Casey and Jesse Andringa Launch “The Andringa Show”
By U.S. Ski & Snowboard
August, 28 2020
Casey and Jesse Andringa in their garage in Colorado. The brothers will be chronicling their lives in their new web series "The Andringa Show" on YouTube.
Brothers Casey and Jesse Andringa of the U.S. Moguls Ski Team are not only known for their skill and talent on the snow, but also for their unique style and exuberant personalities. The two brothers are seeking to re-elevate freestyle skiing into mainstream snowsports culture, and will be showcasing their lives in their new web series “The Andringa Show.”
“The Andringa Show” will treat viewers to an inside look at what Casey and Jesse get up to in training, competing and beyond. “We do a lot of unusual things and have unusual methods to help accompany our training,” said Casey. “A lot of it is pretty funny and we wanted to share it with people. Life on the team is a lot different than most people would think, so we wanted to showcase how we live it.”
“We already do a lot of filming, so why not make a little show about it?” said Jesse.
The brothers look forward to sharing the “good times, and not so good times, and the hilarity of it all,” as each works towards competing on the 2020-21 FIS World Cup tour. Jesse recently returned from shoulder surgery to training-as-usual with the Team. Casey, who had just returned to water ramping after undergoing knee surgery last year, unfortunately sustained a wrist injury and will work through that rehab process before getting back to training again. Casey and Jesse hope to be back skiing the world together again soon, with their ultimate goal of making the 2022 Olympic team together.
If you know Casey or Jesse, you know their show will be anything but ordinary. From demoing campers to building motorbikes, creating the world’s weirdest sandwiches to surfing, rock climbing and camping, and the blood, sweat and tears it requires to be a professional moguls skier, viewers will get to experience it all.
“The Andringa Show” will air on YouTube and fans can expect at least an episode per month, more depending on content and schedules. For show updates and information, follow Casey and Jesse on Instagram, and be sure to subscribe to their YouTube channel.
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Bashing Gates and Staying Healthy: Feature in SKI Magazine
By Megan Harrod
August, 27 2020
Alice Merryweather, on the Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team women's speed team, skis giant slalom at a recent on-snow camp at Official Training Site Timberline Lodge and Ski Area. (Breezy Johnson)
In August, the Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team is typically training in the Southern Hemisphere, whether it be in New Zealand or South America. Obviously this year, COVID impacted training outside of the U.S., so U.S. Ski & Snowboard staff worked hard with resort partners to ensure athletes didn't miss a beat. High Performance Director Troy Taylor recently caught up with SKI to talk about it all.
August marks a time when the U.S. Ski Team usually sends athletes to South America for on-snow training to test new equipment and get ready for early season competitions. This year, things are different. In early March the FIS World Cup Tour came to an abrupt end due to COVID-19. April and May are normally off-months for the athletes, but this year the team worked tirelessly through those months to organize extensive protocols, including reworking their online athlete platform to check and monitor coronavirus symptoms.
Thanks to these efforts and the hospitality of domestic resorts, the athletes have not missed any days on snow this summer. CopperMountain in Colorado, plus Mt. Bachelor and Mt. Hood in Oregon, are among the ski areas that have found ways to accommodate the U.S. Ski Team.
Troy shared details of the U.S. Ski & Snowboart COVID protocol, which has been stringent and enforced, as SKI reported.
Due to the pandemic, Taylor and the team initially worked with the Olympic and Paralympic committee to work on testing facilities and protocols. The team’s USADA lab, usually reserved for drug testing, was converted into a COVID-19 testing facility capable of performing a saliva-based coronavirus test that provides results within hours.
Taylor explained that although rapid testing is extremely beneficial for the team, it is a priority of the team to test in a responsible manner that does not affect the testing capabilities of local hospitals. The team is “respectful of mountain communities and works to avoid any burden on their healthcare,” says Taylor. Athletes are required to have two negative tests within 24 hours of each other after every travel day and before they can attend team events.
The protocols in place have been stringent and enforced. Athletes not only have to report symptoms twice a day, but the team must also complete surveys on a weekly basis for contact tracing purposes. The U.S. Ski Team has fostered a safe environment for athletes to train in, but “everything is ultimately up to the discretion of the athlete—if they don’t feel comfortable at the Center of Excellence or at a camp or joining a bubble, they are not required to,” says U.S. Ski Team athlete George Steffey...
Up next, the athletes will look to travel to Europe for final on-snow training prep camps prior to the much-anticipated FIS Ski World Cup kickoff in Soelden, Austria Oct. 17-18th.
Back on roller skis for the first time since her accident last season brought a huge smile to Hannah.
The road to recovery can be a long, lonely road with many bumps along the way. But when an athlete sees the light at the end of the tunnel, and with the tremendous support from family, friends, and teammates, they know that the hard work will pay off.
Davis U.S. Cross Country Team member Hannah Halvorsen is finally starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel as she recovers from the devastating injuries suffered when she was hit by a car while crossing a street in downtown Anchorage last November. In addition to head, back, and neck injuries, she also suffered a serious knee injury that required surgery.
Hannah’s road to recovery, which she has documented on her Instagram feed, began with a trip to the U.S. Ski & Snowboard’s Center of Excellence in Park City, Utah in January where she was able to focus 100% of her attention on recovery and specifically building core and leg strength. All the while, she was following her teammates on the World Cup and Super Tour circuits and taking inspiration from them, knowing that with continued progress, she would be able to rejoin them later in the season.
Hannah was excited to cheer her team on at the 2020 Coop FIS Cross Country World Cup in Minneapolis, which would have been the first time cross country skiing World Cup competition took place on U.S. snow in 19 years. However, COVID-19 threw everyone a curveball and forced the cancelation of those plans for Hannah, as well as the annual spring team training camp in May in Bend, Oregon. Regardless of the pandemic setbacks, Hannah has kept her eye on the prize of returning to 100% health. Earlier this summer, she returned to Anchorage to train with her Alaska Pacific University (APU) teammates, and while she has had to hold herself back at times, she continues to make tremendous progress.
“The biggest mood booster of late has been rejoining team training. I have done countless hours of training and physical therapy on my own over the past months and I have an even bigger appreciation for what it means to be surrounded by a team.”
