Mikaela Shiffrin of the Stifel U.S. Ski Team made a dramatic return to the World Cup after weeks away on injury, winning the slalom in Åre, Sweden, by 1.24 seconds and clinching a record-tying eighth career discipline globe.

Shiffrin had not competed since the end of January when she crashed in the downhill at Cortina d’Ampezzo, straining her meniscus. Since then, she has worked relentlessly over the last six weeks to get her knee ready to race again. She announced just prior to Åre that she would just be skiing the slalom and skipping the giant slalom.

“Everything was so day by day and step by step,” said Shiffrin after the race. “If I thought about the future, even if it was a week from that point, I would just start panicking. Even last week, we weren’t sure if I could ski either of these races, even just the slalom. It was important to stay in the right mind at the moment.”

She had a strong run out of the start on the first run to finish first and didn’t take anything off in the second run, skiing aggressively in a fast-tempo course to win by more than a second.

“There has been so much uncertainty coming into this race,” said Shiffrin. “The biggest goal I had was good skiing in the final races of the season. Having the chance to do that again before the season was over felt so important so I could prove that I have the right pace and mentality to close out the season, so next year, I will start in a better place. That was really important to me.”

Shiffrin beat out Zrinka Ljutic of Croatia, who finished second. Michelle Gisin of Switzerland was third.

The win clinched Shiffrin’s eighth Crystal Globe in slalom, tying her with Lindsey Vonn and Ingemar Stenmark, who also hold eight discipline Globes. Stenmark’s are in giant slalom and slalom, while Vonn’s are in downhill. Marcel Hirscher also has eight overall crystal Globes.

Despite being out for six weeks with an injury, Shiffrin only missed one slalom World Cup. Out of the 10 possible slalom races, she won six, had one second place, and had one-fourth to capture her 16th total Globe.

Åre is a treasured place for Shiffrin, hosting many of her best moments in her career. It was the site of her first World Cup win when she was 17. She won the gold medal in slalom there at the 2019 World Championships. She became the winningest alpine skier of all time last season when she won her 87th career World Cup at the same venue.

Paula Moltzan also had a great day, finishing 10th and standing 10th overall in the slalom standings. Moltzan was third place in the last slalom World Cup and has five top-10 results in slalom this season. AJ Hurt and Lila Lapanja did not qualify for a second run.

The women have one final slalom at World Cup Finals in Saalbach, Austria, on March 16.

RESULTS
Women’s slalom

The 2024 FIS World Criterium Masters event was held at Kimberely Alpine Resort in BC March 1-7.  The event featured 148 racers from 15 countries - CAN, USA, AUS, AUT, CHI, CZE, EST, FRA, GBR, GER, HUN, ITA, JPN, SUI, SWE. The USA Masters delegation included 41 racers between 38-88 years old. The week started with significant snow and event delays but with a little luck and a lot of effort and hard work from the organizers, all planned races were able to be held over the 5 days of competition!

The USA Racers won big bringing home 60 medals from the event!

Full event results on the FIS website 

Video Recap

Facebook Photo Albums from the Canadian Alpine Masters (look for the ones that say WCM)

The final tech series of the regular World Cup season for the Stifel U.S. Ski Team women kicked off on Saturday, March 9. Paula Moltzan and AJ Hurt finished back-to-back in the giant slalom in 10th and 11th, respectively. 

For Moltzan, finishing in the top 10 was a feat within itself, given a mistake in her first run that sent her hip dragging heading into the final gates of the race. 

"I think we're pretty darn close as a team to where we want to be, but I feel a couple of steps behind in GS right now," said Moltzan. "I think I need to find another second or so to contend with the top five, but I've had a pretty consistent GS season. It hasn't been perfect, but it's been good, so I'm happy with it."

For Hurt, this is her fifth finish in the top 15 this season. After kicking off the year in Soelden, unable to qualify for a second run, ending her giant slalom year less than half a second out of the top 10 feels good. 

"It's been a long road, but I feel like we're finally getting there," Hurt said in response to a comment about the development of the U.S. women's tech team. "Our coach, Magnus Andersson is from Sweden and he just wants us to do well and I think we want to prove him right."

On Sunday, both Moltzan and Hurt will compete in the final slalom of the regular season. Mikaela Shiffrin will also return to racing after her injury in Cortina. 

RESULTS
Women's giant slalom

SLALOM STARTERS
Mikaela Shiffrin (5)
Paula Moltzan (13)
AJ Hurt (32)
Lila Lapanja (48)

HOW TO WATCH
4:30 a.m. - run 1, women's slalom - LIVE on skiandsnowboard.live
7:30 a.m. - run 2, women's slalom -  LIVE on skiandsnowboard.live
Watch on-demand on Outside Watch

On the final day of the Stifel Aspen Winternational presented by United, Stifel U.S. Ski Team athletes Jett Seymour and Ben Ritchie skied to 25th and 27th place, respectively. 

