Lindsey Vonn (Vail, Colo.) has 12 FIS Ski World Cup victories at Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, and she’ll have three opportunities to add to that total when she returns to the World Cup circuit this week with a pair of downhills and a super-G at the Italian resort. NBC Sports Gold will provide exclusive live streaming of Vonn’s return on Friday at 6:00 a.m. EST. NBC Sports Network will rebroadcast Vonn’s return with a rebroadcast of the women’s downhill at 7:00 p.m. EST Friday.

Vonn was scheduled to race last week in St. Anton, Austria, but heavy snow canceled the downhill and super-G events. The canceled downhill is rescheduled for Friday at Cortina d’Ampezzo, while the super-G has yet to be rescheduled. “I was really excited to race this weekend in St. Anton,” Vonn posted on Instagram last week, “but even more excited that it was rescheduled for Cortina next weekend ... at one of my favorite venues.”

Mikaela Shiffrin (Avon, Colo.), fresh off her latest World Cup giant slalom victory in Kronplatz, Italy, Tuesday, has indicated she will not participate in the Cortina downhill events but will be in the start house for Sunday’s super-G. Saturday and Sunday’s Cortina events, in addition to the men’s alpine combined, downhill and slalom in Wengen, Switzerland, will broadcast on the Olympic Channel, and stream live on OlympicChannel.com and NBC Sports Gold. The NBC Sports Network will also air a one-hour rebroadcast of the women’s downhill and super-G Sunday at 8:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. EST respectively.

Jaelin Kauf (Alta, Wyo.), who was third in FIS Freestyle World Cup moguls in Calgary, Alberta, last weekend, leads a highly-competitive U.S. Freestyle Team into the 2019 Putnam Freestyle Cup in Lake Place, New York, this weekend with FIS Freestyle World Cup moguls and aerials. NBC will air next-day broadcast of each event on Saturday and Sunday at 5:00 p.m. EST. Both Friday’s individual moguls and Saturday evening’s aerials will be streamed live on NBCSports.com and NBC Sports Gold.

Classic events highlight the FIS Cross Country World Cup circuit this weekend in Otepaa, Estonia, with a sprint scheduled for Saturday and women’s 10k and men’s 15k classic races Sunday. Both days will be streamed live on the OlympicChannel.com and NBC Sports Gold, with a re-broadcast each day on the Olympic Channel.

The FIS Snowboard World Cup Laax Open takes place in Switzerland this weekend with slopestyle and halfpipe events. Nineteen U.S. Snowboard Team athletes are participating, including Chloe Kim (Torrence, Calif.) and Chris Corning (Silverthorne, Colo.). All events will be streamed live on OlympicChannel.com and NBC Sports Gold. The Olympic Channel will rebroadcast the slopestyle at 3:00 p.m. EST Friday, and air the halfpipe competition live at 11:30 a.m. EST on Saturday.

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

ALPINE
Friday, Jan. 18
4:30 a.m. - Men’s alpine combined run 1 - Wengen, SUI - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
6:00 a.m. - Women’s downhill - Cortina d’Ampezzo, ITA - NBC Sports Gold
8:00 a.m. - Men’s alpine combined run 2 - Wengen, SUI - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
7:00 p.m. - Women’s downhill - Cortina d’Ampezzo, ITA - NBCSN*

Saturday, Jan. 19
4:30 a.m. - Women’s downhill - Cortina d’Ampezzo, ITA - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
6:30 a.m. - Men’s downhill - Wengen, SUI - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold

Sunday, Jan. 20
4:15 a.m. - Men’s slalom run 1 - Wengen, SUI - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
5:00 a.m. - Women’s super-G - Cortina d’Ampezzo, ITA - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
7:00 a.m. - Men’s slalom run 2 - Wengen, SUI - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
7:00 p.m. - Men’s downhill - Wengen, SUI - NBCSN**
8:00 p.m. - Women’s downhill - Cortina d’Ampezzo, ITA - NBCSN**
9:00 p.m. - Women’s super-G - Cortina d’Ampezzo, ITA - NBCSN*

CROSS COUNTRY
Saturday, Jan. 19
6:55 a.m. - Men and women’s sprint - Otepaa, EST - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
3:00 p.m. - Men and women’s sprint - Otepaa, EST - Olympic Channel-TV*

Sunday, Jan. 20
3:30 a.m. - Women’s 10k interval - Otepaa, EST - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
7:00 a.m. - Men’s 15k interval - Otepaa, EST - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
1:30 p.m. - Women’s 10k interval - Otepaa, EST - Olympic Channel-TV*

FREESTYLE
Friday, Jan. 18
11:00 a.m. - Men and women’s moguls - Lake Placid, N.Y. - NBCSports.com & NBC Sports Gold

Saturday, Jan. 19
5:00 p.m. - Men and women’s moguls - Lake Placid, N.Y. - NBC**
7:00 p.m. - Men and women’s aerials - Lake Placid, N.Y. - NBCSports.com & NBC Sports Gold

Sunday, Jan. 20
5:00 p.m. - Men and women’s aerials - Lake Placid, N.Y. - NBC**

NORDIC COMBINED
Friday, Jan. 18
6:00 a.m. - Men’s HS118 - Chaux-Neuve, FRA - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
10:00 a.m. - Men’s 5k - Chaux-Neuve, FRA - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold

Saturday, Jan. 19
5:30 a.m. - Men’s HS118 - Chaux-Neuve, FRA - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
9:45 a.m. - Men’s 1-k - Chaux-Neuve, FRA - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold

Sunday, Jan. 20
5:00 a.m. - Men’s HS118 - Chaux-Neuve, FRA - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
7:30 a.m. - Men’s 15k - Chaux-Neuve, FRA - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold

SKI JUMPING
Friday, Jan. 18
3:00 a.m. - Women’s individual - Zao, JPN - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
12:00 p.m. - Men’s individual qualifying - Zakopane, POL - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
1:30 p.m. - Women’s individual - Zao, JPN - Olympic Channel-TV*

