CAVTAT, Croatia – The International Ski Federation (FIS) has honored longtime U.S. Ski & Snowboard communications professional Tom Kelly with its FIS Journalist Award. Kelly was recognized for his longstanding role in the sport as a spokesperson for U.S. athletes and leadership with the FIS Public Relations and Mass Media Committee.

Kelly, who retired from his role as FIS PR and Mass Media chairman a year ago, was recognized during the annual meeting of the federation in Croatia. Kelly was nominated for the award by the FIS committee directly and wins the FIS Journalist Award not only for his enthusiasm in promoting ski sport and 32 years of service within U.S. Ski & Snowboard but also for 14 years of strong and visionary leadership within the Committee. Kelly stepped down from his committee role and was named an honorary member by the FIS Council.

Last month Kelly was inducted into the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Hall of Fame. In his role with FIS, Kelly had long been an advocate for the award to recognize journalists and broadcasters for their work in telling the story of the sport. He is the 19th American recipient of the award, which dates back to 1996.

“This was quite an unexpected recognition and very much appreciated,” said Kelly. “I take great pride in the role I have been able to play with FIS through the PR and Mass Media Committee.”

The award is presented each year by FIS to journalists and broadcasters around the world. The American recipients are a who’s who of writers, photographers, producers and broadcasters who have worked to bring stories of the sport to the public.

While retired from his role at U.S. Ski & Snowboard, Kelly remains active in Olympic sport as a communications consultant and public speaker.

FIS JOURNALIST AWARD
U.S. Recipients

2018 – Tom Kelly, U.S. Ski & Snowboard (presented in May 2019)
2017 – Christin Cooper, NBC (presented in Mar. 2018)
2016 – Peter Graves, Sports broadcaster and announcer
2015 – Steve Porino, NBC
2014 – John Dakin, Vail Valley Foundation (presented in Feb. 2015)
2013 – John Meyer, Denver Post
2012 – Jonathan Selkowitz, Photographer
2011 – Tim Ryan, NBC
2010 – Hank McKee, Ski Racing
2010 – Paul Robbins, Freelance Journalist
2008 – Mike Clark, Associated Press
2007 – Gary Black, Ski Racing
2002 – Peter Diamond, NBC
2002 – Joe Jay Jalbert, Jalbert Productions
2001 – Anita Verschoth, Sports Illustrated
1999 – Charlie Meyers, Denver Post
1998 – John Fry, Ski Magazine
1997 – Bob Beattie, ABC/ESPN
1996 – William Oscar Johnson, Sports Illustrated

U.S. Ski & Snowboard will host its 53rd annual New York Gold Medal Gala at the Ziegfield Ballroom in New York City on October 24, 2019. Prepare to be inspired by the Olympic and World Championship sports stars who will descend on New York City for this spectacular event.

The New York Gold Medal Gala is expected to raise nearly $2 million which will directly benefit benefit American ski and snowboard athletes’ journeys to Olympic and World Cup podiums. The Gala’s storied history began in 1967 as the Ski Ball, which sought to benefit alpine athletes on the U.S. Ski Team. Today the tradition continues as a celebration of all of U.S. Ski & Snowboard’s ski and snowboard athletes, including some of the biggest names in sport. It has become a staple of the New York City social philanthropic scene and provides a grand send-off for athletes before the start of the winter competition season.

For more information about the New York Gold Medal Gala, please contact U.S. Ski & Snowboard’s Director of Marketing and Communications, Tom Webb at tom.webb@usskiandsnowboard.org.

For ticket purchase and auction information, please click here.

To stay up to date on the New York Gold Medal Gala happenings, search #NYGoldMedalGala on social media.

U.S. Ski & Snowboard, the Olympic National Governing Body (NGB) of ski and snowboard sports in the U.S., wrapped a highly successful 2019 iteration of its annual Congress with a Board of Directors meeting in which Kipp Nelson formally assumed the position of Chair of the Board of Directors, a position his predecessor, Dexter Paine, had held since 2006.