– Hannah Halvorsen, Davis U.S. Cross Country Team
But those countless hours of training alone are paying big dividends.
“Hannah has made an amazing return to training,’ said APU coach Erik Flora. “Her incredible hard work and perseverance have brought her back months earlier than I would have projected. The thing that has impressed me the most is that while she is making this impressive return she is coming back with more focus and positively inspiring her teammates to step up their level as well. I see her returning stronger than ever.”
“I have seen some really positive progress and I am in a much better place than I expected to be at this time of the training season,” Hannah said. “If you asked me two months ago I would’ve said I wouldn’t be able to roller-ski until the fall, but I am able to ski with my teammates and even do low-level threshold.
“I can’t do the high-intensity training...but I can do the warm-up and cool down, and I do a pulled back version that is more focused on technique while my team is doing intervals,” she continued. “That said, having a lot of unexpected improvement has made it hard to stay the course. I am constantly tempted to try to jump into speed or go faster in threshold [workouts]. I have done that a few times now and sometimes I think I get away with it. But after a few times the inflammation in my spine and neck will flare up and then I am set back again with pain.”
Building toward intensity training is the near-term goal for Hannah, but it is a learning process between managing the pain while building strength and speed.
“It is a long road,” Erik said. “She is progressing faster than projected. She is getting back to normal training with dry-land including roller skiing, running, and strength. Every week she is improving.”
While there are a number of uncertainties in regard to events as the 2020-21 competition season nears, one thing that is certain is that when Hannah is ready to race, she will return stronger, faster, and mentally tougher.
“I am on the right end of that curve and starting to get in a productive groove and prioritizing things in the right order so that I can maintain my health for the short and long term,” she said. “Being asked to find more patience when I feel like I have been patient for nine months is hard, but the progress I have made has been motivating and I am excited to see where I can take this if I do it the right way.”
Jesse Andringa works on his straight airs at Official Training Site Timberline Lodge and Ski Area (Alexis Williams - U.S. Ski & Snowboard)
Jesse Andringa returned to snow ahead of schedule after undergoing surgery to correct a shoulder injury he sustained earlier this year. Due to the impacts of COVID-19, Jesse’s return was less conventional than he had planned for, progressing from rehab to stay-at-home mandates, and then straight to snow during moguls’ sanctioned on-snow training camp at Official Training Site Timberline Lodge & Ski Area, Ore. in July.
“The camp went really well,” Jesse said. “I basically started really easy, just doing flats. I progressed with straight airs and backflips and easier tricks, made sure that it was feeling good. I tipped in on back X and ate it pretty hard and was totally fine, [it was a] relief to know that I could crash on it.”
In March, Jesse underwent surgery for his right shoulder, which he dislocated twice during World Cup competition in the 2019-20 season. During the quarantine period, which coincided with his recovery timeline, Jesse focused solely on the rehab process. “I spent so much time rehabbing, I gained my mobility and strength back quickly, doing two PT sessions a day. Fortunately, my mom is a physical therapist so I was able to do work when I couldn’t get into a clinic [due to COVID-19].”
Most people may think of knees when the words “moguls” and “injury” are put together. However, a moguls skier’s shoulders are crucial. “Every bump jolts your shoulder when you pole plant; you need a lot of strength there. You need 100% mobility to stretch, or to tuck it in, or un-tilt, and if you don’t have that then you’re probably going to eat it. Getting my shoulder fixed is definitely going to be a big confidence boost. I have a nice perspective on the sport now [since being away] and what I need to focus on in order to succeed in the future.”
Jesse is hard at work with the rest of the moguls team on the water ramps at Official Training Site Utah Olympic Park, where the team makes their summer home. Jesse looks forward to continuing to build on his gains this spring, so he’s ready to face whatever comes his way this 2020-21 season.
Jesse’s brother, 2018 Olympian Casey, is also making a comeback from a year off due to injury. The two are stoked to be back training together. “Casey and I are both coming back from injuries. I’m excited to compete with him [again]. I have World Championships in my sights and we’re hoping that by the end of it this season, we’ll both be stepping onto [World Cup] podiums together.”
Follow Jesse and his shoulder all season long on Instagram.
Learn more about how to support the U.S. Moguls Team.
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Moguls Raises Heat and Funds, Exceeds Annual Goal
By U.S. Ski & Snowboard
August, 21 2020
"Moguls and Muffins" Hosts Trace Worthington and Sean Smith, with Olympic moguls champion Hannah Kearney, are stoked on moguls and muffins and the funds raised for the U.S. Moguls Team.
The U.S. Moguls Ski Team brought the heat and raised some serious funds August 18 via “Moguls and Muffins,” a live virtual fundraising event hosted by freestyle legends and fan favorites Trace Worthington and Sean Smith. To date, the team has raised $120,000, exceeding their annual goal of $100,000, and ensuring they are fully funded for the 2020-21 season.
Broadcast via Facebook Live on the U.S. Ski & Snowboard page, Trace and Sean hosted a virtual breakfast, including muffins, that took fans behind the scenes of the team’s summer training at the Spence Eccles Olympic Freestyle Pool at Official Training Site Utah Olympic Park. They caught up with several athletes, reminisced about the good ol’ days of freestyle skiing and speculated on what the future holds. Viewers heard from Jesse Andringa, Kai Owens and Nick Page, with walk-by appearances from the rest of the team. Olympic moguls champion and U.S. Ski & Snowboard Athlete Gift Officer Hannah Kearney made a special guest appearance as well.
Being fully funded allows the moguls athletes of the U.S. Ski Team to laser-focus on their training, prep work, and competition. Trace, Sean and Hannah, all U.S. Ski Team alumni, know first-hand what a difference that can make.
“It’s night and day,” said Sean after Trace asked what the impact of being funded as an athlete really means. “The money we’re raising today, and the really throughout the year, [these athletes] don’t have to worry about [whether or not they are funded], they don’t have to worry about money because they get to go and just train, lift, eat properly (like these muffins Chef Steve is making) and really just put forth what they have to do to be Best in the World.”
