The 2020-2021 Alpine Masters Preliminary Schedules have been announced. More events will be added in the coming weeks as resorts announce decisions from their event departments. It will be a different year for sure, but Masters will be racing! 

When you renew your U.S. Ski & Snowboard membership, be sure to add Alpine Master to your cart so you are ready to go for race day! Athletes 18+ can add Masters to the higher priced coach or competitor membership for no additional charge or pay the difference to add Masters to a lower cost membership. Athletes 18-24 may also use the non-scored athlete membership to race in Masters regular season events. If you have already renewed, you can contact member services to add the Alpine Masters Membership to your account. 

First days on snow are not far away! Here is a list of fall race camps - see usskiandsnowboard.org/masters/masters-training for more opportunities as well as links to the training page for each division. See a training opportunity missing? Contact us    or your division leadership and let them know!

Be sure to research travel restrictions for both your home location and the camp location. Some have mandatory quarantine periods, testing requirements, and other COVID-19 related restrictions.  

Lisa Ballard Race Camps

  Big Sky, MT Thanksgiving Masters Camp - benefits BSSEF
  Big Sky, MT November 21-25, 2020

  6th Annual Dust-the-Rust-Off Masters Race Camp + Race - benefits SRSEF
  Red Lodge Mountain, MT December 7-10, 2020
  The last day is a GS race!

Midwest Masters Fall Copper Camp
Copper, CO November 29 - December 2, 2020

Tichy Racing Camps
Copper Mountain, CO October 25 - November 1, November 1-8, November 8-15, November 15-22, 2020

GTI Sports
Copper Mountain, CO October 24 - October 31, 2020
Location TBD November 29 - December 5, 2020
Mt. Bachelor, OR December 13-18, 2020

Peak Performance Ski Camp
Copper Mountain, CO November 16-23, 2020 (Adult camp)and various options November 23 - December 7, 2020 (Ages 9- Adult)

WILLSKI LLC and Lakers Alpine Race Team Camp (coached by Will Nourse)
Winter Park, CO
November 10-14,  November 17-21, November 24-28, December 1-5, 2020 

With nearly perfect conditions on the Soelden glacier to kick off the 2020-21 season, Tommy Ford was the top Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team athlete in the men’s opening FIS World Cup on Sunday, finishing 22nd.

While the boisterous Austrian crowd was absent from the annual giant slalom this year due to COVID-19, 20-year-old Lucas Braathen of Norway made fans smile from home as he emotionally took home his first World Cup win. Swiss teammates Marco Odermatt and Gino Caviezel rounded out the podium in second and third. 

Tommy, who finished fourth in Soelden last year and had two GS podiums in the 2019-20 season, has been battling both a shoulder and back injury during the offseason and was happy about his performance. “I feel like I skied pretty well,” he said. “I’ve been struggling with my body, so it’s nice just to be on snow and have two decent runs. We have some testing to do, but otherwise, I think I was solid mentally, and with my skiing, and this is a good place to move from. I’m psyched to be racing again.”

It was a disappointing day for Ted Ligety, who has won Soelden a record four times and been in the top-five nine times. He was on his way to another stellar result after taking 10th first run, but lost his ski early in his second run and did not finish.

Sporting a mullet, River Radamus ran bullet second run and skied a smart, safe run to finish 27th and start his season strong with his second giant slalom World Cup points. “I skied smooth. I skied powerful. But I skied too round and left speed on the table,” said River. “I feel happy with where my skiing is at and now I just need to make sure I’m taking it for all it’s worth and pushing the pace, pushing the line and taking more chances out there.”

River said he worked hard throughout the offseason both physically and mentally – “I worked my a** off this summer!” – and while he’s pleased with the points score, he’s hunting for more. Look out for him to make some big moves this season.

Both Ryan Cochran-Siegle and George Steffey did not finish first run. Bridger Gile did not qualify for a second run.

Now that the first World Cup weekend has wrapped, the U.S. men and women have some training time before heading to Lech, Austria, for parallel events in November.

RESULTS
Men’s giant slalom

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Paula Moltzan kicked off the 2020-21 season with a bang in Soelden, Austria on Saturday, skiing from bib 62 to take 10th place—her best FIS Ski World Cup finish ever. Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team teammate Nina O’Brien snagged her best-ever giant slalom result, finishing 15th.