Saturday, Jan. 19
3:00 a.m. - Women’s team - Zao, JPN - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
10:15 p.m. - Men’s team - Zakopane, POL - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
10:00 a.m. - Women’s team - Zao, JPN - Olympic Channel-TV*
4:00 p.m. - Men’s team - Zakopane, POL - Olympic Channel-TV*

Sunday, Jan. 20
2:00 a.m. - Women’s individual - Zao, JPN - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
12:10 p.m. - Men’s individual qualifying - Zakopane, POL - NBC Sports Gold
8:00 p.m. - Women’s individual - Zao, JPN - Olympic Channel-TV*
7:30 p.m. - Men’s individual qualifying - Zakopane, POL - Olympic Channel-TV*
 

SNOWBOARDING
Friday, Jan. 18
6:00 a.m. - Men and women’s slopestyle - Laax, SUI - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
3:00 p.m. - Men and women’s slopestyle - Laax, SUI - Olympic Channel-TV*

Saturday, Jan. 19
8:00 a.m. - Men and women’s parallel giant slalom - Rogla, SLO - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
11:30 a.m. - Men and women’s halfpipe - Laax, SUI - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold

All streams are available via desktop (NBCSports.com/Live, NBCSports.com/Gold andOlympicChannel.com) as well as mobile, tablet and connected television platforms. The NBC Sports app, NBC Sports Gold app and Olympic Channel app are available on the iTunes App Store, Google Play, Windows Store, Roku Channel Store, Apple TV and Amazon Fire. Exclusive commercial-free coverage will be available for subscribers of the NBC Sports Gold Pass.

Seven women and 18 men make up the U.S. Snowboard Team roster of athletes going head to head with the world’s snowboarding elite in slopestyle and halfpipe at the FIS Snowboard World Cup Laax Open in Switzerland, Jan. 15-19.

Entries include 19 different countries spanning five continents. The last time U.S. Ski & Snowboard athletes were in Laax was in 2017. This year marks the fourth season of the Laax Open in its current form, though the resort has been a host of memorable top-level competition dating all the way back to 1993. According to president & CEO of Laax Ski Resort Reto Gurtner “The Laax Open brings all snowboarders together: the top riders, the amateurs and rising stars, the next generation of jibbers and all the boarder families. It’s a mountain lifestyle affair!”

The 2017 Laax Open did not disappoint with incredible performances in the halfpipe from U.S. Snowboard Team members Chase Josey (Sun Valley, Idaho) and Chloe Kim (Torrance, Calif.). The conditions were tough to beat with clear skies, no wind and a laser cut halfpipe. Josey arguably had the breakout performance of his career where he claimed his first ever World Cup victory with style and technicality. Josey landed five consecutive doubles, two of which were back-to-back switch doubles. Kim was also on one winning with a run that was almost exclusively switch and included one frontside 1080. Since 2017, Josey and Kim have gradually increased their amplitude, run difficulty, and experience. Knowing that Josey and Kim are clearly comfortable in Laax, this year’s competition is set up to be quite the spectacle.

"I’m looking forward to the Laax Open because is consistently one of the best halfpipes in the world and really allows everyone to showcase their best riding,” said Josey. “This is my first year back at Laax since winning in 2017, so I’m excited to go out there, try some runs and aim at the podium again.”

Josey and Kim will be joined by an all-star cast including U.S. Snowboard Pro Team athletes, Jake Pates (Eagle, Colo.), Gabe Ferguson (Bend, Ore.), Taylor Gold (Steamboat Springs, Colo.) and Ryan Wachendorfer (Edwards, Colo.). In addition, U.S. Rookie Team members competing include Chase Blackwell (Longmont, Colo.), Lucas Foster (Telluride, Colo.), Jack Coyne (Edwards, Colo.), Jason Wolle (Winter Park, Colo.) and American Josh Bowman (Mammoth Lakes, Calif.).

For the women, Kim is leading the charge with U.S. Snowboard teammates Arielle Gold (Steamboat Springs, Calif.) and 2018 Toyota U.S. Copper Grand Prix and Dew Tour medalist Maddie Mastro (Wrightwood, Calif.). U.S. Rookie Team member Tessa Maud (Carlsbad, Calif.) and American Zoe Kalapos (Vail, Colo.) will also be competing.

For slopestyle, U.S. Snowboard Team heavy hitters for both the men and the women are making their way to Laax including Chris Corning (Silverthorne, Colo.), who is fresh off a second place in slopestyle at the Kreischberg World Cup slopestyle in Austria, and a second place at the Dew Tour in Breckenridge, Colorado. Joining Corning in Laax is U.S Pro Team members Judd Henkes (La Jolla, Calif.), Nik Baden (Steamboat Springs, Calif.), Lyon Farrell (Haiku, Hawaii), and Ryan Stassel (Anchorage, Alaska). In addition, U.S. Rookie Team member Sean Fitzsimons (Hood River, Ore.) and Americans Grant Giller (Salt Lake City, Utah) and Will Healy (Riverside, Conn.) are set to compete.

For the women, coming off a second-place at the Dew Tour in slopestyle, Julia Marino (Westport, Conn.) will lead the way for the ladies with teammate Hailey Langland (San Clemente, Calif.).

With a stacked roster heading into the 2019 Laax Open World Cup, the current FIS World Cup standings are bound to see experience some change. In halfpipe, with the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix at Copper and the Secret Garden, China, World Cups in the books, Toby Miller (Mammoth Lakes, Calif.) is ranked sixth and Josey is ranked eighth. To catch points leaders Jan Scherrer of Switzerland in first and Australian Scotty James in second, Josey will need to step up. If his past performances in Laax are any representation, this is not far fetched by any means. For the women, Kim is fourth and Mastro in sixth chasing the leader Cai Xuetong from China.

Currently, two Americans sit in the top 10 of the World Cup slopestyle standings following the Kreischberg, Austria, World Cup. Corning is fifth and Stassel is seventh behind slopestyle World Cup leader Takeru Otsuka from Japan. Miyabi Onitsuka from Japan leads the slopestyle standings for the ladies followed by Reira Iwabuchi of Japan and Austria’s Anna Gasser ranked third.

