Under the sunshine at Aspen Highlands, Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team athlete and 2021 World Junior Slalom Champion Ben Ritchie emerged victorious at the slalom kickoff of the U.S. Alpine Championships. Middlebury College's Erik Arvidsson was second, and Garret Driller rounded out the podium in third. 

Due to the forecasted warm weather, organizers made the decision to move the program up, with an early 7:30 a.m. first run start. The decision proved to be a good move, as the sun burned through the clouds at the end of the second run, roasting the surface. The course crew did a great job with the conditions considering the temperatures, and the surface was surprisingly solid and skiable. 

"This morning we all thought that it was going to be one of the worst races of the year, but the snow is way better than I would ever expect it would have been...even with the warm weather," commented the 20-year-old Ritchie. "So, hopefully, it will stay like that through the week."

It was a tricky, offset first run set that kept the athletes on their toes and turning all the way down. It also meant there were a lot of DNFs—33 to be exact, including World Cup mainstay Jett Seymour. Aspen local Bridger Gile also went out first run, having run into trouble at the bottom of the course, straddling. After the first run, Luke Winters was in first by .45 seconds over Arvidsson, with Greece's AJ Ginnis in third, .51 off the Winters' pace. 

As the sun burned through the clouds second run, the surface started to soften slightly, and 18 more athletes DNFed, including Ginnis, as well as Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team athletes Isaiah Nelson (in sixth after first run) and Winters. Ritchie had the fastest second run time to take the victory by a nearly one-second margin (.84) over Arvidsson, with Driller 1.35 off Ritchie's pace in third. 

After a successful season over in Europe, headlined by his first Europa Cup slalom victory, a top-15 (13th place) result at World Championships, and a World Junior Championships gold medal in slalom, the national slalom title was the icing on the cake to Ritchie's season. 

"It's definitely been a really different season than I would have ever expected—had its weird moments with COVID and ups and downs with results," reflected Ritchie. "But, I think throughout the whole year I made a really solid, steady increase in my racing performance in skiing, which eventually turned out to have some good results at World Juniors, World Championships, and some good skiing here and there. I'm happy with the progress I made this year...it's nice to finish with a Nationals win—I've never won before—and I'm excited for what next year holds."

The 2016 World Junior downhill champ Arvidsson, who had a strong season in Europe, with three Europa Cup downhill top-five results including two victories and an eighth place at the FIS Ski World Cup downhill in Saalbach, Austria—his first World Cup points—will be one to watch the entire week at U.S. Alpine Championships, with his best events yet to come. 

The three fastest juniors for the day were Ritchie—who is in his final year as a junior, followed by University of Utah's Wilhelm Normannseth, and Australian Henry Heaydon. 

Looking back to one year ago when 2020 U.S. Alpine Tech Championships were slated to take place at Aspen, it's a miracle the event is able to happen at all this season. Despite the fact that there are no spectators and limited media at the event, there is a sense of gratitude for the ability to race at all. Fans can follow the action via Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. 

Up next for the men is giant slalom on Tuesday, headlined by Colorado native River Radamus. 

The 2021 U.S. Alpine Championships at Aspen is contingent on local and state health department approvals based on existing and future COVID-19 rules and regulations. FIS, U.S. Ski & Snowboard, the local organizing committee, and Aspen Snowmass are taking a unified approach consistent with guidance from federal, state, and local health authorities. 

RESULTS
Men's slalom

2021 U.S. Alpine Championships at Aspen - Event Schedule
Tuesday, April 6, Giant Slalom National Championships, Men
Wednesday, April 7, Super-G/Alpine Combined National Championships, Men
Friday, April 9, Downhill Training, Men/Women
Saturday, April 10, Downhill Training, Men/Women
Sunday, April 11, Downhill National Championships, Men/Women
Tuesday, April 13, Super-G/Alpine Combined National Championships, Women
Thursday, April 15, Giant Slalom National Championships, Women
Friday, April 16, Slalom National Championships, Women

Media:

Virtual Media Hub

Media Contacts:

Aspen Snowmass
Tucker Vest Burton, (970) 300-7020, [email protected]  

U.S. Ski & Snowboard
Megan Harrod, (435) 714-9393, [email protected]

The 2021 U.S. Alpine Championships will kick off on Monday with men's slalom for the Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team and will run through April 16th at Aspen Highlands. The event will include men’s and women’s downhill, super-G, giant slalom, slalom, and alpine combined.

