute, Switch Right 540 Mute, Switch Left 720 Japan, Right 900 Cuban, Left 720 Tail, Left Alley-Oop Flat 540 Safety.

Slopestyle Jumps Team Challenge
1. Fabian Bosch: Switch Left Double Cork 1440 Double Japan, Switch Right Double Cork Bio 1260 Safety, Left Double Cork 1620 Blunt.

2. Evan Mceachran: Left Double 1260 Meader Grab, Switch Right Double Cork 1440 Indy Truck, Switch Left Double Cork 1440 Blunt.

3. Mac Forehand: Right Double Cork 1260 Safety, Switch Left 1260 Mute, Left Double 1620 Tail.

Slopestyle Rails Team Challenge
Alex Hall: Switch 180 Back Swap 270 out, Switch On Front Swap Front swap 270 Out, Switch Butter 540, rail transfer front 450, left 270 front 450 tail tap.

Alex Beaulieu-Marchand: Left 180 Switch Left 270 to Switch, Switch Right Rails 270 Pretzel 270, Switch Butter 540, Left 450 Continuing 450, Switch Left 270 pretzel 450 Safety.

Jesper Tjader: Switch Left 180 Left Lip 270, Rail Transfer Front 270, Switch Over Flip, Right 450 continuing 450, Switch On Backflip Off.

RESULTS
Women’s freeski slopestyle
Team freeski challenge

HOW TO WATCH
*Subject to change
All times in EST

Saturday, Dec. 29
4:00 p.m. - Dew Tour Show, Breckenridge, Colo. - NBC

Sunday, Dec. 30
5:00 p.m. - Dew Tour Show, Breckenridge, Colo. - NBC

Thursday, Jan. 3
11:00 p.m. -  Dew Tour Show, Breckenridge, Colo. - NBCSN

Tuesday, Jan. 8
11:30 p.m. - Dew Tour Show, Breckenridge, Colo. - NBCSN

EVENT SCHEDULE
*Subject to change
All times in MST

FREESKI
Friday, Dec. 14
9:00 a.m. – 9:45 a.m. - Women’s modified superpipe final presented by Toyota
7:00 p.m. – 7:45 p.m. - Streetstyle Final

Saturday, Dec 15
12:00 p.m. – 1:15 p.m. - Men’s slopestyle jump finals
1:45 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. - Men’s slopestyle jib finals

Sunday, Dec. 16
9:15 a.m. – 10:15 a.m. - Men’s modified superpipe final presented by Toyota

SNOWBOARD
Friday, Dec. 14
10:15 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. - Women’s slopestyle jump final
11:30 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. - Women’s slopestyle jib final
12:45 a.m. – 1:15 p.m. - Team modified superpipe final presented by Toyota
1:45 p.m. – 2:15 p.m. - Team slopestyle jump final
2:45 p.m. – 3:15 p.m. - Team slopestyle jib final
6:00 p.m. – 6:45 p.m. - Streetstyle Final

Saturday, Dec 15
10:30 p.m. – 11:30 p.m. - Men’s modified superpipe final presented by Toyota

Sunday, Dec. 16
10:45 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.- Women’s modified superpipe final presented by Toyota
12:00 p.m. – 1:15 p.m. - Men’s slopestyle jump final
1:45 p.m.  – 3:00 p.m. - Men’s slopestyle jib final
 

The weather is shaping up to be gorgeous here this weekend in Val Gardena, Italy - and the Saslong surface is nice, smooth, grippy, and fully chargeable. Veteran Steven Nyman (Sundance, Utah) - who has won three times (2006, 2012, 2014) at the venue and is known as "King of the Saslong" - will lead a healthy, motivated crew of downhillers into battle on Saturday.

Val Gardena is a special place, and it’s not just the pizza and pasta that the legendary Demetz family cooks up for the American and Canadian boys at Hotel Alpino Plan that make it so. As you travel up the chairlift, the views are stunning everywhere you look. And though she is a beauty, she’s also a two-mile stretch of terrain and terror to boot.

