The U.S. Para Snowboard team dominated their first snowboard cross World Cup of the season this morning in Pyhä, Finland, where five U.S. athletes found the podium, including Brenna Huckaby taking first place in the women's LL1-LL2 category. 

Despite a gentle snowfall, the sun peeked through the clouds to shine over the snowboard cross course in central Finland, displaying the snow ghosts around the racers. The team has been spread worldwide since their last World Cup event in Landgraaf, Netherlands, in November, training, spending time with family and for many, doing professional speaking events. But after a week-long training camp in Pyhä, the athletes were prepared to take on their first World Cup event of 2024. 

Huckaby led the way for the U.S. women in the LL1/LL-2 classification, landing on the top box for the first time this season following up two podiums (one second, one third) in Landgraaf. Huckaby’s preferred event is snowboard cross over banked slalom, and with a record of two Paralympic snowboard cross medals (one gold, one bronze) and four World Championship medals (two gold, two silver) in snowboard cross, it is clear as to why. “⁠It feels really good to be back in a start gate! This season is all about how far I can push my riding, and we are off to a great start with that,” said Huckaby. “In the past two [Paralympic] games cycles, this was the year I was pregnant with each of my daughters and I’ve always been focused on recovering. Since I’m not going to be pregnant this game cycle, I’m excited to see how much progress I can make. My goal is to get as strong as possible and push my snowboarding limits [moving forward].”

Joining Huckaby on the podium was Dennae Russell, one of the U.S. team's emerging athletes who finished in third. Just off the podium was Courtney Godfrey, another emerging athlete who unfortunately took a hard fall during the qualification rounds but finished fourth. 

On the men's side, Mike Schultz (LL1) and Keith Gabel (LL2) led the team, both finishing on the podium in second place. Joe Pleban finished seventh in the LL2 class. Mike Minor rounded out the podium in third place in the men's UL classification.

“As always, I’m happy to race in the place I call home,” said Minor, speaking to his home base in Finland. “It feels really great to step onto the podium at our first boardercross event of the year.  I had a really rough start to the big finals heat.  I made a crucial mistake in the start section, which caused me to spin out 180 degrees and switch into turn one. I then needed to throw a cab 180 to regain my regular stance, which left me far in the back of the pack. There was a wreck about halfway down the course, though, which ended up putting me back into the podium mix. I have a few things I need to clean up moving forward. I’m happy with my overall performance today, especially coming off a rough injury last week.”

The team takes on another snowboard cross event tomorrow in Pyhä at 3:30 am ET.

RESULTS
Women
Men

Sammy Smith of the Stifel U.S. Cross Country Ski Team started off the 2024 FIS Ski Junior World Championships with a silver medal in the first race of the championships, the skate sprint. This is the best-ever sprint result for any American at the Junior World Championships, and only the second silver medal the American women have historically won at the championships. 

On location in Planica, Slovenia, the best junior athletes in the world are having their turn on the same course as the FIS Ski World Championships a year earlier, with 450 athletes and 42 countries present. Smith, who has been racing on the World Cup for the majority of the season, including taking home her career-best result just a week ago in Goms, Switzerland in 21st, has been a force despite only being 18 years old. 

Smith is a multi-sport athlete. She is also a soccer player, having represented the USA at the FIFA U-17 World Cup over the summer and grew up as a freestyle skier. But, it's ski season, which means Smith is solely on skis and finding success at every turn in the process. 

"I’m super excited about today’s race," said Smith. "I was not thrilled with my qualifier. I knew I made some mistakes that cost me some time, but I was really happy with how the heats went. It was a competitive field and congrats to all the other racers on an awesome day! Hopefully, I’ll be able to carry some of this momentum into 20k and 10k classic!" 

Smith, skied a tactical and smart race. Typically excelling on courses with challenging hills, Smith adapted to the flatter Planica course well. Qualifying in fifth, she was in good company with all of her U.S. teammates making it through to the heats, all landing within the top 30. Stifel U.S. Ski Team's Ava Thurston led the U.S., qualifying in second, alongside Smith in fifth, Evelyn Walton of the Dartmouth Ski Team in 27th and Middlebury Ski Team's Sofia Scirica in 29th.