Nelson, a long-time supporter of U.S. Ski & Snowboard and a former University of Colorado ski racer himself, succeeded Paine after a six month transition period that helped facilitate the transfer of roles and responsibilities of the two Board members. Nelson has served nine years on the Board of Directors and has played an active role on the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Foundation Board of Trustees since 2005.

Paine now takes the title of Honorary Chairman of U.S. Ski & Snowboard and continues as a U.S. Ski & Snowboard Board member, a role he has had for 17 years. In addition, he continues as an International Ski Federation (FIS) Council Member, a position he has held since 2014 and to which he was re-elected at the FIS Congress in May 2018.

“It’s such an honor to succeed Dexter Paine who has been a wonderful Chair for U.S. Ski & Snowboard,” said Nelson. “His are very big shoes to fill but I am excited about taking on the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. Our organization is stronger than it has ever been, we have some of the world’s best athletes on our roster, we have world-class events here in the U.S. and we have young talent coming through who truly stand on the shoulder of giants. Against that, there are challenges facing Olympic sport, but I am looking forward to working with the hugely talented team we have at U.S. Ski & Snowboard.

“I am excited to continue the focus on our teams and athletes," Nelson continued. "We gathered a lot of input over the last few months and especially at Congress. There is nothing more important than our athletes and supporting them, and I am proud of the increase in athlete travel funding that has been generated this year which does exactly that. With more than a $1 million increase in athlete travel support, we have moved the needle a lot and will keep striving to solve challenges and capitalize on the opportunities that lie ahead.”

“I have enjoyed every second of my time as Chair but the time has come to pass on this wonderful responsibility to Kipp,” commented Paine. “To sign off as Chair at Congress is the perfect way to bring my tenure in that position to an end. I will continue to serve our athletes, clubs, members, and supporters as a Board member, and I am looking forward to seeing how Kipp, Tiger [Shaw, U.S. Ski & Snowboard President and CEO] and the whole U.S. Ski & Snowboard team continue to build on our historical athletic success”

The Board of Directors has a variety of committees and subcommittees that serve the various needs of U.S. Ski & Snowboard which represents nearly 200 elite athletes competing across seven different winter sports, which stages over 35 domestic events each year, has nearly 500 member clubs and over 36,000 members and which is integrally involved in the development of future winter sports champions through grassroots programs across the USA.

U.S. Ski & Snowboard, the National Governing Body (NGB) of Olympic ski and snowboard sports in the USA, announced today a new partnership with HomeLight, the San Francisco-based real estate technology company.

“We are thrilled to welcome HomeLight into the U.S. Ski & Snowboard family,” said Tiger Shaw, U.S. Ski & Snowboard’s President and CEO. “We know that the team we choose matters more than anything, and so does HomeLight. HomeLight’s entire company is focused on identifying and working with the best teams in order to achieve the best possible results for customers during one of life’s most important moments, buying or selling their home. It’s a natural fit.”

HomeLight will be the title sponsor for the Ladies’ FIS Ski World Cup at Killington, the HomeLight Killington Cup. This event will be the only domestic stop on the World Cup tour for the women of the U.S. Ski Team, including two-time Olympic gold medalist and global superstar Mikaela Shiffrin. The highly anticipated event draws over 40,000 spectators over three days annually, and for many fans, the event signals the beginning of the ski season.

HomeLight will also be an associate sponsor of the Xfinity Birds of Prey FIS Ski World Cup at Beaver Creek and the FIS COOP Cross Country World Cup event in Minneapolis, part of the 2020 Fastenal Parallel 45. The Cross Country World Cup event will be the first time since 2001 that cross country skiing has been competed at the World Cup level on American soil, and for many U.S. Cross Country skiers, including Olympic gold medalist Jessie Diggins, will be the first time they ski a World Cup race on home snow.

Additionally, these events will serve as the platform for the “HomeLight Scoring and Speed Insight,” a feature in each telecast, viewed by millions of fans watching at home, that will highlight not only how these events are scored but also the importance of speed in landing podiums.

“We’re proud to support athletes who are pursuing their dreams on the slopes, ramps, half-pipes, and cross-country tracks, and particularly as the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Team brings World Cup events home to the U.S.,” said Drew Uher, HomeLight’s CEO. “It takes skill, dedication, preparation, and commitment to be the best, and the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Team is among the best in the world. We can’t imagine a better partner and, just like we do for our real estate clients, we look forward to bringing speed and performance insights to ski and snowboard fans across the country.”

