LILLEHAMMER, Norway (Dec. 3, 2017) - Weekend two of the FIS Cross Country World Cup wrapped up Sunday in Lillehammer with a series of career bests for the U.S. Ski Team led by Jessie Diggins (Afton, Minn.) finishing fifth in a skiathlon. Sadie Bjornsen (Winthrop, Wash.) continued her strong season in 10th while brother Erik had a personal best in the men’s race at 20th.

Norway’s Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo won his fifth straight race to remain unbeaten, while Charlotte Kalla of Sweden took a solid victory for the women. Skiathlon is a unique event combining classic technique for the first half, a pit stop to change skis then a final segment of freestyle technique. The discipline is an Olympic event, with Diggins checking off another top-eight Olympic qualifying finish.

Diggins started out the classic segment in the back of the chase group, working her way up by the midway point of the 7.5k leg to battle for third. She made the turn into freestyle in third, just ahead of Finland’s Krista Parmakoski but 21 seconds behind the battle between Kalla and Norway’s Heidi Weng.

In the skate leg, Norway’s Magnhild Haga burst out of the chase pack to put herself into third. Diggins stayed with the chase group, with Norway’s Marit Bjoergen bursting out into fourth while Diggins held the others at bay to claim fifth.

“I was really happy with today,” said Diggins. “Our classic skis were amazing and I think that’s the smoothest and strongest I’ve ever classic skied yet! In the skate I felt good and am still working on building my top race gear as we get into the season.”

The classic performance of the team continued to be a major storyline, especially with the strength shown by Diggins. Sadie Bjornsen, who has been a strong classic skier and is now elevating herself up in the rankings, hung in the middle of the chase group much of the race to finish 10th. It was a career best for her in the Olympic skiathlon distance. 

“Another great day in Lillehammer for me,” said Bjornsen, who was third in the classic sprint on Saturday. “The race started with a nice fiery hot pace, as the girls took off super hard from the line. I tend to prefer classic skiing, so I wanted to try to stay in contact during the classic section, and hold on for the skate portion of today's race.”

The closure was rugged with four trips up a huge climb. “I knew I didn't want to redline too early on, but keep some control for the skating section of the race,” added Bjornsen. “I struggled at the beginning of the race to set in with the hot pace, but managed to find my gears by the end.”

Bjornsen struggled to find the gears at the start of the skate leg but got back on track.

Sadie’s brother Erik had a career best day in the men’s 15k/15k finishing 20th - his first World Cup points in skiathlon. Noah Hoffman (Aspen, Colo.) was also in the points. Hoffman had finished top-10 in the Olympic test event skiathlon.

"I’m very happy with today's result," said Erik Bjornsen. "It was fun last weekend to feel like I was in the mix for both sprinting and distance skiing. After missing out on the heats yesterday, and getting beat by 13 Norwegians I was out to get some redemption today. I felt great in the classic and was trying to hold myself back from chasing the leaders. I’m sure I could have kept up with them for 15k but the last half of the race would have been a disaster."

Erik Bjornsen, who admits 30k races used to scare him, skied a smart race to get a career best. It was his fourth points-scoring finish in five races this season.

Sadie Bjornsen now stands seventh in the overall World Cup standings after five events, with Diggins in 10th.

“Jessie had one of her best classic races ever to keep her in a battle for the podium the entire race,” said Head Coach Chris Grover. “She never relented in the face of the powerhouse Norwegian team and their home crowd and fans.”

Grover also cited Sadie Bjornsen for her second strong weekend. “Both Jessie and Sadie have clearly made a step forward and are proving once again that they are a threat in every event.

Kikkan Randall (Anchorage) moved up steadily in the skate leg to finish 16th.

Grover was also thrilled with Erik Bjornsen’s performance. “He was strong in classic, which is normally his best technique, but equally strong in skate and moved up several spots in the skate leg.” Grover also acknowledged a strong skate leg from Hoffman.

“The Team is really looking forward to getting Davos - our home away from home,” he added. The formats in Davos, skate sprint and skate distance, are ideal for the U.S. Ski Team.”

The team now heads to Davos, Switzerland for a full on freestyle weekend. Saturday is a freestyle sprint (not an Olympic discipline in 2018) plus a men’s 15k and women’s 10k freestyle. Diggins will be among the favorites in the 10k freestyle at the Olympics this February in PyeongChang.