“It was a challenging course and I had a pretty big mistake, but I am proud of my skiing today,” said Seymour. 

It snowed 18 inches overnight and the course workers were up before dawn to help get the race off. They were able to push all the snow off to get back the ice from the day before for the world’s best slalom skiers. The Stifel U.S. Ski Team squad had three skiers - Seymour, Ritchie and Luke Winters - punch it into the top 30 after the first run, a positive step for the team. 

On the second run, the slalom course was anyone’s for the taking. Seymour was knifing his second run until he had a huge bobble at the bottom. With an incredibly athletic recovery, he still made it to the finish to earn World Cup points. Ritchie also skied solidly with a few bobbles to land another top 30 finish. Winters skied out and did not finish.

“It can be tough to fight through the pressure of home races, but when you ski through it can be really rewarding,” said Seymour. 

It was quite a day for Great Britain’s Laurie Taylor who won the Stifel Bibbo Award, going from bib 49 to eighth place, a career-best finish for the Brit. However it was ultimately the best weekend for Loic Meillard of Switzerland who followed up his two second place finishes in giant slalom with a slalom win. Germany’s Linus Strasser took second place and Norway’s Henrik Kristoffersen claimed third place. 

The final men’s technical World Cup season will end in Slovenia next weekend. 

RESULTS
Men's slalom

For the fifth time in the 2023-24 season, Lauren Macuga earned a personal best finish, this time, breaking into the top five on an impossibly foggy day in Kvitfjell, Norway. 

After multiple course holds, and debate whether or not the race would be officially contested, Macuga held onto a fifth place finish, 0.11 seconds off her first podium. With her finish, she solidified her spot in the super-G at World Cup Finals, and unlocked a new a goal, earning her first podium. 

“When I started this season, my goals were to earn a top 20 in downhill, and a top 30 in super-G,” explained Macuga. “Never did I imagine that I would sitting in the hot seat for as long as I did, let alone in the top five.”

In Saturday’s super-G, Macuga finished seventh after starting in the top 20 girls for the first time in her young career. Despite worsening conditions, the 21-year-old was able to best herself on Sunday, March 3, with her fifth place finish. 

"It was win or lose today with how much fog we got during our run," said Macuga. "I definitely had a little bit, and it was hard to see. I hit a few gates with my head on the way down. But either way I was charging, and I carried speed through the bottom, and that kept me in the game until the end."

Her teammate, Tricia Mangan, was sent down the course during the lowest visibility of the day in bib 40, and miracously managed to break into the top 30, finishing 24th by jumping 16 places, and earning her first Stifel Bibbo Award. 

"In the course, I was just yelling at myself to stay focused, and stay in it," said Mangan. "I couldn't see a thing but I didn't want to finish my last World Cup of the season without giving it everything I had, no matter what."

Looking ahead, the Stifel U.S. Alpine women will either head home for U.S. Nationals, or stick around Europe to compete in World Cup Finals if they qualified in the top 25 of their respective disciplines. Finals can be streamed live on skiandsnowboard.live, beginning March 16, in Saalbach, Austria. 

On the second day of the Stifel Aspen Winternational presented by United, Stifel U.S. Ski Team athlete Tommy Ford led the way for the U.S. squad, finishing 16th place and taking the third fastest time on second run. 

“I knew it was fast and it felt fast in the bottom section especially,” said Ford. 

The conditions Saturday resembled more of an ice rink as the watering and injection from the week prior set extra well the night before. The world’s best were not phased by the icy conditions, putting on a show for the Aspen crowd. River Radamus kicked things off first for the team running third, but got inside at the third gate, leaning in and barely making the next few gates. He squeaked it into the top 30 for a second run. Ford skied solidly with some mistakes to finish 26th first run. Lastly, Isaiah Nelson skied speedily to tie Radamus in 30th, his first time making a second run on the World Cup tour. 

While it was not the first run the team was hoping for, they prepared mentally to attack the second run. Radamus ran first and immediately went into the lead and ended up 22nd. Nelson was on fire, knifing every turn and posting fast split. But he unfortunately bobbled right before the finish and did not finish. 

Ford saw his opportunity and seized it, skiing the best run of his season going into the lead. He ended up moving up 10 spots to 16th place and notched the third fastest second run. 

“Consistency was key today and not doing too much between runs,” said Ford. “It’s hard to be patient up there but I was able to do it and it felt good. I am going to focus on what I’m doing.”

