Two-time Olympic gold medalist and Land Rover ambassador Ted Ligety is slated to join Friday, April 24th's Virtual Après Music Series, in partnership with Reverb. The event is being held in support of Goggles for Docs, a grassroots movement working to provide healthcare workers with ski/snowboard goggles as they treat COVID-19 patients and struggle to find traditional eye protection through crowdsourcing.

Ted, who also owns Shred (a goggle company), will welcome fans at the virtual online event from his home in Park City, Utah. After answering some fan questions, Ted will introduce the evening’s musical performances from Barenaked Ladies lead singer Ed Robertson, hailing from his remote Canadian home; Godsmack lead singer Sully Erna, hunkered down in his home state of New Hampshire; and, O.A.R. lead singer Marc Roberge, from his home in New York.

Not only has Ted donated goggles to frontline healthcare workers, both he and Shred have also promoted the work that Goggles for Docs is doing via social media.

 

 

 

 

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In the midst of a challenging time, people across the globe are doing incredible things to help others. And today, we’re asking for your assistance. Please donate your old goggles to the @gogglesfordocs initiative. Healthcare workers desperately need eye protection as they treat patients with COVID-19. Those old goggles in your closet could save their lives. Please join myself and SHRED. and thousands of others who are pitching in to send goggles to healthcare workers and helping spreading the word. Follow the link in the bio to take action now. Thank you so much! If you are in Park City there is a donation bin at the US Ski Team office. About Goggles for Docs: Goggles for Docs is a grassroots effort to get used or new goggles into the hands of healthcare workers in the United States who currently have no eye protection as they treat COVID-19 patients. ➖ 📸 @samdecout ➖ #GogglesforDocs #SHREDtheCouch #ComeSHREDwithus #SHRED. #Skiing #Snowboarding #MountainBiking #SkiRacing

A post shared by Ted Ligety (@ted_ligety) on Apr 10, 2020 at 9:35am PDT

Teammate and two-time Olympic Champion Mikaela Shiffrin opened for singer-songwriter KT Tunstall on Friday, April 17th for the series, reaching over 175,000 people. 

Musical artists are volunteering their time to perform après ski-style sets from their living rooms. The Series takes place on select evenings at 7 pm EDT via Facebook.com/REVERB. In addition to donating goggles at GogglesForDocs.com, cash donations can also be made to purchase additional goggles at cost from participating brands. Learn more @gogglesfordocs on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

The U.S. Freestyle Team’s 2019-2020 competitive season spanned three continents over four months and athletes stepped it up to earn 13 World Cup podiums. During a season with no World Championships or Olympic Winter Games and several new staff members to integrate, 2019-2020 was all about building: athletes built on their run progression and the teams built on their overall team culture, the results of which are a promising look ahead to the future of American freestyle skiing. 

“This season we had personal bests and some outstanding performances, but we left some results on the snow,” said U.S. Ski & Snowboard Head Moguls Coach Matt Gnoza. “Looking ahead, we're not going to just move forward, we are going to assess our performances, look at the data, have the hard conversations with the team and figure out what we need to do in order to win week in and week out. As a team we know what we are capable of, like the podium performances in dual moguls at Deer Valley and Krasnoyarsk, Russia. Individually we are competitive most weeks on the World Cup, but we want to be the dominant team. Now that the season is over, everyone will take some downtime to reflect and plan. We will work as a team to hold each other accountable until we become the best team in the world.”

After a cancelled FIS Moguls Open in Sweden and a difficult World Cup opener in Finland, the Moguls Team found success at the dual moguls World Cup in Thaiwoo, China, in December when Jaelin Kauf and Hannah Soar claimed second and third, respectively. Thaiwoo marked Hannah’s first career podium, and kicked off what can only be described as a breakout season for the 20-year-old skier. Hannah qualified for every World Cup finals round, except for one, and appeared in six super finals, throwing different run packages in many. Her methodical approach to figuring out the right combination of speed and degree of difficulty earned her two podiums, and when all was said and done, she was ranked fifth in the world.

Jaelin—the fastest-woman-in-the-world—took 2019-2020 as an opportunity to progress her run and brought two new tricks to snow: a cork 7 and a back mute. The level of competition in the women’s moguls field was the best it had ever been and continuing to up the DD is imperative for staying on top. Jaelin finished the season ranked third overall, adding four World Cup podiums to her collection: second place in dual moguls in Thaiwoo, third place in dual moguls in Deer Valley, a win in dual moguls in Kazakhstan, and a third-place in dual moguls in Krasnoyarsk. 