WORLD CUP STANDINGS
Men’s slopestyle
Women’s slopestyle
Men’s halfpipe
Women’s halfpipe

HOW TO WATCH
*Subject to change
*All times EST

Friday, Jan. 18
6:00 a.m. - Men and women’s slopestyle - Laax, SUI - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
3:00 p.m. - Men and women’s slopestyle - Laax, SUI - Olympic Channel-TV*

Saturday, Jan. 19
8:00 a.m. - Men and women’s parallel giant slalom - Rogla, SLO - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
11:30 a.m. - Men and women’s halfpipe - Laax, SUI - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
 

Chris Corning (Silverthorne, Colo.) claimed his first World Cup slopestyle podium of the season at the Kreischberg, Austria, FIS Snowboard World Cup. It all came down to the last run for Corning and after slight bobbles on his first two runs, he was able to put it down and close out his final run with a very stylish cab 1260 Nosegrab in front of a high energy Austrian crowd.

“I am really happy with my result,” said Corning. “It was a tough contest and not landing my first or second run didn’t help. I was able to pull it all together on the last run. I just had to regroup and get pumped up and make sure not to give up on myself.”

U.S Snowboard Team athlete Judd Henkes (La Jolla, Calif) fought his way back after not making it straight through to finals from the qualifying round. Henkes had to compete in the semi-finals Saturday morning where he finished fourth, claiming the last spot on the finals start list. Henkes finished sixth in the finals with Ryan Stassel (Anchorage, Alaska) ninth. Norwegian Mons Roisland won the event and Hiroaki Kunitake of Japan closed out the podium in third place.

Currently two Americans sit in the top 10 of the World Cup slopestyle standings following the Kreischberg event. Corning is fifth and Stassel holds onto the seventh position behind slopestyle World Cup leader Takeru Otsuka from Japan.

FIS World Cup slopestyle competition will continue Jan.15-19 in Laax, Switzerland, followed by Seiser Alm, Italy, Jan. 24-26. After that, the world’s top snowboarders will descend on Park City, Utah for the 2019 FIS Snowboard, Freestyle and Freeski World Championships Feb. 1-10. Tune into NBC for all the action.

“I am feeling good heading into the World Champs,” said Corning. “I think I will get the invite and I look forward to really showing what I’ve got and hopefully bringing home some World Championship medals in slope and big air on home turf.”

RESULTS
Men’s Slopestyle

WORLD CUP STANDINGS
Men’s Slopestyle

From February 1-10, approximately 1,400 athletes from 40 countries will converge on Utah to compete in the 2019 FIS Snowboard, Freestyle and Freeski World Championships, presented by Toyota—the biggest winter sports event to be held in Utah since the 2002 Olympic Winter Games. Contests held as part of this elite event will include snowboard and skicross; freeski and snowboard big air, slopestyle and halfpipe; snowboard parallel slalom and parallel giant slalom; and freestyle moguls, dual moguls and aerials.

But long before the first competitor arrives on deck, enters a start gate or drops in, multiple teams of course designers, builders and preppers will have put in countless hours planning, sculpting and refining the competition venues at Deer Valley Resort, Park City Mountain and Solitude Mountain Resort. Snow, hundreds of cubic feet of it, is where building each of these courses begins. Thanks to consistently cold temperatures and lots of natural snow in Utah this season, the 2019 World Championships host resorts have been able to make and stockpile plenty. Beyond this shared construction element, however, building the fields of play for each of these events is a very different and very specific task.

Champion moguls course and White Owl aerials jumps, Deer Valley Resort
“The crew of course builders at Deer Valley are so dialed in. Almost all of them, including both staff and volunteers, have built moguls courses there since before the Olympics,” says Nat Schirman, Champion Moguls Chief of Course and former NorAm freestyle skier.

Schirman and co-Chief of Course Tony Gilpin begin by stringing ropes and flags along the Champion Run designating where a snowcat driver should place the piles of snow that will eventually become moguls. Course builder volunteers then move through every inch of the course, removing ice chunks from the snow and further shaping the bumps. Schirman then invites local freestyle team athletes to ski the run, which continues to build the mogul field and allow he and Gilpin to see how the course is skiing. The final step is building in the two sets of jump tables, used by competitors as take-off for aerial maneuvers consisting of upright or inverted tricks. These are made by filling prefabricated forms with snow and water and the leaving them to freeze overnight.  

World Cup moguls courses generally range between 650 and 885 feet long with an average slope grade of 26 degrees. Deer Valley's Champion course is 827 feet long with an average slope grade of 28 degrees, making it one of the steepest, longest and most coveted moguls courses on the World Cup circuit. “It’s really one of the best moguls courses in the world,” Schirman says. “It’s steep at the top and allows the crowd to see athletes going for it from the top all the way to the finish.”

Deer Valley is also particularly well-known for its White Owl aerial jumps, a sport pioneered by the resort’s late Director of Skiing, Olympic Gold Medalist Stein Eriksen. Course builders will construct five jumps for the 2019 World Championships—one single (2.1 meters or 6 feet, 11 inches tall), two doubles (3.5 meters or 11 feet, 6 inches tall) and two triples (4.1 meters or 13 feet, 6 inches tall).

“Prior to building the actual jumps we spend about five days moving snow with a snowcat to get the profile of the course correct,” says Wayne Hilterbrand, the White Owl aerials course builder and jump builder for more than 20 national and international events since 2005. Other items on the pre-jump building checklist include grading the in-run, ensuring the transition curve—the stretch of the in-run from the ramp to the jump table—is a specific length, building the jump table and laying in the finish area.

Building the actual jumps starts with construction of a three-sided, steel and plywood jump form. Then a large industrial snowblower mounted to the front of a snowcat is used to fill the forms with snow. Volunteers pack snow into the forms by hand to eliminate air pockets; water is also added to help the snow harden. “The trick is to get enough water that they get hard, but not so much that they become total ice,” Hilterbrand says. After the forms are filled, the builders manipulate the snow further to achieve what’s called a rough shape. The jumps are then left to freeze overnight. The next day the forms are removed and official aerial jump shapers—typically coaches—carve the jumps into exact heights, lengths and angles for competition. Then the athletes get to fly. “We’ve estimated that, off the triple jumps, aerialists that get about 45 to 50 feet of air from the peak of the jump to the landing,” Hilterbrand says.