Marta Bassino of Italy battled her teammate Federica Brignone for the victory to take the first World Cup win of the season. Slovakia’s Petra Vlhova was third.

As per the 2020 trend, the season started off strangely, with no crowds at the usually raucous World Cup opening event on the Soelden glacier. But social distancing, masks, and significantly less training time than previous years didn’t seem to cause a hiccup for Paula, who attacked from the back first run to ski into 17th place. And she kept that momentum going through second run, crushing Soelden’s famed sustained steep pitch to finish 10th—her career-best World Cup result.

Normally known as a "slalom specialist" with seven points-scoring slalom finishes throughout her years on the World Cup, this was only Paula’s second World Cup giant slalom and her first time making a second run in giant slalom.

“I’m a bit shocked! I knew I was skiing well through training and I had a lot of people tell me it was there, but for it to actually come to fruition in the race is mind-boggling,” said Paula. “But I’m really happy with how I skied and happy that both Nina and I today got into the top 15. I think it's really a strong statement for the U.S. to come into our first race this strong."

While on-snow training time was shortened due to the pandemic, the former University of Vermont skier and NCAA slalom champion, Paula credits her result to her time in the gym during the extended offseason. “Starting April 1 until September when we came to Europe, I just worked out every day twice a day for a long time with not a lot of breaks,” said Paula. “I think that really played into how my skiing has improved. I guess you should listen to your trainers, right?!”

Nina’s 15th place was also a banner result for her, her best finish in either giant slalom or slalom, which she attributes to the strong prep period the U.S. women had in Hintertux, Austria, Saas-Fee, Switzerland, and some indoor skiing training leading up to Soelden. “We’ve been having fun, but are trying to be really focused and getting stuff done on the hill,” said Nina. “It’s pretty cool when it shows up on race day.”

Notably missing from Saturday’s World Cup opener was two-time Olympic champion Mikaela Shiffrin, who is recovering after tweaking her back in training. But she was on the mind of her teammates, who said she been a huge help in preparing the women for the race she’s podiumed at five times. “Mikaela is a great supporter of all the girls that raced today,” said Paula. “I know it was a hard decision for her to not race, but she’s been really helpful. She sat down with us and talked about the race hill. I was texting her all week and she’s been super supportive, which is really nice.”

Kelly Cashman and AJ Hurt also started the giant slalom, but did not make second run.

The women will cheer on their male teammates Sunday at Soelden with Ryan Cochran-Siegle, Tommy Ford, Bridger Gile, Ted Ligety, River Radamus and George Steffey starting for the Americans. After Soelden, the U.S. women have a break before heading to Lech, Austria for parallel races November 13.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH: https://live.oesv.tv/ (link will activate prior to race)
Sunday, Oct. 18, Men’s GS: Run 1 - 4:00 AM ET / Run 2 - 7:15 AM ET

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Official event hashtag: #worldcupsoelden

UPDATE - Oct. 16: The FIS Ski World Cup kickoff is now available to view LIVE in the United States AND Canada! Tune in this Saturday and Sunday as we kick off the season at the Rettenbach glacier in Soelden, Austria with women’s and men’s giant slalom races. 

CLICK HERE TO WATCH: https://live.oesv.tv/ (link will activate prior to race)
Saturday, Oct. 17, Women’s GS: Run 1 - 4:00 AM EDT / Run 2 - 7:00 AM EDT
Sunday, Oct. 18, Men’s GS: Run 1 - 4:00 AM EDT / Run 2 - 7:15 AM EDT

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The much anticipated return to competition will kick off this weekend on the Rettenbach glacier in Soelden, Austria. Though a familiar face—two-time Olympic champion Mikaela Shiffrin— will be missing this weekend due to the fact that she tweaked her back in training last week, 2019 Xfinity Birds of Prey World Cup victor Tommy Ford, two-time Olympic champion Ted Ligety, and seven-time national champion Nina O'Brien will be leading the way for the Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team. 

In what is always considered a bit of an outlier race of the season because no one knows what to expect after the long offseason, the FIS Ski World Cup will kick off on Saturday, Oct. 17 with the women’s giant slalom, while the men will step into the start gate on Sunday, Oct. 18. The 2019-20 season came to an abrupt end when COVID-19 struck last March, and though the North American races have been cancelled, athletes and staff are full of gratitude for the opportunity to have a season at all. 

