VAL GARDENA, Italy (Dec. 16, 2017) – Jared Goldberg (Holladay, Utah) scored a career-best FIS Ski World Cup result, finishing ninth in downhill Saturday in Val Gardena, Italy. Bryce Bennett (Squaw Valley, Calif.) just missed the top 10, finishing 11th.

“I was pushing the line and telling myself ‘don’t do that … just get back to the regular line,’” said Goldberg, who won the opening training run on Wednesday. “Now that I’m running in the top 30, I have a clearer course and I can get away with pulling off a more difficult line.

“I got out of the track a little bit on one turn, right before the flat and I could feel myself decelerate a little bit,” he added, “but I knew that if I just got back in the track and stayed low, that I could make it up on the bottom.”

Norway took the top two spots with Aksel Lund Svindal and Kjetil Jansrud going 1-2. Austria’s Max Franz was third. With the victory, Svindal maintained his overall World Cup lead over Jansrud, and teammate Henrik Kristoffersen, who did not compete Saturday.

Steven Nyman (Sundance, Utah) returned to the World Cup circuit Saturday, finishing 41st.

“I wasn’t confident and flowing and going,” said Nyman, who has all three of his World Cup downhill victories on the Saslong course. “I had some fast splits, but I had some bad splits too. But it’s OK! There are some positives, and right now I’m focusing on … training, getting the confidence back, getting the movements back, dialing equipment in … but it’s always great to race here and be back racing.”

Up next, the men's tech team tackles a giant slalom and nighttime parallel giant slalom in Alta Badia, Italy Sunday and Monday.

RESULTS
Men’s downhill

HOW TO WATCH
All times EST
Saturday, December 16
5:00 p.m. – Women’s super-G; Val d’Isere – NBCSN (same day delay)
6:00 p.m. – Men’s downhill; Val Gardena – NBCSN (same day delay)

Sunday, December 17
3:30 a.m. – Men’s giant slalom run 1; Alta Badia – olympicchannel.com
3:30 a.m. – Women’s super-G; Val d’Isere – Olympic Channel TV
6:00 a.m. – Men’s giant slalom run 2; Alta Badia – Olympic Channel TV
3:30 a.m. – Women’s super-G; Val d’Isere – NBCSN (same day delay)
 

Jessie Diggins (Afton, Minn.) checked off another top Olympic qualifying performance Saturday, leading the U.S. Ski Team with a seventh in the women's 10k freestyle at Toblach, Italy. Sadie Bjornsen (Winthrop, Wash.) was ninth as Sweden's Charlotte Kalla took the victory.

It was Diggins' third top-eight qualifying finish in Olympic events this season. Rosie Brennan (Park City, Utah) made it three in the points, finishing 17th.

“I went out hard and pushed as hard as I could today,” said Diggins. “I felt like I had good skis, although it being an individual race, I didn’t do much skiing with other people out there. My style of racing is usually to just go as hard as I can from the start and try to ski smooth, powerful and work every section of the course.“

“This is a special venue for me, as I have had some of my best races here,” said Bjornsen, who had her first podium in Toblach last season. “I have some good vibes and good confidence here.”

Like the last few weeks, Bjornsen went out hard, trying to hang in as long as she could. “My second lap was incredibly hard, as my legs were burning like crazy,” she said. “I am very familiar with 5k feelings here in Toblach, but it is a whole new challenge with 10k.”

But she was buoyed by the fact that it was a career-best 10k skate. “As with last weekend, I think I have more to give, and more gears to find, but it is a great step for now! It will also put me in a really exciting position for tomorrows pursuit start 10k classic.”

The new course at Toblach but received good reviews from athletes. It was also fast - 22 minutes for the women's 10k and 30 for the men's 15k - one of the fastest on the tour. 

“It’s a fun course,” said Diggins, who won back-to-back 5k skate races during Tour de Ski the last two seasons. “Of course I’m sad that my old favorite course was changed but it’s still such a fun gliding course with so many transitions and a ripping fast downhill section! It’s always fun to be in the fight in the top-10 and really motivating to work so hard for every single second on the course.”

“It was a perfect winter day in Toblach,” said Brennan. “The new course featured a much steeper, longer climb in place of a few short climbs. It was very challenging to pace as the climbs were tough but there is also so much undulating terrain to and from that stadium that you also have to push.”