Doc’s Run big air, 3 Kings slopestyle course, Eagle Superpipe and Picabo’s run snowboard parallel slalom/GS, Park City Mountain
“Long before course construction begins,” says Park City Mountain Terrain Park Manager, “our team sits down and makes a plan for the course design.” Executing four separate competition venues—hosting the lion’s share of 2019 World Championships competition—involves multiple resort departments including snowmaking, grooming, competition services and fleet maintenance. Snowmaking and course prep begin soon after the resort opens for the season. And then as competition nears, Ingham and other course building staff use snowcats to shape the piles of snow into the basic feature profiles for slopestyle, big air and halfpipe.

To complete the final stage of the 600-feet-long, 70-feet wide, 18-degree pitch Olympic-caliber Superpipe, Park City Mountain relies on the expertise of Jake Ingle—U.S. Ski & Snowboard halfpipe builder and a part of the team responsible for the famed 2018 PyeongChang Olympic Superpipe. After resort crews have built the pipe decks and dig out the middle into the characteristic U shape, Ingle uses a snowcat fitted with an elliptical-arc-profile arm with an articulated augur (Ingle’s 'pipecutter of choice is the Zaugg Pipe Monster) to shave the Superpipe’s walls. “We try to use a drier snow to create a chalky riding surface,” Ingle says. And then, as is the case with all other freestyle event features, a team using hand tools puts the finishing touches on the Superpipe.

But Ingle’s job is really just beginning once the halfpipe is finished. “I start getting feedback from the athletes and coaches from the first practice session,” Ingle says. He also spends times watching training sessions to get firsthand clues about how the Superpipe is riding and seeks out veteran Grand Prix competitors who are typically able to provide more specific feedback. Once competition is underway, most of the work in the Superpipe shifts to slippers, hand shapers and the dye crew. Unless is snows. “Then I’m back in the snowcat on dawn patrol, digging the snow out before the day begins,” Ingle says.

The resort’s grooming department and well-seasoned race department are responsible for preparing the surface along the snowboard parallel slalom and parallel giant slalom run on Picabo’s Run in the Eagle Race Arena. “We take a similar approach to the snowboarding event venue as we would for a ski racing venue,” says Park City Mountain Competition Services Manager Karen Korfanta. “The ultimate goal is to get the two courses as even as possible, left to right. And snowboarders love going fast just as much as the ski racing population but the course surface should be firm, but not slippery or as dense as an alpine skiing event.” Ten to 15 slippers and four to six course workers will maintain the both the 470 to 500 meter parallel giant slalom course, as well as the 350 to 370 meter parallel slalom course.     

Main Street Run snowboardcross and skicross course, Solitude Mountain Resort
The 2019 World Championships snowboardcross/skicross course at Solitude Mountain Resort was designed and will be built by Nick Roma, founder of the Mountain Projects Company. “The terrain is different at every venue, so every snowboardcross and skicross course is different,” Roma says. “Because both the freeski and snowboard athletes will run the same line at Solitude, the challenge with this course is building features that are both safe for all riders that provide a high level of difficulty at the same time.”

To meet that challenge, Roma designed the Solitude’s state-of-the-art, 1,298-meter-long, 180-meter vertical skicross/snowboardcross course using a combined AutoCAD and Leka software platform—the first time this level of technology has been used to design a ski-/snowboardcross course in the United States. The course—which spans seven different multi-features consisting of 34 different rollers, multiple banked turns and two massive jumps—is located on the skier's right side of Solitude's Main Street run; the left side of the run will remain open throughout competition, allowing skiers front-row spectator access along its entire length. Beyond the time put in beforehand by Solitude's snowmaking staff, the course takes about two weeks and 500-plus hours to build, performed by multiple snowcat drivers that push and shape the snow mechanically and a team of on-the-ground course builders using specialized shovels and tools to refine every feature along the course by hand.

HOW TO WATCH
All times EST
Preliminary broadcast schedule, subject to change
Streaming schedule TBA
*Same-day broadcast
**Next-day broadcast

Friday, Feb. 1
1:00 p.m. - Men and women's snowboardcross finals - NBCSN

Saturday, Feb. 2
3:00 p.m. - Men and women’s skicross finals - Olympic Channel
8:30 p.m. - Men and women’s skicross finals - NBCSN*

Sunday, Feb. 3
1:00 a.m. - Men and women’s freeski big air finals - NBCSN**
1:00 p.m. - Team snowboardcross - Olympic Channel
4:00 p.m.-  Team snowboardcross - NBCSN*

Monday, Feb. 4
3:00 p.m. - Parallel snowboard giant slalom - Olympic Channel
7:00 p.m. - Parallel snowboard giant slalom - NBCSN*

Tuesday, Feb. 5
3:00 p.m. - Parallel snowboard slalom - NBCSN
9:00 p.m. - Men and women’s snowboard big air - NBCSN

Wednesday, Feb. 6
3:00 p.m. - Men and women’s freeski slopestyle finals - NBCSN
9:00 p.m. - Men and women’s aerials - Olympic Channel
11:30 p.m. - Men and women’s aerials - NBCSN*

Thursday, Feb. 7
9:00 p.m. - Team aerials - NBCSN

Friday, Feb. 8
1:00 p.m. - Men and women’s snowboard  halfpipe - NBCSN
9:00 p.m. - Men and women’s moguls - NBCSN

Sunday, Feb. 10
2:00 a.m. - Men and women’s dual moguls - NBCSN**
1:00 p.m. - Men and women’s snowboard slopestyle - Olympic Channel
3:00 p.m. - Men and women’s snowboard slopestyle - NBC*

Monday, Feb. 11
10:30 p.m. - Women’s freeski halfpipe finals - NBCSN**

EVENT SCHEDULE
All times MST (local time)

Friday, Feb. 1
11:00 a.m. -Snowboardcross Final - Solitude Mountain Resort

Saturday, Feb. 2
1:00 p.m. - Skicross Final - Solitude Mountain Resort
7:00 p.m. - Freeski Big Air Final - Canyons Village - Park City Mountain