The U.S. Alpine Championships will take place after Highlands has closed for public skiing this season and restrictions will be in place to ensure compliance with COVID-19 health and safety protocols. This means no spectators and limited media will be invited to the event. 

While FIS Ski World Cup mainstays like Breezy Johnson, Mikaela Shiffrin, Paula Moltzan, Jackie Wiles, Bryce Bennett, and Travis Ganong will be getting some much-needed R&R, tackling sponsor shoots, equipment testing, and/or hitting the gym in preparation for the 2021-22 Olympic season, regular World Cup point scorers such as Nina O'Brien, Bella Wright, Laurenne Ross, AJ Hurt, Ben Ritchie, Luke Winters, and Jared Goldberg will headline the event in Aspen.

Katie Hensien, Jett Seymour, Sam Morse, and Middlebury College athlete Erik Arvidsson—who had a breakout year on the World Cup highlighted by an eighth-place in downhill at the World Cup in Saalbach, Austria as well as two Europa Cup downhill victories—are also expected to compete. 

Aspen was originally set to host the 2021 NorAm Cup Finals from April 5-16, though COVID-19 and travel restrictions between the U.S. and Canada forced the removal of the event from the schedule. Aspen was quick to step up, expressing interest in hosting the U.S. Alpine Championships at Aspen. 

The 2021 U.S. Alpine Championships at Aspen is contingent on local and state health department approvals based on existing and future COVID-19 rules and regulations. FIS, U.S. Ski & Snowboard, the local organizing committee, and Aspen Snowmass are taking a unified approach consistent with guidance from federal, state, and local health authorities. 

2021 U.S. Alpine Championships at Aspen - (Revised) Event Schedule
Monday, April 5, Slalom National Championships, Men
Tuesday, April 6, Giant Slalom National Championships, Men
Wednesday, April 7, Super-G/Alpine Combined National Championships, Men
Friday, April 9, Downhill Training, Men/Women
Sunday, April 11, (Two-Run) Downhill National Championships, Men/Women
Tuesday, April 13, Super-G/Alpine Combined National Championships, Women
Thursday, April 15, Giant Slalom National Championships, Women
Friday, April 16, Slalom National Championships, Women

Media Contacts:
Aspen Snowmass
Tucker Vest Burton, (970) 300-7020, [email protected]  

U.S. Ski & Snowboard
Megan Harrod, (435) 714-9393, [email protected]

In an essay written for Outside Magazine on the topic of legacy, Olympic champion and winningest female alpine ski racer of all-time, Lindsey Vonn, says former teammate and Olympian Breezy Johnson is America's next great downhiller. 

Johnson, who grabbed her first FIS Ski World Cup podium in the downhill at Val d'Isere, France in December, and then went on to grab three more consecutive third-place results, had the best season of her career during the 2020-21 season, ending up ranked fourth in the downhill standings. 

In the essay, Vonn reflects on her career and the meaning of "legacy,"

When you retire from a career as a professional athlete, the most common question people ask is: What is your legacy? That’s an incredibly hard question to answer, but I will try now to find the words.

I met my idol, Picabo Street, when I was nine years old. She was signing autographs at a ski shop in Minnesota. After just two minutes with her, I knew that I wanted to become an Olympian. Little did either of us know that nine years later we would be racing together in the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. 

This winter, nearly two decades later, I asked her the same question I have struggled to answer. To my surprise, she said: “You. You are my legacy.” I admit we shared a few tears as we acknowledged the impact we had on each other. 

She goes on to talk about teammate Johnson, and the bright future she has in the sport. 

There are many incredible women in the field right now, but one who I am most excited to watch grow is Breezy Johnson, a 25-year-old from Jackson Hole, Wyoming, who nabbed her first spot on a World Cup podium in December at Val d’Isère, France. 

Johnson Stats

• Career-first World Cup podium, Val d’Isere, France (Dec. 2020). From there, she scored three more consecutive third-place finishes.
• In six downhill starts, she was top five in five starts and only DNFed once
• Despite a big mistake at Cortina in DH, she ended up ninth…but was gunning for the win
• Finished the season with a career-best super-G result of 10th in Val di Fassa, Italy
• She ended up ranked fourth in the world in downhill – her best-ever ranking

Vonn closes with, "Legacy is not what you leave behind, it is how you help push others forward."