Brennan spent a bit too much energy on the second time up the climb, paying the price coming back to the stadium.

“I feel really good about my fitness and am looking forward to a pursuit start tomorrow,” she added.

The Toblach weekend wraps up Period 1 of the World Cup, then heading into the Tour de Ski. It has been a solid few weeks for the U.S. women.

“I feel like Period 1 for me has been a solid, good start to the year,” said Diggins. “My focus and peak is aiming for the Games, so right now I feel when I’m racing that I’m fighting as hard as I can but don’t have that top gear just yet - which is part of the plan, but still a little frustrating when you know you have more somewhere.”

“Kalla and the Norwegians (who took second through sixth) were clearly dominant today,” said Head Coach Chris Grover, “but the USA women were the next strongest group.”

Grover also lauded Brennan’s continuing strong performance in distance skate races. “Rosie is clearly in great shape and having one of the best starts to the World Cup season in her career.”

Kikkan Randall (Anchorage) opted to sit out the weekend to rest a sore foot and prepare for the Tour de Ski. “We missed having Kikkan in the line-up today but want to see her rest her foot a bit and get back to 100% healthy prior to the Tour de Ski,” added Grover.

Erik Bjornsen (Winthrop, Wash.) was 29th to lead the men in a 15k skate.

“It was a much better day for the men compared to the Davos,” said Grover. “Both Noah (Hoffman) and Scott (Patterson) had much better days. Erik was happy with his race. Noah and Scott felt like they had much better races than last week but were still left feeling unsatisfied.

Patterson went out hard and was one of the early race leaders, along with Bjornsen, but faded towards the end.

“It’s so tight in the men’s field that good races often get buried in placings,” added Grover. “Erik’s 30 point FIS race today would have been a 12th place result on the women’s side. All the men are looking forward to trying to move up in tomorrow’s classic pursuit.” 

Both Diggins and Bjornsen remained in the top 10 overall standings - Diggins eighth, Bjornsen ninth.

At the Alpen Cup races in St. Ulrich, Austria, Ida Sargent (Orleans, Vt.) was third in a 5k classic race. Sophie Caldwell (Peru, Vt.) was fifth and Julia Kern (Truckee, Calif.) 15th.

Sunday will wrap up the pre-holiday World Cup schedule with the classic portion of the pursuit. Athletes will be seeded by Saturday's results. The Sunday races are not Olympic qualifiers.

RESULTS
Men's 15k Freestyle
Women's 10k Freestyle 

WATCH
Sunday, Dec. 17
5:30 a.m. ET - Women's 10k classic pursuit - Live stream OlympicChannel.com
7:30 a.m. ET - Men's 15k classic pursuit - Live stream OlympicChannel.com 
1:00 p.m. ET - Women's 10k classic pursuit - Olympic Channel TV: Home of Team USA
NOTE: All races are streamed live on OlympicChannel.com and the Olympic Channel mobile app. Many races are also broadcast later on the same day on Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA TV broadcast channel.

Streaming and Broadcast Schedules 

VAL D’ISERE, France (Dec. 16, 2017) – Lindsey Vonn (Vail, Colo.) is back to her winning ways, taking her 78th FIS Ski World Cup victory in super-G in Val d’Isere, France, Saturday. Italy’s Sofia Goggia, who much like Vonn has struggled with early-season results, finally landed on the podium in second. Norway’s Ragnhild Mowinckel scored her first World Cup podium in third.

“I guess I’m not a washed-up old hag,” Vonn said following Saturday’s victory and responding to numerous social media comments this week regarding her form as she prepares for the 2018 Olympic Winter Games. “I think I proved myself, and karma definitely comes back around. I’ve got some good karma coming my way.”

Indeed, good karma played a key roll in Saturday’s victory as she edged one win closer to the all-time World Cup victory mark of 86 wins held by the great Ingemar Stenmark.

“I almost went down there before the finish, but thankfully I was able to hold on to it and pull it out,” Vonn said following her victory on the slow, soft track.

With snow, fog, and wind wiping out downhill training this week, the women tackled an abbreviated soft and bumpy super-G course - a make-up race from last week’s canceled event in St. Moritz. And despite a few course holds due to fog and light snow, four American women scored World Cup points, including Laurenne Ross (Bend, Ore.), who took a huge step toward returning to top form following last season’s knee injury.

