PARK CITY, Utah  ­— Internationally recognized outdoor retailer L.L.Bean, known for its legendary customer service and high-quality gear and apparel that help to further people’s enjoyment of the outdoors, and Swix, renowned for its cutting-edge technology in world-class competition and training wear, today announced a partnership with the U.S. Cross Country Ski Team.  

As official supplier to the U.S. Cross Country Ski Team, L.L.Bean will provide insulated outerwear and rainwear, as well as casual wear and hats. Swix will develop customized World Cup and World Championship race suits and performance jackets and pants. Both companies will share responsibility for summer training products.

“We are thrilled that Swix will be joining us in partnership with the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Association,” said Christina Semanyshyn, L.L.Bean’s manager of strategic partnerships. “For more than sixty years, Swix has been one of the strongest, most recognized names in the ski industry, and L.L.Bean has been carrying our quality products for years. Like us, as well as U.S. Ski & Snowboard, they share our collective passion for living an active lifestyle and enabling people to get outside.”

“U.S Ski & Snowboard welcomes Swix as a clothing supplier to the U.S. Cross Country Team”, stated Dan Barnett, Chief Commercial Officer.  “The Swix product line complements L.L.Bean’s offerings and together will provide the comfort and performance the Team will need in the clothing category.  Swix’s product mix, technology and attention to detail will help the U.S. Cross Country Team achieve athletic excellence during the 2018-19 competition season.”

The U.S. Cross Country Ski Team achieved historic results last season with many top performances on the World Cup and at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games.  On the World Cup, among many podiums, Jessie Diggins placed second overall with Sadie Bjornsen finishing sixth overall. Sophie Caldwell finished third overall in the Sprint category.  Diggins also finished third overall in the Tour de Ski. The season highlight was Jessie Diggins (Afton, Minn.) and Kikkan Randall (Anchorage, Alaska) winning the gold medal in the in the Team Sprint at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games.

“I am thrilled that Swix will be a clothing supplier to the U.S. Cross Country Team, while simultaneously building on our strong partnership with premier retail partner, L.L.Bean,” said Swix Sport USA President & CEO Steve Poulin. “Together, we’re committed to ensuring this team will have unrivaled performance clothing while competing against the best in the world.”

“The U.S. Cross Country Ski Team athletes and staff are very excited to be wearing Swix this season,” said U.S. Ski & Snowboard Head Cross Country coach Chris Grover.  “Swix has a long history of providing high-end performance wear for some of the best athletes and teams in the world. The fit, functionality and performance of Swix racing and training gear is world-class, and we’ll need this level of performance to meet our goals of winning multiple medals at the 2019 Seefeld Nordic World Championships. The combination of L.L.Bean outerwear and Swix performance gear is ideal for the USA program and we are grateful to both companies for their incredible support and their belief in United States’ cross country ski racing.”

About L.L.Bean, Inc.

L.L.Bean, Inc. is a leading multichannel merchant of quality outdoor gear and apparel. Founded in 1912 by Leon Leonwood Bean, the company began as a one-room operation selling a single product, the Maine Hunting Shoe. Still family owned, Shawn Gorman, great grandson of Leon Leonwood Bean, was named Chairman of the Board of Directors in 2013. While its business has grown over the years, L.L.Bean continues to uphold the values of its founder, including his dedication to quality, customer service and a love of the outdoors. In the past five years, L.L.Bean has donated over $6 million toward conservation and land stewardship. L.L.Bean currently operates 41 stores in 17 states across the United States, along with 27 stores in Japan. The 220,000-sq. ft. L.L.Bean retail store campus in Freeport, Maine, is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and welcomes more than 3 million visitors every year. L.L.Bean can be found worldwide at www.llbean.com, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, Google+ and Instagram.

About Swix

Swix with roots running deep in the snow and ice of Scandinavia, is an industry pioneer in the development of ski waxes, tuning tools, poles and apparel for both alpine and cross-country skiers around the globe. With a constant focus on research and development, athletes skiing on Swix wax, poles and technical wear have captured countless Olympic and World Championships medals since the company’s debut in 1946.  Swix Sport is part of the newly formed Brav outdoor group of brands. Toko, Lundhags, Ulvang, Helsport, Orginal, Hardrocx, and Skisporet. Learn more at Brav.com. Instagram.  Facebook.  www.swixsport.us

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Reese Brown
U.S. Ski & Snowboard Cross Country Press Officer
reese.brown@usskiandsnowboard.org

Jessie Diggins (Stratton, Vt.) and Kyle Bratrud (Eden Prairie, Minn.) kicked off the Winter Games NZ cross country events with individual freestyle victories Tuesday.   