LAKE LOUSE, AB (Dec. 2, 2017) - Mikaela Shiffrin (Eagle-Vail, CO) may have found a new favorite pair of Atomic skis, albeit just slightly longer than her previous favorite pair, after riding the long boards to her first career FIS Ski World Cup downhill victory Saturday.

With her win on the Olympic Downhill course and her slalom victory last weekend in Killington, Vermont Shiffrin proved that she is the best ski racer in the world six World Cup races into the Olympic season. The defending World Cup champion also extended her overall World Cup lead over Germany’s Viktoria Rebensburg to 149 points. This must now raise the question, is Mikaela Shiffrin the most dominant athlete in the world right now?

"I've skied here a couple times now, so I felt Lake Louise was a really good opportunity for me because I have some experience on the track," said Shiffrin. "I wasn't planning to win, but I was planning to come here, do my best and see what happened."

"Shortneing the distance was definitely an advantage for me because it's flat on the top section and I'm not as good up there. From where we started today, it's fairly technical. I felt really good about that yesterday, so I took even more risk today and it paid off. I know that I was lucky with conditions yesterday and today, but I skied well and took some risk and it was really fun." 

Rebensburg, the winner of the first two World Cup giant slalom races of the season, including last weekend in Killington, finished second Saturday. Swiss Michelle Gisin moved up from her eighth-place finish in Friday’s downhill, to round out the podium in third. Austria’s Cornelia Huetter, the winner of Friday’s downhill in Lake Louise, was fourth.

Stacey Cook (Mammoth Mountain, CA) posted another top-10 result at Lake Louise, finishing sixth. Lindsey Vonn (Vail, CO) rebounded from Friday’s crash to finish 12th. Jackie Wiles (Aurora, OR) was 23rd and Alice McKennis (New Castle, CO) was 35th and Alice Merryweather (Hingman, MA) was 37th. Breezy Johnson (Jackson Hole, WY) was on her way to another top-20 finish but slid out halfway down the track.

Saturday’s race was delayed one hour and 15 minutes due to a sub-station fire that knocked out power to the resort. Fortunately, the athletes were towed to the start thanks to a fleet of Prinoth snowcats at the resort.

World Cup racing continues Sunday with the super G at Lake Louise.

RESULTS
Women’s Downhill

HOW TO WATCH
All times EST
*schedules subject to change

Dec. 3
1:00 p.m. – Women’s super-G – Olympic Channel TV
6:30 p.m. – Women’s super-G – NBCSN (same day delay)

BEAVER CREEK, Colo. (Dec. 2, 2017) - Bryce Bennett (Squaw Valley, CA) led the way for the American Downhillers in 21st at the Bird of Prey FIS Ski World Cup downhill Saturday in Beaver Creek. Norway’s Ansel Lund Svindal took the victory, followed by Swiss Beat Feuz in second and Thomas Dressen of Germany in third.

Starting with bib 1, Svindal nailed his lines down the challenging, sun-splashed course for his 13th career World Cup downhill victory. Dressen, coming out of the 10th start position, grabbed his first career World Cup downhill podium result.

Other American finishers included Jared Goldberg (Holladay, UT) and Travis Ganong (Squaw Valley, CA) tied for 30th. Tommy Biesemeyer (Keene, NY) in 39th; Wiley Maple (Aspen, CO) in 50th; Andrew Weibrecht (Lake Placid, NY) in 54th; and Sam Morse (Sugarloaf, ME) in 57th.

Watch same-day coverage of the men’s downhill at 5:00 p.m. EST on NBC

The Bird of Prey wraps up Sunday with a giant slalom. Ted Ligety (Park City, UT), who has won an unprecedented six times on the Birds of Prey track, will lead the Americans.

RESULTS
Men’s Downhill

HOW TO WATCH 
All times EST
Saturday, Dec. 2
5:00 p.m. – Birds of Prey Men’s downhill – NBC (same day delay)

Sunday, Dec. 3
11:45 a.m. – Birds of Prey Men’s giant slalom run 1 – NBC Sports App/nbcsports.com – LIVE
2:30 p.m. – Birds of Prey Men’s giant slalom run 2 – Olympic Channel TV – LIVE
5:00 p.m. – Birds of Prey Men’s giant slalom – NBC (same day delay)

LILLEHAMMER, Norway (Dec. 1, 2017) - Any lingering doubts about the U.S. Ski Team's ability to perform in classic seem to have been dashed. For the second weekend in a row, Sadie Bjornsen (Winthrop, Wash.) cracked the podium in a classic sprint, finishing third. Jessie Diggins (Afton, Minn.), was sixth.