Read the full article on OutsideOnline.com

Following what was possibly the most memorable and grit-filled season of her career, two-time Olympic champion and six-time world champion Mikaela Shiffrin stayed in Europe to test equipment in Austria with Atomic immediately following World Cup Finals—a vital opportunity she missed out on after the 2020 season ended abruptly. It was time to get back to work, and Shiffrin is more motivated than ever before. 

Of course, this is something her competitors should be a bit concerned about because despite the tragic year she endured compounded with COVID setbacks, and only one-third of her normal preparation heading into the season, Shiffrin still walked away with 10 podiums in 16 FIS Ski World Cup starts, including three victories, four World Championship medals and records to boot. And yet, fans and the media speculated that the Shiffrin of the past was no longer. 

Mikaela Shiffrin 2020-21 Stats:

• 10 podiums in 16 FIS Ski World Cup starts, including three victories (worst finish sixth)
• Surpassed legend Marcel Hirscher's 67 career victories and ending the season with 69 World Cup victories—third on the all-time World Cup win list behind former teammate Lindsey Vonn (82), and Swede Ingemar Stenmark (86) 
• Second in the world in the giant slalom and slalom standings, and fourth in the overall standings 
• Leader on the World Cup circuit for average World Cup points per race (67.2 points over Swiss Lara Gut's 57.1 points in second) 
• Snagged her 44th career World Cup slalom victory, breaking the women's record for most wins in a single discipline (Stenmark holds the record with 46 in giant slalom)
• Four world championships medals at Cortina 2021 (career-best world champs)
• First skier—male or female—to win four medals at the world championships in 14 years
• Tied with Sweden's Anja Paerson for the most World Championships medals by a woman in the modern era (11)
• Most decorated American alpine skier in World Championships history (11 medals)
• Most World Championship gold medals for American alpine skier (6 gold)
• First American winner of the women’s combined since Tamara McKinney won it in 1989 at the worlds in Vail
• Lara Gut-Behrami beat Mikaela Shiffrin in giant slalom by 0.02 sec, the smallest margin of victory in a giant slalom in world championship history

For anyone else, these numbers would have been an absolute dream, but Shiffrin has shown the world what it's like to be on top so consistently that her 2020-21 results were met with criticism. For Shiffrin, though, not returning to the sport she loved so much after all that occurred in the last 14 months was a very real consideration. Taking that into account, her results deserve to be applauded over and over, and over again. Shiffrin caught up with The New York Time's Bill Pennington after the season to talk shop and make sure people know that she's still very much here, and she's still doing it.

The article reads, 

“It’s true it wasn’t as good a year as I’ve had in the past,” she said, adding that many people around the world, not just ski racers, could say the same thing about the previous 12 months. “But when I look back at this season I’ll be proud. I didn’t even know if there was going to be a World Cup or if I was emotionally ready for it. Then I was injured as the racing was starting, and in bed and not training. I felt like I was playing catch-up.”

Ultimately, her 300-day layoff and atypical results have provided Shiffrin with something significant as the 2022 Beijing Olympics approach: new incentive.

“I’m motivated from what was lacking this year,” Shiffrin, 26, said. “There’s some missing pieces. That’s one of my biggest goals — to get those back.”

So, spending extra time in Europe to equipment test was a no-brainer for the more-motivated-than-ever Shiffrin, who tested both boots and dozens of pairs of skis with Atomic in Kühtai, Austria. What is perhaps most motivating for Shiffrin is the level of depth and consistency across the Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team. She noted that the energy throughout the Team has been better than she's ever experienced in her career. 

Shiffrin is encouraged that the focus on American Olympic ski racing prospects will be more diffuse than it was in 2018, when attention was reserved almost exclusively for her and the now-retired Vonn. Several of Shiffrin’s American teammates had breakout performances this winter, including Paula Moltzan, 26, who placed in the top 10 of the last three World Cup slalom races of the season. Moltzan’s teammate, Nina O’Brien, 23, finished 17th in the season-long giant slalom standings.