“The funding is absolutely crucial,” Hannah explained. “Every single one of these athletes’ competitors has government funding from their countries…We’re up against that hurdle. The only way these athletes can train to that level and compete against their peers is through donations from the public. ”
This year would have marked the Third Annual U.S. Moguls Team Fundraiser, graciously hosted by moguls superfans Jim and Jeffy Benedict at their home in Colorado. However, due to the impacts of COVID-19 on travel and gathering, and with the health and safety of its athletes and supporters top of mind, U.S. Ski & Snowboard has moved its fundraising efforts to virtual experiences. “Moguls and Muffins” was created to cap off the team’s annual fundraising season as a way to engage with their supporters and fans, and have a little fun along the way.
The U.S. Ski & Snowboard Foundation works to raise $12 million annually for U.S. Ski & Snowboard’s athletic programs. U.S. Ski & Snowboard athletes receive no direct government funding and rely on the generous support of fans, donors, trustees and corporations to fund their Olympic dreams. The Moguls fundraiser is one fundraising program that enables the freestyle community of donors to support the sport they are most passionate about. Since implementing sport specific fundraisers, the Foundation has seen an increase in revenue to be able to fully fund specific teams. All funds raised directly impact the Moguls Team and anything raised in excess of the goal will either help fill in unforseen gaps this season, or roll over to the 2021-22 season.
To support the U.S. Moguls Ski Team, please click here for more information.
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FIS Alpine World Cup To Remain in Europe
By U.S. Ski & Snowboard
August, 20 2020
The 2020-21 FIS Alpine World Cup men’s and women’s calendars will adopt a different structure due to impacts from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
After extended discussions among FIS, the national ski associations and the local organizing committees in Canada and the USA, together with their stakeholders, all parties have come to the joint decision that the Alpine Skiing World Cup tour will remain in Europe in late November. Traditionally, the tour comes to North America during this time of year.
For the women, this schedule shift impacts the HomeLight Killington Cup in Killington, Vt. (USA) giant slalom and slalom events on Nov. 28-29 and the speed week in Lake Louise, Alberta (CAN) on Dec. 1-6. For the men, this impacts the speed weekend in Lake Louise, Nov. 25-29 and both speed and tech events at the Xfinity Birds of Prey in Beaver Creek, Colo. (USA) Dec. 1-6. The FIS Alpine World Cup will return to these sites for the 2021-22 season.
The objective of FIS is to carry out a full World Cup competition program, protecting the health and welfare of all participants to the best extent possible. The temporary realignment of the FIS Alpine World Cup Calendar in 2020-21 caters to this goal by focusing on athlete safety, reducing travel, and providing competitors with a detailed competition calendar. All parties jointly agreed to make this decision early to aid in developing the adjusted calendars during the next month before the FIS Technical Committee Meetings in late September.
Decisions for all other FIS World Cup events will be made independently and based on an assessment of each unique set of circumstances, including the risks and travel requirements related to each event and host country, as well as time needed between competitions to accommodate for COVID-19 protocols.
U.S. Ski & Snowboard, the Canadian Snowsports Association, and the Killington, Lake Louise and Vail Valley Foundation local organizing committees would like to express their gratitude to everyone for their dedication, planning, and collaboration in recent months. Attention to detail and thoughtfulness provided a pathway to hold their events this season, but all agreed to make this very difficult, but necessary decision, in order to prioritize the best interest of the alpine world cup athletes, coaches, technicians, volunteers, media, staff, all of the world cup fans and the Alpine World Cup tour, as a whole. The extensive preparation work provides a roadmap to move forward with planning other potential North American domestic events. Although the North American alpine venues and fans will be missed this season, all parties look forward to the Alpine World Cup’s return to the USA and Canada for the 2021-22 season.
The adapted calendars, to be approved in late September, involve the rescheduling of the alpine North American competitions at European sites.
These will include events in December, with Val d’Isere (FRA) adding two events for the men. The planned giant slalom races will be moved up one weekend to Dec. 5-6, making room for an added downhill and super-G on Dec. 12-13.
The women’s tour will add a downhill to its traditional weekend in St. Moritz (SUI) on Dec. 5-7. Additionally, Courchevel (FRA) will host a two-race technical weekend in December.
“The North American races are always a very special two weeks for the entire FIS World Cup tour and we are very disappointed that we could not find a way to have them on this year’s Alpine calendar,” said FIS Secretary General Sarah Lewis. “But if there is a silver lining, it is seeing how all of our stakeholders involved with the FIS World Cup are working together. The willingness of several National Ski Associations, Organizers and resorts to step up, alter their schedules and plans, shows that we truly are a united ski family that is working toward the common goal of carrying out a full and successful season. The engagement and commitment shown by the North American organizers and National Associations throughout the past months continues with both USA and Canada already turning to preparations for their central roles with FIS Freestyle, Freeski and Snowboard events that take place later in the season.”
The Audi FIS Alpine World Cup season will kick off in Soelden (AUT) on Oct. 17-18 for the traditional giant slaloms on the Rettenbach Glacier. The next stop on the tour will be the debut of host resort Lech/Zürs (AUT) on Nov. 14-15, which will feature a men’s and a women’s parallel race.
The revised calendars with the latest adaptations will be approved following the FIS Technical Meetings from Sept. 30 to Oct. 2 for ratification by the FIS Council on Oct. 3, and will be published on the FIS website at that time.
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About U.S. Ski & Snowboard
U.S. Ski & Snowboard is the Olympic National Governing Body (NGB) of ski and snowboard sports in the USA, based in Park City, Utah. Tracing its roots directly back to 1905, the organization represents nearly 200 elite skiers and snowboarders in 2020, competing in seven teams; alpine, cross country, freeski, freestyle, snowboard, nordic combined and ski jumping. In addition to the elite teams, U.S. Ski & Snowboard also provides leadership and direction for tens of thousands of young skiers and snowboarders across the USA, encouraging and supporting them in achieving excellence. By empowering national teams, clubs, coaches, parents, officials, volunteers and fans, U.S. Ski & Snowboard is committed to the progression of its sports, athlete success and the value of team. For more information, visit www.usskiandsnowboard.org.