What was especially notable about the Americans' day was depth. Bjornsen led qualifying with Diggins seventh and Sophie Caldwell (Peru, Vt.) ninth. And for the first time in history, the Americans put three athletes into the semi finals with Bjornsen and Diggins making it through.

Diggins ended up sixth - match a career best classic sprint. Caldwell was ninth - her second straight top 10. Norway’s Maiken Caspersen Falla took the win. Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo made it a Norwegian sweep with his fourth straight victory. No American men made the heats.

“Today was another really awesome day of ski racing here in Lillehammer,” said Bjornsen. “After last weekend'd podium, I tried to keep the momentum and confidence going.”

Bjornsen had also qualified first a year ago in Lillehammer, but made some mistakes in the heats. 

“Today I decided I needed to use my strengths, and that was to just go as fast as I could over the entire course, and try to ‘tire out’ the sprinters,” she said.

She drew a tough quarter final where she ended up battling Norway’s Heidi Weng. Bjornsen pushed the pace hard, sprinting Weng to the finish before laying back at the line to finish second and move on to semis. In the semis, she jumped in behind last week’s winner Stina Nilsson, relaxing a bit on the course then hammering the final hill and double-pole finish to take the win. Just past the midway point of the semi, she made a strategic inside pass on a corner, briefly getting tangled up but coming out ahead. 

Bjornsen took some fatigue into the finals, but skied a smart heat. “I kept my head fighting the entire way, giving an extra push over the final climb despite barely being able to stand on my legs full of lactic acid,” she said. “Then in the finishing stretch, thanks to an amazing pair of skis, I got a nice draft and was able to outsprint Stina for third.

Diggins, whose only previous visit to a classic sprint finals came at Canmore in 2016, had the most impressive jump from last weekend where she didn’t make the heats. She skied strong to advance second from her quarter final heat, then battled with Caldwell in a photo finish to take a lucky loser spot from semi finals into the fins.

“I was so happy with today,” said Diggins, who made only her second classic sprint final. “Making the final in a classic sprint in Norway gives me a lot of confidence in how my classic skiing is coming along. I’ve been working really hard for a long time to improve that technique so today felt really good! And our amazing skis from the techs were so much fun to have on that hard course.”

Across the board, the athletes were jubilant about their skis. 

“I am extremely thankful to the waxing staff for giving me what felt like the fastest skis in the world today,” said Bjornsen, “and also super proud of my teammates who had a great day!”

“We had really exceptional skis today - both kick and glide,” said Head Coach Chris Grover. “The service team kept pushing hard and found the right combination of waxes. And the wax truck is doing its job!”

In addition to good skis once again, it’s clear that preparation over the last few years on classic skiing is having an impact.

“As a team, we’ve had a focus on improving our classic skiing for a few years and it’s satisfying to see that we are beginning to compete in classic more often with the Scandinavians,” said Grover. “Sadie, in particular, has always been one of the strongest classic skiers on the team.”

Grover was quick to applaud Bjornsen’s APU Nordic coach Erik Flora, her personal coach, for shepherding her through the process.

Bjornsen moved up to seventh in the overall standings and is in second, just eight points behind Finland’s Krista Parmakoski, in the sprint rankings.

Grover was optimistic about Sunday’s skiathlon - a mix of classic and freestyle technique. Men will ski 15k on each leg with women going 7.5k.

RESULTS
Men's Classic Sprint
Women's Classic Sprint 

As downhill racers go, Daron Rahlves was physically small but big in stature - a bold, smart risk taker who loved speed. December 3, 2004 - Rahlves stood atop the Birds of Prey downhill in Beaver Creek. He was running 31st - a late starter. At the bottom, Bode Miller had the lead. 'D' tapped his poles, slid his Atomics under the start wand and listened for the telltale beep, beep, beep of the clock. He was off, charging down the elevated start out onto the Flyway. In just under a minute, 40 seconds, he would be part of American ski racing history. But would he repeat the title he won the year before?