The winner of the race was none other than Marco Odermatt of Switzerland. Despite a major mistake on his second run, no one can seemingly unseat the giant slalom king, who is now 9-0 in the last nine giant slaloms. Second place went to teammate Loic Meillard and third place was Norway’s Timon Haugan. Stifel U.S. Ski Team athletes Brian McLaughlin, George Steffey and independent athlete Patrick Kenney also raced but did not qualify for second run. 

There is one more giant slalom in the regular World Cup season next week in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia. The final day of racing in Aspen will be a slalom on Sunday. 

RESULTS
Men's giant slalom

HOW TO WATCH (all times in ET)
March 3
11:00 a.m. - run 1, men's giant slalom - LIVE: CNBC, Peacock, Outside
2:00 p.m. - (delayed coverage) men’s slalom, Stifel Palisades Tahoe Cup - NBC
1:30 p.m. - run 2, men’s slalom - NBC coverage begins
2:00 p.m. - run 2, men's giant slalom - LIVE: NBC, Peacock, Outside

Lauren Macuga clocked yet another personal best result in the 2023-24 season, this time in the Kvitfjell, Norway super-G that replaced the scheduled initial downhill on Saturday, March 2. Macuga finished seventh overall, her second top-10 result in a World Cup, besting her result in the Zauchensee super-G earlier in the season.

She started in bib 4, another first for the 21-year-old; as in the past, she's only ever skied closer to the back of the pack, never higher than bib 20. When Macuga came to the finish, she was ecstatic. 

"Skiing in the top 10 is where it's at," she exclaimed. "Oh my god, it was so fun. You don't realize how much of a game-changer a clean course is. I'm used to running in the back of the pack, and it's so nice to run a full, clean course where you can go. You don't get to watch as many racers. So you have to trust your plan and put everything out there."

Macuga was 1.01 seconds off of the day's winner, Lara Gut-Behrami, who currently leads the super-G and overall World Cup standings. Austria's Cornelia Huetter finished second, followed by her teammate Mirjam Puchner in third. 

Having gone much earlier than she was used to, Macuga initially hoped to hang on to a top 15 finish to support further her mission to qualify for the World Cup Finals in Saalbach at the end of the season, where only the top 25 athletes in each discipline qualify.

Seventh makes a strong argument for Macuga, who now sits comfortably in 17th overall. If she remains high enough in the rankings by the end of the day on Sunday, she will be heading to her first World Cup finals. 

On Sunday, she and her teammates will get another chance at the super-G in Kvitfjell, this time with a better plan to attack the course sections where mistakes were made. Bella Wright made a mistake in the same section of the course as Macuga but had a later bib number and couldn't quite make up the time she lost. She ended the day in 18th. 

"You have to charge in this course," said Macuga. "You absolutely have to be on it and give it everything you got out there. Never let up, otherwise you'll lose your speed coming into the flats and then you're out."

The second super-G of the weekend in Kvitfjell, and the last speed race in the regular World Cup before the World Cup Finals, begins at 5:00 a.m. ET on skiandsnowboard.live. 

RESULTS
Women's super-G

HOW TO WATCH

5:00 a.m. - women's super-G - LIVE on skiandsnowboard.live

STARTERS (3/3)

Lauren Macuga (2)

Bella Wright (22)

Tricia Mangan (40)

Jackie Wiles (41)

Keely Cashman (42)

On Friday, March 1 in the first of two giant slaloms at the Stifel Aspen Winternational presented by United, River Radamus skied to an 11th place position. 

“I felt like I executed well today,” said Radamus. “Second run the approach was much better with a better touch on the snow.” 

The weather could not be more perfect with beautiful sunny skies and a fired-up Colorado crowd, but it was a bit of an unusual giant slalom on the results sheet with more than 25 skiers not making it to the bottom of the course. The hill was more aggressive and icy than many expected, coupled with a very tricky course set. Radamus was cooking the top splits on his first run until he got extremely late before the flat section, losing all his speed. He made another large mistake toward the middle, bumping him to a 15th place first run. 

“Today was a learning curve for everyone. It was icy up top and on those crucial turns they got pretty polished,” said Radamus. “I made some more mistakes in the second run but I was pushing really hard so I am happy with the second run for sure.” 

On the second run, the snow was still very aggressive and Radamus chose to switch up his equipment. He skied well the whole run, with the exception of a few mistakes, ultimately moving up four places to 11th overall for the day. 

Stifel U.S. Ski Team athletes George Steffey, Brian McLaughlin, Tommy Ford and Isaiah Nelson were all in top 30 contention on the first run but, like many of their competitors, got late and low, blowing out in the middle of the run. Patrick Kenney finished the first run in 37th, not good enough for a second run. 

“Our whole team has the speed right now. I think they wanted to put something down special and laid everything on the line and sometimes you go out. But they can do it,” said Radamus. 