Gardner Returns To Snow at Timberline
By Andrew Gauthier
August, 12 2020
Addie Gardner makes her return to snow at U.S. Ski & Snowboard Official Training Site Timberline Resort & Ski Area in Mt. Hood, Ore. (U.S. Ski & Snowboard - Mike Ramirez)
The U.S. Snowboard and Freeski Slopestyle Teams returned to snow for their first on-snow camp of the summer at Official Training Site Timberline Resort & Ski Area in Mt. Hood, Ore. July 20-July 30.
The highlight of the camp was U.S. Snowboard Slopestyle Rookie Team member Addie Gardner strapping back up for the first time since sustaining a significant back and pelvis injury at the 2019 Modena Ski Pass Big Air World Cup. Addie was greeted with open arms by her teammates.
“She has had a tough road ahead of her and worked hard to get back on snow since her injury in October,” said Slopestyle and Big Air Pro Team Head Coach Mike Ramirez. “It was a special moment being there for her return to snow with some of her best friends and teammates. For her second run, we Facetimed her parents so they could be part of the moment as well."
Addie felt she had a successful camp and was grateful to be back doing what she loved with her favorite crew.
“I don’t think It could have gone any better,” said Addie. “Having the support and hype from my teammates from the start of the day to the finish was amazing. I wouldn’t have wanted to share my first time back on snow with anyone else. I am so thankful and it felt amazing! I was sore at the end of the day, but it was worth it.”
Addie was joined by fellow rookie team riders Courtney Rummel, Isabella Gomez, Liam Johnson, as well as pro riders Ty Schnorrbusch and 2020 FIS Big Air Crystal Globe Winner Chris Corning. MIke described Corning as, “a consummate pro who leads by example.”
Co-Slopestyle and Big Air Pro Team Head Coach Dave Reynolds expanded on Chris’s leadership role.
“It was a small group in the 'bubble' with mostly rookies and it was awesome for them to see just how Chris operates,” said Dave. He does all the right stuff and gets after it on the hill. He made an effort to take Liam (Johnson) under his wing a bit and make him feel welcome and comfortable with it being his first camp with the team.”
For the freeskiers, it was a similar story of getting reacclimated to snow and reuniting with friends and teammates. U.S. Freeski Slopestyle and Big Air National Development Team Coach Ryan Wyble shed some light on the dynamic at camp, which included U.S. Rookie Team members Marin Hamill, Rell Harwood, Jenna Riccomini, Bella Bacon, Richard Thomas, Troy Podmilsak, and Hunter Henderson.
“All of the new and returning athletes on my team knew each other before camp, but it was really a good experience to finally get everyone together in person and spend more time together,” said Ryan. “There were some great sessions on the mountain with both new and returning athletes pushing each other to do tricks, which was epic to see at the first camp. Off the hill, there was also a lot of time spent between new and returning athletes participating in the limited activities that were available to us.”
Although social media channels are flooded with fun and light-hearted content coming out of the glacier, it’s still very apparent that U.S. athletes are lucky to be back on snow amidst a global pandemic.
“It was a big undertaking to plan out this first camp back on snow, with lots of help and support from our medical staff,” said Ryan. “Just to get everyone to Timberline, on snow, and back home safely was a big accomplishment. After so much time living in our own little bubbles during this pandemic, it was really a great feeling to have the whole team together and to see the athletes push and feed off each other on the hill. I think we all shared a renewed appreciation for the sport we love. That environment was certainly missed over the last four months.”
The U.S. Snowboard and Freeski Teams will look to take their training to European glaciers this fall to continue their preparation for the 2020-21 competition season. They will first head back to Park City, Utah to U.S. Ski & Snowboard’s Center of Excellence as well as the Utah Olympic Park for airbag training.
Be sure to follow the U.S. Freeski and Snowboard Team on social media below.
Avital Shimko trains at Timberline Lodge & Ski Area July 2020 (Kai Owens - U.S. Moguls Ski Team)
Avital Shimko made her triumphant return to the U.S. Freestyle Moguls Ski Team following almost two years of being sidelined due to an injury she sustained to her right knee in August 2018. Avital had an exceptional first Team on-snow camp at Timberline Lodge & Ski Area in Mt. Hood, Ore., the same place her ski career took an unexpected turn.
“I think I had been dreaming of it for so long and so excited for it that it was pretty unreal,” Avital said. “I was nervous at first, especially after my last encounter with Mt. Hood, but I acknowledged those thoughts and put them aside.”
It took Avital 14 months to get back on skis and 18 months to do her first jumps and ski her first moguls. This past camp marked almost two full years since she had trained on snow with her team. Avital was set to make her official comeback in March at a World Cup in Idre Fjäll, Sweden. However, due to the impacts of the global novel coronavirus pandemic, those events were canceled and she was unable to get into the start gate.
“I got there on a Tuesday and drove up [that] night,” Avital recalls about her unexpectedly short European trip. “We skied in the course on Wednesday. I was preparing mentally for Thursday training. I had seen the course, inspected it. So I had already done all of that mental competition prep. But Thursday morning Brad [Wilson] woke us up bright and early and told us we were all going home. Selfishly I was disheartened because I had been working so hard to get there. I was sad for a minute, but quickly realized [what was happening] because of the pandemic.”
Avital was first nominated to the U.S. Ski Team in 2018 for the 2018-19 season after winning the 2018 NorAm Tour. This feat also earned her her own World Cup spots for what was set to be her first season as a Team athlete. However, that August Avital was training up at Timberline working on her back fulls and had a fluke landing that did not agree with her right knee. She tore her ACL, sustained medial and lateral meniscus tears, an MCL strain and had bone bruising. Avital was sidelined before she even got started.
Missing the opportunity to compete in the 2020 season was the last bump in Avital’s long road to recovery. “When I went [to Sweden], I wasn't 100%, but 95% ready and confident that I could make something happen and perform well,” she reflected. “My jumps were a little lacking because I hadn’t water ramped. Ideally, you want to water ramp [before you get on snow]. But I was still doing my same tricks, so not the biggest deal. It took me a little longer to where I wanted to be jumping.”