Tess Johnson also used 2019-2020 to push her skiing, bringing a 360 mute grab to competition. Although Tess did not land on the podium this season, she proved her might when she beat until-then-undefeated France’s Perrine Laffont in an epic duel on the Champion course in dual moguls at Deer Valley. Tess’ fearless skiing that night enabled three American women to compete in the quarterfinal round and clinch two podiums. Tess ended her season ranked 10th in the world. With three American women finishing ranked in the top 10, they remain the top women’s moguls team in the world.

 

 

 

 

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Last night was AMAZING🤍 Had such a funnn time w/ @hannsoar & @_tessjohnson at the #DVWorldCup and incredibly stoked to all finish in the top 4🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 Love you gals:)) Thank y’all for coming out and supporting us, the crowd was INSANE🙌🏻🙌🏻 @usskiteam

A post shared by Jaelin Kauf (@jaekauf) on Feb 9, 2020 at 4:38pm PST

On the men’s side, veteran Brad Wilson kicked off his World Cup season in Tremblant, Canada, after taking some extra time to rekindle his passion for the sport. He fought in every contest he entered and finally found the podium in what would be the last World Cup of the season—a third-place in duals in Krasnoyarsk. 

2019-2020 saw some fresh faces enter the scene. Rookies Kai Owens, Nick Page and Alex Lewis all made their World Cup debuts. Additionally, two new coaches joined the staff: Joe Discoe and Riley Campbell. 

At only 15-years-old, Kai showed great promise in adding to the depth of the women’s team. She skied in two finals rounds, the first two World Cups of her career (and the first two World Cups she ever attended) and finished the season in 24th. Nick and Alex both skied full tours and finished their seasons in 28th and 34th, respectively. Learning the ins and outs of particular courses is part of finding success on the moguls FIS World Cup tour, each course is different and each place presents unique cultural challenges. Having these young athletes ski on tour this year will be invaluable in building the Moguls Team up for success on the road to the 20220 Beijing Olympic Winter Games. 

As with other sports, the Moguls’ competition season ended abruptly due to COVID-19. Athletes were in Sweden training for their final two World Cups when the European travel restrictions were announced. The team took immediate action to return to the United States. Unfortunately, virus concerns meant cancelling the U.S. Moguls National Championships at Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows in California as well. Squaw will play host next season, and it should shape up to be an epic ending for the team in a place with so much freestyle history.

The Aerials Team’s season was short and sweet, as they opted to forgo the first World Cups held in China in favor of getting in more training time. Anticipation built to an all-time high for the American aerial skiers as they set to debut their World Cup season on home snow at Deer Valley on Feb. 7th. Every athlete was itching to get on the competition circuit after training at the Utah Olympic Park since November. 

The 2019-2020 season marked the end of the Todd Ossian era, with new Head Coach Vladimir (Vlad) Lebedev taking the reins of the Aerials Team following Ossian’s retirement. Vlad instilled a consistent focus on training in the prep period that translated into a six World Cup podium season. Houston Deck joined the crew as the team's new athletic development coach. JC Andre joined the Aerials staff midway through the season and immediately gelled with athletes as their top-course coach. 

“This season was a good first step of our plan going into the 2022 Beijing Olympics,” said Vlad. “We had new staff members coming on board and several athletes found the podium, including two World Cup wins. Looking ahead, we can’t wait to get back to training at the Utah Olympic Park—when it’s safe to do so—and working on upping our DD so that we are strong heading into the 2020-2021 season. Our focus will be a successful 2021 World Championships.”

Megan Nick earned her career-first World Cup podium at Deer Valley with a second-place after landing a trick she recently brought to snow, a double full full. Three women skied in that super final round, including Megan. Winter Vinecki finished the night just off of the podium in fourth—a  career-best to date. Kaila Kuhn made her super finals debut and ended in fifth, a career-best she matched later in Kazakhstan. 

 

 

 

 

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What a night.

A post shared by megsnick9 (@megsnick9) on Feb 8, 2020 at 9:32am PST

The day after the Deer Valley event, the Aerials Team flew to Moscow for their five-week tour of back-to-back competitions. Although no Americans found the podium in Moscow, new team member Megan Smallhouse made her first finals and earned a career-best in ninth place. 

