Luke Winkelmann (Blowing Rock, N.C.) kicked off the 2018 FIS Junior Freestyle Ski & Snowboard World Championships with a silver medal in the snowboard big air, leading three Americans into the top six Sunday.

The heavy-hitting men’s big air competition opened the delayed festivities at the Winter Games NZ in hugely entertaining fashion on Sunday, with Japan’s Takeru Otsuka claiming the gold medal. Canada’s William Buffey claimed the bronze medal. Jack Coyne (Edwards, Colo.) and Dylan Okurowski (Vail, Colo.) were fifth and sixth respectively.

Heavy winds at Cardrona Alpine Resort had shut down the big air competition during its scheduled slot on Saturday, forcing it to be rescheduled to Sunday morning. However, on Sunday morning the wind persisted forcing several delays, and come noontime the competition was looking to be in danger of cancellation. 

But at the 11th hour, the winds abated and, under sunny skies on the perfectly-shaped Cardrona big air kicker, the Junior men were able to get back to work at the venue that had yielded such an impressive qualification round two days previous. 

From the outset, it was clear that it would be tough to match Otsuka despite the high-caliber of the field after the 17-year-old posted a score of 96.0 for his best jump in Friday’s qualifiers. On Sunday, Otsuka picked up right where he left off in the qualifying round, stomping a frontside triple cork 1440 on his first run before coming back in his second run and putting down a cab triple cork 1440 mute that earned a 96.4 to make it the best jump of the competition.

“The wind stopped out there and it got perfect and I just went at it,” said Winkelmann, who admitted after a putting down a simple 360 in his final run that the standard set by Otsuka was too much to chase down. “I stomped my first two runs (frontside triple cork 1440 tail grab and a switch backside triple 1260 mute) and I was super hyped with that and now I’m just stoked. I hadn’t landed my switch back 12 all day, didn’t land a single one in practice, so it’s crazy that I landed that in competition. And then I just cruised on my third run.”

The ladies’ junior big air World Championships are slated to take place later in the week after the wind also wiped out their program on Saturday. That competition is tentatively scheduled to take place on Wednesday morning. 

The 2018 FIS Junior Freestyle Ski & Snowboard World Championships continue Monday with snowboardcross finals.

Eight Americans Qualify For Snowboardcross Finals
Five men and three women qualified for the snowboardcross finals for Team USA Sunday at Cardrona Alpine Resort. For the men, Jake Vedder (Pinckney, Mich.),Kurt Hoshino (Huntington Beach, Calif.), Mike Lacroix, (Shrewsbury, Mass.) and Zachary Stewart (Cape Elizabeth, Maine) will compete in the finals Monday. In the women's qualification, Livia Molodyh (Hubbard, Ore.), Isabella Gomez (Issaquah, Wash.) and Kiersten Edwards (Londonderry, Vt.) will compete in the finals Monday.

RESULTS
Men’s big air
Men's snowboardcross qualifications
Women's snowboardcross qualifications

U.S. Ski & Snowboard will host its annual New York Gold Medal Gala at the Ziegfield Ballroom in New York City, New York, on October 25, 2018. Olympic ski and snowboard stars including Lindsey Vonn, Red Gerard and Jessie Diggins, among many more, will descend on New York City for the event, now in its 52nd year. The New York Gold Medal Gala plays a critical role in raising funds which directly help ski and snowboard athletes achieve their goals of being the Best in the World.

A small number of tickets are still available for what will be the social highlight of the snowsports world, but demand is high so anyone considering attending should click here to purchase. However, even those who cannot make it to the New York Gold Medal Gala can still take part in the event by bidding on some incredible auction items here. 

Among the highlights of this year’s Gala live auction is an ultimate VIP experience for four people to attend the 2019 FIS Snowboard Freestyle Freeski World Championships in Park City, Utah. This package includes a sneak-peak behind-the-scenes tour of a competition course, a VIP dining experience at High West Saloon in historic Park City, the use of four Gold Passes for skiing or riding at Deer Valley Resort and/or Park City Mountain and dinner with Kyle Mack, 2018 Winter Olympic Silver Medalist in Big Air Snowboarding, among many others.