In December, Ryan Cochran-Siegle, the son of the 1972 Olympic Alpine gold medalist Barbara Cochran, became the first American man to win a World Cup super-G in 15 years.

“The team has shown a level of depth and consistency,” Shiffrin said, “that I haven’t experienced in my career.”

The 2021-22 season will undoubtedly give fans a lot to get excited about, as the Team had the strongest collective result in years heading into the Olympic season. 

Read the Full New York Times Article

Olympian and Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team athlete Breezy Johnson just wrapped the best season of her career, which started with grabbing her career-first FIS Ski World Cup podium in Val d'Isere, France in December, and scoring four consecutive podiums from there. 

In six downhill starts, she was top five in five starts and only DNFed once. Despite a big mistake at FIS Ski World Championships in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, where she was the favorite, she ended up in ninth...but was gunning for the win. She finished the season with a career-best super-G result in 10th at Val di Fassa, Italy, and ended up ranked fourth in the world in downhill—her best-ever ranking. Aside from teammate Mikaela Shiffrin, and former teammate and downhill legend Lindsey Vonn, Johnson is the first American to crack the top five in the women’s World Cup downhill standings in the last five years.

Of course, this success wasn't immediate or easy for the downhiller, who came back during the 2019-20 season after back-to-back knee injuries. Johnson recently caught up with journalist Brian Pinelli for an interview with SKI Magazine about persevering through mental and physical challenges on and off the mountain. 

Johnson reflected on her season, 

I both exceeded and didn’t exceed my expectations. I had big goals that I knew were achievable. I wanted to win a World Cup race and medal at the World Championships and those didn’t happen.

My skiing has improved a lot, even during the season, especially in super-G. I’m in the best place as far as my skiing abilities, so that’s really cool, but it’s obviously hard when you feel like you’re about to win two races, take over the downhill standings, and win the downhill globe. Then you have one bad day and a DNF. But I’m happy with where my skiing is, and I’m ready to work to have it pay off in an even bigger way.

Read the full article on SkiMag.com.

U.S. Ski & Snowboard is working to cultivate an inclusive environment through diversity, equity, and inclusion measures. A large part in improving these areas is breaking  down barriers to participation in order to make skiing and snowboarding more accessible. SOS Outreach is an organization doing just that. They are dedicated to helping children of all socioeconomic backgrounds experience outdoor adventures and get involved in their communities. Through these outdoor experiences, participants learn different life skills including teamwork, discipline, and the courage to overcome obstacles when success does not come right away.

U.S. Ski & Snowboard and SOS Outreach are working together to create memorable experiences for children interested in skiing and snowboarding. In February Olympic athletes Brita Sigourney and Steven Nyman took part in an outdoor adventure at Park City Mountain skiing with 95 of the children in the SOS mentorship program. Reflecting on the experience, Nyman said, “The kids were fantastic. There were a lot of laughs, fun skiing, good crashes. My favorite time was when we went through the mini park in a train all jumping one after another.” Nyman also noted that participants were “very inquisitive and willing to push themselves on the snow.”

Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team member Kyle Negomir led a video call with SOS Outreach, talking to a group of  children about the life skills they have learned through the program and sharing ways he has learned to fight through adversity in his career. “It was sweet seeing how shy many of them were at first, but after hearing my story and how similar the issues all of us face really are, they started to open up and let me really engage with them.” Negomir stated, “There were a lot of thoughtful questions at the end of the meeting which really made it an organic conversation.” Negomir could not say enough about the great work of SOS Outreach. “Abbey and the rest of the mentors within the program are truly helping these kids learn the skills and character needed to become leaders of their own, and giving them a great outlet to come better themselves,” he added.

The positive feedback received from both athletes and participants speaks to the exceptional work being done at SOS Outreach. Both U.S. Ski & Snowboard and participating athletes are looking forward to future opportunities with the organization. Negomir is already planning for the next adventure, “I’m hoping to be able to help out a bit more this year and beyond, and to recruit some more of my teammates to come talk with the kids once the season is over!”

To learn more about SOS Outreach, visit their website here.