The season-defining moment for Aerials came in Minsk, Belarus, when Justin Schoenfeld stomped his double full full full and broke the drought on American aerials wins since Kiley McKinnon’s on Jan. 6, 2018. Not only was this Justin’s first win, it was his first World Cup podium, and marked the first American men’s Aerials win since Chris Lillis won in Minsk in 2016. Chris joined Justin on the podium in Minsk in third place. 

The team carried the momentum from Minsk to their inaugural World Cup in Kazakhstan. Chris claimed the win with a near-perfect double full full full and Megan earned her second career podium with another second-place finish. Quinn Dehlinger made his first finals appearance in just his fifth World Cup start, ending the event with a career-best 11th place. 

In their final World Cup competition of the season, athletes faced some harsh Siberian conditions in Krasnoyarsk. The state-of-the-art venue was a welcome change from some of the less-than-ideal conditions elsewhere on tour (mainly due to warm temperatures). It was in Russia that veteran Ashley Caldwell finally found the podium with a third-place finish. Four Americans finished 2019-2020 ranked in the FIS top-15: Megan Nick (4), Winter Vinecki (10), Chris Lillis (6) and Justin Schoenefeld (10). 

Aerials ended their season at their National Championships in Bristol Mountain, N.Y. Following the guidance from local health authorities, Bristol was able to hold the event spectator-free in compliance with the state’s COVID-19 gathering restrictions during that time. The greater Rochester community was amped to show their support as the event was sold-out to over 2,000 people. However, the health and safety of the athletes, workers and fans come first. Although spectator-free, the event provided a nice capstone for the team, and veterans Eric Loughran and Ashley were crowned 2020 Aerials Champions—a welcome boost to their season’s end.

There is no offseason for the athletes of the U.S. Freestyle Ski Team, but this prep season will look different than usual as athletes work their programs from home until it is safe to come together as a group. All will look forward to training together at their summer home, the Utah Olympic Park, and getting back to chasing snow when possible.

Relive all of this season's best Freestyle moments with the videos below!

The FIS series - Behind the Scenes - talks with the world's best Cross-Country skiers, including 22-year-old Julia Kern.

Julia might be one of the most active and positive people you'll have ever met. Julia returned to the tracks of Oberwiesenthal, Germany, where she started skiing as a little kid to compete at this year's 2020 FIS U23 Cross Country World Championships where she won a bronze medal.

Two-time Olympic Champion Mikaela Shiffrin was on the 3rd Hour of TODAY on Thursday morning with Sheinelle Jones, talking about how the ski and snowboard community has come together to donate more than 30,000 pairs of goggles to healthcare workers on the front lines through Goggles for Docs, highlighting U.S. Ski & Snowboard’s involvement with the grassroots initiative as a drop-off location in donating nearly 600 pairs of goggles.

Additionally, Mikaela caught up on life during the COVID-19 outbreak and in quarantine, as well as her upcoming “Virtual Apres Ski Music Series” appearance with musician KT Tunstall on Friday evening to perform live and raise awareness for Goggles for Docs on Reverb’s Facebook page at 7 p.m. EDT.

Check out the entire segment on TODAY.com.

As we approach mid-April with most of the country, and the world, in self-isolation for more than four weeks now, channeling excess time and staying connected can feel like a challenge. U.S. Moguls athlete Nessa Dziemian has called on her fellow athletes and friends to join her in a month-long drawing challenge via Instagram. Although she and her teammates can’t physically be together, through art and technology they are able to still create a sense of shared community. 

 

 

 

 

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well with all this time I’ve signed up for design schoolio to start taking classies this summyyyy +:) (still will be competing too!)

A post shared by nessa (@nssdzmn) on Mar 19, 2020 at 2:32pm PDT

Nessa has used art as an outlet during both of her knee surgeries, so when the stay at home order was put into effect, she knew what a large portion of her time would be devoted to. “I asked people to send me requests for drawings,” she explained. “People were specific with what they wanted to draw. And I morphed those into prompts that were a bit more generic so that other people could do it with me.”