The U.S. Alpine Ski Team skied less this summer than past years due to travel restrictions imposed as a result of COVID-19, which meant athletes tried to squeeze in as much training domestically as possible, between official training sites Copper Mountain, Colo. and Timberline Lodge and Ski Area in Mt. Hood, Ore., as well as Mt. Bachelor in Bend, Ore. 

Not only is the “White Circus” dealing with unknowns associated with COVID-19, but the World Cup season also was pushed to one week earlier than originally scheduled. We caught up with Tommy, who had his career-best season in 2019-20, finishing the season with two podiums, including his .80 second win on home turf at Birds of Prey, and ranked fifth in the world in giant slalom. Last year, he finished fourth in the Soelden World Cup opener. 

“The offseason was an odd one,” he reflected. “It allowed for a slower progression of strength training which was nice until I hurt my shoulder. We had an awesome camp at Mt. Bachelor in June and then I separated my AC joint while mountain biking. While recovering from that my Dad, Uncle and I started building a shed. Spending more time at home than I have in recent history was nice, but strange. Like with a race approaching, staying anchored and present was tough throughout the lockdown, the social unrest and the wildfires. I think everyone got a taste of what added tension does to our psyche. Love one another. For now, it's nice to be on snow and able to feel that free flowing feeling. Looks like a race could even happen this weekend.”

Now veteran of the Team, Ted has had his fair share of success at the venue, including four victories, seven podiums, nine top-five finishes, and 11 top-10 finishes. Last year, Ted finished in fifth place, behind teammate Tommy Ford (who finished fourth), and ahead of Ryan Cochran Siegle’s 11th place finish—a career best giant slalom finish for him. The young guns, Bridger Gile, George Steffey, and River Radamus, will round out the start list for the men. This will be 2020 NorAm overall, giant slalom and alpine combined winner Bridger’s (who just had a birthday on Oct. 15) first World Cup start, and George’s first World Cup start at Soelden. 

Typically known as a slalom specialist, 2017 NCAA Slalom Champion (University of Vermont Cats), Paula Moltzan, will be starting in just her second World Cup giant slalom start, but don’t let that number fool you. Keep an eye on Paula, as she’s been skiing fast in training and she’s very likely to be the dark horse from the back of the pack. “This is going to be my first time racing Soelden, and I’m a little nervous and a little excited to see what all the hype is about,” said Paula on Thursday after training at Schnalstal, Italy. “I’ve heard some horror stories and glory stories, so I’m excited to see how it pans out for me.” 

Nina O’Brien, who finished in the top-30 in four out of six giant slalom starts last season, will lead the women’s tech team. She had her career-best World Cup giant slalom finish at Soelden last year, landing in 21st place. Keep an eye out for up-and-comers, two-time national champion AJ Hurt and 2020 NorAm overall winner + World Juniors bronze medalist Keely Cashman, this weekend as well. 

Follow along via Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, as we will work to keep you as up-to-date as possible on the weekend with exclusive content and interviews. 

WOMEN’S STARTERS
Keely Cashman
AJ Hurt
Paula Moltzan**
Nina O’Brien

MEN’S STARTERS
Ryan Cochran-Siegle
Tommy Ford
Bridger Gile*
Ted Ligety
River Radamus
George Steffey**

*Denotes first World Cup Start
*Denotes first World Cup start at venue

SPYDER UNIFORM UNVEIL 
Check out the Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team women's and men's uniform unveiling below and get HYPED: 

 

 

 

 

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Introducing: this year’s @landroverusa U.S. Alpine Ski Team look, courtesy of @spyderactive...and the awesome tech duo of @nina_obrien and @paulamoltzan. We can’t wait to get this party started. 🔥🔥🔥#spyderactive

A post shared by U.S. Ski Team (@usskiteam) on Oct 15, 2020 at 3:52am PDT

 

 

 

 

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So psyched to unveil the @landroverusa U.S. Alpine (men’s) Ski Team @spyderactive kit for 20-21!! @riverradamus and @bridger_gile getting our stoke levels rising from @soelden.official for the @fisalpine World Cup opener. 📶 More to come with the full uniform unveil in November. 👌🥳 #spyderactive

A post shared by U.S. Ski Team (@usskiteam) on Oct 15, 2020 at 7:18am PDT

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Official event hashtag: #worldcupsoelden
 

It's been eight months since two-time Olympic champion Mikaela Shiffrin has stepped in the FIS Ski World Cup start gate. The World Cup opener at Soelden, Austria on Oct. 17th was set to be her return to competition, but on Friday Mikaela announced on social media that she will sit the season opener out due to a tweaked back.

