HOVERAir X1 PRO and PROMAX to capture extreme winter sports performances in stunning 8K and 4K video

PARK CITY, Utah (November 1, 2024) – Today, HOVERAir and U.S. Ski & Snowboard are proud to announce their collaboration for the 2024-25 season as the X1 PRO and PROMAX flying cameras become available for direct to sales. This exciting partnership will provide athletes and fans with unprecedented aerial perspectives of elite snowboarders and freeskiers, thanks to the HOVERAir X1 PRO and PROMAX. The HOVERAir brand is now designated as the official flying camera of U.S. Ski & Snowboard for the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix at Copper Mountain, Colorado, December 18-21, 2024.

The Toyota U.S. Grand Prix at Copper Mountain, part of the longest-running elite-level competition in the United States, serves as a key stop on the FIS Freeski and Snowboard World Cup tour. World-class athletes will compete for podiums in the resort’s 22-foot pro halfpipe. HOVERAir will be an official partner of the event and will have an on-site activation for fans to see and experience their products.

Zero Zero Robotics’ HOVERAir X1 PRO and X1 PROMAX are the ultimate flying cameras for capturing high-adrenaline winter sports. Designed for extreme environments, both models feature hands-free, AI-powered filming, enabling athletes to focus on their performance while recording stunning footage in 8K and 4K resolution. With their rugged design and OmniTerrain capabilities, these cameras can fly effortlessly over snow, water, and steep cliffs, making them ideal for skiers and snowboarders tackling the toughest courses. The cameras also offer advanced tracking and collision detection, ensuring precise shots at speeds of up to 26 mph, even in the most challenging conditions.

“We are beyond excited to partner with U.S. Ski & Snowboard and their incredible athletes at the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix," said MQ Wang, Founder and CEO of Zero Zero Robotics. "Winter sports push the limits of speed, precision, and agility—values we’ve built into the HOVERAir X1 PRO and PROMAX. As the official flying cameras of U.S. Ski & Snowboard, we can't wait to help athletes capture their performances from stunning new perspectives, bringing their moments of brilliance to life in breathtaking detail.”

The HOVERAir X1 PRO and PROMAX flying cameras are now available worldwide at hoverair.com for USD $499 and $699, respectively.

"We’re thrilled to partner with HOVERAir around the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix, and use its innovative solutions to elevate the fan experience and athlete performance,” said U.S. Ski & Snowboard Chief Revenue and Philanthropy Officer Trisha Worthington. “U.S. Ski & Snowboard is committed to staying at the forefront of technology, and this partnership allows us to do just that while showcasing some of the world’s most exciting competitions."

About U.S. Ski & Snowboard
U.S. Ski & Snowboard is the Olympic and Paralympic National Governing Body of ski and snowboard sports in the USA, based in Park City, Utah. Started in 1905, the organization now represents nearly 240 elite skiers and snowboarders competing on 10 teams: alpine, cross country, freestyle moguls, freestyle aerials, snowboard, freeski, nordic combined, ski jumping, Para alpine and Para snowboard. 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 Media Contact
Courtney Harkins, Director of Marketing & Communications, courtney.harkins@usskiandsnowboard.org

About Zero Zero Robotics
Zero Zero Robotics was co-founded in 2014 by Stanford PhDs MQ Wang and Tony Zhang, specializing in embedded AI technology for intelligent devices. Known for its innovative machine vision and high-precision control systems, ZeroZero has team members who are dreamers, engineers, inventors, and builders hailing from top universities and research institutions around the world. Zero Zero Robotics holds more than 140 core patents and has pioneered technologies like fully enclosed portable propeller designs and bi-copter designs, cementing its place as a leader in intelligent device development.

HOVERAir Media Contact
Zero Zero Robotics PR Team
pr@hoverair.com

New York, New York (Oct. 28, 2024) — U.S. Ski & Snowboard hosted its 58th Gold Medal Gala in New York City on Oct. 26, 2024 with athletes, supporters, partners and donors kicking off the 2024-25 season by raising a record-breaking $2.35 million for the U.S Ski & Snowboard Team. The year’s theme was “reflection,” which paid homage to the journey to the top and reflecting on what it took to get there. It was the largest audience in Gala history. 

A highlight of the evening was the presentation of the Transcendence Award to Toyota U.S. Para Snowboard Team athlete Brenna Huckaby, a three-time Paralympic gold medalist, five-time world champion and winningest Para snowboarder of all time. Known for her record-resetting achievements and advocacy, Huckaby has transcended her sport. Receiving the award in front of her teammates, donors, supporters and others, Huckaby expressed gratitude for the community that helped her reach these heights. 