“We are pleased with our start to this three-day series”, said U.S. Ski Team Head Coach Matt Whitcomb. “We had great weather, and the venue setup was fit for a major championship.  While the fields are quite small this time of year in the Southern Hemisphere, the event was very competitive, and the OC made it feel like a World Cup.”
 
In the two-lap 5k women’s race, Caitlin Patterson (Anchorage, Alaska) and Sophie Caldwell (Stratton, Vt.) started aggressively and lead the race by seven seconds through three kilometers over Diggins.  However, Diggins was able to use her come-from-behind strength to win the event by 10 seconds.
 
“The New Zealand Winter Games are a huge opportunity to get back into racing mode and test out all the technique work we’ve been putting in so far,” said Diggins. “I’m so grateful to the Snow Farm and race organizers for keeping such a fun, hard, and fast race alive! I forgot how much it can hurt to go so hard for 5k, but it was fun to really get that lung burn back for the first time since last winter.”
 
“I was really happy with how today went and felt better than I thought," said Caldwell, who finished second. "I think these races are a great opportunity to figure out what we want to fine tune in the next couple months before the (World Cup) season begins.”
 
In the four-lap 10k men’s race, Bratrud bested the field, despite starting very controlled.  After five kilometers, there were still four guys within 13 seconds. But Bratrud was able to gradually pick up the pace and ended up winning by 21 seconds over Japan's Kaiche Naruse.
 
The New Zealand Winter Games is an international multi-sport event held every two years in New Zealand. The event is organized by the Winter Games New Zealand Trust.

RESULTS
Men's 10k individual freestyle
Women's 5k individual freestyle

Dylan Ladd (Lakewood, Colo.) won the freeski halfpipe silver medal at the 2018 FIS Junior Freestyle Ski and Snowboard World Championships Tuesday at Cardrona Alpine Resort.

Ladd, competing in his second Junior World Championships, came through with big back to back 900s at the top of the pipe and finished with a super technical double flat 900 down the pipe to land on the podium. New Zealand's Nico Porteous won the gold, and Norway's Birk Rudd came through with the bronze.

Hunter Carey (Winter Park, Colo.) was fifth, Conner Ladd (Lakewood, Colo.) sixth, and Aaron Durlester (Mammoth, Calif.) was ninth.

In the women's halfpipe final, Estonia's Kelly Sildaru won her fifth overall Junior World Championships medal and her second gold medal of the 2018 championships. Russia's Valeriya Demidova took the silver, and China's Kevin Zhang won the bronze. Svea Irving (Winter Park, Colo.) was fourth, and Eileen Gu (San Francisco) was fifth.

RESULTS
Men's freeski halfpipe
Women's freeski halfpipe

Toby Miller (Mammoth, Calif.) added the snowboard halfpipe gold medal to his FIS Junior World Championships collection, and Tessa Maud (Carlsbad, Calif.) won her first world championships medal, a silver, at the 2018 FIS Junior Freestyle Ski and Snowboard World Championships.

Opening with a frontside double 1080 stalefish to cab double 1080 melon combo, and closing out with a frontside 1080 tailgrab, Miller was clearly on a mission to better the two Junior World Championship silver medals he had won in 2015 and 2017.

“I couldn’t be happier,” said Miller, who put down a blistering first-run score of 93.20. “The level of riding out here today was absolutely phenomenal - all the riders are so talented. This is my fourth Junior Worlds and every year the level just gets higher and higher. I’m honored to be in such an elite group of riders.”

Close on the day, but not close enough were a pair of Japanese riders boasting a name famous in halfpipe circles, as Ruka and Kaishu Hirano finished second and third respectively behind Miller. Jake Canter (Evergreen, Colo.) was eighth.

Maud, competing in her first event as a member of the U.S. Snowboard Team, dropped in switch to open with a cab 720 tail grab and following that up with back-to-back 540s. She put down a nice combination of spins and perhaps the best invert of the day on the women’s side with a solid crippler in her high-scoring second run to earn herself the silver medal. 