Several U.S. teammates—Olivia Giaccio, Tess Johnson, Jesse Andringa, and Jaelin Kauf—are joining Nessa in her artistic conversation. Canadian mogul skier Maia Schwinghammer and Great Britain mogul skier Leonie Gerken Schofield are also participating. “It’s cool to have skiers all over the world doing [this],” said Nessa. “We’re all constantly talking about the challenge, about the art, how we got that idea, how we like each other's pieces. There are about 10 people I'm talking to on a regular basis. That exchange every day with so many people is important. It’s cool because it’s opening up those lines of communication.”

 

 

 

 

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little project with the us ski team coming soon here’s a sneak peak

A post shared by nessa (@nssdzmn) on Apr 5, 2020 at 3:49pm PDT

To celebrate creativity off the snow, U.S. Ski & Snowboard asked Nessa to create a series of drawings celebrating our athletes. These drawn-on photos are whimsical in nature and tailored to each athlete’s personality. “My goal with my art is to make people laugh; make people feel good,” she explained. “You work so hard for that award or that trick, I wanted to animate on that but still be consistent with their style.”

We will be rolling out Nessa’s pieces across our social channels this month. To join Nessa in her April challenge, check out her personal account @nssdzmn. You can find her art and more goodies on her artist page @minty_orange.

The 2019-20 season provided the Davis U.S. Cross Country Ski Team with a number of top World Cup and World Championship results, and a fair share of disappointment with the season cut short due to COVID-19.

“Overall, the season was a mixture of excitement and quite a bit of disappointment at the end, due to the cancellation of events,” U.S. Ski & Snowboard Cross Country Program Director Chris Grover said. “Sometimes it’s hard to remember all the great parts of the season in the face of the loss of the North American World Cups, given that most of the U.S. athletes were hyper-focused on racing well at home.”

Indeed, the cancellation of the Fastenal Parallel 45 Festival, which was set to host the first FIS Cross Country World Cup in the United States in 19 years, was a huge disappointment. In addition, Canada also cancelled World Cup events in Quebec City and Canmore, Alberta. But while the season didn’t provide the storybook ending everyone had hoped, the opening World Cup weekend in Ruka, Finland, did spark significant excitement as Sadie Maubet Bjornsen finished third in the season-opening classic sprint, and fourth in the 10k classic to become the first American athlete to wear the overall World Cup yellow leader’s bib.

 

 

 

 

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Missed the podium by 1 painfully close second, but walked away with the yellow @fiscrosscountry World Cup overall leader bib, so no complaints. The season is still young, but I will save this bib forever, and hope to meet it again one day. I have also been told I’m the first American to wear the overall yellow bib since Bill Koch in 1982, so cheers to setting new highs for even more exciting times to come 💃🏻 📸: @nordicfocus

A post shared by Sadie Maubet Bjornsen (@sbjornsen) on Nov 30, 2019 at 5:20am PST

Sadie’s Ruka podium was also the first of nine World Cup podiums for Americans throughout the season and certainly got the team off to a quick start. Jessie Diggins scored the third-fastest time-of-day in the Ruka 10k freestyle pursuit - the first of her five individual World Cup podiums for the 2019-20 season.

The following weekend in Lillehammer, Norway, Jessie scored her second World Cup podium of the season, finishing second in the skiathlon, and setting the stage for perhaps the World Cup highlight of the season - a second-place women’s team relay result from the following day. Jessie teamed up with Sadie, Sophie Caldwell, and Rosie Brennan to match the best U.S. Team relay result in World Cup history.

“It is always an incredible day when we land on the podium as a team,” Sadie said. “Putting four perfect legs together is a huge achievement, which is why winning a team medal is so special. It has been a few years since our group has stood on the podium for the 4x5k relay, so we were quite excited!”

Capitalizing on the Lillehammer success, the U.S. women had scored three-straight World Cup events with an American athlete (or team) on the podium. Moving on to Davos, Switzerland, Sophie improved the American’s top-three streak to four when she finished third in the freestyle sprint. The next day, Jessie continued the streak to five-straight races, finishing third in the 10k freestyle. On to Planica, Slovenia, Julia Kern picked up her first career World Cup podium, and improved the U.S. women’s podium streak to six straight, outsprinting Sophie for a third-place finish. Unfortunately, the World Cup podium streak ended at six, but more impressively, the U.S. women have scored 15 top-10 individual and team results through the first four World Cup events of the season.