"Thank you for seeing me," said Huckaby on stage. "Thank you to everyone in this room who has made so much of this possible and to the teams behind the Team. We don’t do this alone. Thank you for recognizing me as a person beyond the title of an athlete. When I think about what transcendence means to me, I keep coming back to this question of what other choice did I have? I knew I needed to be more than an athlete. Many years later, I’m a wife, I have two daughters, I am a disability inclusion advocate, an occasional model… but what i've learned through all of this is that I’m successful because my definition of success isn’t defined by what medals I’ve won, or what accolades I’ve achieved - my definition of success is the person I’ve become and the impact I can have on this world."

Another memorable moment was an engaging conversation hosted by Olympic moguls gold medalist Jonny Moseley, featuring Olympic champion freeskier Alex Hall. Together, they discussed the exciting future of the sport and the creative, boundary-pushing energy that fuels the next generation of athletes. They also spoke about the partnership between U.S. Ski & Snowboard and X Games and what it means for the future of competition freeskiing and snowboarding. Hall is an 11-time X Games medalist and is the only skier in history to win an X Games medal in each discipline. 

Throughout the evening, the Gala raised $2.35 million through table purchases, a silent auction, and a lively live auction and paddle raise hosted by auctioneer Harry Santa-Olalla. U.S. Ski & Snowboard is a nonprofit that receives no government funding and donations like this directly support its 240 athletes across 10 sports. 

“We are endlessly grateful to this community of supporters who make it possible for our athletes to transcend boundaries,” said Sophie Goldschmidt, President and CEO of U.S. Ski & Snowboard. “Seeing the success and dedication of these extraordinary athletes reminds us why we do what we do. Together, we’re ensuring they can continue reaching new heights, and events like this remind us that we're all on the same team.”

PARK CITY, Utah (October 21, 2024) — U.S. Ski & Snowboard announced today a multi-year partnership with Cloudflare (NYSE: NET), the leading connectivity cloud company, as the Official Technology Partner of the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Team. As part of the partnership, Cloudflare will provide Internet security, reliability and performance tools to help accelerate, protect and secure the U.S. Ski & Snowboard website and its internal network used by coaches and athletes.  

“We’re thrilled for Cloudflare to join as a partner,” said Sophie Goldschmidt, President and CEO of U.S. Ski & Snowboard. “Cloudflare is one of the world’s most trusted Internet platforms, with services that not only connect the entire world but provide security to millions. As we enter into this new partnership, I am excited to collaborate with an organization that also puts performance, speed, reliability and safety at the forefront of what they do.” 

With a mission of helping to build a better Internet, Cloudflare powers one of the world’s largest and most interconnected networks that spans more than 330 cities in over 120 countries. The company blocks billions of online threats for millions of its customers every day—from the largest brands to entrepreneurs and small businesses to nonprofits, humanitarian groups and governments across the globe.

This is Cloudflare’s first sports partnership. U.S. Ski & Snowboard and Cloudflare will amplify the partnership through branding on the highly valued alpine, cross country, moguls, aerials, Para alpine and Para snowboard uniforms, along with various content opportunities and hospitality experiences. Additionally, Cloudflare will provide the U.S. Ski & Snowboard team with the technology needed to make their coaches, athletes, applications and networks faster and more secure online, while reducing complexity and cost. This technology implementation will ensure the U.S. Ski & Snowboard website and internal operations stay reliable, fast, secure and performant, no matter where fans or athletes are accessing it from on their travels across the globe. 

“Skiing and snowboarding are the rare sports that have a truly global community, and attract the most technical, disciplined athletes,” said Matthew Prince, co-founder and CEO of Cloudflare. “Speed, safety, reliability and performance are values that define both Cloudflare and the U.S. Ski & Snowboard athletes. We’re excited to support the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Team with the technology needed to secure the organization and its athletes so they can focus on winning medals and pushing the boundaries of the sport safely and securely, on the slopes and online.” 

“As an alpine skier, innovation is critical to my success,” said Stifel U.S. Alpine Ski Team athlete and world champion River Radamus. “It’s necessary for me to push boundaries, stay ahead of the competition and perform at my best. I’m excited to have a cutting-edge company like Cloudflare partnering with us as we take on the World Cup and World Championships. Precision and performance are everything—both on the slopes and in the digital world.”