Japan’s Mitsuki Ono put down three solid runs to win the gold medal. Canada’s Elizabeth Hosking, meanwhile, relied on her first-run score of 68.80 to stay ahead of the pack to take the bronze. 

RESULTS
Men’s halfpipe finals
Women’s halfpipe finals
 

Dylan Ladd (Lakewood, Colo.) finished third in Saturday's qualifying round to lead four Americans into the freeski halfpipe finals at the 2018 FIS Junior Freestyle Ski and Snowboard Halfpipe World Championships Saturday.

Hunter Carey (Winter Park, Colo.) was fourth, Connor Ladd (Lakewood, Colo.)  eight, Aaron Durlester (Mammoth, Calif. was 12th to advance to the finals Tuesday at Cardrona Alpine Resort. 

With heavy snow in the mountain weather forecast for the next few days, men's qualifying round was moved up a day from Sunday to Saturday. The freeski halfpipe finals are scheduled for Tuesday.

Svea, Gu Qualify For Freeski Halfpipe Finals

A weather window opened Sunday morning allowing 19 athletes to compete in the women's freeski halfpipe qualifier. Svea Irving (Winter Park, Colo.) and Eileen Gu (San Francisco) finished fourth and sixth respectively to reach the freeski halfpipe finals scheduled for Tuesday at Cardrona Alpine Resort.

RESULTS
Men's freeski halfpipe qualifying
Women's freeski halfpipe qualifier

START LISTS
Men's freeski halfpipe finals
Women's freeski halfpipe finals

Toby Miller (Mammoth, Calif.) opened his second run with back to back 1080s for a score of 95.60 and the top spot in the men’s snowboard halfpipe qualifier at the 2018 FIS Junior Freestyle Ski and Snowboard Halfpipe World Championships Saturday.

With heavy snow in the mountain weather forecast for the next few days, the qualifying competition was rescheduled from Sunday to Saturday and came down to a game of strategy for Miller, who nailed his second run to move atop the standings.

“Both my runs went great,” said Miller. “My first run I got a 90.80, the first run is the most nerve-wracking one, you want to put down a score and make finals on that first run. I was very fortunate to do that, I’m stoked. I ended up bumping up (on run two) doing a cab double 10 after the frontside 1080 and doing three 10s instead of two. I just wanted to up the score a little more and use it as practice and get ready for finals.”

Jake Canter (Evergreen, Colo.) finished 10th to advance to the finals scheduled for Tuesday at Cardrona Alpine Resort.

In the women's snowboard halfpipe qualifier, China’s Lulu Jia nailed down the top qualifying spot with an 85.6. Tessa Maud (Carlsbad, Calif.) finished third to move on to Tuesday's finals.

RESULTS
Men's halfpipe qualifier
Women's halfpipe qualifier

START LISTS
Men's halfpipe finals
Women's halfpipe finals

The U.S. Cross Country Team, currently training at the Snow Farm in New Zealand, started its first race of the season Saturday at the 24th edition of the Merino Muster, part of the Wolrdloppet Race Series. Jessie Diggins (Stratton, Vt.) and Simi Hamilton (Aspen, Colo.) took the wins in the 42K race, with Katharine Ogden (Landgrove, Vt.) winning the 21k version.


“I got to ski in a pack for most of the race and it was really fun to throw in a longer race than we ever get to do in the World Cup,” Diggins after the race. “Turns out I love the long-distance efforts. The snow was fast, the course was fun, and all the volunteers did a great job!”


“We pretty much raced in a pack, Kyle, Adam, myself, and two Japanese skiers, for about 97 percent of the race,” Hamilton said. “It was great to take turns pulling and drafting, and just moving fluidly as a train out there.  My skis were running really well the entire race, and I just focused on conserving energy where I could. I was really hoping that it would come down to a sprint finish in the last 0.5k, so I guess I was lucky that it did.”


U.S. Cross Country Team coach Jason Cork summed up the conditions as “super nice - sunny, around freezing, very little wind. Nice, fast grooming. In general, the pace was pretty relaxed for everyone until the end, when it ramped up."

D Team Member Katharine Ogden, racing the shorter distance said, “This was a super fun race! it was awesome to have an opportunity to put on a bib during the offseason. and, we were so lucky to have a perfect bluebird day for it!”

The Team camp continues at the Snow Farm through September 10 and includes the upcoming Winter Games NZ beginning Tuesday, Sept. 4.