However, the quick start to the season did have its drawbacks. “One conversation we are having with each of our veteran athletes is how to manage the overall load of the season,” Chris said. “These athletes need to find time away from the World Cup for training and to reconnect with family and friends in order to be prepared to ski fast. This remains one of our biggest hurdles in performance. USA athletes are training quite well in the winter, but the disconnect from their home communities can gradually wear them down.”

Unfortunately, while her teammates were battling for top World Cup results to kick off the season, a nagging cold forced Hailey Swirbul onto the sidelines, but she made the best of it by cheering on her teammates. This wasn’t how she imagined her first season on the World Cup tour kicking off. But she put that disappointment behind her when she earned her first career World Cup points, finishing 30th in the freestyle sprint in Davos. The next day, she finished 21st in the 10k freestyle before returning to the U.S. for the L.L. Bean U.S. Championships where she picked up her first three-career U.S. titles. When she returned to the World Cup Tour in Sweden, she picked up two more top-30 results, including a career-best 13th in a 10k classic pursuit in Ostersund.

Little did we know that the final races of the season would provide the greatest highlight of the season. With the novel coronavirus expanding its worldwide spread, the Junior and U23 World Championships in Germany were able to host all events before a worldwide travel ban went into effect. Fortunately, for the U.S. Team, the athletes peaked at just the right time, coming away with 10 total medals, including gold for the junior men’s relay team and silver for the junior women’s relay team. Gus Schumacher also took the gold - the first by an American - in the junior men’s 10k classic, and Julia rebounded from a mid-season leg injury to take bronze in the U23 freestyle sprint.

“The Junior/U23 World Champs were certainly the main highlight, and specifically the junior relays, followed by the exciting new formats of the Ski Tour 2020 and probably the women’s team performance in World Cup Period 1, including the second-place relay finish in Lillehammer,” Chris reflected. 

As the long season wore on, Jessie’s third-place and Sophie’s fourth-place classic sprint finish in Oberstdorf, Germany, in late January, unfortunately, provided the last podium performance of the long World Cup season. Most of the U.S. athletes returned to America the first week of March to rest and sharpen their fitness for the final three World Cup events in North America. However, the pandemic, unfortunately, robbed them of the opportunity to shine in front of the home-country crowd. 

Davis U.S. Cross Country Team 2019-20 Highlights:

• Women’s Team Relay second in Lillehammer World Cup - ties best USA finish
• Sadie Maubet Bjornsen wears World Cup Leader’s bib -  first ever by an American
• Junior men defend World Championships relay gold
• Junior women take silver in World Championships relay
• Gus Schumacher wins Junior World Championships 10k - first ever by an American
• Julia Kern’s first World Cup podium - Planica, Slovenia
• Julia earns U23 World Championships freestyle sprint bronze medal
• Three Americans in top 15 overall Tour de Ski 
• JC Schoonmaker scores World Cup points in his first-ever World Cup appearance
• Will Koch and Kendall Kramer win bronze medals at the Youth Olympics
• Hailey Swirbul scores World Cup points in all four disciplines - skate, classic, distance, sprint)

The 2019-20 season was a positive step in the right direction for the Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team, with 15 FIS Ski World Cup podiums, one Junior World Championship medal, and seven NorAm titles. Perhaps nothing wowed more than the two podiums on home turf by Olympic champion Mikaela Shiffrin at the HomeLight Killington Cup and Xfinity Birds of Prey victor Tommy Ford.

It was a solid start to the season for both the women’s and men’s teams that established a foundation for progress for the entire squad. That said, alpine athletes battled with challenging weather, shortened courses, unexpected accidents and a global pandemic that cut the season short. Even so, there are many positives to take away and focus on as the athletes showed insurmountable grit and perseverance in the face of adversity. 

“The ’19-20 season started strong at the Soelden World Cup GS, with three U.S. Ski Team athletes in the top five; Mikaela, Tommy and Ted (Ligety),” noted Alpine Director Jesse Hunt. “This weekend performance followed with victories by Mikaela in Levi and Killington, and Tommy in Beaver Creek made it clear that teams were firing in both genders and there was nothing more satisfying than demonstrating that in front of the hometown crowds.”