With the announcement, Cloudflare joins a strong and growing roster of high-level partners that have joined U.S. Ski & Snowboard throughout the last two years, including Stifel Financial, Hydro Flask, Kappa Sportswear, iFit and United Airlines.

###

About U.S. Ski & Snowboard
U.S. Ski & Snowboard is the Olympic and Paralympic National Governing Body of ski and snowboard sports in the USA, based in Park City, Utah. Started in 1905, the organization now represents nearly 240 elite skiers and snowboarders competing on 10 teams: alpine, cross country, freestyle moguls, freestyle aerials, snowboard, freeski, nordic combined, ski jumping, Para alpine and Para snowboard. 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 

About Cloudflare
Cloudflare, Inc. (NYSE: NET) is the leading connectivity cloud company on a mission to help build a better Internet. It empowers organizations to make their employees, applications and networks faster and more secure everywhere, while reducing complexity and cost. Cloudflare’s connectivity cloud delivers the most full-featured, unified platform of cloud-native products and developer tools, so any organization can gain the control they need to work, develop, and accelerate their business.

Powered by one of the world’s largest and most interconnected networks, Cloudflare blocks billions of threats online for its customers every day. It is trusted by millions of organizations – from the largest brands to entrepreneurs and small businesses to nonprofits, humanitarian groups, and governments across the globe.

Learn more about Cloudflare’s connectivity cloud at cloudflare.com/connectivity-cloud. Learn more about the latest Internet trends and insights at https://radar.cloudflare.com.

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FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:

U.S. Ski & Snowboard
Courtney Harkins
Director, Marketing & Communications
courtney.harkins@usskiandsnowboard.org

Cloudflare
Daniella Vallurupalli
Vice President, Communications
daniella@cloudflare.com 

Dear U.S. Ski & Snowboard Team fans, 

The season is here! With our freeskiers and snowboarders ready to kick off the 2024-25 season in Chur, Switzerland, tomorrow and Saturday, I want to take a moment to reflect on this past summer and dive deeper into what we’ve achieved as we head into another season. Our talented teams ended last season on a historic note and we are excited and motivated to keep this going.

Skiing and snowboarding are a way of life for many around the world—millions of people do these sports in the United States alone. It is a lifestyle, travel and recreational activity, and we are lucky to be part of this community.

But when you ask our athletes what the best part of their sport is, whether it be launching themselves off a big air jump or racing at 90mph down icy slopes, it’s that our sports are thrilling. The adrenaline rush is unmatched. The adventure our sports take us on is something our athletes are constantly grateful

At U.S. Ski & Snowboard, we’re 10 sports, one team. We have more than 240 athletes on our rosters, and day in and day out, we work towards our mission of championing the growth of snowsports at every level and developing world champions. For decades, our rosters have had some of sports’ biggest icons and now have current stars like Mikaela Shiffrin, Chloe Kim, Jessie Diggins, Alex Ferreira and Alex Hall. The level of talent we have in the pipeline is also getting deeper, and this area is becoming even more of a focus as we work to take our sports to the next level.

It’s been a busy summer with our teams training worldwide—from New Zealand to Switzerland to South America and beyond—coupled with frequent visits back “home” to the USANA Center of Excellence powered by iFit in Park City. Our headquarters is the perfect example of what drives this organization: It allows our teams to train efficiently, push the bar higher, try new things and challenge each other. It showcases the benefits of having all 10 ski and snowboard teams under one umbrella, visible in the collaboration between the teams that helps to lead us to success. 

Before we jump into this next season, I want to recap the last quickly. We had tremendous accomplishments at all levels: Four of our teams ended the year the best in the world; we took home 13 Crystal Globes, 14 Youth Olympic Games medals and 14 Junior World Championship medals; the cross country and freestyle teams had their most successful seasons in history—and that’s only scratching the surface. We also had record social media viewership and engagement and increased our broadcast numbers. Our Stifel Snow Show on CNBC, Peacock and YouTube was a massive success and told the stories of our athletes beyond the snow to a new audience. We also hosted 11 World Cup events across the country and ended the season with another successive year of record revenue. This was all possible thanks to all of you - THANK YOU.

Going into 2024-25, we’re excited for what is on the calendar. We will host the first-ever women’s Stifel Birds of Prey presented by United downhill race and the first women’s ski jumping World Cup in the United States, and Mikaela Shiffrin looks on track to rewrite history once again with her 100th World Cup win. I’m excited to see if we can top last year’s success, especially as we head into a World Championships year and with the Milan-Cortina Olympic Winter Games in less than 16 months. 