“The passionate support from our New York community and everyone who flies in from around the world always makes the New York Gold Medal Gala a festive celebration of our athletes’ journeys to become the Best in the World, “ said U.S. Ski & Snowboard President and CEO Tiger Shaw. “Each year I am astounded and humbled by the generosity of this community. Without support like this, historic Olympic moments such as those we witnessed during the 2018 Winter Games wouldn’t be possible. This year’s Gala will be a culmination of all of that hard work and a chance to look forward to the next four years.”

The New York Gold Medal Gala will raise nearly $2 million for U.S. skiers and snowboarders through the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Foundation – a critical element of funding for the United States’ Olympic national governing body of ski and snowboard sports. The Gala’s storied history began in 1967 as the Ski Ball, which sought to benefit alpine athletes on the U.S. Ski Team. Today the tradition continues as a celebration of all of U.S. Ski & Snowboard’s ski and snowboard athletes, including some of the biggest names in sport. It has become a staple of the New York City social philanthropic scene and provides a grand send-off for athletes before the start of the winter competition season.

This year’s event will be hosted by Gala favorite and Olympic legend Jonny Moseley, gold medalist at the 1998 Olympic Winter Games for moguls skiing. This year’s event chairs are U.S. Ski & Snowboard Foundation trustees David Saunders, John Townsend III and Dani Virtue. The event will be sold out, such is the demand for tickets, and participants will have a chance to celebrate some already iconic moments from the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang, such as Red Gerard’s gold medal in slopestyle snowboarding and Kikkan Randall and Jessie Diggin’s historic gold medal in cross country skiing. The night’s program includes a silent and live auction as well as a spectacular technology and dance fusion performance by iLuminate. Labeled as the “best new act in America” during their run on America’s Got Talent in 2011, attendees of this year’s Gala will see dancers in electrified glow-in-the-dark suits performing a dynamic routine guaranteed to dazzle the crowd.

The evening kicks off at 6 p.m. with a star-studded White Carpet immediately preceding the official start of the Gala, from 5 to 5:45 p.m. This is a great opportunity to connect with some of the greatest athletes in the world. Athletes confirmed for attendance so far include:

Lindsey Vonn, 2018 and 2010 Olympic Bronze Medalist; 2010 Gold Medalist, alpine
Shaun White 2006, 2010, 2018 Olympic Gold Medalist, halfpipe snowboarding
Jessie Diggins, 2018 Olympic Gold Medalist, cross country
Red Gerard, 2018 Olympic Gold Medalist, slopestyle snowboarding
David Wise, 2014 and 2018 Olympic Gold Medalist, halfpipe skiing
Alex Ferreira, 2018 Olympic Silver Medalist, halfpipe skiing
Kyle Mack, 2018 Olympic Silver Medalist, big air snowboarding
Brita Sigourney, 2018 Olympic Bronze Medalist, halfpipe skiing
Casey Andringa, 2018 Olympian, moguls
Mac Bohonnon, 2014 and 2018 Olympian, aerials
Ashley Caldwell, 2012, 2014 and 2018 Olympian, aerials
Annalisa Drew, 2014 and 2018 Olympian, halfpipe skiing
Breezy Johnson, 2018 Olympian, alpine skiing
Tess Johnson, 2018 Olympian, moguls
Jaelin Kauf, 2018 Olympian, moguls
Hagen Kearney, 2018 Olympian, snowboard cross
Alice McKennis, 2018 Olympian, alpine skiing
Kylie McKinnon, 2018 Olympian, aerials
Alice Merryweather, 2018 Olympian, alpine skiing 
Brad Wilson, 2014 and 2018 Olympian, moguls
Hannah Kearney, 2010 Olympic Gold Medalist; 2014 Olympic Bronze Medalist, moguls
JJ Thomas, 2002 Olympic Bronze Medalist, halfpipe snowboarding

Based on competition and training schedules, athlete appearances subject to change without notice. 