The winner of the race was none other than Swiss phenom Marco Odermatt. He has won every single giant slalom of the season, with the Stifel Aspen Winternational presented by United being his eighth win in a row. Just last week Odermatt also clinched the overall Crystal Globe. Second place went to Swiss teammate Loic Meillard and third place was Norwegian Atle Lie McGrath. 

The men have another chance at the Aspen giant slalom Saturday followed up with a slalom on Sunday. 

RESULTS
Men's giant slalom

HOW TO WATCH (all times in ET)
March 2
12:00 p.m. - run 1, men's giant slalom - LIVE: CNBC, Peacock, Outside
2:00 p.m. - (delayed coverage) men’s slalom, Stifel Palisades Tahoe Cup - NBC
3:00 p.m. - run 2, men's giant slalom - LIVE: NBC, Peacock, Outside

March 3
11:00 a.m. - run 1, men's giant slalom - LIVE: CNBC, Peacock, Outside
2:00 p.m. - (delayed coverage) men’s slalom, Stifel Palisades Tahoe Cup - NBC
1:30 p.m. - run 2, men’s slalom - NBC coverage begins
2:00 p.m. - run 2, men's giant slalom - LIVE: NBC, Peacock, Outside

We had another great long weekend of racing at Beaver Creek, CO February 21-25 for the 2024 Denver Sports Lab FIS Masters Cup and Western Regional Championships! For the third year in a row, racers competing for FIS Masters Cup Globes and Western Regional Champion Jackets convened at Beaver Creek for the US stop on the FIS Masters Cup Tour. The event hosted 127 racers from 12 countries. The weather was fantastic - clear, sunny, and warm. The race hill was in great shape and the professional race crew at Beaver Creek always knocks it out of the park!  Many thanks to the organizers and sponsors who made this event possible, and congratulations to all the competitors.  Many USA and international racers continued on the Kimberley after the event for the 2024 FIS Masters World Criterium.

Full Race Results

FIS Masters Cup results on the FIS Website and usalpinemasters.org/2024/fismasters

Western Region Championship results posted at usalpinemasters.org/2024

Race Photos

Many thanks to Erika Krainz for shooting all 3 days of racing - all photos are free to download! She has posted photo galleries on her Schneehexe Photography site at https://erikakrainz.smugmug.com/Alpine-Ski-Racing/2024-Masters-Cup-Western-Regional-Championships-at-BC.

We also made an album of google photos from the Beaver Creek FMC race!

We Have Many People to Thank

Thank you to the Beaver Creek Race Department for providing a great race venue and racer experience!

Thank you to all the officials, course setters, and volunteers that helped to make it all possible! 

Thank you to our event sponsor Denver Sports Lab in Golden, CO for the financial support! Call them up and get your skis properly cared for and stored for summer!

Thank you to Phillips 66 for the financial support to have indoor space to put on boots and get ready in the morning!

Thank you to our Race Sponsors!
Feb 23 - SG1 - Harold Wescott Memorial sponsored by Bob Benson, Charlie Hauser, Lee Kaufman and Knute Reistad
Feb 23 - SG2 - JENSCO Cup sponsored by Jeanette Saylor
Feb 24 - GS1 - Minnesota Connection sponsored by Lilla Andrews, Bob Benson, Charlie Hauser, Tom Patterson and Jerry Sorensen
Feb 24 - GS2 - sponsored by Donald Shaffer 
Feb 25 - SL - Carol Rymer Davis Memorial SLsponsored by John Davis

Steve Zuckerman, the medical director of the Birds of Prey World Cup race in Beaver Creek, passed away on Friday, February 23 while on a backcountry rescue operation in the Vail area..

Steve, or “Zman,” was a dedicated paramedic, ski patroller and champion of medical safety. He has been an integral part of the Birds of Prey race for more than 20 years, as well as the head of the Beaver Creek Ski Patrol and member of the Eagle County Paramedic Services. Steve’s dedication to excellence in mountain safety was recognized internationally as he was invited to work with several host nations to establish their on-snow response protocols for World Championships and Olympic Games.  

Apart from the work he did with the World Cup in Beaver Creek, Steve also helped to shape on-hill care for our athletes as part of the required Medical Emergencies in Skiing and Snowboarding course for all U.S. Ski & Snowboard volunteer physicians, which teaches doctors to apply their medical knowledge in the mountain environment. Through this course, Steve led a group of Beaver Creek patrollers in teaching more than 70 physicians how to successfully manage trauma on hill. Steve recently supported U.S. Ski & Snowboard’s Sports Medicine Team in bringing the course to Park City, Utah in expectation of the upcoming 2034 Olympic Winter Games.   

U.S. Ski & Snowboard’s hearts go out to his two children, many friends and family. He will be missed.