Sunday, Feb. 3
11:00 a.m. - Mixed Gender Team Snowboardcross Final - Solitude Mountain Resort

Monday, Feb. 4
1:00 p.m. - Snowboard Parallel Giant Slalom Final - Park City Village at Park City Mountain

Tuesday, Feb. 5
1:00 p.m. - Snowboard Parallel Slalom Final - Park City Village at Park City Mountain
7:00 p.m. - Snowboard Big Air Final - Canyons Village - Park City Mountain

Wednesday, Feb. 6
11:00 a.m. - Freeski Slopestyle Final - Park City Village at Park City Mountain
7:00 p.m. - Freestyle Aerials Final - Deer Valley Resort

Thursday, Feb. 7
7:00 p.m. - Freestyle Team Aerials Final - Deer Valley Resort

Friday, Feb. 8
11:00 a.m. - Snowboard Halfpipe Final - Park City Village at Park City Mountain
7:00 p.m. - Freestyle Moguls Final - Deer Valley Resort

Saturday, Feb. 9
11:00 a.m. - Freeski Halfpipe Final - Park City Village at Park City Mountain
7:00 p.m. - Freestyle Dual Moguls Final - Deer Valley Resort

Sunday, Feb. 10
11:00 a.m. - Snowboard Slopestyle Final - Park City Village at Park City Mountain
 

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Tom Webb
Director of Marketing and Communications, U.S. Ski & Snowboard
+1.435.602.9644
tom.webb@usskiandsnowboard.org

FOR ACCREDITED MEDIA INQUIRIES:
Tom Kelly
Chief of Press
+1.435.602.9799
2019WorldChampsMedia@usskiandsnowboard.org
 

Five U.S. Snowboard Team athletes and two more American athletes are headed to Kreischberg, Austria this weekend to compete in their second FIS Snowboard World Cup slopestyle Saturday and Sunday.

After the first slopestyle World Cup in Secret Garden, China, U.S. Pro Team athletes Lyon Farrell (Haiku, Hawaii) and Ryan Stassel (Anchorage, Alaska) are sitting in fifth and sixth respectively in the FIS Snowboard World Cup slopestyle standings. After making finals in Secret Garden, Stassel and Farrell will be looking for a spot on the podium in Austria.

“I’m really looking forward to Kreischberg,” said Stassel. “The last two events I did there, I ended up on the podium, so I’m hoping to keep that good competition juju going.”

In addition, following a second place in slopestyle at the Dew Tour in Breckenridge, Colorado, Chris Corning (Silverthorne, Colo.) is searching for his first World Cup slopestyle podium of the season to compliment his strong early-season big air results, including a victory Cardrona, New Zealand, and second in Modena, Italy.

Other U.S. Snowboard athletes set to compete include Sean Fitzsimons (Hood River, Ore.) and Judd Henkes (La Jolla, Calif.). Americans Grant Giller (Salt Lake City, Utah) and Will Healy (Riverside, Conn.).

Kreischberg, Austra was home to the 2015 FIS Snowboard World Championships where Stassel was crowned World Champion in slopestyle and his teammate Kyle Mack (West Bloomfield, Mich.) earned third-place. With strong historical performances in Kreischberg, U.S. Snowboard Team athletes are ready for competition to commence in Austria.

HOW TO WATCH
*Subject to change
*All times EST

Snowboard
Saturday, Jan. 12
6:30 a.m. - Men and women’s slopestyle - Kreischberg, AUT - NBC Sports Gold
 

Mikaela Shiffrin (Avon, Colo.) is back in action to kick off the first full week of 2019 World Cup action with a Tuesday evening slalom in Flachau, Austria. NBC Sports Gold will offer exclusive live streaming as Shiffrin goes for her eighth-straight World Cup slalom victory at 12 noon EST for the first run, and 2:45 p.m. EST for the second run.

The first speed events of the season for the women are also scheduled for this weekend in St. Anton, Austria, and Lindsey Vonn (Vail, Colo.), has announced that she’ll start alongside her U.S. Ski Team teammates Laurenne Ross (Bend, Ore.) and Alice Merryweather (Hingham, Mass.). However, all are anxiously watching the weather forecast closely as snow is expected throughout the week. NBC Sports Gold will offer exclusive live streaming of both the downhill and super-G this weekend.

Though she is the current leader in the World Cup super-G standings, Shiffrin has stated she will not race in this weekend’s super-G and downhill in St. Anton, but does plan to return to speed next weekend in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy.

On the men’s side, giant slalom and slalom events are scheduled for Adelboden, Switzerland, Saturday, and Sunday. Leading the U.S. Ski Team will be Ryan Cochran-Siegle (Starksboro, Vt.), Ted Ligety (Park City, Utah) and Tommy Ford (Bend, Ore.). The Olympic Channel will broadcast the second run both days, with live streaming of the first and second runs available on OlympicChannel.com and NBC Sports Gold.

Fresh off the L.L.Bean U.S. Cross Country Championships, newly crowned classic sprint champion Ida Sargent (Craftsbury, Vt.) joins Julia Kern (Waltham, Mass.), Hannah Halvorsen (Truckee, Calif.) Hailey Swirbul (El Jebel, Colo.), and Sophie Caldwell (Stratton Mountain, Vt.) for this weekend’s FIS Cross Country sprint and team sprint events in Dresden, Germany.

On the men’s side, Simi Hamilton (Aspen, Colo.), Kevin Bolger (Sun Valley, Idaho), Erik Bjornsen (Anchorage, Alaska) and Andy Newell (Shaftsbury, Vt.) for sprint action in Dresden. Both days will be streamed live on OlympicChannel.com and NBC Sports Gold, with daily recaps broadcast on the Olympic Channel. The L.L.Bean U.S. Cross Country Championships also wrap up Tuesday in Craftsbury, Vt., with the freestyle sprint. Live streaming begins at 8:45 a.m. EST.