For ticket purchase and live auction information, please click here.

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

U.S. Ski & Snowboard's Center of Excellence in Park City, Utah, is currently booming with athletes for summer strength and conditioning sessions. Rehabbing athletes are specifically making the Center of Excellence their home for the summer. With 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. sessions at least five days a week, these rehabbing athletes are working vigorously with our high performance staff to get back onto the snow.

“The gym essentially becomes your life,” says mogul skier Morgan Schild (Pittsford, N.Y.). Schild is recovering from her second ACL tear, which happened last March during the first World Cup event after the Olympics. The first time she tore her ACL, it took her 12 months to recover, which is double the time it typically takes athletes to reach a full recovery. This time around, she is working hard to get back on snow earlier. “I want to be that one story that comes back in six months, is on the snow in seven and is competing at nine. That would be my ideal plan.”

Mogul skier Tom Rowley (Long Beach, N.Y.) shares teammate Schild’s desire for getting back on snow. Rowley is also recovering from an ACL tear. “At this point I am ready to move on. I want to get back to how I was,” Rowley reflected.  

Rowley sustained his injury on his first run of his first event last season in Finland, crushing his 2018 Olympic Games dreams. However, it has also been a huge motivator for Rowley to get back into shape and get back on the snow. “It was definitely hard missing the Olympic season,” says Rowley, “I hopefully want to work my way back to where I was and be around for the next Olympic year. It’s hard to say - it’s four years away - but it’s pretty tough to miss that one and I feel like I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t try to go for it.”

After dislocating his shoulder at a snowboardcross event in Austria, Hagen Kearney (Telluride, Colo.) is also looking forward to his future and is more than ready to be healthy and strong again. Kearney has been on the team for six years, but has never experienced an injury of this magnitude until now. He explained that there have always been rehabbing athletes in the Center of Excellence, but he never truly understood what the process was like until just a few months ago.

“For me, it’s been a full circle experience,” says Kearney. “My awareness has been expanded. It’s cool to now experience what many other athletes have experienced in the past, it has given me a bigger awareness of what it means to be an athlete. I need better self control. I need to not get ahead of myself and to be more patient.”

Kearney is 11 weeks into his rehab and hopes to be fully recovered by six months. “I try to just accept being patient and believing that when I do come back, I am going to be reborn. I am looking forward to that moment.”

Rowley also spoke to the significance of being a part of the team as a U.S. Ski & Snowboard athlete - especially one recovering from injury; “It’s easier to motivate yourself when you have someone doing it with you,” said Rowley. “I was here [Center of Excellence] alone for the majority of the winter, so it was kind of hard to get myself out there. Going through a workout when you’re all alone isn’t the easiest thing to do when your pretty bummed anyway. I appreciate my team a lot more because of it.”

The takeaway from each athlete is a newfound appreciation for their abilities as an athlete. Schild, Rowley and Kearney now truly appreciate what they can do when they are healthy, and are thankful for the ability to be world-class athletes.

“This injury process really opens your eyes to why you love the sport in the first place,” said Schild. “To me, it’s laughing with my friends on powder days and just being able to ski in the first place, with no competition in mind. Going back to the root of it is always fun and always will be.”

With the finish line well in sight, U.S. Ski & Snowboard rehabbing athletes are pushing forward with the optimism and perseverance of a champion. There is no doubt they will come out stronger than they were, hungry for more snow and for more success.

U.S. Ski & Snowboard athletes are used to competing on the big stage – particularly those who have made the U.S. Olympic Team. However, what doesn’t often come naturally is the ability to speak confidently publicly – both in front of crowds and to the media. Just last week, though, a new program known as the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Speaker’s Bureau was launched through their Athlete Career & Education (ACE) team, led by Director Julie Glusker.