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About HomeLight
HomeLight empowers people to make smarter decisions when buying or selling a home. Since launching in 2010, HomeLight has connected thousands of clients with top local real estate agents, investors and online resources. With offices in San Francisco, Seattle and Phoenix, HomeLight conducts business nationwide. HomeLight is backed by Zeev Ventures, Menlo Ventures, SGVC, Citi Ventures, Bullpen Capital, Crosslink Capital, Montage Ventures, GV, Innovation Endeavors and more. For more information, visit www.homelight.com.

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 2019, 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.
 

U.S. Ski & Snowboard, the Olympic National Governing Body (NGB) of ski and snowboard sports in the USA, and its Athlete Advisory Council (AAC) have lent their voices to calls to government officials from across the U.S. NGB community to support the passage of the Rodchenkov Anti-Doping Act (H.R. 835 in the House).

The Rodchenkov Anti-Doping Act addresses one of the key issues with the global fight against doping, criminalizing doping conspiracies. This will mean that doping fraud perpetrators will finally be able to be indicted and pursued by law enforcement. Additionally, the act also provides for restitution to athletes and others who may have been defrauded by these individuals. Similar acts are already in place in a number of countries, in particular in the European Union, so the successful implementation of the Rodchenkov Anti-Doping Act will see the U.S. mirror policies already in place, taking the fight to those engaged in doping.

Importantly, criminalizing this behavior will also afford doping fraud whistleblowers the same obstruction protections that are provided to witnesses of other crimes. Given the importance of whistleblowers, including Dr. Grigory Rodchenkov, to the global sports community’s awareness and understanding of doping conspiracies, these protections are vital and cannot come soon enough.

“As we saw most recently in Seefeld, Austria, doping continues to be rife in sport around the world and everyone involved in sport at all levels should be doing whatever they can to rid sport of the scourge of doping, as quickly as possible,” said President and CEO of U.S. Ski & Snowboard Tiger Shaw. “Securing the passage of the Rodchenkov Anti-Doping Act is a key step forward in the fight against doping here in the US and we are urging all those in government who have a role in this process to see this as a huge opportunity to take the fight to the dopers, with the full weight of the law and law enforcement community behind us.”

“As an athlete myself, and speaking on behalf of all the athletes represented by the AAC, I can say that the fight against doping is one of the most important topics for NGBs, governments and the entire sports community worldwide today,” added U.S. Ski & Snowboard Athlete Advisory Council Chair Heather McPhie Watanabe.

“What athletes are asking for is simple - to compete against other athletes on a level playing field, knowing they are going into competition where they can showcase the hard work they have put into training and preparation for competition, instead of competing against athletes and scientists who are conspiring to cheat,” McPhie Watanabe added. “If and when the Rodchenkov Anti-Doping Act comes into force it will not only help clean athletes know that the US government has their back in the fight against doping, but it will also mean that those involved in cheating will know that the penalties for their actions are severe.”

Echoing McPhie Watanabe’s comments was U.S. Ski & Snowboard’s Chief of Sport Luke Bodensteiner. “Our athletes want sport to be something that’s safe, fair and fun. Doping does not square up with those values, and our athletes support the Rodchenkov Anti-Doping Act as a means to reinforce those values and create a strong deterrent to anyone engaged in doping now or considering doping in future. The current anti-doping system is unreliable due to built-in conflicts of interest, and inconsistencies in the application of standards worldwide.  Criminalizing doping fraud will reduce the political aspects that impact today’s anti-doping system and concern our athletes so deeply, and will reinforce sport as something that is aligned with our shared values.”

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 2019, 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.

U.S. Ski & Snowboard announced today the addition of Ski & Snowboard Club Vail (SSCV) as the newest member of its High Performance Center (HPC) Partnership Program. The HPC program was initiated in 2017 to share knowledge, systems and processes of athlete development between ski and snowboard clubs and U.S. Ski & Snowboard’s High Performance Department.