RESULTS
Merino Muster

Eileen Gu (San Francisco) was the top-placed American in fifth in the freeski slopestyle finals at the 2018 FIS Junior Freeskiing & Snowboard World Championships Friday. On the men’s side, Ryan Stevenson (Washington, N.J.) led the way for the U.S. Team in sixth.

Estonia’s Kelly Sildaru won her second Junior World slopestyle title, as Russia’s Anastasia Tatalina took the silver, and Japan’s Kokone Kondo the bronze. Svea Irving (Winter Park, Colo.) was ninth, and Montana Osinski (Fairfield, Conn.) was 12th.

In the men’s final, Sweden’s Oliwer Magnusson won the gold, Norway’s Sebastian Schjerve took the silver and Kim Gubser of Switzerland the bronze. Cody LaPlante (Truckee, Calif.) was 10th.

Freeski competition continues Saturday at Cardrona Alpine resort with the men’s halfpipe qualifiers. The women’s halfpipe qualifier is scheduled for Sunday, with both the men and women’s halfpipe finals are scheduled for Tuesday.

RESULTS
Men’s slopestyle finals
Women’s slopestyle finals

START LISTS
Men’s halfpipe qualifier

Jade Thurgood (Salt Lake City) led the way for the U.S. Team, finishing fourth in the women’s snowboard slopestyle finals at the 2018 FIS Junior Freeskiing & Snowboard World Championships Friday.

Ty Schnorrbusch (Frisco, Colo.) was seventh, followed by Courtney Rummel (West Bend, Wisc.) in 10th; Isabella Gomez (Issaquah, Wash) 13th; and Makayla Kellog (Mammoth, Calif.) in 14th.  Japan’s Kokomo Murase took the gold, followed by Germany’s Annika Morgan with the silver, and Canada’s Sommor Gendron with the bronze.

In the men’s finals, Jake Canter (Evergreen, Colo.) was the top-placed American in fifth, followed by Will Healy (Riverside, Conn.) in sixth. Luke Winkelmann (Bowling Rock, N.C.) was 12th. Japan also took the gold in the men’s final with Takeru Otsuka posting the top score. The Netherland’s took silver and bronze with Niek Velden and Casper Wolf.

Snowboard competition continues Saturday at Cardrona Alpine resort with the men and women’s halfpipe qualifiers. The halfpipe finals are scheduled for Tuesday.

RESULTS
Men’s slopestyle finals
Women’s slopestyle finals

START LISTS
Men’s halfpipe qualifier
Women’s halfpipe qualifier

PARK CITY, Utah – U.S. Ski & Snowboard has announced that Bryan Fish has been promoted to the position of Cross Country Sport Development Manager. This is a new position and includes many of Bryan’s current duties at U.S. Ski & Snowboard, in addition to the key domestic and development responsibilities held by former Nordic Domestic Program Director Robert Lazzaroni. U.S. Ski and Snowboard will not fill that role but will hire a coordinator to assist Fish as he takes on his new role.

“This is an exciting time for the U.S. Cross Country Ski Team, and promoting Bryan Fish to fill this new role could not come at a better time,” said U.S. Ski & Snowboard Chief of Sport Luke Bodensteiner. “Bryan has done great work as the development coach and the team is now seeing the positive outcomes of his well-orchestrated strategy. He has been a large contributor to the strong results we are seeing at Junior Worlds and most recently at the International Junior Camp in Norway. With these added responsibilities, Bryan will continue to be the driving force with the development pipeline and become a larger player in the national cross country scene.”

Bryan’s new role as Sport Development Manager is unique in that it will allow Fish to continue to coach in camps and lead trips including Junior World Ski Championships and OPA Cup.  Sustainability has been built in these programs and it is important that this consistency for the athletes continues.

“Thanks to U.S. Ski & Snowboard for offering me the opportunity to expand my support to the Cross Country community,” Fish said. “As the Cross Country Development Coach, I have focused on collaborating with our ski community to build out the development system. We have worked together with coaches, clubs, divisions, and regions to fill in structural gaps with needed programming. We have also made significant strides in building a stronger national development system. The preparation and performance of our athletes at every level is proof we are moving in the right direction. I am excited to place a greater focus on establishing a clear pathway as we move ahead.”

Based in Park City, Utah, Fish assumes his new role effective immediately and will be actively seeking an additional hire to assist in this new role.