In the mid-2000s, Bode Miller and Daron Rahlves ruled the legendary Birds of Prey. Over four straight years, it was either Bode or Daron atop the downhill podium. From 2002 to 2011, they racked up six wins and 13 podiums at the Colorado resort.

The downhill is where ski racing legends are made. The relentless off-camber high speed pitches of the Hahnenkamm where Buddy Werner's 1959 win put American skiing on the map. The thigh-burning two-and-a-half minutes of the Lauberhorn where Rahlves and Miller won three straight.

Birds of Prey has its own unique character - the flats of the Flyway into the perilous Brink. The sweeping turns through Pump House. The high speed jumps: Harrier into Golden Eagle, through the Abyss and rocketing off Red Tail into the bowels of the stadium with 10,000 screaming fans.

Birds of Prey made its maiden flight in 1997. Just over a year later, it was showcased at the 1999 Worlds where Austrian legend Hermann Maier took double gold and started a string of six straight speed wins.

The 1999 Worlds were bleak for the USA. A turning point came in 2001 when Rahlves crashed the party at the 2001 Worlds in St. Anton, beating the Austrians with super G gold. Soon, Rahlves and Miller starting cracking the code. The next December, Miller shook off a St. Anton knee injury to start a string of World Cup wins - first Val d'Isere, later the night race at Schladming on the eve of the 2002 Olympics and the glacier race at Soelden in October, 2003.

A few weeks later, Miller won a pivotal World Cup in Park City. That win on home snow ignited an unprecedented period of success for the U.S. Ski Team. "Park City was a rallying cry for the team," recalled coach Phil McNichol. "They were intoxicated by it."

A week later, an inspired Rahlves got his first Beaver Creek win while Miller lost a battle with his nemesis in the Abyss. "Daron elevated our entire approach to Birds of Prey," said McNichol. "The flood gates were opened!" 

Now, a year later, it was Rahlves versus Miller again. Early-starting Bryan Friedman came down fifth to take the lead. Racer after racer attacked and no one could touch Friedman who celebrated in the leader's box.

Then, it was Miller time. Starting 17th, he sliced through the course in Bode style. Instead of carving sweeping turns he attacked the gates with a direct line. He soared off Golden Eagle arms outstretched. He crushed his demons in the Abyss, vaulting off Red Tail to the delight of the fans in 1:39.76 - just off Rahlves' record set a year earlier.

America stood 1-2 once again with Rahlves still to come.

Out of the start Rahlves knew that the Flyway was critical for him. He didn't have the large body mass that equated to speed on the flat. He had to be precise.

He stayed flat on his skis as he approached the Brink - a perilous drop that puts fear into any racer. He dropped into the steep, setting an edge on the icy pitch. A right-footed turn would set him up for the exit - sweeping through Pete's Arena into the Talon Turn and down through Pump House.

Heading into the jumps he was flying - downhill ski racing perfection! He soared off Red Tail with precision, entering the stadium to the most thunderous roar he had ever heard.

It was a perfect run for Rahlves who saw the crowd's celebration, pumped his fist in the air and grabbed an American flag from the crowd. But it wasn't quite perfect enough - .16 behind Miller. He was second.

Miller ran out to meet him celebrating with hugs and tears. "We've been trying to do this for a long time," said Rahlves.

Bode and Daron were two separate individuals with completely different lifestyles. But they came together as ski racers, supporting each other on the hill. "We both do our own thing but when we're racing we each want to win," said Miller. "To be one-two on home turf, it’s just awesome.”

Rahlves and Miller would define a generation for the U.S. Ski Team. A year later Rahlves flipped the table with the win over Miller in another one-two USA finish. Miller, meanwhile, took the 2005 GS with Rahlves second and Erik Schlopy fourth. In 2006, Miller won the downhill again with Steven Nyman third.

Birds of Prey would play a leading role amidst the dramatic ironies of Bode Miller's career. His last World Cup win came in the 2011 downhill there - a narrow .04 win over Swiss Beat Feuz. And he would also ski his final race at the 2015 World Championships on the course that brought him fame - hooking an arm on a gate in the Abyss and slicing a tendon. 