In the heats, Smith was the only American to advance, winning her quarterfinal heat. In the semis, Smith crossed the line in second, punching her ticket to her first Junior World Championships final. She fought for a podium position alongside Gina Del Rio of Andorra and Milla Grosberghaugen Andreassen of Norway. On the final hill, Smith turned on the gas and jump-skated into podium position. With the finish line in sight, Smith ultimately crossed the line in second, making history in the process. 

At the end of the race day, Smith led the team in second, while Thurston was 21st, Walton in 25th and Scirica in 30th. For the men, Zachary Jayne (University of Utah Ski Team) was just out of the top 30 in 32nd, Trey Jones (University of Colorado Boulder Ski Team) was 39th, Lucas Wilmot (Jackson Hole Ski Team) 48th and Matt Seline (University of Alaska Anchorage Ski Team) in 67th. 

"We're launching the week on a high note," said Stifel U.S. Cross Country Ski Team Development Coach, Greta Anderson. "Our athletes arrive with significant ambitions, and it's incredibly rewarding for all of us to see them achieve their objectives collectively. Sammy's second-place finish in the sprint is a testament to the hard work and determination that defines our team. It's an ideal beginning to our week. Every one of our female athletes made it through the qualification rounds today. Meanwhile, our male competitors gave their all in their first international starts and fought hard to the finish line." 

With Smith's silver medal, she is etching her name in the Junior World Championship history books. 

Next up, the U.S. Junior World Championships team will race the 20k on Feb. 7. Tomorrow, Feb. 6, the U23 team will race the skate sprint on the same course. 

RESULTS
Women
Men

The Hydro Flask U.S. Snowboard Cross Team loaded back up in the start gate Sunday morning for their final round of racing at the Gudauri World Cup in Gudauri, Georgia. 

Coming off a 10th place finish in Saturday's round of racing, Olympian Jake Vedder was notably determined to get back to challenging the top spot, winning the men's small final and taking fifth overall. He was joined by teammate Tyler Hamel, who jumped from 31st place in yesterday's competition to eighth, securing his best World Cup finish to date. American Senna Leith also improved on his previous result, jumping from 26th place on Saturday to 11th place on Sunday. Canadian Eliot Grondin took his second win of the weekend, and an exciting photo finish awarded the second place spot to Australia's Cameron Bolton, who took a last-minute fall and slid through the finish line, barely edging out Italy's Omar Visintin, who rounded out the podium in third.

Stacy Gaskill was once again the top Hydro Flask U.S. Snowboard Cross team athlete on the women's side, taking seventh in Saturday's competition and eleventh in Sunday's round of racing.

After months of international travel, the Hydro Flask U.S. Snowboard Cross Team takes a well-deserved break before returning to competition March 2-3 in Sierra Nevada, Spain. 

RESULTS
Men
Women

On the final night of competition at the 2024 Intermountain Health Freestyle International at Deer Valley, the crowd was roaring and the dual moguls action even better, with three Americans on the podium. Jaelin Kauf took second, Olivia Giaccio third and Dylan Marcellini took home his first career World Cup podium in third place in front of 10,000 cheering fans. 

It was a successful three days of competition, highlighted by moguls, aerials and dual moguls events, attracting the best freestyle athletes in the world to Utah. But Saturday was special, with the enormous crowd for duals only getting bigger as the evening progressed. With endless action, tough crashes and the athletes putting it all on the line, the dual moguls competition brought entertainment and thrills. 

Going into the first round of dual moguls, it was the round of 64 for men and round of 32 for the women. With the men kicking off the event, an abrupt change of weather conditions nuked snow onto the Champions course, creating a challenging course with heavy, slow snow and extremely limited visibility. As the night continued on, the snow did not let up and the athletes had to adapt. 

Going into finals, 11 Americans advanced through to the finals, including eight women and three men. On the men’s side, Marcellini and Nick Page punched their tickets from round to round, and eventually battled each other in the small finals for third place. Both had stellar runs, but a small mistake by Page propelled Marcellini into the third place position, with Page fourth. 

It was Marcellini’s first World Cup podium; his previous best dual moguls finish was 15th place. But he had a fourth place in last year’s single moguls, and knew that he could put down on this course. “It means so much to me to be able to do this at home,” said Marcellini. “I got fourth here last year and that was a surreal moment. To be able to top this this year was another step up the ladder and feels great.” 