“The track is in a lot better shape than I thought it would be based off how much it has snowed over the past couple of days,” said Ross, who finished eighth. “It is a little bumpy, but it’s still totally rip-able and the snow is responsive enough to feel your skis.

“Today was definitely a big step,” she added. “I feel really good to be back, and be back in race mode.”

Alice McKennis (New Castle, Colo.) was 22nd and 2016 World Juniors Downhill Champion Alice Merryweather (Hingham, Mass.) scored her first World Cup points, finishing 24th. Julia Mancuso (Squaw Valley, Calif.) continued her comeback from injury, finishing her first World Cup race in more than two and a half years, in 45th position.

"It was really a bit of a challenge today with the flat light and the snow, but I stuck to my plan and skied really solid, and I’m really happy with how it went," Merryweather said. "I have a little bit of confidence now and I’ll take it into tomorrow and charge even more.”

With downhill training canceled this week in Val d’Isere due to weather, the women race super-G again on Sunday. On Monday the tech women head to Courchevel, France, for a giant slalom and a parallel slalom under the lights. Current overall World Cup leader Mikaela Shiffrin, as well as Lindsey Vonn and Resi Stiegler will headline the tech women. 

RESULTS
Women’s super-G

HOW TO WATCH
All times EST
Saturday, December 16
5:00 p.m. – Women’s super-G; Val d’Isere – NBCSN (same day delay)
6:00 p.m. – Men’s downhill; Val Gardena – NBCSN (same day delay)

Sunday, December 17
3:30 a.m. – Men’s giant slalom run 1; Alta Badia – olympicchannel.com
3:30 a.m. – Women’s super-G; Val d’Isere – Olympic Channel TV
6:00 a.m. – Men’s giant slalom run 2; Alta Badia – Olympic Channel TV
6:00 p.m. – Women’s super-G; Val d’Isere – NBCSN (same day delay)

WOMEN’S SUPER-G (after 2 races; 3 races remaining in qualifying period)
Up to three athletes in each event will be selected based on following criteria in sequential order. Top two athletes based on current World Cup rankings at start of Olympics will have automatic start right in event. Up to four may be entered in Olympic event.

Top Three Finish
Lindsey Vonn (1)

Top Five Finish
Mikaela Shiffrin (1)

Top 10 Finish
Laurenne Ross (1)

Current World Cup Points Ranking
9. Lindsey Vonn (107)
17. Mikaela Shiffrin (56)
21. Laurenne Ross (33)
35. Alice McKennis (11)
37. Breezy Johnson (8)
39. Alice Merryweather (7)

SECRET GARDEN, China (Dec. 16, 2017) – World Champion Ashley Caldwell (Ashburn, Va.) led four U.S. aerialists into finals on day one of competition at Secret Garden Resort, finishing third and landing one of two podium spots needed to objectively qualify for the 2018 Olympic team.

Caldwell struggled to put down clean landings throughout Saturday’s competition, but her high degree of difficulty jumps help propel her to her first podium of the season. She performed a triple twisting triple flip, a full-full-full, in the super final, scoring a 68.04. Belarus’ Hanna Huskova took the win followed by China’s Mengtao Xu in second. Kiley McKinnon (Madison, Conn.) also advanced to finals for the U.S., but was unable to land cleanly on her double twisting double, a full-full, and finished 12th.

World Champion Jon Lillis (Rochester, N.Y.) was the top U.S. men’s finisher in sixth. China’s Zongyang Jia took the win with a quadruple twisting triple flip, a full-double full-full, and a score of 127.88. Belarus’ Maxim Gustik was second and Canada’s Louis Irving third. Mac Bohonnon (Madison, Conn.) just missed making the super final, landing in seventh.

Competition continues on Sunday, Dec. 17 in the aerials team event, where the individual qualification results will count as a World Cup finish.

RESULTS
Men’s Aerials
Women’s Aerials

HOW TO WATCH
Dec. 17
12:30 a.m. – Men’s and women’s team aerials – Olympic Channel TV

BRECKENRIDGE, Colo. (Dec. 15, 2017)  – Alex Ferreira (Aspen, Colo.) rebounded from a disappointing finish at the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix last weekend at Copper Mountain to grab his first halfpipe victory of the season at the Dew Tour, the second Olympic qualifying event of the season. Aaron Blunck (Crested Butte, Colo.) was second. In the women’s halfpipe finals, Maddie Bowman (Salt Lake City) was third.