Freestyle kicks back into action with a FIS Freestyle World Cup moguls in Calgary, Canada, their first competition of the new year. Jaelin Kauf (Alta, Wyo.), hot off back-to-back first-place finishes in Thaiwoo, China, will be wearing the yellow leader's bib and leading her team into Saturday’s competition. The event will be broadcast live on the Olympic channel and streamed live on OlympicChannel.com and NBC Sports Gold at 3:30 p.m. EST Saturday.

Font Romeu, France, is hosting the first FIS Freeskiing World Cup slopestyle of 2019, and U.S. Freeski Team members Maggie Voisin (Whitefish, Mont.), Devin Logan (Manchester Center, Vt.), and 2018 Olympic slopestyle silver medalist Nick Goepper (Lawrenceburg, Ind.) are scheduled to compete. Live streaming will be available on OlympicChannel.com and NBC Sports Gold, with a recap show airing on the Olympic Channel at 2:00 p.m. EST Saturday.

Chris Corning (Silverthorne, Colo.) leads the way for the U.S. Snowboard Team as the FIS Snowboard World Cup circuit continues with a slopestyle event in Kreischberg, Austria, Saturday and Sunday that will stream live exclusively on NBC Sports Gold.

FIS Ski Jumping World Cup continues for both the men and women this weekend, with the men competing in a pair of HS135 events in Val di Fiemme, Italy, and the women competing in two HS137 events in Sapporo, Japan.

Kevin Bickner (Wauconda, Ill.) will be the lone USA Nordic representative in Italy, while current Nordic Combined Continental Cup leader Tara Geraghty-Moats (West Fairlee, Vt.) will be joined by Nita Englund (Florence, Wis.) and Nina Lussi (Lake Placid, N.Y.), who returns to international competition following a knee injury at last year’s Olympic Trials. OlympicChannel.com and NBC Sports Gold will provide live streaming of both events, with a recap show airing on the Olympic Channel Saturday and Sunday.

Taylor Fletcher (Steamboat Springs, Colo.) continues to build form heading into this weekend’s FIS Nordic Combined World Cup in Val di Fiemme, Italy, featuring a pair of individual events and a team event. Fletcher, who posted the fasted 10k freestyle skate in last Sunday’s World Cup, will be joined by USA Nordic teammates Jasper Good (Steamboat Springs, Colo.) and Ben Loomis (Eau Claire, Wis.) this weekend in Italy. All events Friday, Saturday and Sunday will be streamed on OlympicChannel.com and NBC Sports Gold.

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

ALPINE
Tuesday, Jan. 8
12:00 p.m. - Women’s slalom run 1 - Flachau, AUT - NBC Sports Gold
2:45 p.m.  - Women’s slalom run 2 - Flachau, AUT - NBC Sports Gold

Saturday, Jan. 12
4:15 a.m. - Men’s giant slalom run 1 - Adelboden, SUI - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
5:45 a.m. - Women’s downhill - St. Anton, AUT  - NBC Sports Gold
7:30 a.m. - Men’s giant slalom run 2 - Adelboden, SUI - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold

Sunday, Jan. 13
4:15 a.m. - Men’s slalom run 1 - Adelboden, SUI - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
5:45 a.m. - Women’s super-G - St. Anton, AUT  - NBC Sports Gold
7:30 a.m. - Men’s slalom run 2 - Adelboden, SUI - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold

CROSS COUNTRY
Tuesday, Jan. 8
8:45 a.m. - U.S. Cross Country Championships freestyle sprint - Craftsbury, Vt. - U.S. Ski & Snowboard Streaming

Saturday, Jan. 12
7:15 a.m. - Men and women’s sprint - Dresden, GER - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
1:00 p.m. - Men and women’s sprint - Dresden, GER - Olympic Channel-TV*

Sunday, Jan. 13
6:40 a.m. - Men and women’s team sprint - Dresden, GER - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
1:00 p.m. - Men and women’s team sprint - Dresden, GER - Olympic Channel-TV*

Monday, Jan. 14
12:00 a.m. - Men and women’s team sprint - Dresden, GER - NBCSN**

FREESKIING
Saturday, Jan. 12
4:20 a.m. - Men and women’s slopestyle - Font Romeu, FRA - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
2:00 p.m. - Men and women’s slopestyle - Font Romeu, FRA - Olympic Channel-TV*

FREESTYLE
Saturday, Jan. 12
3:30 p.m. - Men and women’s moguls - Calgary, Alberta - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold

NORDIC COMBINED
Friday, Jan. 11
3:55 a.m. - Men’s HS135 - Val di Fiemme, ITA - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
7:25 a.m. - Men’s 10k - Val di Fiemme, ITA - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold

Saturday, Jan. 12
3:55 a.m. - Men’s HS135 - Val di Fiemme, ITA - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
8:05 a.m. - Men’s team sprint 7.5k - Val di Fiemme, ITA - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold

Sunday, Jan. 13
3:55 a.m. - Men’s HS135 - Val di Fiemme, ITA - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
8:25 a.m. - Men’s 10k - Val di Fiemme, ITA - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold

SKI JUMPING
Friday, Jan. 11
11:55 a.m. - Men’s HS135 qualifying - Val di Fiemme, ITA - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold

Saturday, Jan. 12
2:20 a.m. - Women’s HS137 - Sapporo, JPN - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
9:55 a.m. - Men’s HS135 - Val di Fiemme, ITA - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
10:30 a.m. - Women’s HS137 - Sapporo, JPN - Olympic Channel-TV*
5:00 p.m. - Men’s HS135 - Val di Fiemme, ITA - Olympic Channel-TV*
7:50 p.m. - Women’s HS137 - Sapporo, JPN - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold

Sunday, Jan. 13
10:55 a.m. - Men’s HS135 - Val di Fiemme, ITA - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
10:30 a.m. - Women’s HS137 - Sapporo, JPN - Olympic Channel-TV*
5:00 p.m. - Men’s HS135 - Val di Fiemme, ITA - Olympic Channel-TV*

SNOWBOARDING
Tuesday, Jan. 8
12:45 p.m. - Men and women’s parallel slalom - Bad Gastein, AUT - NBC Sports Gold

Wednesday, Jan. 9
7:00 a.m. - Men and women’s team parallel slalom - Bad Gastein, AUT - NBC Sports Gold

Sunday, Jan. 13
6:30 a.m. - Men and women’s slopestyle - Kreischberg, AUT - NBC Sports Gold

All streams are available via desktop (NBCSports.com/Live, NBCSports.com/Gold and OlympicChannel.com) as well as mobile, tablet and connected television platforms. The NBC Sports app, NBC Sports Gold app and Olympic Channel app are available on the iTunes App Store, Google Play, Windows Store, Roku Channel Store, Apple TV and Amazon Fire. Exclusive commercial-free coverage will be available for subscribers of the NBC Sports Gold Pass.