Marcellini had a tough week, having crashed while training and hurt his ribs and hip, but ignored the pain and sent it in front of his friends and family. “It means so much to my mom and my dad and everyone who supported me along this way,” he said. “It’s just awesome to be able to put down a result for them and for everybody that has been there for me, that supported me that believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself.” 

Also making finals, Charlie Mickel finished 14th. Ikuma Horishima of Japan took the win with Benjamin Cavet from France in second. 

In the women’s race, the pressure was on, with World Cup overall leader Jakara Anthony of Australia being the one to beat. In the small final, Giaccio dualed Japan’s Hinako Tomitaka, and put down a solid run to just narrowly beat her for the third place position, landing on the podium for the second time this weekend and adding her eighth World Cup podium to her 2023-24 season. Next up was the superfinal, with Kauf dualing Anthony. It was neck and neck down Champions. Kauf, known as the fastest women’s moguls skier in the world, put down a solid run but was unable to beat Anthony, ultimately getting second place. It was Kauf’s ninth podium of the season and 34th overall. 

“This is probably my favorite day of the year—duals day at DV is hard to beat,” said Kauf. “To take home two silvers in front of friends and family at Deer Valley is a perfect way to end the weekend. There are so many people coming to support me and it makes it fun. It is super special standing at the top of the course and hearing that crowd.”  

Hannah Soar and Kasey Hogg were also in the top 10, with Soar finishing seventh and Hogg eighth. Tess Johnson was 11th, Lulu Shaffer 14th and Liz Lemley 15th. Alli Macuga took a hard crash but is OK and finished 16th. 

RESULTS

Women’s dual moguls
Men’s dual moguls

After waiting out weather at Mammoth Mountain, the Stifel U.S. Freeski Team athletes finally kicked off their contest on the last day of the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix. Olympic champion Alex Hall took home the win with Olympic silver medalist Colby Stevenson in second place in the men’s event, while Eleanor Andrews was second and Jay Riccomini third in the women’s event.

Moving forward with the contest was due to the hard work of the Mammoth Park Crew. With two feet of snowfall and high wind gusts, the conditions were unsafe and not in the athletes’ favor coming out of X Games. One of the biggest challenges is always the travel; getting from Aspen to Mammoth is always tricky. With only a day or two turnaround, many of these athletes competed battling exhaustion, soreness and anticipation with a schedule constantly changing.

For athletes like Hall and Stevenson, who both scored medals at X Games, the momentum from Aspen carried straight into this year’s Toyota U.S. Grand Prix. Both of these contests bring together the best athletes in the world and they continue to push the boundaries. Hall did a switch Tokyo 270 on pretzel k-fed on first rail, slid the whole down flat down with a backseat pretzel 2, and finished his run with a signature right double cork 10 safety bring back 9. Stevenson did a switch disaster 4 on the dfd into dub 16 lead Japan, into both way switch double 14s on the bottom two jumps, lacing them both.

“It was a really tough week!” said Hall. “We showed up right from X Games so we were pretty smoked… Really stoked for all the homies who laid one down and the skiing was incredible for how tough it was out there. Also huge shoutout to the park crew because it snowed like two feet two days ago and they dug the whole thing out so I don’t even know how the course is standing.”

Mac Forehand also had a solid day, taking fourth place after throwing a switch 4 disaster pretzel 2 on the flat down into 2 on front cork 6, ending his run with double cork 9 lock with mute. 

Rounding out the U.S. men, Konnor Ralph was ninth and Troy Podmilsak 15th.

The women’s qualification round was canceled and they were only able to compete in finals due to weather. With only one round and variable conditions, they need to be extremely consistent.

In her first ever World Cup, Andrews stepped on the podium in second place. She did a front swap pretzel front 2 out of the first rail into switch 270 disaster on the flat down. On the jumps, she did a switch 5 mute into right cork 7 safety into left cork 7 mute, with style. She competes for the Killington Mountain School and is coming out of Youth Olympic Games in Gangwon, South Korea, where she received fifth place in freeski big air last week.

Jay received third place, his second podium in as many events after snagging third in LAAX. He did a switch 2 disaster on the flat down, into a misty 450 out of the cannon rail, ending his run with a cork 7 tail grab, lacing it.