Do you know what happened in 2008 in Val Gardena, Italy?! It was a special year for the downhillers. Then reigning FIS Ski World Cup overall champ Bode Miller led the way in second place, as a whopping five Americans finished in the top 10. It was the first time five American men had finished in the top 10 at a World Cup. It was a historical day.

On that day, it was Miller, Marco Sullivan - who is currently in Val Gardena coaching the men's sped team - in fourth, Erik Fisher in seventh, Nyman in ninth, and TJ Lanning in tenth. It's worth noting that Canada's Manny Osborne-Paradis and Erik Guay were third and fifth, respectively. The Demetz family must have made some mighty fine tiramisu the night before that race. 

After a challenging 2018 season plagued with surgeries, the men's downhill team is on a podium hunt this year, and the energy is palpable. With three in the top five led by Travis Ganong (Squaw Valley, Calif.) in a commanding .68 second lead in the first downhill training run on Wednesday and three in the top 11 led by Nyman in second in Thursday's second and final training run, the boys sure are looking and feeling comfortable and fast here in Val Gardena. 

On the men's tech side, Tommy Ford (Bend, Ore.), who posted a career-best World Cup giant slalom result last week in Val d’Isere, will be one to watch on Sunday in Alta Badia, where he has posted a couple of top-15 results. Olympic champion Ted Ligety (Park City, Utah) is hoping to find that nostalgic form once again in Alta Badia where he has picked up numerous top-five results, including victories in 2012 and 2010.

Off Weekend For Women's World Cup
Val d’Isere was slated to host the World Cup women’s speed event this weekend, however, unfavorable weather conditions have resulted in the event being rescheduled for Dec. 18-19 in Val Gardena, Italy. Downhill training is set for Monday, Dec. 17, and Tuesday morning, Dec. 18, with the downhill race scheduled for the afternoon of Dec. 18. The super-G will follow Wednesday, Dec. 19.

Though Mikaela Shiffrin (Avon, Colo.) is currently leading the super-G standings, she does not plan to compete at Val Gardena. She is prepping for her core disciplines of giant slalom and slalom for the upcoming World Cup in Courchevel, France - a series that included a parallel slalom and giant slalom which she swept last December.

Catch all of the action on NBC Sports Network, NBC Sports Gold, and the Olympic Channel, so make sure to tune in.

See who to watch and where to catch all the action below.

MEN’S SPEED STARTERS - VAL GARDENA

• Bryce Bennett (SG, DH)
• Tommy Biesemeyer (SG, DH)
• Ryan Cochran-Siegle (SG)
• Travis Ganong (SG, DH)
• Jared Goldberg (SG, DH)
• Wiley Maple (SG, SH)
• Sam Morse (SG, DH)
• Steven Nyman (SG, DH)

MEN'S GS STARTERS - ALTA BADIA

• Ryan Cochran-Siegle
• Tommy Ford 
• Ted Ligety 
• Brian McLaughlin
• River Radamus
• Hig Roberts

START LISTS
Men’s super-G

RESULTS
Men’s Downhill training 1
Men’s Downhill training 2

HOW TO WATCH
All times EST.
Preliminary schedule, subject to change
*Same-day delayed broadcast

Friday, Dec. 14
5:45 a.m. - Men’s super-G - Val Gardena, ITA - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
6:00 a.m. - Men’s super-G - Val Gardena, ITA - Olympic Channel-TV

Saturday, Dec. 15
5:30 a.m. - Men’s downhill - Val Gardena, ITA - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
8:00 p.m. - Men’s downhill - Val Gardena, ITA - NBCSN-TV*

Sunday, Dec. 16
3:45 a.m. - Giant slalom run 1 - Alta Badia, ITA - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
7:00 a.m. - Giant slalom run 2 - Alta Badia, ITA - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
6:00 p.m. - Giant slalom run 2 - Alta Badia, ITA - NBCSN-TV*

Monday, Dec. 17
12:00 p.m. - Men's parallel giant slalom - Alta Badia, ITA - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold

Fans can catch all the action in spectacular high definition via NBC Sports online at NBCSports.com/Live or through the NBC Sports app which is available on the iTunes App Store, Google Play, Windows Store, Roku Channel Store, Apple TV and Amazon Fire. Exclusive commercial-free coverage will be available for subscribers of the NBC Sports Gold Pass, available here: https://www.nbcsports.com/gold/snow.