 

 

 

 

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As most of you probably know (if you don’t then mark your calendars now!) the @fisalpine World Cup opener at Soelden is just over one week from today 🥳🥳... but much to my disappointment, I will not be able to start this year🤦‍♀️. After tweaking my back skiing last week, I have been advised to sit Soelden out to let my back heal so I can race the rest of the season. Having started in Soelden for the last eight years straight, this feels...really frustrating and strange (for lack of better words). Luckily, this injury will heal and I will be back in the start soon... (and I can’t wait😏). While this is a bummer to not be racing myself, I am super psyched to watch my teammates compete. They are looking strong, fast, and fired up 🤟🤟. I’ll be cheering as loud as I can for our US women and men next weekend and I hope you will be too! I want to thank everyone, from my sponsors to the media, to the fans, the U.S. Ski Team staff and my teammates, and especially my hometown community, family and friends, for your support in this whole process and for helping me get back out there doing the sport I love. YA’LL... this is HAPPENING. With all the uncertainty throughout this year, we are only ONE WEEK (and a day) away from the start of the World Cup season and that is something to be really excited about🥳🥳. Okay, maybe my countdown has been delayed, but the big countdown is ON and I can’t wait for it to start. I’m wishing the best to everyone racing in Soelden, and I’ll see you all soon👍👍. (📸: Dad🤍)

A post shared by Mikaela Shiffrin ⛷💨 (@mikaelashiffrin) on Oct 9, 2020 at 4:58am PDT

Next up, Mikaela will plan to head back to the States to rest and recover, and her return to competition is TBD, but as she says "Luckily, this injury will heal and I will be back in the start soon... (and I can't wait.)." 

Two-time Olympic champion Mikaela Shiffrin was featured among female sports legends in Sports Illustrated's recently launched "The Unrelenting" issue, introducing their list of "the most powerful, most influential and most outstanding women in sports right now—the game-changers who are speaking out, setting the bar and making a difference." 

As Sports Illustrated states, 

“Everyone thinks women should be thrilled when we get crumbs, and I want women to have the cake, the icing and the cherry on top, too.”

Those were the words famously spoken by tennis legend Billie Jean King in 1970 as she led a crusade calling for female players to earn equal prize money. Throughout her career and in the decades since that proclamation, King has championed equality and social justice and her efforts have created opportunities for both women and the LGBTQ community—and at age 76, she’s still charging on.

That’s why King kicks off The Unrelenting, Sports Illustrated’s list celebrating the women in sports who are powerful, persistent and purposeful in their pursuits—for athletic greatness, gender equality, social justice and more. Women who are innovating, influencing and inspiring. Women who are showing up, speaking out, setting the bar and making a difference, both inside and outside of competition.

From athletes and activists, to executives, coaches and more, the group of honorees is diverse and spans a variety of sports and fields, but all of the women share a common thread: They’re all changing the game.

Athletes and game-changers like Serena Williams, Naomi Osaka, Megan Rapinoe, Simone Biles, Allyson Felix, and beyond, were mentioned in the article, and Mikaela posted on Twitter Wednesday that she's honored to be featured among them. 

Wow. 🙇‍♀️
It’s such an honor to be mentioned alongside legends like @BillieJeanKing, @serenawilliams, @naomiosaka, @Simone_Biles, @allysonfelix + more. Humbled. Thank you so much, @SInow. And thank you to all of those who paved the way for us in sport. 😊 https://t.co/yiUQLBm3fc

— Mikaela Shiffrin (@MikaelaShiffrin) October 7, 2020

Back in February, Mikaela did a shoot with Sports Illustrated for their March cover. It was February 1st, 2020—an unusually warm day in Alpe Cimbra, Trentino, Italy, home of the official European training base for the Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team. Olympic and World Champion and FIS Ski World Cup overall leader Mikaela Shiffrin was there to begin a training block, but she was also there to achieve yet another career-first: become the first Olympic athlete in this sport era to receive a solo Sports Illustrated cover outside of an Olympic year.