Mathilda Gremaud out of Switzerland finished in first place. Behind the podium, Elaina Krusiewski was sixth and Rell Harwood was eighth.

After podiuming in the last slopestyle, Riccomini sits in second overall in the slopestyle standings with Hall and Forehand tied for first in the overall. It will be a tight race for the Crystal Globe going into the final two slopestyle events of the season.

Eleanor Andrews and Alex Hall both also received a national champion awards for this season.

The next stop for the slope athletes is Calgary for the next World Cup or staying in Mammoth for Revolution Tour. With another incoming storm, hopefully athletes get to celebrate with some storm riding and extra freshies in the meantime.

RESULTS
Women’s slopestyle
Men’s slopestyle

The weather finally cleared at Mammoth Mountain for Maddie Mastro to snag third place in the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix halfpipe. Bea Kim finished just off the podium in fourth place for the women, while Chase Josey was fourth for the men. 

After a few days of wind and heavy snowfall, the weather window opened on Saturday for the men and women to compete in the halfpipe finals, after putting down qualifications on Tuesday.

Mastro put down a strong second run to bump teammate Bea Kim to fourth place. Bea Kim finished in the top four in all four World Cups. Japanese riders Mitsuki Ono took first place and Sena Tomita second. 

Kinsley White was eighth, her first top 10 in a World Cup. Chloe Kim, fresh off an X Games gold medal, could not put down a clean run and finished 10th. 

On the men’s side, Josey finished fourth, following a heavy-hitting Japanese podium sweep. Former Hydro Flask U.S. Snowboard Team athlete Louis Vito, who now competes for Italy, finished fifth—an impressive feat for the 35 year old veteran.

Yuto Totsuka won the event, with his teammates Ruka Hirano and Kaishu Hirano in second and third, respectively.  

Rounding out the Hydro Flask U.S. Snowboard Team, Levko Fedorowycz finished 11th and Kade Martin 14th. With the World Cup tour wrapping up in the United States after Copper and Mammoth, Josey and Mastro were named national champions in halfpipe.

Next, the halfpipe team leaves California before the atmospheric river dumps feet of snow on Mammoth Mountain and heads to Calgary, Canada for their final World Cup of the season.

RESULTS
Women’s halfpipe
Men’s halfpipe

On Saturday, February 3 in Portes du Soleil, France, Ryder Sarchett won the FIS Alpine Junior Worlds alpine men’s giant slalom race. The Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation and University of Colorado Boulder ski team athlete beat out the competitive field by a mere 0.06 hundredths of second to take the win.

"It was a really good day, perfect weather warm with amazing snow. I knew it could be a good day and I sent it," said Sarchett. "Gave it all I had." 

The sun was overhead and the conditions were strong in Portes du Soleil for the final Junior Worlds alpine event. The women raced a slalom and the men finished the day off with the giant slalom. 

Sarchett knifed down a stellar first run, already in podium contention in third place. But come second run, Sarchett did not hesitate on his skis and laid down an extremely fast run to take the win over international competitors Alban Cannaferina Elezi of France in second and Sweden’s Fabian Ax Swarts in third place. It was a dramatic finish with very slim margins, with Sarchett ahead of second place by 0.06.

Sarchett joins an impressive list of previous American Junior World Champions. He is the first giant slalom champion since world champion River Radamus took the title back in 2019. Other previous Junior World Champions include world champion Paula Moltzan, Olympic silver medalist Ryan Cochran-Siegle and World Cup winner Steven Nyman to name a few.  

RESULTS
Men's giant slalom

Under the lights and in front of a deafening crowd at the Intermountain Health Freestyle International at Deer Valley, the Stifel U.S. Freestyle Ski Team aerials athletes put on a show, with Winter Vinecki winning her third World Cup of the 2023-24 season and Connor Curran taking home his first career World Cup victory.

The weather was not in the athletes’ favor, with heavy snowfall through qualifications slowing down the snow, ultimately taking away the triple jump opportunity from the athletes due to unsafe conditions. All athletes could only go off the double jump, which made it a different ballgame. Most of the men compete triples, as well as some of the women, with many not training doubles regularly.

Going into qualifications, where the top 12 advance through to finals, the U.S. women put an impressive seven into the finals, led by Karenna Elliot qualifying in second place. For the men, three advanced through, stacking the finals lineup on both sides with American athletes. 