With the best start to a season in years, the Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team hopped the pond to Europe, finding more strength and consistency. “When the team went to Europe, the men’s speed team consistently put up points by establishing five skiers in the top-30 and ultimately landing four athletes in the top-20 in the end of season standings—a feat not achieved as far back as 1967 when the FIS Ski World Cup began,” said Jesse. “At the development level, the NorAm titles were dominated by American athletes who secured 10 of 14—with seven of those 10 coming from U.S. Ski Team athletes. The abrupt end to the season due to the coronavirus left many opportunities hanging, and an unceremonious end for a developing and upward-trending U.S. Alpine Ski Team.”

Let’s start with the men, led by a trio of Olympians with impressive results from the World Cup kickoff in Soelden, Austria: Tommy, Ted Ligety, and Ryan Cochran-Siegle finished fourth, fifth, and 11th, respectively. With six top-15 results, four top-five results, two podiums, and a massive victory by .80 seconds at Beaver Creek, Colo., Tommy had his career-best season to lead the team.

With challenging conditions all season long in giant slalom, Tommy stayed calm when it mattered most. In Yuzawa Naeba Japan, when most athletes struggled on the dead, springlike snow, Tommy channeled his Pacific Northwest upbringing (shoutout to Mt. Bachelor) and moved from 10th first run to third for his second-career podium. When all was said and done, he landed in fifth in the world in giant slalom. With a more focused giant slalom schedule, Ted had a consistent and solid season, finishing ranked 12th in the world.

Ryan Cochran-Siegle really stepped it up this season, proving his multi-event talent. In 26 World Cup starts across five disciplines (parallel, giant slalom, alpine combined, super-G and downhill), Ryan had 22 top-30 results—scoring in every discipline. What was really impressive was Ryan’s touch on the speed boards. He skied into a career-best sixth place in Beaver Creek and then bested that in Bormio with a fifth place in the alpine combined. He was solid all season, finishing ranked 14th in the world in downhill, and 20th in both super-G and giant slalom. “RCS” is looking to bring that intensity into the World Championship year, and we can’t wait to watch.

The men’s speed team had more depth than ever before, with four athletes finishing in the top-20 in the world in downhill for the first time ever: Travis Ganong (13th), RCS (14th), Bryce Bennett (16th) and Steven Nyman (20th). Travis narrowly missed the podium, with two top-five results in downhill, and ended up ranked 12th in the super-G standings. Bryce laid down solid results once he found his flow in the new year, grabbing four top-15s and two top-10s—including his best-ever finish at Kitzbuehel, in eighth-place. That was after he wore jorts, a jean vest, and an American flag as a cape to the bib draw in front of thousands of roaring fans and then chose bib 1 with undeniable confidence. The crowd went WILD. Jared Goldberg had nine top-30 results, and two top-20s in downhill and ended the season with a Europa Cup victory.

With three women’s speed team athletes—Breezy Johnson, Alice McKennis, and Jackie Wiles— returning from significant knee/leg injuries, it was a rebuilding year. Alice started things off with a bang in Lake Louise, Canada, grabbing a top-10 in downhill. In just her third start back from back-to-back knee injuries, Breezy grabbed a top-five in Bankso, Bulgaria, just behind her teammate Mikaela in fourth. Despite missing almost half of the season, she ended up ranked 20th in the world in downhill. Alice Merryweather was a consistent point-scorer in downhill, super-G, and alpine combined this year, grabbing three top-15 results, and a career-best 14th in super-G. The whole team will look to come back strong in 2020-21, and ready for their favorite venue: Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy for World Championships.

Nina O'Brien had a breakthrough season, scoring points in seven starts across three disciplines (slalom, giant slalom, and parallel). The highlight for Nina was her career-best 11th in the Sestriere, Italy parallel giant slalom debut. Nina proved that she can hang with the best in the world in multiple disciplines, and it was great to see multiple Americans in the second run on numerous occasions on the women's tech side. She and teammate Paula Moltzan, who struggled with some back pain this season but still put down fast splits and some solid results in slalom, will look to build on that momentum, along with Mikaela. 

Then, there was Mikaela’s season. Certainly not 2018-19’s season, but still equally—if not more—impressive. Mikaela won six World cup races across four disciplines and podiumed in 13 of 19 starts. In Levi, Finland, she became the winningest slalom skier of all time, surpassing Ingemar Stenmark with 41 slalom victories. She finished the season with two more victories, bringing her career-win total to 43 slalom victories—tied for most discipline wins among women with former teammate Lindsey Vonn. 