All eyes are on Jessie Diggins (Afton, Minn.) and Sadie Bjornsen (Mazama, Wash.) as the U.S. Cross Country Team heads to Davos, Switzerland, for the second FIS Cross Country World Cup freestyle sprint of the season Saturday, and women and men’s 10k/15k freestyle events Sunday. Diggins just missed the sprint podium the past two seasons in Davos, finishing fourth last year and fifth in 2016. She has been progressing through the start of the season despite battling a cold, posting an eighth-place 10k freestyle finish last weekend. Bjornsen is currently ninth in the overall World Cup standings thanks to six top-10 results this season, including a third-place freestyle sprint finish in Lillehammer, Norway, two weeks ago.

Could we see two Americans on the podium in Davos Saturday? Tune in at 7:20 a.m. (EST) to The Olympic Channel and NBC Sports Gold app for live coverage Saturday.

Freestyle sprint starters

• Sadie Bjornsen
• Jessie Diggins
• Rosie Brennan
• Ida Sargent
• Sophie Caldwell
• Kelsey Phinney
• Simi Hamilton
• Kevin Bolger
• David Norris

 Women's 10 & men's 15 km freestyle starters
*Subject to change

• Sadie Bjornsen
• Jessie Diggins
• Rosie Brennan
• Sophie Caldwell
• Caitlin Patterson
• Scott Patterson
• Adam Martin
• Simi Hamilton
• David Norris
   

HOW TO WATCH 
All times EST.
Preliminary schedule, subject to change
*Same-day delayed broadcast
**Replay broadcast

Saturday, Dec. 15 
7:20 a.m. - Men and women’s sprint - Davos, SUI - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold 
7:30 a.m. - Men and women’s sprint - Davos, SUI - Olympic Channel-TV

Sunday, Dec. 16 
3:15 a.m. Women’s 10k interval - Davos, SUI - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold 
9:00 a.m. Women’s 10k interval - Davos, SUI - Olympic Channel-TV*
5:45 a.m. - Men’s 15k interval - Davos, SUI - NBC Sports Gold / Replay available on OlympicChannel.com

Andy Newell (Starksboro, Vt.) and Julia Kern (Waltham, Mass.) skied through mid-winter conditions to take their respective wins in both the sprint qualifier and A finals at the Sovereign Lake Ski Club in SilverStar, British Columbia for the combined U.S. Super Tour and Canadian NorAm. 

The challenging courses and plentiful snow made for an excellent weekend of competitions. Strengthening the competition fields has been a primary goal of the Super Tour series and the Sovereign Lake event did not disappoint. The event brought together the best junior, collegiate, and young senior athletes elevating the level of performance and tightening the field to where seconds matter. 

Kyle Bratrud (Eden Praire, Minn.) and Ben Lustgarten (Craftsbury, Vt.) once again battled for the win, this time in the 15km interval start classic.  Bratrud came out on top this weekend in approximately the same time difference that Lustgarten won by last weekend in the 15km freestyle in West Yellowstone.

The women’s race was much tighter. Rosie Frankowski (Minneapolis, Minn.), the winner of last weekend’s 10km, held the early lead.  Becca Rorabaugh (Fairbanks, Alaska) and Katherine Stewart-Jones (Thunder Bay Canada Development Center) surged on the last lap with Stewart-Jones taking the win by 7.1 seconds. U23 and USST D Team athletes Kern (Waltham, Mass.) and Hailey Swirbul (Anchorage, Alaska) were close behind – 7.8sec and 10.1 sec back respectively. 

Kern was the top U23 skier both days.  Ian Torchia (Marquette, Mich.) was the top U23 skier in 5th on Sunday

RESULTS
Sovereign Lake results 
Super Tour Standings