March has seen FIS racing resume in all Western Region divisions.  Far West opened up and has held successful series, along with Alaska.  We have seen Western Region athletes travel to Europe to complete in National Development programming.  Now we have to wish for Winter to continue into Spring so that the Western Region Spring Series at Alpine Meadows & Squaw Valley will be held April 6-11 and the Downhill Series at Mammoth Mountain April 14-19.  

Elite FIS Series - March 15 - 19

Athletes and coaches from many western clubs competed in the Lake Tahoe area for the region’s first Tech Elite Series event of the season.  Sugar Bowl watered the SL hill.  Squaw Valley groomed some new snow over a great racing surface.  Official results can be found at these links:  Sugar Bowl Slaloms & Squaw Valley Giant Slaloms.

U.S. Alpine Championship and NJC

The U.S. Alpine Championship will be held in Aspen, April 5 - 16.  The event schedule can be found on the U.S. Ski & Snowboard website.  The NJC has officially been cancelled due to small field sizes and difficulty scheduling a resort.

Western Region U16/U14 Update

Western Region U16 Championship

The U16 Regional Championship has been confirmed for Mammoth Mtn., April 6 - 9.  The field size is reduced to approximately half of the normal championship field size, due to Covid restrictions.  Selection to the championship event is based on each division’s process.  Check your divisional policies for selection procedures, and Covid protocols and restrictions.  The divisional quotas are listed on page A7 of the Western Region Handbook.

Western Region U16 Spring Project

The U16 National Championship was canceled this season due to the pandemic.  In its place, each region will facilitate a U16 project inviting regional athletes with top performances from their respective regional championships.  The projects will provide national development staff with additional information on athletes moving into their FIS years.  Each region’s project will involve common content, including SkilllsQuest, SkillsQuest-Fitness, freeskiing evaluation, and training across two or more disciplines. 

The Western Region project is scheduled for April 20 - 22 at Squaw Valley.  Athletes will be invited to the Western Region project using the pre-Covid 2020 U16 National Championship selection procedure. 15 athletes from YOB 2005 and 2006 will be invited using this method.  Up to five additional athletes from YOB 2005 will be invited based on discretionary requests from the five divisions.  The total project size is 20 women and 20 men. 

Western Region U14 Spring Project

For the 2nd year in a row, Covid-19 has forced the cancellation of the Western Region U14 Championship.  Therefore, the region is conducting a U14 Spring Project at Squaw Valley, April 15 - 18.  A regional task force made up of representatives from each division has been planning this project since the early season to give U14 athletes an opportunity to engage at a regional level.

The project will focus on GS and SG progressions with an emphasis on terrain management, and will end with full-length SG runs.  The project size is 45 women and 45 men.  Each western division will select athletes using their division’s U14 qualification events.  Divisional quotas have been redistributed using a percentage of the championship quotas.  Look for a detailed project announcement in the coming weeks.

Western Region Staff

World Junior Ski Championships

The 2021 World Junior Ski Championships recently concluded in Bansko, Bulgaria, where Team USA celebrated two SL medals: gold from Ben Ritchie (Green Mountain Valley School) and bronze from AJ Hurt (Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows Ski Team), on the way to a 6th place finish overall in the Hodler Cup team ranking.  Other notable performances included Isaiah Nelson (Buck Hill Ski Club) finishing in the top-10 in both SG and GS, Zoe Zimmermann (Burke Mountain Academy) finishing 6th in SL, and Cooper Puckett (Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club) winning the U18 competition in SG.  This year’s WJSC event was shortened due to the pandemic, with the DH, AC, and Team events not contested and nation quotas cut in half.  Still, the organizers successfully created a COVID-safe bubble for the athletes and coaches, and they hosted exceptional races on the same venue where the men’s World Cup races were held in early March. 

College Skiing

In early March, Tiger Shaw, Jesse Hunt, and Chip Knight hosted a video-conference call with EISA and RMISA college coaches to further discuss initiatives that are being taken to build bridges between the U.S. Ski Team, U.S. Ski and Snowboard and college athletes.  Among the key points was to describe how the uniquely American college skiing system fits into the national alpine program as a way for athletes to remain competitively engaged in the sport into their early 20s, and to continue to further their elite development through exposure to the NorAm and Europa Cup levels of competition.  Additional items discussed were: improving channels of communication, advance planning to avoid FIS-UNI and NorAm calendar conflicts; preparation period training opportunities; more transparent World Cup qualification pathways and support; modifications to USST criteria, and some of the notable success stories from the year of collegiate athletes achieving higher-level results in Europe: Paula Moltzan, Katie Hensien, Erik Arvidsson, Alex Leever, Jett Seymour, and Andrew Miller.