Returning home from Europe and staring down the barrel of an unknown springtime prep period due to stay-at-home mandates and public health codes, Avital and her fiancé, Bobby, built a gym in their garage so she could stay on top of her fitness.
“You get back, you're bummed it didn't happen,” she reflected on what it felt like coming home less than 48 hours after boarding a plane to her comeback. “At the same time, I was so close to competing I could taste it. I was percentages away from being there and fitting right back where I was. Having that in the back of my mind the whole time during quarantine, I wanted it more than ever; still do. Having all of this extra time (being injured and during quarantine) made me visualize more. I really honed in and to understand all of the movements. I’ve always known how to ski moguls and how to jump, but never honed into tiny details. This allowed me to really hone on that and progress me the direction I want to go. Some days sucked in quarantine, but I hold myself more accountable than others hold me, I was pretty regimented in my quarantine.”
The perseverance and focus paid off. “I tested right before Hood and I’m 20% stronger than I have ever been,” Avital said. “I made massive gains in my progress [at Hood]. I took two new tricks to snow, back mute and cork 7, and it went really well.”
Moving forward Avital will continue to work on her jumps she plans to bring to competition this season as well as focus on her fitness. “I want to be the most in shape that I’ve ever been. I think it gives me a sense of reassurance and that nothing will phase me. If I am the strongest and fastest I’ve ever been, then everything will seem easier to me.”
Follow Avital on Instagram as she prepares to take on the 2020-21 season.
Shiffrin Wraps On-Snow Camp at Official Training Site Timberline
By Megan Harrod
August, 9 2020
Two-time Olympic champion Mikaela Shiffrin and staff pose, masked, at a recent on-snow camp at Official Training Site Timberline Resort & Ski Area.
For two-time Olympic champion and Land Rover ambassador Mikaela Shiffrin, a recent on-snow camp at Official Training Site Timberline Resort & Ski Area in Mt. Hood, Ore. was not only productive but brought back a lot of memories, too. This was the first time Mikaela had been to Timberline since she was 17-years-old and had a slalom camp with the U.S. Ski Team, and prior to that when she was 14-years-old with Burke Mountain Academy.
Due to COVID, U.S. Ski & Snowboard has been working to find training opportunities closer to home. A massive amount of planning and energy went into creating the COVID-19 protocol, led by U.S. Ski & Snowboard High-Performance Director Troy Taylor and Lead Physical Therapist Gillian Bower, along with team managers, staff, and beyond, enabling alpine athletes across training groups to have yet another successful round of training camps on snow at Timberline.
Head Coach Mike Day said the camp at Timberline went very well, "We had lots of sunshine and productive training sessions. Our team put in a massive effort to produce excellent training." He added, "Mikaela skied more slalom volume than any camp in recent history. She made great progress in both slalom and giant slalom."
Mikaela has fun with her staff, creating "coach personality types" for each.
Much like the previous camp at Official Training Site Copper Mountain Colo., the entire staff (notably coach and strength and conditioning coach Jeff Lackie and Atomic serviceman Johann Strobl) was not able to travel due to COVID-19 restrictions, so a group of staff stepped in to fill the void. "Special thanks to Coley Oliver (Team X and former NCAA All-American at University of New Hampshire), Eric Colon (Aspen Valley Ski & Snowboard Club), and John Mulligan (Legend) for joining us. They worked super hard and brought great attitudes and insights to this project," Mike noted. "We also want to thank Gretchen, and the whole crew at Mt. Hood, for providing a productive and safe training environment."
Social distsancing and mask-wearing measures were implemented at Mt. Hood, to provide a safe training environment for all.
Being at Timberline offered up a little nostalgia for Mikaela, and brought back memories—some good, some not-so-great—as she spent a lot of time up in Mt. Hood as a young ski racer, going to camps every summer for about six years. She remembered, "...after a bunch of the camps my brother and I had at Mt. Hood, my parents would come and we’d all have a mini vaca down in Hood River. They’d go windsurfing in the Gorge and I’d take lessons in the Hook. I got stung by a bee, while windsurfing (don’t ask me how…) once. My hand blew up like an actual balloon. Another time, my brother went out windsurfing on the river with my parents and got stuck in this kind of toilet bowl of waves and currents all converging in one area. He was stuck there for nearly an hour and nobody could find him. We were all freaking out looking for him, and when he finally got back to the launch site everyone just broke down with relief."
Following her camp in Hood, she and her mother, Eileen, spent some time in Hood River, and Mikaela even visited her favorite taco stand—the Downwinder—saying on their Instagram that she doesn't just "like" their tacos, but she "LOVES* ...100/10 would recommend😘".
Another memory Mikaela has from childhood is when she got sick and heened to go to an aiport hotel with her mom while she got better. "That was the same year where my brother broke both of his hands when his buddy accidentally tripped him off of a retaining wall, and my dad needed to storm the hospital to order them to perform surgery after Taylor had developed carpal tunnel and was getting sever nerve damage with blue fingers for over 24 hours. He still has numbness in his fingers…" She added,
Needless to say we have a ton of memories of the Mt. Hood and the Hood River area. A lot of those with my dad as well, so it was incredibly special to go back after so long and get such a productive camp. Those memories came back in flashes at random moments, like when my mom and I stopped to watch the windsurfers and kite-boarders for a little while and could perfectly imagine the time when she and my dad would be rigging up to go out on the water as if it was yesterday. Or trudging through the melting snow to get to the Palmer lift at 5am every morning and remembering how it felt to do that when I was nine, carrying a backpack that was heavier than me and stumbling over my skis and poles.
For Mikaela, it was a pleasure to see the new generation of "little rippers going up every morning and still being as psyched on skiing as I was, even though we had to keep six feet apart and wear masks in the lift lines and everything else that we have to do right now to keep our sport going…that was special. I was training on the first lane basically under the lift line and waved to kids riding the lift each run and I kept thinking how cool it is that after so many years of going to Chile and New Zealand and Argentina and all of these other places for our summer prep, we’re finally training at home." It's incredibly important to Mikaela that she and teammates make an effort to encourage and support the next generation of ski racers, and she believes that training alongside them was a rewarding experience on both sides of the coin.