“I can’t believe what just happened,” Ferreira said after his victory. “Today I just skied for me. I tried not to put the pressure on me, and just went out there and skied.”

“Super stoked right now,” Blunck said of his second-place result after coming into the finals as the top qualifier. “The level of riding today was absolutely insane.”

Just the fact that Breckenridge was able to pull off the Dew Tour event following an unusually warm start to the winter in Summit County had Blunck fired up.

“We had such a crazy hot spell this year … and with the warm weather and not being able to make much snow ... shouts out to Breckenridge - they just killed it!” he said. “SPT (Snow Park Technologies) build a great pipe that just kept getting better and better.”

Olympic qualification competitions continue after the New Year with the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix at Snowmass, Colorado Jan. 7-14, 2018.

RESULTS
Men’s and women’s halfpipe

BRECKENRIDGE, Colo. (Dec. 15, 2017)  – The U.S. riders continued to demonstrate their dominance in the second Olympic qualifying event of the season at Dew Tour. Chloe Kim (Torrence, Calif.) led another USA sweep of the podium with teammates Kelly Clark (Mammoth, Calif.) and Arielle Gold (Steamboat Springs, Colo.) in second and third. Jake Pates (Eagle, Colo.) put his name on the board with a big victory, and Ben Ferguson (Bend, Ore.) landed his second podium in the same number of Olympic qualifying events, finishing third.

After a win at the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix in Copper last weekend, Kim confirmed her nomination to the U.S. Olympic snowboard team, posting a 93.00 on her first run of the day that would carry her through to victory. After a gnarly crash on her second run, veteran Kelly Clark pulled out a solid, clean final run to finish second. Arielle Gold landed her first podium finish of the Olympic qualifying season, finishing third.

“I am speechless right now, it hasn’t really set in,” said Kim. “I just looked at my parents and was like, ‘I just made the Olympic team!’ I’m still processing it, but I am so excited.”

The U.S. women stacked riders into the top spots in the final with Maddie Mastro (Wrightwood, Calif.) finishing fourth, Hannah Teter (Lake Tahoe, Calif.) fifth and Elena Hight eighth.

Pates pulled out the biggest surprise of the day, landing a killer last run that included a back double 12 tail grab to score a 97.33, besting Australia’s Scotty James and fellow U.S. Snowboard Team rider Ferguson who both also posted scores above 90. It was Pates’ first major event win, propelling the 19-year-old into the mix for the coveted Olympic team spots.

"I feel insane, I’m super stoked," said Pates. "I had an awesome day. It was super fun out here and everybody was shredding and pushing each other - good vibes flying around everywhere."

Danny Davis (Highland, Mich.), Chase Josey (Sun Valley, Idaho), Gabe Ferguson (Bend, Ore.) and Greg Bretz (Mammoth Lakes, Calif.) rounded out top finishes for the U.S., finishing sixth through ninth respectively.

Olympic qualification competitions continue after the New Year with the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix at Snowmass, Colorado Jan. 7-14, 2018.

RESULTS
Men’s and women’s halfpipe

The World Cup tour heads to Toblach in northern Italy for a weekend of racing before the holiday break with a bit of an unusual format. Saturday’s 15k men’s freestyle and 10k women’s will be another Olympic qualifier.

In a bit of a change from the norm, it’s a two-day pursuit weekend with the freestyle portion first – 15k/10k skate on Saturday, followed by same distances in classic on Sunday. With the distance at the Olympics being freestyle, most teams are using it as an Olympic qualifier so the skate portion was put first. It’s another opportunity for a U.S. skier to collect a top-eight finish and a likely berth on the Olympic team. 

With Toblach elevation half that of Davos last weekend, and close to that of the Olympic course, look for potentially stronger performances. The Toblach course has been changed with a massive climb and resultant screaming downhill – terrain the American skiers love. It’s been fast and icy all week in Toblach, but heavy snow Friday softened the track. No snow is forecast for Saturday.
 
Starters for the USA include, Erik Bjornsen (Winthrop, Wash.), Paddy Caldwell (Lyme, N.H.), Noah Hoffman (Aspen, Colo.) and Scott Patterson (Anchorage, Alaska) for the men. The women will see Sadie Bjornsen (Winthrop, Wash.), Rosie Brennan (Park City, Utah), Jessie Diggins (Afton, Minn.), Chelsea Holmes (Anchorage, Alaska),  and Liz Stephen (E. Montpelier, Vt.). Kikkan Randall (Anchorage, Alaska) will sit out the weekend to rest a sore foot and be ready for the Tour de Ski starting after Christmas.
 