With only one month to go, athletes, officials and fans from around the world are into their final preparations for the kick-off of the 2019 FIS Snowboard, Freestyle and Freeski World Championships, presented by Toyota taking place at Utah's Deer Valley Resort, Park City Mountain, both in Park City, and Solitude Mountain Resort, February 1-10, 2019.

Hosted by the International Ski Federation (FIS) and U.S. Ski & Snowboard and in partnership with the Utah Sports Commission, the event will attract approximately 1,400 athletes from 40 countries to Utah, the state of sport, for the biggest winter sports event to take place in the state since the 2002 Olympic Winter Games.

The next three weeks are critical, as each nation will select their 2019 FIS World Championship Teams. FIS has established that a maximum of 36 athletes representing any one nation may compete in the 2019 World Championships in freestyle/freeski as well as in snowboarding. The maximum quota for a nation in any one event will be four per gender up to the max total per gender of 20 athletes and max total team size of 36 athletes. Athletes named to the team will start in the event from which they qualified.

The U.S. will select up to three athletes per discipline per gender based on objective criteria, which varies by sport. After the allocation of objective criteria between all World Championship disciplines, any remaining nation quota positions for U.S. Ski & Snowboard athletes in each discipline will be filled by selection from the head coaches and sport director based on the discipline/gender with the highest medal potential.

U.S. athletes are coming into 2019 with strong results in early selection events. In freeski, defending FIS Halfpipe World Champion Aaron Blunck (Crested Butte, Colo.) and double-Olympic gold medalist David Wise, finished in first and third place respectively at the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix at Copper Mountain, Colorado. For the women, PyeongChang Olympic bronze medalist Brita Sigourney (Carmel, Calif.) also made the podium with a third-place finish.

For the U.S. Snowboard Team, PyeongChang Olympic gold medalist Chloe Kim kicked off the 2018-19 competition season at the U.S. Grand Prix with a victory, while teammate Maddie Mastro (Wrightwood, Calif.) finished just behind Kim in second-place. For the men, Toby Miller (Mammoth, Calif.) and Chase Josey (Sun Valley, Idaho) finished second and third respectively.

On similar note in the snowboardcross world, defending FIS World Champion Lindsey Jacobellis (Stratton Mountain, Vt.) as well as 2018 Junior World Champion Jake Vedder (Pinckney, Mich.) started strong at the first World Cup of the season. Jacobellis claimed a first and second place across a two race program at the Cervinia, Italy FIS World Cup as well as earned her 30th career World Cup victory. In addition, Vedder claimed his his first ever World Cup podium.

“To get my first ever World Cup podium at a World Championship qualifying event makes it that much more special,” said Vedder. “The whole team is riding at such a high level and it really helps me push myself to be better everyday we are on snow. I really look forward to coming back to the US and compete for our hometown crowd.”

In freestyle, Jaelin Kauf (Alta, Wyo.) is also setting herself up for World Championships success. She won back-to-back FIS Freestyle World Cup moguls and dual moguls events in Thaiwoo, China Dec. 15-16. Kauf is currently ranked as the top female moguls skier in the world and leads the World Cup tour. As the reigning World Champion in aerials, Jon Lillis (Rochester, N.Y.) has an automatic competition spot outside of the U.S. Team and will be a force to watch. The aerials FIS World Cup season kicks off in Lake Placid, N.Y. Jan. 18-19.

It’s not only the athletes preparing for the World Championships, but also the host venues getting ready for a robust competition schedule (see below). However, there are no resorts better prepared to put on an event of this magnitude as Solitude Mountain Resort, Park City Mountain and Deer Valley Resort. In fact, Olympians Alex Deibold (Manchester, Vt), Devin Logan (West Dover, Vt.) and Brad Wilson (Butte, Mont.) had tremendous comments of praise for these world class venues.
 

With 10 days of world class competition be sure to tune-in and watch as history is made. NBC Sports will showcase more than 25 hours of 2019 FIS Snowboard, Freestyle and Freeski World Championship programming, including more than 10 hours of live coverage, on NBC and the NBC Sports networks.

Additional coverage will also be available on NBC Sports Gold – NBC Sports’ direct-to-consumer live streaming product – and the OlympicChannel.com digital platform. A full broadcast schedule will be available on both USSkiandSnowboard.org and  2019WorldChamps.com.

HOW TO WATCH
All times EST
Preliminary broadcast schedule, subject to change
Streaming schedule TBA
*Same-day broadcast
**Next-day broadcast

Friday, Feb. 1
1:00 p.m. - Men and women's snowboardcross finals - NBCSN

Saturday, Feb. 2
3:00 p.m. - Men and women’s skicross finals - Olympic Channel
8:30 p.m. - Men and women’s skicross finals - NBCSN*

Sunday, Feb. 3
1:00 a.m. - Men and women’s freeski big air finals - NBCSN**
1:00 p.m. - Team snowboardcross - Olympic Channel
4:00 p.m.-  Team snowboardcross - NBCSN*

Monday, Feb. 4
3:00 p.m. - Parallel snowboard giant slalom - Olympic Channel
7:00 p.m. - Parallel snowboard giant slalom - NBCSN*

Tuesday, Feb. 5
3:00 p.m. - Parallel snowboard slalom - NBCSN
9:00 p.m. - Men and women’s snowboard big air - NBCSN

Wednesday, Feb. 6
3:00 p.m. - Men and women’s freeski slopestyle finals - NBCSN
9:00 p.m. - Men and women’s aerials - Olympic Channel
11:30 p.m. - Men and women’s aerials - NBCSN*