"It was so cool to have basically the whole women’s team right there, training right next to the next generation of U.S. ski racers. And it was even better that we had such a productive camp," she reflected. "Even with some really tough, warm temperatures, we got so much out of every day and I am SO thankful that through this pandemic we have found a way to get training safely within our own country."
U.S. Ski & Snowboard sanctioned training camp attendance is optional. U.S. Ski & Snowboard athletes and staff should not feel pressure to travel to train. All sanctioned training camp policies and protocols are subject to change based on local, state, and federal public health orders, updated guidance from the USOPC, or updated U.S. Ski & Snowboard policies.
Land Rover ambassador Mikaela boots up at the top for a day of training, above the clouds.
John "Mulli" Mulligan, Mikaela's serviceman for the camp, poses with Mikaela and her Atomics.
Coley Oliver, guest coach from Team X, and Mikaela pose at the top of Mt. Hood for a quick snap.
Mikaela jumps for joy following a successful on-snow training camp at Mt. Hood.
Mikaela prepares to send it on a sunny training day at Mt. Hood.
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Samuels’ Experience as a Black Woman in Ski Racing
By Megan Harrod
August, 7 2020
U.S. Ski Team, University of Utah, and Rowmark Alumna Lauren Samuels, who recently participated as the youngest panelist on U.S. Ski & Snowboard’s July 15th virtual discussion on how to remedy the glaring lack of racial diversity in snowsports, offers another perspective. (Justin Samuels)
Editor’s Note:
I grew up ski racing in southeastern Wisconsin (Lake Geneva), and then went on to ski USCSA at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota. From there, I moved to the Twin Cities and started a job at a marketing agency, but deeply missed the sport I grew up immersed in, so ended up getting a coaching gig for Team Gilboa at the mighty Hyland Hills, which boasts a vertical drop of 175 feet, and is home to two-time Olympian and U.S. Ski Team alumna Kaylin Richardson, as well as U.S. Ski Team and University of Utah alumna Lauren Samuels, and Dartmouth College alumnus Justin Samuels.
The Samuels family (Heidi, Dave, Justin and Lauren) and I became fast friends. Their warmth, passion for the sport, and general good vibes immediately drew me to them. I used to joke that I was a bad influence on Lauren and Justin. Their combo of smarts and athleticism were immediately impressive to me. When I called Lauren’s father Dave after the tragic and unjust death of George Floyd in their hometown of Minneapolis—their hometown (my former home)—Dave told me Lauren was scared to go for a bike ride, fearing who may be around the corner. I get the chills just typing that.
I am thankful Lauren took the time to share her experiences as a Black and multiracial person in the predominantly white snowsports industry, and I hope you’re able to walk away with a broader perspective, just as I was.
Megan Harrod
Alpine Communications Manager
Member of the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee
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Imagine this scenario for a moment. You’re in [insert any small ski town here] for a ski vacation. “[Insert small ski town name], ahhhh, this is the life, right?!’ you think to yourself. It’s 8 a.m. and you’re heading to grab a double-espresso before you go carve some Arc City Mayor turns on some 'roy at one of your favorite ski resorts. You order your coffee, reach for your wallet, and realize you forgot it at your hotel. Darn. Ok, so perhaps a kind stranger will offer to spot you, right? Don’t be so quick to say “yes.”
U.S. Ski Team, University of Utah, and Rowmark alumna Lauren Samuels, who recently participated as the youngest panelist on U.S. Ski & Snowboard’s July 15th virtual discussion on how to remedy the glaring lack of racial diversity in snowsports offers another perspective. And, if you’re like me (white), you haven’t REALLY thought (or can begin to understand) about what it might be like to be a Black, Latinx, Indigenous, or an Asian person in a mostly white ski town where there are very few (if any) people that look like you.
During the panel, which was led by the Samuels' family friend and President of the National Brotherhood of Skiers (NBS) Henri Rivers, Lauren spoke candidly about how systemic racism and discrimination affected her career, and offered solutions for how the ski and snowboard industry can do a better job of fostering a love for snowsports in people from all backgrounds, colors and walks of life. In a follow up interview, Lauren opened up further.
During the virtual discussion, panelist Constance Beverley, CEO of Share Winter Foundation, asked viewers to consider the following exercise, “Open up your phone, and scroll through Instagram hashtag skiing, and keep going until you don’t see either a skinny, white, usually blonde lady, laughing, or a 17-year-old white dude hucking himself off a cliff. Just time it. Ask yourself how long until you hit a person of color. And then start asking yourself about ‘how have our perceptions fed the marketing and branding of our sport, and ultimately excluded others?’” As Constance was speaking, Lauren was adamantly nodding her head in agreement.
Of her reaction to Constance’s words, Lauren said, “Oh my gosh, I could not relate more. That’s such a small, easy way that our industry as a whole could make a difference. Like why is it so hard to hire me to do this shoot, versus some other girl that looks like every other girl on all of the other ski ads. And it’s just that simple, that then me, when I was walking into a ski shop—’Hey, dad, that girl has curly hair like me. Is she Black? Whoa, cool!’ It’s so easy to do those things.”
I reflected back to my conversation with Lauren’s father, Dave, after George Floyd’s death. I said to Lauren, “While we, as marketers in the ski industry are worried about putting a message out there that’s not authentic, you’re worried about going for a bike ride because you’re afraid of who may be around the corner, the KKK is in town, and you’re Black. I can’t even imagine.” I honestly couldn’t imagine. And, I will never be able to imagine.
Lauren visited George Floyd's memorial at 38th & Chicago in Minneapolis and took photos. She posted the photos on Instagram and noted, "My hometown and family are nervous for what is still to come but we have hope for positive change ahead. Remember this is not black vs. white, this is everyone vs. racism."
Revisiting the aforementioned coffee scenario in the small ski town. Lauren said, “Ok, so you forgot your wallet. You’d ask someone ‘Hey, can you spot me real quick?’ You think my dad [who is Black] can do that? No.” While we, as a predominantly white industry, may be worried about coming across as performative as we take improved measures towards making our sports more welcoming to all people, Lauren says her worries are different. “We’re afraid people assume we’re homeless, poor, trying to steal their money—whatever it is," she admits.