Some of the team’s sprinters are in St. Ulrich, Austria for Alpen Cup races starting with a sprint on Friday including Simi Hamilton (Aspen, Colo.), Andy Newell (Shaftsbury, Vt.), Sophie Caldwell (Peru, Vt.), Julia Kern (Truckee, Calif.) and Ida Sargent (Orleans, Vt.).

In Friday’s opening Alpen Cup skate sprint, Hamilton took the win over Newell. Caldwell won for the women with Sargent third. Distance racing is up over the weekend.

Coverage of all events this weekend from Toblach can be found on OlympicChannel.com. 

VAL GARDENA, Italy (Dec. 15, 2017) – Weather continues to wreak havoc on both the men and women’s FIS Ski World Cup European circuit. On Friday, the men’s super-G in Val Gardena, Italy, was cut off due to snow and fog after 38 racers took to the start, leaving 42 racers no opportunity to tackle the Saslong course.

Germany’s Josef Ferstl officially took the victory after FIS officials cut off the remaining portion of the race due to fog and light snow. Austria’s Max Franz was second, followed by countryman Matthias Meyer in third. Ferstl started second before light snow began to fall, and with a clear track, was able to grab his first World Cup victory.

As the race progressed, snow continued to fall and course conditions changed dramatically, with grippy snow accumulating on the track hardened by a couple days of rain earlier in the week.

“With this snowfall, the snow is really slow and sticky compared to yesterday,” said Travis Ganong (Squaw Valley, Calif.), the top American finisher in 17th. Ganong ran 18th as snow fell and fog rolled in on the middle section of the course.  “Hopefully it will be better tomorrow,” he added.

Tommy Biesemeyer finished 18th and Andrew Weibrecht (Lake Placid, N.Y.) was 28th.  Wiley Maple (Aspen, Colo.), who finished second in Wednesday’s downhill training run; Bryce Bennett (Squaw Valley, Calif.), Ryan Cochran-Siegle (Starksboro, Vt.) and Jared Goldberg (Holladay, Utah) were among the 42 athletes that did not start after the race was cancelled due to weather conditions.

Up next, the men are scheduled to race downhill on the Saslong track Saturday. Steven Nyman (Sundance, Utah) is expected to make his return to the World Cup circuit on the track where he has claimed all three of his World Cup downhill victories.

Ganong, who admits he’s off to a slow start this season, finishing 35th in Wednesday’s downhill training, and not finishing Thursday training run, hopes to continue to build confidence with two months remaining before the 2018 Olympic Winter Olympics in Saturday’s downhill.

“It was kind of a rough start to the season, so I’m just trying to build some confidence from race to race and find the speed and find the race gear,” Ganong said. “When it’s going well, it’s super easy. When it's not going well it’s really hard and you’re questioning everything.

“Ski racing is such a simple sport, but the margins are so small, a half a second separates you from a really good day to a really bad day,” he continued. “I’m taking it day-by-day and hopefully I’ll be building into the Olympics - that’s the goal.”

Weather Scrubs Women’s Val d’Isere Downhill

For the second-straight day, snow and wind have combined to cancel downhill training on the women’s FIS Ski World Cup circuit in Val d'Isere, France. FIS Officials have canceled Saturday’s scheduled downhill and replaced it with super-G, which is re-scheduled from last week’s canceled race in St. Moritz. The women will also race super-G Sunday in Val d’Isere.

RESULTS
Men’s super-G

HOW TO WATCH
All times EST
Saturday, December 16
4:30 a.m. – Women’s super-G; Val d’Isere – Olympic Channel TV
6:00 a.m. – Men’s downhill; Val Gardena – Olympic Channel TV
5:00 p.m. – Women’s super-G; Val d’Isere – NBCSN (same day delay)
6:00 p.m. – Men’s downhill; Val Gardena – NBCSN (same day delay)

Sunday, December 17
3:30 a.m. – Men’s giant slalom run 1; Alta Badia – olympicchannel.com
3:30 a.m. – Women’s super-G; Val d’Isere – Olympic Channel TV
6:00 a.m. – Men’s giant slalom run 2; Alta Badia – Olympic Channel TV
3:30 a.m. – Women’s super-G; Val d’Isere – NBCSN (same day delay)

The FIS Alpine Ski World Cup “White Circus” speeds on to the second leg of its tour this weekend in Val d’Isere, France for the women and Val Gardena, Italy for the men. Though weather has presented a challenge on both sides, let’s hope things calm a bit for the weekend so the athletes can show what they’ve been working on all prep period. Now’s the time. We’re on the #RoadToPyeongChang after all.