Offered to 10 elite-level U.S. Ski & Snowboard Olympic and World Championship athletes – both current and alumni – U.S. Ski & Snowboard partnered with the Slomoff Consulting Group to lead a year-long, intensive training program for a select group of athletes looking to learn what it takes to be a successful keynote speaker.
  

“We teach all of our clients to approach speaking the way great athletes approach their skill, by developing awareness, control and consistency."
- Danny Slomoff, Slomoff Consulting Group

Danny Slomoff, who has worked closely with U.S. Ski & Snowboard President & CEO Tiger Shaw for the last several years, was first introduced through Board of Trustees contacts. For the last three years, Slomoff has offered generous pro bono work to athletes and staff of U.S. Ski & Snowboard from across all sports. Oftentimes, those who have met with Slomoff have said his training has been some of the most beneficial they’ve received from the organization, off the snow.

Glusker is particularly excited about the program because it is an excellent opportunity for these athletes to share their compelling sport and life stories, build public speaking skills progressively throughout the year, and develop as effective, impactful speakers. Slomoff and his team of skilled professionals will provide personalized, targeted coaching to each of the athletes during the year, as well as introduce them to corporations and organizations and help them prepare for U.S. Ski & Snowboard events, galas, engagements, media and personal sponsor activities. Speaker’s Bureau topics include preparation and practice of presentations and talks, marketing, slide and video development, writing and publishing articles. All of this valuable, meaningful coaching is being donated by Slomoff Consulting Group.

Slomoff takes great pride in the work he does, and it certainly shows, as he grew emotional at the end of the two-day Speaker’s Bureau, following the final presentations – almost akin to a proud father.

“We teach all of our clients to approach speaking the way great athletes approach their skill, by developing awareness, control and consistency,” Slomoff remarked. “These world-class athletes understand the work needed to develop a new skill and are accustomed to putting in the coaching and practice time to master it. They were able to make progress very quickly and take leaps and bounds toward greatness. We cannot wait to see them reach their potential as peak performing speakers.

The Speaker’s Bureau entailed two full days of training with the first day being more of a group setting. Athletes met for an initial welcome session before breaking into two groups to work in small group scenarios with four skilled coaches. In these small groups, they broke down the basics of successful speaking through improv work, with the belief that successful public speaking is acting more than it is public speaking. They discussed topics like awareness of body language, tone, tempo, diction and the psychology of public speaking and connecting with your audience.

Without giving away too much, some of the key points were: try not to have an ego, care for the listener, when your content and your energy match, there is authenticity, the importance of talking with your face, voice, and fingers and having a strong message and purpose. The coaches worked with each individual athlete utilizing their strengths and improving their weaknesses. They broke down the skills and then rebuilt them over the next two days so there was a progression that athletes could see. This approach, of course, coincides well with the type of performance/feedback loop the athlete is accustomed to in their sport.

The final goal is to get these current and former U.S. Ski & Snowboard athletes into speaking engagements, but more so it is to build professional skills and allow them to experience the courage it takes to make mistakes and then make improvements and move forward in a setting that may be more uncomfortable to them than the mountain. The results were positive, and the athletes may have surprised themselves more than anything.  

“It was a great opportunity to work on a skill set that will benefit athletes long after their competitive careers are over."
- Alex Deibold, U.S. Snowboard Team

U.S. Alpine Ski Team alumnus and four-time Olympian Marco Sullivan (Squaw Valley, Calif.) commented on how beneficial the training was. “It was amazing to me that the room was full of Olympians and World Champions of our respective sports but we were all acting like beginners when it came to addressing a crowded room of people,” Sullivan said. “Everyone was excited to overcome our anxiety and luckily, we are all very coachable so we made huge gains with Danny and his team in just the two days that we were together. I think that speaking and being able to express ourselves is part of being a professional sportsman that often gets overlooked. I am excited to see all of the athletes in our group progress over the next year. I think it can only be positive for the individuals and U.S. Ski & Snowboard.”