With all that said, let’s get started. 

DOMESTIC WORLD CUP CALENDAR - 12 EVENTS! 

We are proud to announce that we are hosting 12 World Cup events on U.S. soil this season – one more than last season! Having this many domestic events is very important to our organization and the future of our sports and I know how meaningful it is to see our athletes up close, alongside the best skiers and snowboarders from around the world. Competing in the U.S. is a home-field advantage, both athletically and commercially, and directly inspires the next generation of athletes. 

This season, Beaver Creek will welcome the women to the Stifel Birds of Prey presented by United in addition to the men, and for the first time, the women will have the opportunity to ski the same downhill track as the men. It’s the first time many of our women will get a chance to race on home snow, and we can’t wait. To wrap up the alpine season, Sun Valley will host the Stifel Sun Valley Finals, welcoming back the best alpine skiers in the world for the first U.S.-hosted World Cup Finals since 2017 and it will be a festival-like atmosphere with live music, food and community events. On the ski jumping front, the first-ever domestic World Cup ski jumping event for both men and women will occur in Lake Placid, NY. Freestyle will host three World Cups this season, with an exciting new World Cup in Lake Placid for our aerials team. Take a look at the full U.S. World Cup schedule here.

Lastly, through the new multi-faceted partnership with X Games, our freeski and snowboard athletes will compete in the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix and Visa Big Air presented by Toyota at Copper Mountain and Aspen—returning to Aspen for the first time since 2019. Through the partnership, X Games will host a one-of-a-kind X Games-style event following the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix at Copper. 

NEW SEASON CAMPAIGN: BACK IN THE BIB 

We’re starting the season with a new campaign, building off a strong summer of high social engagement and collaborations across several other disciplines. We saw record social numbers this summer, especially with our creative content around the Paris Olympics, and are still feeling the bounce following those successful Games.

“Back in the Bib” is the new season campaign. The concept refers to our athletes putting on that competition bib for the first time this 2024-25 season. Whether at the top of the halfpipe, at the start gate of a slalom, in the mass start of a 50k, lined up for the snowboard cross course, or about to go head-to-head in a dual moguls run, we’re all ready to be back in the bib, and we invite you to share our excitement. The campaign is live on social media, and we’d love to see how our fans are prepping for the season ahead! Show us by posting on your socials with the #backinthebib hashtag. 

PROJECTS 

U.S. Ski & Snowboard continues to focus on our Easy Green and HERoic initiatives. Easy Green is our environmental initiative, built around sharing resources and encouraging all to partake in sustainable practices at all levels of the organization. Since the initiative's launch, we are continuing our work with Greenly to measure our carbon footprint so that we can take action. Our U.S. Ski & Snowboard sustainability task force is collaborating with industry leaders in climate change on what we can do moving forward and this year, we installed more electric vehicle charging stations at the USANA Center of Excellence powered by iFIT. 

This upcoming season, you will also see our Easy Green logo on race suits and patched jackets, showcasing our commitment to climate advocacy on a global scale throughout the winter. 

HERoic – our movement designed to inspire and empower women to thrive on and off the slopes, specifically in women’s coaching and leadership – continues after a successful year of inspiring women’s panels around the country. Data shows a 20% increase in women coaches at the elite level since last year and confirms that women hold 67% of executive positions at the organization.

Keep an eye on our HERoic landing page for more details coming soon at events like the Stifel Killington Cup, where there will be a women’s panel and showing of woman-focused ski films, and the Stifel Birds of Prey presented by United, where we have partnered with CNBC and LionTree to bring their Lioness community to Birds of Prey for activities around the women’s weekend and more.   

HOW TO WATCH

We know watching our sports is complicated and we hope to simplify this with FIS in the future, but World Cup skiing and snowboarding broadcast rights will be very similar to last year.

World Cups within the United States: We will again have every second of our domestic World Cup coverage shown LIVE on Outside. All events are free on Outside.com and the Outside app with an email address—you will not be charged if you watch the events live. Outside+ (the paid level) will have all the same events on demand. NBC Universal will also show some coverage from our domestic World Cups through the NBC family, including NBC, CNBC, USA and Peacock. Peacock will not have domestic World Cups on demand.

International World Cups: The InFront-owned skiandsnowboard.live will house all international (except Austria) events live and on demand. 