With her massive 1.36-second margin giant slalom win in Lienz, Austria, Mikaela made history yet again as she earned 63rd World Cup victory, surpassing Austrian Annemarie Moser-Pröll into fourth on the all-time win list behind Marcel Hirscher (67), Lindsey (82) and Ingemar Stenmark (86). Across men and women, she tied Slovakia's Petra Vlhova and France's Alexis Pinturault for most World Cup victories, with six wins.

In a near-perfect weekend in late January, with her mother and father there to witness her brilliance, Mikaela was first, fourth, and first, in two downhills and a super-G on a speed track she had never been down before, in Bansko, Bulgaria - amassing 250 points on the weekend. Her win tally? Career victory number 66, just one shy of Marcel’s 67 victories. Despite missing nine races due to her father's unexpected and tragic passing, Mikaela ended up second in the overall standings, second in the slalom standings (by just 20 points), third in the giant slalom standings, fifth in the downhill standings, and seventh in super-G standings. For the fourth-straight season, (again, despite missing nine races), Mikaela was the top earner in prize money on the World Cup circuit, among the men and women.

At the development level, it was a Youth Olympic Games year at Lausanne, Switzerland, where the Americans, including Emma Resnick, put down some solid results, landing just off the podium in fourth in giant slalom, followed by Nicola Rountree-Williams in eighth. Though World Juniors at Narvik, Norway, were cut short due to the coronavirus outbreak, Keely Cashman led the way with three top-10 results, including bronze in the alpine combined. She also won the NorAm overall and downhill titles. AJ Hurt finished in sixth just behind Keely in the super-G at Worlds, and multiple NorAm podiums under her belt.

For the men, Bridger Gile took home the NorAm overall, alpine combined and giant slalom titles, while Ben Ritchie grabbed the slalom title, and Kyle Negomir the super-G title—each securing World Cup start rights for next season. Ben and Kyle each got more starts on the World Cup this season, making good progress forward, along with their teammate Luke Winters, who put the Americans back on the map for slalom with showing glimpses of brilliance and proving he can hang with the big dogs. Though he had a challenging winter, River Radamus grabbed a top-15 in Alta Badia, Italy's parallel giant slalom, finishing in 14th. It’s a trending progression for this crew, and they’re looking forward to putting the pieces of the puzzle together in 2020-21.

The Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team will look to build on the foundation laid in the 2019-20 season, in hopes of bringing medal-contending athletes to the Cortina 2021 World Championships through to the Olympic Winter Games in 2026 and beyond. Buckle up and get excited, the 2020-21 season will be one for the ages. 

Relive all the top moments of the year with the videos below!

Goggles for Docs is an effort to get used or new ski goggles into the hands of healthcare workers who currently have no eye protection as they treat COVID-19 patients.

U.S. Ski & Snowboard is a drop off location for those local to the Park City or Utah area. We will be taking donations until the need tapers or is met. There will be a receptacle located outside of our front entrance for those interested/able to donate.

U.S. Ski & Snowboard
1 Victory Lane
Park City, UT 84060

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The biggest takeaway from the season for Hailey Swirbul was about perspective. Whether it meant making the repetitive European breakfasts more enjoyable or being a better teammate, there was something to be gained from not focusing on the greater successes.

“The most important thing I learned throughout this whole year is to focus on the small victories. I’ve been thinking about this a lot actually, because it’s really easy to get caught up in a big result,” Swirbul said. “It’s easy to lose perspective about the small victories and the small motivations along the way and wondering why you’re not winning world juniors, like some of these people around us are. I think that was really important for me and I was able to focus on something small.”

Swirbul, a 2016 Basalt High School graduate, recently wrapped up her second season with the U.S. cross-country ski team. The 2019-20 winter came with a lot more challenges, including many more World Cup starts. Swirbul started four World Cup races in her rookie campaign last winter, three coming in the Quebec finals.

Read the Full Story at AspenTimes.com

As with the completion of any season, there are always changes to staff and rosters moving forward, and the Davis U.S. Cross Country Ski Team is no exception. This past season brought many successes, and unfortunately an abrupt end to the season.

With those many successes this season, the hardest part was not having the opportunity to celebrate, or wish a fond farewell to each other, especially the two departing staff members - development team coach Bernie Nelson, and World Cup service tech Jean-Pascal Laurin. Both of them are highly respected and will be missed tremendously by the athletes and staff. 