World Championship gold medalist and Olympian aerialist Ashley Caldwell (Ashburn, Va.) echoed Sullivan’s sentiments. “I loved the Speaker's Bureau this weekend. I was a little nervous going into the training but came out feeling much more confident speaking in front of any size group of people,” reflected Caldwell. “Danny and his team were awesome to work with. It was incredibly fun and humbling to learn and be embarrassed with a group of your peers, who happen to all be Olympic athletes. We all walked out of our two-day series exponentially more confident and excited about sharing our stories!”

2014 Olympic bronze medalist snowboard cross athlete Alex Deibold (Boulder, Colo.) – perhaps one of the most comfortable in front of crowds going into the two-day Speaker's Bureau – walked away with a lot of valuable learnings from the two days that have made him even more comfortable center stage. “I thought the Speaker's Bureau was a challenging and insightful experience. It was a great opportunity to work on a skill set that will benefit athletes long after their competitive careers are over. I’m looking forward to honing my newfound knowledge and hopefully putting it to use.”

Shaw was there to watch athletes give final presentations and was very impressed with how they worked together and the progress they made as a group, “I’m very excited to see you work together over the next year,” noted Shaw. “I’ve worked with Danny for years now, but it’s heartwarming to see world-class athletes mesh as a group from different sports in the organization and pair up with world-class coaches. All involved did a very good job.”

Athletes involved included: 
Mac Bohonnon (Madison, Conn., Aerials - Freestyle)
Maddie Bowman (South Lake Tahoe, Calif., Pro Halfpipe - Freeskiing)
Ashley Caldwell (Ashburn, Va., Aerials - Freestyle)
Alex Deibold (Boulder, Colo., Snowboard Cross)
Nick Goepper (Lawrenceburg, Ind., Pro Slopestyle - Freeskiing)
Hannah Kearney (Norwich, Vt., Moguls - Freestyle)
Jaelin Kauf (Alta, Wyo., Moguls - Freestyle)
Steve Nyman (Sundance, Utah, Alpine)
Marco Sullivan (Squaw Valley, Calif., Alpine Alumnus)
Andrew Weibrecht (Lake Placid, Calif., Alpine Alumnus)

Four U.S. Ski & Snowboard athletes have been nominated for the 2018 "Sportswoman of the Year" awards, presented annually by the Women's Sports Foundation since 1993. Sportswoman of the Year is awarded to both an individual and a team.

Two women are nominated in the individual category: three-time Olympic medalist Mikaela Shiffrin (Avon, Colo.), alpine skiing; and Olympic gold medalist Chloe Kim (Torrance, Calif.), snowboarding. Olympic gold medalists Jessie Diggins (Afton, Minn.) and Kikkan Randall (Anchorage, Alaska), cross country skiing, are nominated for the team category.

Fans can vote through August 3rd at sportswomanoftheyear.com. 

Click to read the full story at TeamUSA.org.

U.S. Ski & Snowboard has nominated a strong team of young athletes to compete in the 2018 FIS Junior Freeskiing & Snowboard World Championships Aug. 24 - Sept. 8 at Cardrona Alpine Resort in Wanaka, New Zealand.

The event will feature the best junior athletes as part of the Winter Games NZ. Thirty snowboard athletes and 22 freeski athletes have been chosen to represent the United States in snowboardcross, skicross, team snowboardcross, halfpipe, slopestyle, big air, parallel giant slalom, and parallel slalom.