Lindsey Vonn (Vail, Colo.) arrived in Val d’Isere feeling and looking like an entirely new woman after suffering from a back injury during the super-G at St. Moritz, Switzerland last weekend. In an interview with NBCSN, she said, “I know my skiing is solid and I'm looking forward to putting it all together on race day.” She’s not thinking about the pain, but rather noted she just needs to keep her back loose and prepare for race day. Along with Vonn, Laurenne Ross (Bend, Ore.) looks to progress in her return from a knee injury at the end of last season and find the confidence to “send it” this weekend in Val d’Isere. She’ll be doing it in front of her father, who came to watch her race. Vonn’s father, Alan Kildow, also came to cheer on his daughter.

The women’s speed squad is deep and on any given day, any of these women are podium potential athletes. Watch them do something special this weekend—that is, if the weather gods are watching over them. Cross your fingers and hope these athletes can win a Val d'Isere cow and some local Beaufort cheese.

From volleyball to dance shenanigans, and shopping to the annual White Elephant gift exchange—a tradition started long ago by head coach and resident Santa Claus Chip White—​​​​​​​the week has been full of holiday cheer and good vibes. And on Thursday, Vonn took time to wish one of her biggest fans, named Hedda, a very happy birthday. Hedda has been battling cancer for the past few years and is one of the biggest fighters the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Team has ever encountered. We hope you join us in wishing Hedda a happy 15th birthday. 

Over in Italy, the men are enjoying the most white and wintry Saslong classic downhill in years. It’s a vision of angelic epic proportions in the Dolomites at the moments. And even that seems to be an understatement. With the Saslong towering over the track, it offers some of the most surreal views on tour…and the American Downhillers simply love it.

​​​​​​Earlier in the week, the American Downhillers attended a cooking class at the team hotel on their day off, learning the secrets to their lasagna. It must have helped, seeing as though the first training run saw Jared Goldberg (Holladay, Utah) setting the pace, followed by Wiley Maple (Aspen, Colo.) in second and Bryce Bennett (Squaw Valley, Calif.) in ninth. The second training run wasn’t much different, with Maple in 10th and Bennett in 13th. They’re feeling good and ready to rock.

Much of that confidence comes from the man at the helm, John “Johno” McBride, who also hails from Aspen and was a longtime coach of the U.S. Ski Team in the Bode Miller and Daron Rahlves era. No doubt his renegade style has made a difference with the team this season. Is he surprised about the downhill training results? Nope.

“I think we’re good,” he said on Thursday. “It was kind of a funky day today. But I think everyone is in a good place. Conditions on the track are good—fog was in and out today, which made for a long day of training. But overall, the track is good.” The boys are ready. And the American Downhillers will be led by veteran and three-time Olympian Steven Nyman (Sundance, Utah). For the first time since he blew his knee last January, he’ll be racing. He’s been missed, and no doubt his leadership will lift the rest of the crew. He has that special kind of effect. It also helps that Nyman has snagged his three World Cup victories on the Saslong, earning him the much-deserved title of “King of the Saslong.” Welcome back, Steven. #BelieveInSteven, right?!

From there, Ted Ligety (Park City, Utah) will lead the tech men into battle at Alta Badia, where Ligety has won twice and Tommy Ford (Bend, Ore.) and Tim Jitloff (Reno, Nev.) have also grabbed some of their best results. 

Steve Schlanger and U.S. Ski Team alumni Steve Porino and Doug Lewis will call the action in the coming days. See who to watch and where to catch all the action below.