National Development Group European Trips

This month, regional coaches Kristina Revello, Rich Smith, and Fletcher McDonald each led National Development trips in Europe.  The goal was to provide junior athletes with higher-level competitive exposure to prepare them for future NorAm, World Juniors, Europa Cup and World Cup competition.  Each of the groups adhered to the U.S. Ski Team COVID policies and procedures, operating within a strict bubble to be as safe as possible.  While many of the athletes achieved podium performances during the trips, Oliver Morgan (Burke Mountain Academy), Benny Brown (Park City Ski and Snowboard), Camden Palmquist (Team Summit), and Jay Poulter (Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club) notably posted race wins on European turf. 

U.S. Alpine Championships

The 2021 U.S. Alpine Championships will be held in Aspen, CO from April 5-16.  This event will take the place of the previously scheduled NorAm Finals, which were unable to be contested due to ongoing Canadian travel restrictions.  The event will be held at 50% of traditional field sizes, and it will be staggered by gender to stay within the 100-athlete maximum COVID field size restriction.  The men will start with technical events, moving into SG and AC, before overlapping with the women for DH.  The Championships will conclude with women’s SG, AC, GS, and SL events.  Second FIS events will also be held in SG, AC, and DH to add additional race opportunities in the speed events.  On behalf of U.S. Ski & Snowboard, we are all looking forward to being in Aspen for the National Championships!

Junior National Championships

U.S. Ski & Snowboard staff worked hard to try to calendar a Junior National Championship this year.  Unfortunately, due to COVID-related concerns, we were unable to gain the necessary approvals to move forward with a viable Championship event.  Special thanks go out to our partners at Loveland and Breckenridge for being willing to host the races.  We will look forward to the 2022 Junior Nationals next year, and to seeing our best juniors from around the country competing together. 

Alpine Guide to Ski Fundamentals

The newly updated version of the Alpine Guide to Ski Fundamentals is now available!  This is a classic coaching resource that has been utilized by coaches across our country for many years. In addition to the drill progressions that coaches have grown to expect, you will also find several updated resources to help your athletes develop their technical and tactical skills. 

Purchase on the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Coaches Shop: 

• Alpine Guide to Ski Fundamentals- Single Guide - $19.99
• Alpine Guide to Ski Fundamentals- 10 pack - $179.99
• Alpine Guide to Ski Fundamentals- 20 pack - $359.99

Two-time Olympic champion and six-time world champion Mikaela Shiffrin battled a lot in the last 14 months. From the tragic loss of her father to the global pandemic, and then a back injury that had her sidelined for the first FIS Ski World Cup race of the 2020-21 season, it seemed like nothing was in her control. Except for, maybe, her workouts, and her workout playlist (Taylor Swift, of course).

The Wall Street Journal's Jen Murphy took time ahead of the final races of the season to connect with Shiffrin and talk about everything from her garage workouts to her journey back to the top of the podium.

As Murphy wrote, 

The only thing skier Mikaela Shiffrin could control this past year was her workout soundtrack: Taylor Swift. Due to coronavirus, the two-time Olympic gold medalist and six-time world champion found herself preparing for her comeback season in her home garage using equipment hacks and video coaching. She became one more avid exerciser trying to keep fit without a gym.

The 26-year-old took a mostly involuntary break of 10 months from racing last year. After a six-week hiatus following the February 2020 death of her father, Jeff Shiffrin, she tried to return last March, just as the pandemic shut the world down. An October back injury sidelined her further. After years of domination, she entered the 2020-21 season in unfamiliar territory: coming from behind.

“I’ve had to play catch-up all season,” she says. “For quite a while I was the one being chased. I felt like I was the one writing the playbook and everyone else was reading it. This year I have other skiers to watch. It’s been motivating to be the one chasing.”

While her European competitors trained on glaciers during the North American summer, Ms. Shiffrin barely touched skis. “My training program and schedule changed completely,” she says. Typical training trips to South America were off due to travel bans. And when the state-of-the-art gym where she trains in Avon, Colo., shut down, she scrambled to buy equipment online to create a home gym.