While Bernie’s tenure was just one season with the team, she left a lasting impression on the staff and athletes, as she brought strong leadership, passion, and youthful energy to the U.S. Ski Team.  

“I feel super lucky to have had the opportunity to work with Bernie this past year,” said Novie McCabe, a member of the silver-medal winning Junior World Championship Team. “I learned so much from her in a pretty short amount of time. She took the time to get to know everyone on the team, as an athlete and a person and was happy to support each of us in whatever way we needed. 

“Sometimes it can be a bit hard to feel like a team with everyone living in different corners of the country, but Bernie helped give us a feeling of solidarity by presenting opportunities for us to feel like we were working as a team and helping each other reach our goals,” Novie continued. “This had a profound impact on the team atmosphere, which was very positive and supportive. I think Bernie taught us all a lot this year about what it means to be there for your teammates, and how important it is to strive to be the best person that you can be if you want to succeed as an athlete.”

“I think the biggest thing that shows how important Bernie has been for us is that before she came, I didn't really think that I needed another full-time coach,” said 2020 Junior World Champion Gus Schumacher. “However, after working with her, I've realized how important having another person so invested in you can be. She put her heart and soul into this job...and made so many strong connections while coaching the team, I think mostly due to her ability to listen and hear what we as athletes need. I’m very sad to see her leave the team, but I’m happy she’s making the right decision for herself, and happy that I got to know her.”

On the World Cup side, JP brought a huge smile, witty personality and an incredible work ethic to the ski tech staff. He is stepping down from his post to dedicate more time to his quickly booming farming operation, and he will certainly be missed.

“In the five years I worked along with JP, there wasn't a day he showed up without a smile,” noted Sadie Maubet Bjornsen. “With any high-level athletics, expectations, and nerves have an ability to zap the joy from the experience. With JP around, it was a guarantee that he was going to ensure his athletes were enjoying the process no matter the result.”

“JP was a huge asset to our team and fit in perfectly as soon as he began working with us,” added Sophie Cladwell. “You could always count on JP to meet you at the wax truck with a smile poking out from underneath his mustache. He kept the atmosphere light and happy while making some fast skis on top of that!”

“JP has been a critical catalyst in our World Cup service program, helping us move the needle on our glide program significantly, and always leading with hard work, innovation, and humor,” said Davis U.S. Cross Country Ski Team Program Director Chris Grover. “Many times, we have had the fastest skis in the field. JP was instrumental in helping Kikkan and Jessie win the gold in Pyeongchang, and in achieving so many milestones in USA ski racing in the past years. In many ways, JP has also embodied the spirit of our service team, we are so sad to lose him, although we know we will see him in the coming seasons.”

With Chris stepping up to the cross country program director position at the beginning of the 2019-20 season, Matt Whitcomb has been tapped to take over the head coach position that Chris also held throughout the past season.

“I’m very excited to see Matt take on the role of head coach for the Cross Country Team,” Chris said. “Matt has 14 years of experience with the U.S. Ski Team, and he has been a leader within our program at every level, as our Head Development Coach, as our Women’s Team Coach, and as a World Cup Coach, his knowledge of every element of the sport is world-class and his enthusiasm for the progress of USA athletes at every level is contagious. After 10 years in the Head Coach position, I am looking forward to sharing even more of the leadership duties with Matt.”

“For nearly 15 years Matt has been a coach, friend, mentor, and leader to the many athletes and staff members who have been a part of the national team,” added Simi Hamilton, who recently announced he will compete at least one more season on the World Cup level. “(His) passion for this sport like no one else I’ve ever seen and a knack for instilling that same passion in the athletes who are lucky enough to be coached by him. I can say without a doubt that if Matt had not been around as a coach when I was growing up, there is little chance that I would have continued to race past the collegiate level. He has been inspiring me to dream big and work as hard as possible to realize those dreams for the last 20 years of my life, and I can’t imagine anyone more deserving or better suited to be named head coach.”

“I’m honored to accept the role Chris Grover has held since 2010, and I am thankful he’ll continue working in a leadership position as the team’s director,” Matt said. “A huge asset for our team is that we see long careers, for both athletes and staff. This longevity says it all: We have an environment that seeks to promote well-being. That’s why I keep coming back. It has me as motivated as I was 14 years ago to work hard for my teammates and the U.S. ski community.”