The program encourages certified Gold and Silver Clubs, who have excellence in athletic development, sports science, and sports medicine, to become a designated High Performance Center with U.S. Ski & Snowboard to maintain strong and robust talent pathways that can consistently identify and develop world-class athletes.

“The High Performance Center partnership program is critical to our success in developing our future athletes and we are delighted to have Ski & Snowboard Club Vail officially on board,” said Troy Taylor, Director of High Performance for U.S. Ski & Snowboard. “This is something really special and Vail, along with our other elite partnerships and High Performance Centers, will play a key role in our athlete development strategies and the effectiveness of a shared, collaborative system for years to come.”

Ski & Snowboard Club Vail has a long and storied history of developing champions and mentors more than 650 young athletes who participate in its on-snow programs across five disciplines: alpine, freeski, moguls, Nordic and snowboard. In 2019, SSCV also announced the launch of a full-time cycling program for dedicated, year-round competitive mountain bikers. 

SSCV’s Minturn Fitness Center (MFC) opened its doors in 2014 as the first club-run facility to provide full human performance and medical services to its athletes. The 9,000-square-foot facility has been training SSCV and U.S. Ski & Snowboard athletes, as well as the general public, for the past five years, developing a reputation as an industry leader in the area of human performance.

The MFC requires its staff to have and maintain the highest standard of education, including all of the following certifications: National Strength and Conditioning Association, Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialists, Certified Personal Trainers, and EXOS/XPS Performance Specialists. The MFC is also a club leader in developing programs using periodization and a 12-month collaboration with on-hill staff.

This new HPC designation will further ensure SSCV is able to provide world-class services to its athletes, coaches and clients.

“We are overwhelmed by this accolade from U.S. Ski & Snowboard, which recognizes SSCV’s expertise and dedication to the health and performance of its athletes,” said John Cole, Ski & Snowboard Club Vail’s Director of Human Performance. “As we continue to innovate our training and periodization systems, we will look forward to our new partnerships and collaborations, not only with the Center of Excellence in Park City, but also our fellow High Performance Centers throughout the U.S.”

“It’s an honor to officially partner with U.S. Ski & Snowboard,” said Jimmy Pritchard, Ski & Snowboard Club Vail’s Director of Strength and Conditioning. “We are thrilled to further support the athletes with highest level of service and expand our educational relationships with the staff.”

Ski and Snowboard Club Vail’s commitment to athlete development culminates annually during Mountain-Con, a sport performance conference geared specifically for the mountain sport athlete professional that provides access to information from the most highly-acclaimed sport performance professionals in the industries of physiology, strength and conditioning, performance psychology, nutrition and altitude/sea level performance. Participants of Mountain-Con may use their attendance as continuing education credits with U.S. Ski & Snowboard’s coaching certification program.

For more information about U.S. Ski & Snowboard’s High Performance Partnership Program, please contact Tom Webb, Director of Marketing and Communications at tom.webb@usskiandsnowboard.org.

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About Ski and Snowboard Club Vail
Founded in 1962, Ski & Snowboard Club Vail (SSCV) is the Vail Valley’s oldest nonprofit. Today, the club remains true to its roots by instilling the values of “character, courage and commitment” through mentorship of more than 650 young athletes who participate in its on-snow programs. The organization provides training and competition services for aspiring snow-sport athletes across five snowsport disciplines: alpine, freeski, moguls, Nordic, and snowboard. A U.S. Ski & Snowboard Gold Certified Club, SSCV has received numerous accolades form the national governing body, including Club of the Year (2010, 2014), Alpine Club of the Year (1999, 2010, 2014-16), Cross Country Club of the Year (2013), Freeski Club of the Year (2013-14), Freestyle Club of the Year (2014), and Snowboard Club of the Year (2014). Over the years, SSCV has helped cultivate numerous champions. Three Olympic gold medalists — Lindsey Vonn, Mikaela Shiffrin, and Kaitlyn Farrington — all booted up at the SSCV clubhouse during their formative years, as did X Games gold medalist Aaron Blunck, world champion Chris Del Bosco, and Olympic bronze medalist Toby Dawson.

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 2019, 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.