The snowboard team is led by 18-year-old Hailey Langland (San Clemente, Calif.), a 2018 Olympian who finished sixth in the slopestyle at Pyeongchang, Korea, this past winter. Langland landed her first career World Cup slopestyle podium in Cardrona in 2015. For the men, Jake Vedder (Pinckney, Mich.), the 2016 Youth Olympic snowboardcross gold medalist, is one to watch; along with rookie team halfpipe members Tessa Maud (Carlsbad, Calif.), Jack Coyne (Edwards, Colo.) and Jade Thurgood (Salt Lake City, Utah); and rookie slopestyle team members Ty Schnorrbusch (Frisco, Colo.), Courtney Rummel (West Bend, Wisc.) and Luke Winkelmann (Bowling Rock, N.C.).

The United States also sends a strong Freeski Team to compete, including rookie slopestyle team members Cody Laplante (Truckee, Calif.) and Mac Forehand (Winhall, Vt.); and rookie halfpipe team members Svea Irving (Winter Park, Colo.), Anna Gorham (Bend., Ore.) and Jaxin Hoerter (Breckenridge, Colo.).

U.S. Ski & Snowboard coaches include JJ Thomas (snowboard halfpipe); Nichole Mason and Dave Reynolds (snowboard big air/slopestyle); Peter Foley and Jeff Archibald (snowboardcross); Justin Reiter and Lynn Ott (PGS/PS); Jeremie Livingston (freeski halfpipe); Dave Euler (freeski big air/slopestyle). Joining the coaching staff are Stratton Mountain School’s Jesse Mallis (freeski big air/slopestyle) and Killington Mountain School’s Jeff Juneau (ski cross).

2018 USA SNOWBOARD JUNIOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS TEAM
Name, hometown, U.S. Ski & Snowboard club, birthdate, age at start of championships

SNOWBOARD

Snowboardcross
Stacy Gaskill, Golden, Colo., Winter Park Competition Center, 5/21/2000, 18
Kiersten Edwards, Londonderry, Vt., Carrabassett Valley Academy, 1/13/2000, 18
Livia Molodyh, Hubbard, Ore., 6/30/1999, 21
Emma Downing, Carrabassett Valley Academy,  7/19/2001, 18
Isabella Gomez, Issaquah, Wash. (Summit at Snoqualmie) 9/11/2001, 17
Allie Nowicki, Stratton, Vt. (Stratton Mountain Club) 3/16/2000, 18
Mike Lacroix, Shrewsbury, Mass. (Team Utah Snowboarding, Inc.) 7/12/1998, 20
Kurt Hoshino, Huntington Beach, Calif., 2/20/2001, 18
Jake Vedder, Pinckney, Mich., 4/16/1998, 20
Zachary Stewart, Cape Elizabeth, Maine, (Carrabassett Valley Academy), 2/10/2001, 18

Slopestyle
Luke Winkelmann, Blowing Rock, N.C., Kirk’s Camp, 12/18/2000, 17
Dylan Okurowski, Vail, Colo., Ski & Snowboard Club Vail, 6/15/2000, 18
Jack Coyne, Edwards, Colo., Ski & Snowboard Club Vail, 1/7/2002, 16
Will Healy, Riverside, Conn., 3/11/2002, 16
Judd Henkes, La Jolla, Calif., Mammoth Mountain Snowboard Tea, 4/3/2001, 17
Jake Canter, Evergreen, Colo., Aspen Valley Ski & Snowboard Club, 7/9/2003, 15
Ty Schnorrbusch, Frisco, Colo., 5/15/2002,
Courtney Rummel, West Bend, Wisc., Wisconsin Advanced Ski & Snowboard Program, 11/12/2003, 14
Jade Thurgood, Salt Lake City, Utah, Park City Ski & Snowboard, 1/27/2002, 16
Hailey Langland, San Clemente, Calif., Tahoe Select Snowboard Team, 8/2/2000, 17