Fans who were there that December day in 2004 will never forget the magic that Bode and Daron brought to Red Tail Stadium that day.

Rahlves summed it up best: "I don’t think you’ll ever have a perfect run, but it was a perfect effort.”
 

U.S. Ski & Snowboard, in a newly established content partnership with Central Cross Country Ski Association (CXC), will live stream all of the events from this weekend’s opening cross country SuperTour event in West Yellowstone. Races take place Dec. 2-3 beginning at 12 p.m. EST.

Events being showcased on U.S. Ski & Snowboard’s channels this season include six U.S. Supertour stops plus the 2018 L.L.Bean U.S. Cross Country Championships and junior national championships. All streams will be available free of cost.

CXC’s live streaming, spearheaded by Executive Director Yuriy Gusev, has been a primary channel for fans and members to watch domestic cross country events, including past U.S. Championships, SuperTours and the American Birkebeiner.

Close to 200 racers are expected to compete this weekend in West Yellowstone, including last year’s podium winners Erika Flowers-Newell (Belgrade, Mont.), Matt Gelso (Truckee, Calif.) and Caitlin Patterson (Craftsbury, Vt.). For more information on the SuperTour, including a complete season event schedule, visit usskiandsnowboard.org. Livestreams will be available at facebook.com/usskiandsnowboard.

U.S. CROSS COUNTRY SUPERTOUR - WEST YELLOWSTONE
Event and Streaming Schedule (all times EST)
*subject to change

Saturday, Dec. 2
Men’s and women’s freestyle sprint
12 p.m. – Qualifiers
1:45 p.m. – Heats
Facebook Livestream

Sunday, Dec. 3
Men’s 15k; Women’s 10k (mass start)
12 p.m.
Facebook Livestream

Super Tour LIVE Stream

LAKE LOUISE, AB (Dec. 1, 2017) – Surprise performances are nothing new for Mikaela Shiffrin (Eagle-Vail, CO) in slalom and giant slalom events. But Friday’s third-place finish in the first downhill of the FIS Ski World Cup season just may be the biggest surprise yet in the young career of the defending overall World Cup champion.

Austria’s Cornelia Huetter took the win Friday, a career-first World Cup downhill victory and her second career World Cup win. Tina Weirather of Liechtenstein finished second. For Shiffrin, her third-place finish was a career-first podium in a speed event. 

“The track was totally buffed out. Really in perfect condition,” Shiffrin said. “I was confident in my plan and I tried to stay in my tuck as much as I could. I tried to be soft on my edges and do the couple things I know are fast with speed … I skied within my limits and it was a really good run.”

Lindsey Vonn (Vail, CO) was well on her way to her 19th Lake Louise World Cup victory after leading at all four intermediate times, but crashed hard into the safety netting near the finish. Vonn was able to get up and ski to the bottom of the course.

With a steady snow falling, Shiffrin came out of the 10th start position and absolutely nailed the lower portion of the Olympic downhill course to move into the race lead. However, Weirather, starting 13th, nipped her at the line by 0.21 seconds. Huetter, starting 15th, displayed masterful technical skills to best Weirather by 0.09 seconds and take the win.

Jackie Wiles (Aurora OR) scored her second career World Cup top-five result, finishing fifth. Breezy Johnson (Victor, ID) matched her career-best World Cup result, finishing 10th, as Stacey Cook (Mammoth Mountain, CA) was 11th. Alice McKennis (New Castle, CO) was 24th.

The women race another downhill Saturday, followed by super G Sunday at Lake Louise.

Weibrecht 21st in Birds of Prey Super G
Andrew Weibrecht (Lake Placid, NY) led the American Downhillers, taking 21st in Friday’s super-G. Austria’s Vincent Kriechmayr took his first career World Cup victory, while Norway’s Kjetil Jansrud was second, followed by Austria’s Hannes Reichelt in third.

Thomas Biesemeyer (Keene, NY) also scored points, finishing 24th. Sam Morse (Sugarloaf, ME), made his World Cup super G debut, finishing 48th. The Birds of Prey event continues Saturday with downhill and Sunday with a giant slalom.