Grab a coffee and ponder that for a few moments.
“Well, it’s just because you’re Black, so obviously you can jump.”
Lauren is an incredibly gifted human. No doubt her passion, curiosity, wits, athleticism, and beyond, come from her parents, Heidi and Dave, who often spend a good amount of time at Snowbird, their “second home” in Utah. After skiing for Team Gilboa, Lauren was invited to the U.S. Ski Development Team as a young teenager. She was a wide-eyed, excited, hopeful 15-year-old who had made the leap from the 175 foot vertical of Hyland Hills in Minnesota to the U.S. Ski Team in Park City, Utah—a dream many young ski racers have, and very few achieve.
However, when Lauren made it, she realized it wasn’t what she thought it would be. Having followed a strict strength and conditioning program back in Minneapolis, Lauren came into physical testing at the Center of Excellence and immediately showed she belonged there. As the athletes did pre-summer testing, or “baseline testing” as Lauren called it, she did the vertical jump test. She broke the record. “At first they were like, ‘Oh, the system must have been calibrated wrong.’” she remembered. So they recalibrated it, jumped again, and then she got the same results. After she tells that part of the story, she laughs and says, “whatever” in her humble manner. What she shared, next, though, encapsulates the problem in our industry.
“‘Well, it’s just because you’re Black, so obviously you can jump,’ they said,” Lauren recounts the situation. “And I won’t name names, but some of my teammates just jumped on that same train and were like, ‘Yeah, that’s why you can jump high, because you’re Black.’” From there, they moved on to the force plate test (the one where you push into the bar), and Lauren attempted to keep her focus and composure as she tackled the task at hand. “...and I was pretty darn high on that, especially for my size,” she said.
How did her teammates react? “They’re like ‘Yeah...power because you’re Black...and isn’t that because, we’ve heard those rumors about Black people having calves that are higher...and that’s why you can be a better sprinter...so why are you even in skiing?’ And it just went down this path,” she remembered. She was just 15 then. It was the first time she was on the U.S. Ski Team, and her first time in the Center of Excellence. It was an intimidating environment as it was. “We’re the D (development) Team, we’re the 15-year-olds...and meanwhile Ted [Ligety] and whoever else is over there working out over there. So I was just like, ‘Ok, yeah, I guess it doesn’t mean that I’m that strong or fit because I’m built this way, therefore it doesn't count?’”
But wait, there’s more.
Lauren was criticized by coaches for not braiding her hair. “The coaches didn’t talk to me about my technical skiing, but they asked me why I don’t braid my hair like everyone else. I was like ‘1) my hair doesn’t braid, 2), it turns into dreadlocks if I braid it, so I just put it in a small bun.’ They were more or less like ‘Well, we did wind tunnel testing and the braids were the fastest, so if you don’t want to be hundredths faster, so be it. That’s your choice.’” Lauren feels that if she had a Black coach, or even a female coach, that might not have a memory she now lives with.
Lauren shared more of her experiences with her coaches, highlighting a lack of communication, leadership and other elements she faced outside of the realm of systemic racism. Since Lauren’s time on the team, U.S. Ski & Snowboard has implemented a number of changes to improve the athlete experience, including a project in 2019 known as the Athlete Project. The Athlete Project represents an opportunity for U.S. Ski & Snowboard to improve the athlete experience. It was born out of an initiative to take an introspective look at how the organization engages with athletes. Despite the fact that the organization has made leaps and bounds in terms of improvements in the athlete experience, it became glaringly obvious in late May of 2020 that the broader snowsports industry had a long, long way to go in the way of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Lauren shreds slalom while training for the University of Utah. (Justin Samuels)
Onward, to NCAA at the University at Utah
Following her tenure with the U.S. Ski Team Development team, Lauren went on to finish high school at Rowmark Ski Academy in Salt Lake City, Utah. After she made World Juniors, she was an invitee to the U.S. Ski Team for the next two years. As she said, as an invitee you “...don’t get the jacket, you don’t get the title, and you have to pay your own way, but you’re invited to every camp, but you have to bring your own coach.” Long story short, it was incredibly expensive for Lauren. Since, U.S. Ski & Snowboard has made significant strides in athlete funding, decreasing the cost for development team athletes and fully travel funding athletes on the A through C teams. Eventually, after a challenging road, Lauren made the decision to take her talent to the University of Utah, where she felt welcomed, and maybe more at home than ever before. That doesn’t mean Lauren didn’t encounter implicit bias.
“Everyone assumed I ran track,” she reflected. “I was like, ‘no I don’t run track’. And then they’re like, ‘Oh so you either play softball or soccer. And I was like, ‘no’. That was across the board—other coaches, strength and conditioning coaches, other athletes, and even just students in school. Utah is a pretty white place. I faced a ton of that in college, and then in regards to the training staff—like our strength and conditioning coach—they were way more welcoming and understanding that I needed to be on a different program pretty much from everyone else on the team, because they have experience with other athletes from other races and colors. So for them, they’re like, ‘whatever, we’ve had an athlete just like you.They may have been in another sport, but whatever.’ Of course they had to do sport-specific exercises, but Lauren said the fact that they’d seen people with her make-up come in was assuring, as “they knew how to handle it.”
While at the University of Utah, Lauren captained the team her senior year when the Utes won the 2017 NCAA National Championship. Then, she went on to coach for two years at the FIS level, first back at her roots in Minnesota with Team Gilboa, and then back to Rowmark in Utah. Though she was the FIS assistant coach at both programs, the differences were notable. Not only are there very few Black, Latinx, Indigenous, or Asian people in the sport, but there are also very few women, especially in the midwest. She noted that out west there were “tons” of women coaches, “especially at the U16 level, it’s almost like the majority of coaches are women in western region.” In Minnesota? Not so much.
In the west, Lauren felt a lot more welcomed and respected from day one...which she acknowledges may have been because her colleagues and athletes knew more about her background in the sport out west, but in Minnesota she felt like the ski community didn’t want to acknowledge her past experience in the sport. Perhaps that’s just a regional cultural thing. When I asked Lauren if she felt like there was a difference in the way people treated her because of the color of her skin, from her experience at the club level to academy, then the U.S. Ski Team and the University of Utah, from the midwest to the west, and from athlete to coach, she told me that, honestly, “everyone plays blind to it”.