WOMEN’S STARTERS

Val d’Isere (downhill and super-G)
Stacey Cook
Julia Mancuso
Alice McKennis
Alice Merryweather
Breezy Johnson
Laurenne Ross
Lindsey Vonn
Jackie Wiles

MEN’S STARTERS

Val Gardena (downhill and super-G)
Bryce Bennett
Tommy Biesemeyer
Ryan Cochran-Siegle
Travis Ganong
Jared Goldberg
Wiley Maple
Steven Nyman
Andrew Weibrecht

Alta Badia (giant slalom)
David Chodounsky
Ryan Cochran-Siegle
Tommy Ford
Tim Jitloff
Ted Ligety
Hig Roberts

HOW TO WATCH (times ET)

Friday, December 15
6:00 a.m. – Men’s super-G; Val Gardena – Olympic Channel TV

Saturday, December 16
4:30 a.m. – Women’s downhill; Val d’Isere – Olympic Channel TV
6:00 a.m. – Men’s downhill; Val Gardena – Olympic Channel TV
5:00 p.m. – Women’s downhill; Val d’Isere – NBCSN (same day delay)
6:00 p.m. – Men’s downhill; Val Gardena – NBCSN (same day delay)

Sunday, December 17
3:30 a.m. – Men’s giant slalom run 1; Alta Badia – olympicchannel.com
3:30 a.m. – Women’s super-G; Val d’Isere – Olympic Channel TV
6:00 a.m. – Men’s giant slalom run 2; Alta Badia – Olympic Channel TV
3:30 a.m. – Women’s super-G; Val d’Isere – NBCSN (same day delay)

RESULTS
Men’s Downhill Training 1
Men’s Downhill Training 2

START LISTS
Men’s Super-G

Education is a cornerstone of athletic success. To help further the education of athletic coaches, U.S. Ski & Snowboard has launched a new online Learning Management System (LMS). The new platform will create a channel to deliver education when and where members choose.

The new learning system is debuting this year with an online component of U.S. Ski & Snowboard’s Level 100 Coach Certification program across all sports. Additional programming for coach education, officials training, club development, athlete education and parent engagement are in the works, as is internal training for staff.

“The introduction of an online learning system will greatly enhance our ability to provide consistent education on more topics to more U.S. Ski & Snowboard members,” said Sport Development Director Jon Casson. 

The LMS is available through the organization’s new website at education.ussa.org. The system is run using the popular Moodle platform, a widely used LMS with a base of 95,000 individual sites and 125 million users. The system is open to any U.S. Ski & Snowboard member alpine coach seeking to complete their Level 100 certification. Other sports will be coming online later this season.

U.S. Ski & Snowboard is also supporting the efforts of its partner organization United States of America Snowboard and Freeski Association (USASA) at education.usasa.org.

The system is being managed by U.S. Ski & Snowboard’s new Coach Education Manager Chris Packert. A lifelong skier and ski instructor, Packert brings a wealth of education background to the organization. Prior to joining the U.S. Ski & Snowboard team, Packert managed online learning programs for NASA, U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security, the U.S. Marine Corps, American Public University and the Western Governors University.

“I’ve gained a wealth of knowledge working in online education programs for some of America’s most noted governmental agencies,” said Packert. “I’m anxious to bring that experience into the sport that I truly love.”

The new Alpine Ski Level 100 Coach Certification program available now is a blended learning program incorporating several courses that participants complete prior to attending an on-snow clinic with a trained clinic leader.  After passing an on-snow assessment of skill demonstration, coaching ability and movement analysis, the participants return to the online platform to complete a final exam. Throughout the process, participants also complete a portfolio where they describe in detail how they will utilize their learning in their daily coaching practice.

The online modules are designed to give coaches a solid foundation in the fundamentals of effective coaching and a base of understanding in the specific components of the sport.  Based on the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Training Systems, the online modules in the L100 course are divided into two sections: Coaching Core Competencies and Sport Specific Topics.

Coaching Cord Competencies
•    Coaching Roles and Responsibilities
•    Coach Ethics and Philosophy
•    Coach Pedagogy
•    Long Term Athlete Development
•    Training Environments
•    Athlete Mental Skill Development (under development)
•    Physical Literacy and Physical Fitness (under development)

Sport Specific Modules
•    Fundamental Technical Skills
•    Tactical Applications
•    Equipment Selection and Preparation
•    Competition Rules and Pathways

Following the launch of the Alpine Ski L100 program in November, sport-specific online learning modules will come online soon including snowboarding, freeski, cross country and nordic combined. Cost for the Alpine Level 100 program is $160.00.