RESULTS
Women’s Downhill – Lake Louise
Men’s Super G – Beaver Creek

WHERE TO WATCH
Dec. 1
7:00 p.m. – Birds of Prey Men’s super-G – Olympic Channel TV (same day delay)

Dec. 2
1:00 p.m. – Birds of Prey Men’s downhill – Olympic Channel TV
2:00 p.m. – Women’s downhill – NBCSN
4:00 p.m. – Women’s downhill – Olympic Channel TV (same day delay)
5:00 p.m. – Birds of Prey Men’s downhill – NBC

Dec. 3
11:45 a.m. – Birds of Prey Men’s giant slalom run 1 – nbcsports.com
1:00 p.m. – Women’s super-G – Olympic Channel TV
2:30 p.m. – Birds of Prey Men’s giant slalom run 2 – Olympic Channel TV
5:00 p.m. – Birds of Prey Men’s giant slalom – NBC
6:30 p.m. – Women’s super-G – NBCSN (same day delay)

WEST YELLOWSTONE, Mont. (Dec. 1, 2017) – U.S. Ski & Snowboard, in a newly established content partnership with Central Cross Country Ski Association (CXC), will live stream all of the events from this weekend’s opening cross country SuperTour event in West Yellowstone. Races take place Dec. 2-3 beginning at 12 p.m. EST. Events being showcased on U.S. Ski & Snowboard’s channels this season include six U.S. Supertour stops plus the 2018 L.L.Bean U.S. Cross Country Championships and junior national championships. All streams will be available free of cost.

CXC’s live streaming, spearheaded by Executive Director Yuriy Gusev, has been a primary channel for fans and members to watch domestic cross country events, including past U.S. Championships, SuperTours and the American Birkebeiner.

“The streaming collaboration between CXC and U.S. Ski & Snowboard provides high level exposure for the sport of cross country as it continues to gain more fans and participants in America,” said U.S. Ski & Snowboard President and CEO Tiger Shaw. “This season’s streaming of domestic events, combined with the star power of our top U.S. Ski Team athletes, is a prime opportunity to capitalize on our nation’s success in the sport and promote cross country skiing at home and around the world.”

U.S. Ski & Snowboard, in conjunction with local clubs around the nation, has grown its cross country membership by more than 100% percent over the last two seasons. The organization has also played a large role in securing full coverage of the FIS Cross Country World Cup across NBC Sports Group’s network of broadcast and streaming channels. That coverage continues this season leading into the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang, South Korea.

Close to 200 racers are expected to compete this weekend in West Yellowstone, including last year’s podium winners Erika Flowers-Newell (Belgrade, Mont.), Matt Gelso (Truckee, Calif.) and Caitlin Patterson (Craftsbury, Vt.). For more information on the SuperTour, including a complete season event schedule, visit usskiandsnowboard.org. Livestreams will be available at facebook.com/usskiandsnowboard.

U.S. CROSS COUNTRY SUPERTOUR - WEST YELLOWSTONE
Event and Streaming Schedule (all times EST)
*subject to change

Saturday, Dec. 2
Men’s and women’s freestyle sprint
12 p.m. – Qualifiers
1:45 p.m. – Heats
Facebook Livestream

Sunday, Dec. 3
Men’s 15k; Women’s 10k (mass start)
12 p.m.
Facebook Livestream

U.S. Ski & Snowboard Congress, the annual meeting of the organization, takes place May 1-5 in Park City, Utah. The Congress is open to all, and there is no fee to attend the meetings.  

There is a fee to attend the U.S. Ski & Snowboard chairman's awards dinner, which takes place during the Congress.  The Congress features meetings of the sport committees and subcommittees, as well as the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Board of Directors. 

For U.S. Ski & Snowboard Congress and the chairman's awards dinner, information, registration and hotel accommodations please refer to the schedule, registration and chairman awards dinner links in the Resources Section to the right (if viewing on a desktop, or below if viewing on a mobile device), or visit the meetings page.

The North American tour rolls on, with the American Downhillers taking on a perfectly prepared Birds of Prey piste and the women up in Lake Louise for a weekend of speed and exhilaration.

Ted Ligety (Park City, UT), who has won an unprecedented six times on this Birds of Prey track, leads the men into battle this weekend, while Steven Nyman (Sundance, UT) has yet to decide if he’ll return to action after rehabbing his knee after an injury sustained in Garmisch, Germany last January. Travis Ganong (Squaw Valley, CA), who won a silver medal in the downhill at the 2015 World Championships in Beaver Creek, posted the sixth-fastest time in Wednesday’s training run.