It’s called “color blindness.” In a 2015 article in The Atlantic, author Adia Harvey Wingfield writes, “Many sociologists, though, are extremely critical of colorblindness as an ideology. They argue that as the mechanisms that reproduce racial inequality have become more covert and obscure than they were during the era of open, legal segregation, the language of explicit racism has given way to a discourse of colorblindness. But they fear that the refusal to take public note of race actually allows people to ignore manifestations of persistent discrimination.”
Lauren told me, “There are so many different forms of racism, color blindness, being not anti-racist, and it’s one thing to be color blind—that’s not accepting who we are fully—it’s another thing to be oblivious and not believing when we tell these stories...or try to express how it feels. And then there’s people who have an issue with us being there in the first place, because of our color. It’s not like a line of you’re racist or you’re not. And I think that’s one good thing that’s coming out of this in the last two months. People are starting to understand, ‘OK, this isn’t just a yes or no—yes it’s an active thing to be anti-racist and we need to do more of that, and making our space welcoming to others.’”
Looking Ahead
So I wondered, how can we do better? Ever the whip-smart, strong and thoughtful woman she is, Lauren offered a few very good suggestions. First, let’s engage with partnerships on the grassroots level. Meaning, at the club level, let’s take a serious look at what we’re doing and how we’re welcoming people into the sport. But how?
Lauren, like many of us, acknowledges she doesn’t have the be-all and end-all solution. But, does anyone? “My main thing is the outreach, partnering with these organizations, and I know we have club levels, but to me that’s not enough of a partnership,” stressed Lauren. “If the U.S. Ski Team wants to utilize these clubs to generate more diversity and talent within this sport, there needs to be a stronger partnership. Maybe the athletes are sent here for an event once a year. Having been an athlete myself, I wanted to do that stuff, but it wasn’t there. Maybe it’s tagged on to the end of a camp, or Nationals. Instead of flying straight back to the east coast, stop in Minneapolis for a day, go to the Loppet Foundation, and connect with the kids—actually connect—not just go and sign autographs. These kids—their faces light up—there are so many people out there don’t know ski racing, or skiing, is a sport. Having the World Cup here would have been so big. Those are the things that I think can create kids and families of all backgrounds who love our sport.” Not only will it be good for the kids, but Lauren also believes it will make our athletes better human beings.
Additionally, Lauren feels it is important to create more diversity in our governing body, but says it’s not realistic to think we can just generate athletes out of nowhere. We also need coaches of more diverse backgrounds. At the same time, she admits that coaches often have an athletic background, and we need to foster a welcome environment for athletes to want to be coaches. She says athletes don’t want to get involved if they don’t feel welcomed, empowered and respected. “The Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee is a place to start, but we need hiring practices that are different, better, and more equal,” she stressed. And this isn’t just a snowsports industry issue. It’s bigger. It’s a broader outdoor industry issue.
Lauren feels like everyone in the outdoor industry is sitting back and pointing fingers at each other, saying “we don’t have the talent” but she stresses we need to take ownership of this. “Go out and make it happen,” she urged. “Point the finger at yourself and say, ‘Let’s make the talent. And go actively recruit.’ That’s my biggest thing.”
Lastly, she strongly feels the media needs to be more diverse and welcoming, “thinking of other backgrounds, religions, ethnicities, whatever it is. This is an equity thing.” She talked about a specific shoot she recently did, pre-COVID, with Salomon and Joe Johnson, Alpine and Nordic Marketing Manager for Salomon. Joe hired Lauren for a shoot, and admitted she wasn’t sure if he knew what he was getting, as they hadn’t met before. Lauren won’t say it, and she might not even be thinking it, but I will say it...she meant he may not have known that she was a total badass AND Black skier.
“No one else is doing it,” she said. There’s an opportunity there. The shoot was for a ski that’s launching this winter, so the images have yet to be released. She said that she reminded Joe, “My dad worked for Salomon back in the 80s and 90s and he may well have been the first Black person to work there—just an interesting piece of history in the industry that no one knows about.” There are some brands, and organizations, out there who want to make a change. U.S. Ski & Snowboard is one of them.
Following her incredible involvement and transparent, raw, and honest feedback she shared during the discussion on the initial panel, Lauren has been invited to be involved with U.S. Ski & Snowboard’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee. It is the committee’s goal to continue to create a two-way dialogue and keep this conversation going. Stay tuned for more information about upcoming panels on the topic of diversity, including one that will feature athletes.
Let’s continue to listen. And learn. And then effect change.
Lauren takes a break during her #Iride4them ride to grab a photo.
Afterword:
Recently on social media, Lauren has shared that she’s riding 84.6 miles over ten days for three reasons:
Lauren’s #Iride4them, In Her Words:
To honor and mourn the unjust deaths of Black folks in police custody. 84.6 is to signify the 8:46 that George Floyd fought for his life while a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck, killing him by asphyxiation. Mr. Floyd is the most recent man we lost but there are countless others whose lives were stolen by police officers, today, tomorrow and forever #Iride4them.
To spread the word to help a friend fundraise for his initiative to give bike lights and helmets to people in need.
I ride to take ownership in creating an anti-racist world especially in the outdoor community. By amplifying Black voices as well as my own I hope to foster inclusion, comfort and leadership in our communities. Empowering the BIPOC who are active in the outdoors is one way to pave a path for more diversity and inclusion. This is not for publicity, this is to help the next generation of Black and Brown folks see that we can do these activities too. I have struggled in the past to share my outdoor adventures on social media because I succumb to the stereotypes that “Black girls don’t (fill in the blank)” feeling that therefore my story is illegitimate. I am committed to do my part in eliminating these barriers and demolishing the stereotypes for the next generation of BIPOC outdoor adventurers by openly representing that Black girls CAN DO it. Social media representation of BIPOC on trails is pivotal in fostering inclusivity in the outdoors, so I’m trying to do my part.