Austrian World Cups: Austria holds separate media rights agreements, so all Austrian World Cup events can be watched on Peacock with key events like Sölden, Kitzbühel and others are aired on NBC.

Keep up with how to watch each event all season long on our TV listings page. 

STIFEL SNOW SHOW

Last year, we launched the Stifel Snow Show, a groundbreaking new television series that followed the arc of the winter sports season each week that aired on Peacock, CNBC and YouTube, and I’m proud to report that it was a massive success. Every week, new and seasoned fans can dive deeper into our world of elite skiing and snowboarding through weekly World Cup results, interviews with athletes and alumni and more. We have officially locked in a second season, emphasizing more storytelling to give you a more in-depth look into athletes and events. It will be aired every Saturday throughout the ski/snowboard season on CNBC, Peacock and YouTube. We could not be more excited to bring it back for year #2 and to work closely again with the tremendous team at NBC.

PARTNERSHIPS

Our partnerships team has been hard at work throughout the last year, bringing in key partners who are making a difference for our teams and organization, including brands like United Airlines as our Official Airline Partner, the global leader in exercise equipment and fitness content iFit, Hydro Flask as the team naming partner of the snowboard team and Kappa as our Official Technical Apparel Partner, among others. We are celebrating a second year of record revenue growth because of this strong effort and will continue delivering on all fronts. 

Additionally, we were thrilled to announce that we have expanded our partnership with Stifel Financial and Toyota around our Para teams, designed to amplify Para sports. Stifel is the official Team Naming Partner of the Stifel U.S. Para Alpine Ski Team and Toyota is the official Team Naming Partner of the Toyota U.S. Para Snowboard Team. This is the first major investment into our Para sports since the teams came back under the U.S. Ski & Snowboard brand, and we know that this is a huge step forward. 

I genuinely believe that the team we’ve built at U.S. Ski & Snowboard is one of the world's strongest, led by some of the best athletes and supported by the best fans. As we start the season tomorrow in Chur, Switzerland, we will continue building on our success, pushing the boundaries and achieving more as one team. I can confidently say we’re ready to get back on the snow. 

Thank you for continuing to cheer us on and we will see you all out on the mountain - Go USA!

Best,
Sophie

PARK CITY, Utah (October 16, 2024) — U.S. Ski & Snowboard athletes are ready for another busy season of competing worldwide, and we’re here to break down how you can watch all the action. Broadcast rights are not centralized, which means that every country has the right to sell their World Cup broadcast - and though it can be confusing and frustrating, there are THREE main ways to tune into the 2024-25 season action with Outside, skiandsnowboard.live and the NBC family (NBC/CNBC/USA/Peacock). 

This 2024-25 season will feature 12 domestic World Cup events, a full international World Cup season and a FIS World Championships in all disciplines. Alpine will compete in Salbaach, Austria; cross country, ski jumping and nordic combined in Trondheim, Norway; freestyle, freeski and snowboard in Engadin, Switzerland; Para alpine to be determined; and Para snowboard in Big White, Canada. World Championships happen every other year in non-Olympic years. 

To find out how to watch events every weekend, please check the TV listings per sport under our WATCH tab. Our social media channels will also release each weekend’s schedule on Tuesdays.  

DOMESTIC EVENTS: Outside, NBC/CNBC/Peacock
This season, all events held in the United States are LIVE on Outside for free, with only an email address needed to watch. Some events will also be aired on NBC channels (NBC, CNBC, USA); those events aired on NBC channels will also be live streamed on Peacock simultaneously. Outside+ (paid) will have all domestic events on demand. Peacock will not have domestic events on demand. All events will have commentary.

INTERNATIONAL EVENTS (not Austria): ski and snowboard.live
The InFront-owned website skiandsnowboard.live will have all international World Cups live and on-demand on their website and TV apps. All events will have commentary.  

AUSTRIAN EVENTS: NBC/Peacock

Peacock will broadcast all events in Austria live and will have limited tape-delayed coverage on NBC.  

PRICE STRUCTURE:

• Outside: free (live domestic events - all you need to do is enter an email address) OR $89/year (on-demand domestic events)
• skiandsnowboard.live: (all international events) 
  • all-access (all disciplines) – $19.99/monthly, $79.99/yearly
  • discipline passes – $11.99/monthly 
• NBC/CNBC: free with cable (domestic events, some Austria events)
  Peacock: $7.99/month (domestic live events, Austrian events)