Keep an eye on the American Downhillers - they were itching to get back on this track after unseasonably warm weather forced a cancellation last season. Tom Johnston—a.k.a. “Cowboy”—and the fabulous Talon Crew have worked wonders on this surface once again and the guys are saying it’s hard and fast. That means it’ll hold up for the guys in the back of the back, which is good considering Andrew Weibrecht (Lake Placid, NY), Tommy Biesemeyer (Keene, NY) and Ryan Cochran-Siegle (Burlington, VT) all had blazing fast times in the first of two training runs from the back.

This weekend marks the 10-year anniversary of Weibrecht’s bibbo from 54 to 10th place finish in 2007, and the last time the speed men were in Beaver Creek, Ligety and Weibrecht scored a double podiumed in the super-G and led four into the top 11.  
Up north in Lake Louise, Canada - lovingly referred to by many as “Lake Lindsey” - the women take on a pair of downhill races and a super-G on a track where Lindsey Vonn (Vail, CO) has 18 career World Cup

wins - that’s 10 more than anyone else in history. In Thursday’s training run, Vonn posted the second-fastest time behind the Czech Republic’s Ester Ledecka. Vonn led six American women into the top 12, including Mikaela Shiffrin (Eagle-Vail, CO) who landed in 12th. Keep an eye on Breezy Johnson (Victor, ID) and Jackie Wiles (Portland, OR) - two rising stars that could do something special this weekend.

Dan Hicks will call the Birds of Prey action from Beaver Creek, joined by analysts Bode Miller, the most decorated U.S. Olympic skier in history, U.S. Ski Team alumnus Steve Porino and reporter Carolyn Manno also join the action for NBC Sports.

Steve Schlanger and U.S. Ski Team alumnus AJ Kitt will call the action in Lake Louise. See who to watch and where to catch all the action below.

MEN’S STARTERS – Birds of Prey
Super-G
Bryce Bennett
Tommy Biesemeyer
Ryan Cochran-Siegle
Travis Ganong
Jared Goldberg
Ted Ligety
Wiley Maple
Sam Morse**
Andrew Weibrecht

Downhill
Bryce Bennett
Tommy Biesemeyer
Travis Ganong
Jared Goldberg
Wiley Maple
Sam Morse
Steven Nyman***
Andrew Weibrecht

Giant Slalom
David Chodounsky
Ryan Cochran-Siegle
Tommy Ford
Tim Jitloff
Ted Ligety
Brian McLaughlin*
River Radamus*

WOMEN’S STARTERS – Lake Louise
Downhill and Super-G
Stacey Cook
Breezy Johnson
Alice McKennis
Alice Merryweather
Laurenne Ross***
Mikaela Shiffrin
Lindsey Vonn
Jackie Wiles

*Denotes first World Cup start
**Denotes first World Cup start in discipline
***TBD on return to competition

HOW TO WATCH (times EST)
Friday, Dec. 1
1:00 p.m. – Birds of Prey Men’s super-G – NBCSN – LIVE
2:30 p.m. – Women’s downhill – NBCSN – LIVE
7:00 p.m. – Birds of Prey Men’s super-G – Olympic Channel TV (same day delay)

Saturday, Dec. 2
1:00 p.m. – Birds of Prey Men’s downhill – Olympic Channel TV – LIVE
2:00 p.m. – Women’s downhill – NBCSN – LIVE
4:00 p.m. – Women’s downhill – Olympic Channel TV (same day delay)
5:00 p.m. – Birds of Prey Men’s downhill – NBC (same day delay)

Sunday, Dec. 3
11:45 a.m. – Birds of Prey Men’s giant slalom run 1 – NBC Sports App/nbcsports.com – LIVE
1:00 p.m. – Women’s super-G – Olympic Channel TV – LIVE
2:30 p.m. – Birds of Prey Men’s giant slalom run 2 – Olympic Channel TV – LIVE
5:00 p.m. – Birds of Prey Men’s giant slalom – NBC (same day delay)
6:30 p.m. – Women’s super-G – NBCSN (same day delay)

RESULTS
Men’s Downhill Training 1
Men’s Downhill Training 2
Women’s Downhill Training 1
Women’s Downhill Training 2