The evening of that shoot, Mikaela and her mother Eileen received a call that would change their lives forever and bring their world to a screeching halt. Mikaela's father Jeff had been in an accident. They traveled back to Colorado on the first flight they could, to spend their last hours with their beloved father and husband. Greg Bishop, from Sports Illustrated, wrote a beautiful piece for the cover issue. 

Throughout the last several months, Mikaela has announced her involvement as a Kindness Wins Champion with Kindness Wins, auctioned off gear to help those affected by COVID in her home state of Colorado, wrote songs dedicated to Barilla factory works in Italy to help them keep their spirits up, played music, spoke out against social injustice on social media, helped to launch the Jeff Shiffrin Athlete Resiliency Fund, in her father's honor—a fund created to help bridge the funding gap created as a result of COVID-19 setbacks for all athletes across all U.S. Ski & Snowboard sports, and more. Fast forward to Sports Illustrated's "The Unrelenting" issue, just released. 

The youngest slalom champion in Olympic history; the youngest skier to earn 50 World Cup race wins; the first skier—of any gender—to earn $1 million in prize money in a single season; the girl who for years has worn an ABFTTB (“Always Be Faster Than the Boys”) decal  on her helmet: It’s no secret that Shiffrin dominates her sport like no other athlete. After her father’s unexpected death in February and cancellations due to the coronavirus, the 25-year-old has confronted the many challenges of 2020 head on. With a changed perspective, Shiffrin is using her platform to make a difference, developing a more powerful, outspoken voice on racism and social justice and creating the Jeff Shiffrin Athlete Resiliency Fund, in honor of her father, to help athletes who have been impacted by the pandemic.

Read the full article on si.com.

On September 21, two-time Olympic champion and Land Rover ambassador Mikaela Shiffrin announced the Jeff Shiffrin Athlete Resiliency Fund, in honor of her father who tragically passed away on February 2, 2020. Several international publications, including The New York Times, featured the launch of the Jeff Shiffrin Athlete Resiliency Fund.

A longtime friend of U.S. Ski & Snowboard, and esteemed journalist Bill Pennington, wrote an exclusive about Mikaela, the fund, finding her voice and speaking out on social media, as well as her return to competition amidst all of the unknowns associated with COVID-19 and beyond. 

Bill wrote, 

Usually at this time of year, Mikaela Shiffrin, the seven-time Olympic and world ski champion, is building the mental fortitude to dominate another ski racing season.

But the last several months have staggered and changed Shiffrin, 25. In February, while she was competing in Europe, her father, Jeff, died in an accident at home in Colorado. After taking a six-week break from competition, Shiffrin decided to return to racing only to have the season’s final events canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic, denying her a last chance to defend her multiple World Cup titles.

Returning to Colorado, Shiffrin — in a first — found a more potent voice on social media in support of calls for racial justice. Many of her followers, used to cheerful workout or dance videos, mounted a bitter backlash. Shiffrin’s response: “Wanna ‘Unfollow?’ I’ll see you to the door.”

The Jeff Shiffrin Athlete Resiliency Fund campaign will benefit ALL athletes across ALL sports at U.S. Ski & Snowboard. Bill continued, 

The Jeff Shiffrin Athlete Resiliency Fund, launched by U.S. Ski and Snowboard, the governing body for several Olympic winter sports, is meant to assist athletes in multiple sports whose training was cut short this year or whose travel expenses have skyrocketed in the pandemic. The fund was started by six families with a history of making winter sports donations who offered to match contributions raised through the website up to $1.5 million.

New safety guidelines and travel restrictions have ballooned the cost of transporting roughly 175 American winter sports athletes around the globe.

Tiger Shaw, the U.S. Ski and Snowboard president and chief executive, said coronavirus testing protocols alone would add $1 million to his budget. A mandated quarantine for a single team arriving in Europe from the United States might mean the added expense of housing and feeding 45 athletes and staff for 14 additional days. Adding to the fiscal strain, the organization’s biggest fund-raising events cannot be held as usual because of social distancing practices.

“We don’t want any of our athletes to feel at a disadvantage heading to the Olympics, which are coming up fast,” Shiffrin said. “We want the fund to bring awareness to how much resiliency is out there right now because everybody has conquered so much this year. Obviously, on a personal level, I feel that.”

Read the full piece on NYTimes.com.

Beyond the New York Times, Mikaela made several appearances on other media outlets to announce the new fund, including the following:

TODAY Show
Rich Eisen Show
On Her Turf
MSN
Yahoo News
Olympic Channel