Halfpipe
Tessa Maud, Carlsbad, Calif., Mammoth Mountain Snowboard Team, 10/10/2003, 15
Kayleigh Carew, Breckenridge, Colo., Method For Life Academy, 9/13/2001, 16
Jade Thurgood, Salt Lake City, Utah, Park City Ski & Snowboard, 1/27/2002, 16
Kinsley White, Mammoth Mountain Ski and Snowboard, 6/19/2003, 15
Jake Canter, Evergreen, Colo., Aspen Valley Ski & Snowboard Club, 7/9/2003, 15
Jack Coyne, Edwards, Colo., Ski & Snowboard Club Vail, 1/7/2002, 16
Hunter Goulet, Salt Lake City, Utah, Park City Ski & Snowboard, 2/2/2004, 14
Peter Danner, Telluride, Colo., 8/27/2001, 17
Toby Miller, Mammoth, Calif., Tahoe Select Snowboard Team, 2/14/2000, 18

PGS
Karina Bladon, Wayland, Mass., Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club, 12/17/1998, 19
Kaiya Kizuka, Sinking Spring, Penn., Ski Roundtop Racing Club, 5/26/1999, 19
Alexa Bullis, Slinger Wisc., 3/1/2000, 18
Ethan Coherd, Monkton, Md., Roundtop Mountain Resort), 12/10/1999, 18
Cody Winters, Steamboat Springs, Colo., Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club, 4/20/2000, 17
Jacob McCarthy, Edina, Minn., G Team, 12/27/2000, 17
William Taylor, Minn., G Team, 4/12/2001, 17

FREESKIING
Skicross
Mazie Hayden, North Clarendon, Vt., (Killington Mountain School), 10/2/2000, 17
Zoe Livran, Vail, Colo., Ski & Snowboard Club Vail, 4/28/1999, 19
Justin Wallasch, Acton, Calif., 3/19/1997, 21
Stuart Whittier, Cape Elizabeth, Maine, Carrabassett Valley Academy, 6/13/2001, 17
Leo Brougher, Los Altos Hills, Calif., Squaw Valley Ski Team, 4/17/2000, 18
Noah Giron, Carson City, Nev., Squaw Valley Ski Team, 9/11/1999, 18

Slopestyle
Marin Hamil, Park City, Utah, Park City Ski & Snowboard, 4/5/2001, 18
Rell Harwood, Park City, Utah, Park City United, 6/1/2001, 17
Svea Irving, Winter Park, Colo., Winter Park Competition Center, 2/27/2002, 16
Eileen Gu, San Francisco, Calif., Squaw Valley Ski Team, 9/3/2003, 14
Montana Osinski, Fairfield, Conn., Killington Mountain School, 4/1/2003, 15
Ashton Glass, Park City, Utah, Park City Ski & Snowboard, 9/7/2000, 17
Mac Forehand, Winhall, Vt., Stratton Mountain Freestyle, 8/4/2001, 17
Kiernan Fagan, Brownfield, Maine, 1/18/2002, 16
Ryan Stevenson, Washington, N.J., 3/29/2000, 18
Cody Laplante, Truckee, Calif., Squaw Valley Freestyle and Freeride Team, 2/15/2002

Halfpipe
Svea Irving, Winter Park, Colo., Winter Park Competition Center, 2/27/2002, 16
Eileen Gu, San Francisco, Calif., Squaw Valley Ski Team, 9/3/2003, 14
Hanna Blackwell, Hailey, Idaho, Winter Park Competition Center, 4/20/2000, 18
Anna Gorham, Bend., Ore., 7/22/2000, 18
Dylan Ladd, Lakewood, Colo., Winter Park Competition Center, 8/29/2001, 17
Jaxin Hoerter, Breckenridge, Colo., 7/17/2000, 18
Connor Ladd, Lakewood, Colo., Winter Park Competition Center, 9/26/2003, 14
Hunter Carey, Winter Park, Colo., Winter Park Competition Center, 6/12/2002, 16
 

The IOC has announced that seven new winter sports will be incorporated into the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing, China. Four of these sports are International Ski Federation (FIS) events that will be on show at the 2019 Snowboard, Freestyle and Freeski World Championships taking place in Utah on February 1-10.