In the finals, the men and women went one after the other. Kaila Kuhn landed the second best score and advanced easily to super finals, alongside Vinecki and teammate Tasia Tanner. Vinecki, who has been the only woman throwing triples in competition, needed to put her best double tricks down alongside the strong field of women. The same rang true for the men. 

Curran, who stated he wasn’t “throwing his best tricks in training” easily advanced through to finals, winning qualifications. Going into the finals with confidence, Curran then moved to super finals alongside his teammate and Olympic champion Chris Lillis.

At the end of the night under the Deer Valley lights, it was six women and six men in the super finals. Vinecki threw down a back-double-full-full, besting all of the competitors and skied into the finish area, all smiles to take her fourth career win. Vinecki further solidified herself as the strongest aerials athlete on the circuit, continuing to lead the overall World Cup standings

“I had to throw a trick that I only had done once in training her in the last two months,” said Vinecki. “I’m happy to have just put it to my feet and excited to be on top! It’s incredible. All of my family is right here and just got to see me win—I’m so happy.” 

On the men’s side, Curran successfully landed a full-double-full, scoring a 102.22, putting him into first place. He was only barely beaten by Alexandre Duchaine of Canada, who threw a back-double-full-double-full, one of the most complex tricks to throw in competition, to best Curran’s score by less than a half of a point, landing a 102.57. With that, Curran, who was part of Park City Ski & Snowboard before he made the Stifel U.S. Freestyle Ski Team, stepped on the podium for the first time on his home course. Lillis finished the evening just off the podium in fourth place. 

“I’m really excited,” said Curren. “I think that’s about it. I don’t know how to really describe it; I’m just so excited. I had no idea. I’m just so glad I got to be here—I was just focusing on the jump I was going to do and make it to my feet. At the end, I was just trying to beat myself.”

Curren’s career-best place before tonight was 13th at the 2023 Intermountain Health Freestyle International at Deer Valley. One year later, the young star was on the podium, making a mark with a second place in one of the more challenging World Cups on the circuit. “It means the absolute world,” he said. “I can’t wait to do it again. It’s always been a dream to podium here at Deer Valley. I’m just so stoked that I got my dream going.”

RESULTS
Women
Men

At the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix at Mammoth Mountain, the weather won, canceling the events due to unsafe riding conditions for both the men's and women's freeski halfpipe contests. With the cancelation, the men's and women's freeski halfpipe final results came from the qualification results that went down earlier this week, resulting in a Stifel U.S. Freeski Team podium sweep. 
 
2024 X Games gold medalist Alex Ferreira took first, X Games bronze medalist Hunter Hess was second and Nick Goepper took third place - his career first World Cup halfpipe podium. Outside of the podium, the U.S. men continued to dominate, with the top eight spots held by Americans. David Wise was just off the podium in fourth, Matt Labaugh fifth, Birk Irving sixth, Cassidy Jarrell seventh and Aaron Durlester eighth. 

For the women, Svea Irving led the way, closing out the domestic World Cup schedule with a fourth place. Teammate Riley Jacobs was sixth. 

With being the last domestic World Cup on the calendar, Irving, for the second year in a row, was crowned National Champion for freeski halfpipe, alongside teammate Ferreira for the men. 

A big shoutout goes to the operations team at Mammoth Mountain for putting safety first and doing everything they could to put on a safe event. 

RESULTS
Women
Men 

The Stifel Loppet Cup is a go! On Friday, Feb. 2, the International Ski & Snowboard Federation (FIS) officially gave the green light to the local organizing committee during the scheduled snow control meetings, giving the go-ahead for Minneapolis' Wirth Park to host the first World Cup in the United States in more than 23 years.  

Due to low snow conditions and unseasonably warm temperatures, the snow at the Wirth Park trailhead is low, however, due to the efforts of the Loppet Foundation community and the local organizers, enough snow was maintained and harvested and systems are in place to successfully host the race.

Over Presidents Day weekend, Feb. 17-19, Minneapolis, Minnesota will welcome the best cross country skiers in the world, including the Stifel U.S. Cross Country Ski Team, to Wirth Park for two races: a sprint and a distance 10k.

More information can be found on the official Stifel Loppet Cup website.