Read the full article at WSJ.com

Mikaela Shiffrin finished out the season with yet another podium, snagging second in the 2021 FIS World Cup Finals giant slalom in Lenzerheide, Switzerland and securing second place in the giant slalom standings. Nina O’Brien was 12th.

19-year-old Alice Robinson of New Zealand—who burst onto the scene in 2019-20 after winning the opening World Cup in Soelden—had struggled to find the podium in 2020-21 until the Jasna World Cup two weeks ago. And she reminded fans that she has returned to form, throwing down a blazing second run to take the win by .28 seconds ahead of Shiffrin. Meta Hrovat of Slovenia was third.

Shiffrin was leading after first run by only .10 seconds, and with the bumpy conditions, she lost a little bit of time to falter to second. But she was still thrilled with another podium to finish off the season. “It was a fight,” said Shiffrin. “Some of it I was having a little bit of trouble, but for the most part, I enjoyed my skiing again. It wasn’t quite enough to win, but it was some really good turns in both runs today. I feel like I have a really good direction with my GS skiing and that’s a really good spot to end the season.”

Nina O’Brien took 12th place with a fast second run to conclude a banner season full of personal best results and seven top-20s for the athlete. She was 17th overall in the giant slalom standings and ended up top-15 on the World Cup Start List.

Surprising only Shiffrin, who wasn’t aware of the standings until a media member reminded her, Shiffrin finished second overall in the giant slalom standings. Marta Bassino of Italy won the giant slalom crystal globe and Tessa Worley of France was third.

Sunday was Shiffrin’s 10th podium in a row, including World Championships. She also scored 10 podiums out of the 16 World Cups she entered throughout the season and won three of the races. At World Champs, she captured four medals. And she was second in both the slalom and giant slalom standings. Her results were particularly impressive, having gone 300 days between races after her father’s death in early 2020, which was difficult emotionally, and battling a COVID-ridden season, which made finding adequate training hard. “It’s been quite wild—a little bit beyond my hopes or dreams even,” she said. “There were a lot of moments I didn’t think we would do the season at all with the pandemic. I was also uncertain about myself personally. It’s quite incredible to be here now and have a good amount of success. It’s also a really big step to get back to this place to be fighting for the podiums in almost every race.”

The overall title was handed to Petra Vlhova of Slovakia. Swiss teammates Lara Gut-Behrami and Michelle Gisin were second and third, respectively. Shiffrin, who had only raced in technical events on the World Cup throughout the season, was fourth.

The men raced slalom Sunday, with Manuel Feller of Austria taking the win with a fast second run. Clement Noel of France was second and his teammate Alexis Pinturault rounded out the podium in third. 2021 World Junior slalom champion Ben Ritchie was the only Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team athlete to start and was skiing fast—ranked in 14th place at the last split—before going out and DNFing. But keep an eye on Ritchie next season; he has been getting faster and faster each race.  

Marco Schwarz of Austria won the slalom crystal globe with Noel in second and Ramon Zenhaeusern of Switzerland in third. Pinturault won the overall globe, having clinched it on Saturday.

The race day marked the end of a strange 2020-21 season. What’s next for Shiffrin? “I’m going to go for some training!” she laughed. “I need a little bit of time to fix some things, but I’m ready to go for next season. I’m a little bit tired, but mostly I feel quite a bit of motivation.”

RESULTS
Women’s World Cup Finals giant slalom
Men’s World Cup Finals slalom

GIANT SLALOM STANDINGS
Women

SLALOM STANDINGS
Men

OVERALL STANDINGS
Women
Men

HOW TO WATCH
*All times EDT.

Sunday, March 21
1:30 p.m. FIS World Cup Finals Women’s Slalom, next-day broadcast, Lenzerheide, SUI, Broadcast NBC

Monday, March 22
12:00 a.m. FIS Alpine World Cup Finals Women’s Giant Slalom, next-day broadcast, Lenzerheide, SUI, Broadcast NBCSN
1:00 a.m. FIS Alpine World Cup Finals Men’s Slalom, next-day broadcast, Lenzerheide, SUI, Broadcast NBCSN