The events on show at the 2019 World Championships that have been added to the Beijing 2022 calendar are; Freestyle Skiing, mixed team aerials; men and women's Freeski Big Air; and in Snowboard, Team Snowboardcross. Both Freeski Big Air and Freestyle Mixed Team Aerials will be making their World Championship competition debuts for the very first time at the 2019 World Championships in Utah next February.

The awesome men’s and women’s Freeski Big Air event will take place at Canyons Village at Park City Mountain Resort on Saturday, Feb. 2, 2019. Next up on the new Olympic discipline roster will be the Team Snowboardcross event, which will take place at Solitude Mountain Resort on Sunday, Feb. 3, 2018. Rounding out the latest additions to the Olympic Winter Games is the Freestyle Skiing Mixed Team Aerials event under the lights at Deer Valley Resort on Thursday, Feb. 7, 2019 — sure to be a crowd favorite. The 2019 World Championships will be the first time that Mixed Team Aerials and Freeski Big Air will be included in the FIS World Championship program.

“We are grateful to the IOC, FIS, Beijing Organizing Committee and the Nations for working cooperatively toward the inclusion of these new events in 2022,” said Jeremy Forster, U.S. Ski & Snowboard’s Director of Snowboard, Freeski, and Freestyle. “The addition of these incredibly exciting events is not only good news for fans of the Winter Olympic Games, it is also a critical step in continuing to engage new fans, in particular, the young skiers and riders who are the future of our sports. Having the opportunity to showcase both Freeski Big Air and Mixed Team Aerials as World Championship disciplines for the first time at the events we will host in February 2019 is a great honor. We are all excited about the chance to give them their global World Champs debut in what promises to be an incredible 10 days of competition next year.”

The eyes of the world will be on the athletes competing for World Championship glory in the United States from Feb. 1 through Feb. 10, 2019, when the world’s best snowboarders, freeskiers, and freestyle athletes will descend on Utah. For more information about the events go to the 2019 Snowboard, Freeski and Freestyle World Championships website at https://2019worldchamps.com/

U.S. Ski & Snowboard stars Chloe Kim, David Wise and Shaun White took home six ESPY awards in a big night for snow sports at the 2018 ESPY Awards in Los Angeles, Calif.

Kim, the 2018 Olympic Winter Games gold medalist in women’s halfpipe snowboarding, left the event with three awards - Best Female Athlete, Best Female Action Sports Athlete, and Best U.S. Female Olympian. Kim’s U.S. Snowboard teammate Shaun White added to his ESPY awards collection with wins in the Best Olympic Moment and Best U.S. Male Olympian categories; and David Wise, the double-Olympic gold medalist in men’s freeski halfpipe, won the Best Male Action Sports Athlete award.

In total, eight U.S. Ski & Snowboard athletes were nominated for 2018 ESPY awards, with superstars Mikaela Shiffrin and Red Gerard joining Kim, Wise, and White at the events in Los Angeles.

“This is a very big night for everyone at U.S. Ski & Snowboard who worked so hard with our incredibly talented athletes to help their dreams come true,” said Tiger Shaw, president, and CEO of U.S. Ski & Snowboard, who also attended the 2018 ESPY Awards. “These awards, voted for by the public, show how much love and support there is for our athletes among sports fans, and what they’ve achieved is receiving the recognition they deserve.

Moving on to the finale of the event, Tiger said that “everyone who watched the awards tonight could not fail to be moved by the many amazing stories that were showcased, but to finish the event with so many brave survivors on stage together, highlighting the horrific abuse they had to endure, was the right thing to do. Ridding sport of the scourge of abuse of all kinds has to be the priority for anyone engaged in sport at all levels today, and to give those fearless athletes the stage was exactly the sort of tribute the world of sport should be making to the brave people who brought this issue into the spotlight. If you or anyone you know is affected by abuse, report it. The US Center for SafeSport wants to hear from you so go to safesport.org if you have anything you need to report.”