Thursday, Feb. 7
9:00 p.m. - Team aerials - NBCSN

Friday, Feb. 8
1:00 p.m. - Men and women’s snowboard  halfpipe - NBCSN
9:00 p.m. - Men and women’s moguls - NBCSN

Sunday, Feb. 10
2:00 a.m. - Men and women’s dual moguls - NBCSN**
1:00 p.m. - Men and women’s snowboard slopestyle - Olympic Channel
3:00 p.m. - Men and women’s snowboard slopestyle - NBC*

Monday, Feb. 11
10:30 p.m. - Women’s freeski halfpipe finals - NBCSN**
 

U.S. Ski & Snowboard prides itself in having some of the most elite winter sport athletes in the world. Without the help of top-tier training centers and development clubs, however, the goal of being the best in the world would be nearly impossible for U.S. Ski & Snowboard athletes.

The High Performance Center program, which was initiated in 2017, is the main way for the organization to connect with the growing training facilities across the country, as well as identify aspiring athletes that have the potential for the national team. This 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 (otherwise known as HPC) with U.S. Ski & Snowboard, in hopes to improve the national system and developmental pathway for athletes.

“The whole process is to help elevate everyone,” says High Performance Coordinator for U.S. Ski and Snowboard Calin Butterfield. “We try to approach areas where we feel we can add value to bring everyone up to the same level, as well as learn from these centers to internally improve.” Butterfield, along with his team, has the goal of implementing consistent communication and collaboration with these clubs to elevate the nation as a whole in preparing athletes for snow sports competition.

The process for becoming an HPC for U.S. Ski & Snowboard starts with registering as a U.S. Ski & Snowboard club. Any U.S. Ski & Snowboard club has the opportunity to become certified as a bronze, silver, or gold status training facility by proving organizational, administrative, sports programming, and financial stability. Once a club is considered silver or gold status, they have the option to apply for HPC status and be reviewed for the program. According to Butterfield, the club must have “a fully functioning performance team,” which includes sports medicine staff, performance training or athletic development coaches on site, medical directors or strong relationships with a medical clinic, a facility to train, and some access to nutrition for athletes.  

Once a club becomes a High Performance Center, U.S. Ski & Snowboard provides consistent structured programming throughout the year. “We do multiple education workshops, where we go to them, try to bring them together as regions, or bring them all here to the Center of Excellence. Both HPC staff and our own staff benefit by learning in a collective, unified way,” says Butterfield. In addition to workshops, the staff of each HPC is encouraged to visit the Center of Excellence (COE) in Park City, Utah to spend time with national team coaches/sports development staff and create a proper communication network. “I also make visits to each HPC at least twice a year to observe, talk shop, and form that deeper connection,” says Butterfield.

Although it is only in its second year, the HPC program is rapidly growing to include some of the best training facilities and clubs in the country. In the first year, eight Gold-level clubs opted in to become an HPC: Burke Mountain Academy, Killington Mountain School, Green Mountain Valley School (GMVS), Stratton Mountain, Carrabassett Valley Academy, Squaw Valley Mountain, Sugarbowl Mountain, and Sun Valley Ski Academy. Almost 13 national alpine team athletes came from these clubs prior to their HPC designation, proving how worthy and valuable they are to U.S. Ski & Snowboard.  

Starting in the summer of 2018, two new developmental clubs, Proctor Academy ski area in New Hampshire and Mammoth Mountain in California, received the HPC title. These two clubs were reviewed and quickly accepted after it was decided that a partnership would be mutually beneficial. With many athletes training at both these facilities, as well as having long-standing relationships with U.S. Ski & Snowboard, there is much excitement for these partnerships.

"The impact from Proctor's HPC status has been immediate for our athletes and for our coaching staff. Collaboration with peer HPC clubs and talented U.S. Ski and Snowboard staff has provided real-time access to information, training, and collaboration to keep our program at the forefront of new developments in the sport of alpine skiing. From the weight room to on hill training environment, the partnership validates our commitment to keep our program advancing, and never allowing us to get complacent."

- David Salathe, Proctor Academy’s Alpine Program Director

“Our longstanding commitment to athletic excellence has been a Mammoth Mountain value since its inception. Becoming an official High Performance Center with US Ski and Snowboard was an integral step in our ongoing tradition of supporting the Olympic movement. We look forward to our continued partnership with U.S. Ski & Snowboard. Their Sport Science program, staff, and resources are truly world class. The Mammoth Mountain Ski & Snowboard Team is excited to see the development of our athletes and staff. Additionally, we are honored to play a part in the large-scale strategy of U.S. Ski & Snowboard’s quest to further build upon the strength of the country’s winter sports programs.”     

-  Pete Korfiatis, Mammoth Mountain’s Director of Athletics

The potential impact of these HPCs is crucial for further success in winter sports. Not only will HPCs provide athletes to U.S. Ski & Snowboard Teams, but they will assist in creating a more cohesive, consolidated system for teaching and training.

“We are going to need to lean on the HPC clubs to further drive education at local and regional clubs,” says Butterfield. With the natural sharing of personnel, methods, techniques, and even athletes, the HPC program has a goal of unifying the snowsport community. “We are trying to systemize so that a) everyone is speaking the same language and b) we as a national governing body (NGB) are doing what we need to be doing to support the growth of the system outside of just the central location here at the Center of Excellence,” says Butterfield.

Troy Taylor, High Performance Director for U.S. Ski & Snowboard, agrees with this goal. “This is a 2 to 3-way education process. Yes, it’s about our systems and processes being implemented into these clubs, but it’s also about us learning techniques from them and about clubs collaborating between themselves and sharing the best practices,” he remarks. “From our perspective, we really value these partnerships and the motivation towards driving these programs towards success.”

With consistent collaboration, a clear vision for improvement, and the dedication to creating a more unified system, the HPC program has the potential to have a lot of impact on the success of the United States in snowsport competition. U.S. Ski & Snowboard is nothing short of proud to able to partner with these powerful centers and continue the work to become the best in the world.