On Wednesday, the International Ski Federation (FIS) officially announced that the World Cup opening races in Soelden, Austria will take place one week earlier, on Oct.17-18 rather than the originally planned October 24-25 dates. The women's giant slalom will be on Oct. 17, while the men's giant slalom will be on Oct. 18. 

The Austrian Ski Federation has noted they will move the races one week earlier to better separate the World Cup event and athletes from tourist crowds on what is traditionally a holiday weekend in Austria. They also hope it will help with accommodations. The federation said the races on the Rettenbach glacier will be held “without a large number of spectators.”

Two-time Olympic champion and Land Rover ambassador Mikaela Shiffrin, and 2019 Xfinity Birds of Prey World Cup victor Tommy Ford will headline the Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team at the event, along with teammates two-time Olympic champion Ted Ligety, Olympian Ryan Cochran-Siegle, and seven-time National Champion Nina O'Brien, among others. 

The full World Cup schedule, which runs from October through March is still on the FIS website as originally planned, including usual stops in the U.S. and Canada in late November and early December, plus the February FIS Ski World Championships in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy. 

Read more on NBCSports.com. 

Olympian, Land Rover ambassador, and "King of the Saslong," Steven Nyman, suffered a right Achilles tendon injury at a recent on-snow camp at Official Training Site Timberline Resort & Ski Area. Steven, a 38-year-old veteran of the men's speed team and the leader of the pack/mentor to fellow teammates, has dealt with his fair share of injuries, including his left Achilles tendon in November of 2011. 

In 2016, Nyman did something no other American Downhiller has done—podiuming four races in a row, starting with the PyeongChang Olympic test event in Jeongseon (third) and then Chamonix (second), Kvitfjell (third), and St. Moritz (second). In 2017, Steven started the season off strong with a third-place finish in Val Gardena then grabbing a top 10 in Kitzbuehel. The fourth race of the season in Garmisch, Nyman was having the fastest run of the day until he crashed off a jump badly injuring his knee.

He rehabbed all summer at the U.S. Ski Team's Center of Excellence and was ready for the 2018 Games in PeyongChang, where he medaled at the test event and felt "at one with the course", though his 2018 Olympic dreams were cut short when he injured his other knee—a clean ACL tear—almost to the day of his injury just one year prior (364 days) on the infamous, bumpy, dark Garmisch Kandahar track.

Despite another devastating setback, Steven worked his way back once again, and during the 2018-19 season ended the season ranked 16th in downhill, with three top-10 finishes, including a fifth place (less than one tenth of a second off the podium) at his favorite track in Val Gardena, Italy just .03 seconds behind his teammate and mentee Bryce Bennett, and .04 seconds ahead of teammate Travis Ganong. During the 2020 season, Steven finished ranked 20th in downhill and 26th in super-G—his best career super-G rank since 2007, when he was ranked 25th. 

If anyone can do come back stronger, it's Steven Nyman...so make sure to send those positive #BelieveInSteven vibes his way, as he's stoked for the upcoming season, which will feature the FIS Ski World Championships in his favorite region of Italy—the Dolomites at Cortina d'Ampezzo. 

Steven announced his injury in an Instagram post on Thursday, saying, 

My reality for the next bit. Tore my right Achilles in a ski crash a few days ago at Mt. Hood. Had surgery, but I am moving forward. I've been through this before and have full intention to comeback and compete through the next Olympics. Thank you to the @usskiteam medical team I have been working with, and others around the world sending me in the right direction. #BelieveInSteven

 

 

 

 

 

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My reality for the next bit. Tore my right Achilles in a ski crash a few days ago at Mt. Hood. Had surgery, but I am moving forward. I've been through this before and have full intention to comeback and compete through the next Olympics. Thank you to the @usskiteam medical team I have been working with, and others around the world sending me in the right direction. #BelieveInSteven

A post shared by Steven Nyman (@steven_nyman) on Aug 6, 2020 at 6:34pm PDT

Due to ongoing developments of COVID-19, the September FIS Masters races and training camp in South America are officially canceled for 2020.  The message from the FIS Masters Chairman read "Considering that the health and welfare of all participants are in the forefront and the priority of all stakeholders, the OC at Catedral/Bariloche (ARG), in conjunction with the National Federations of Argentina, Brazil and Chile, decided to cancel the South-American FIS Masters Cup competitions scheduled to take place in Bariloche September 15th to 20th, 2020. The OC expressed its desire to organise those competition in the next year and we hope to be able to welcome all of you to enjoy the beautiful scenery of Bariloche and the resort of Cerro Catedral/Alta Patagonia."

At this point, the races scheduled later November through April remain on the 2020-2021 FIS Masters Calendar. We encourage racers to continue monitoring the COVID-19 restrictions and guidelines for both domestic and international travel as the season progresses. At this point it is recommended by the CDC that non-essential international travel be avoided. U.S. Ski and Snowboard is developing COVID-19 recommendations and will be posting updates at usskiandsnowboard.org/covid-19. 

As a result of the FIS Masters race cancellation, the masters race training camp scheduled prior organized by Lisa Ballard is also cancelled. See more of Lisa's masters camps and more training opportunities as the Masters Training Page. We will continue to update the training page as information becomes available. A sampling of the domestic 2020-2021 Fall/Winter Training Camps is posted below.

This list is only a sampling of what is available - see the Division Training Links section of this page and click on your local division to see a full listing of opportunities. 

Lisa Ballard Race Camps

  South American Masters Race Camp - NEW LOCATION!
  Bariloche, Argentina
  September 9-20, 2020 CANCELLED due to international travel COVID restrictions
  camp + 6 FMC races
  Camp will return in 2021!

  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!

  Hunter Mountain Masters Camp + 2 Races - benefits Mid-Atlantic Masters
  Hunter Mountain, NY
  January 5-10, 2021

  Mount Snow Masters Race Camp - benefits New England Masters
  Mount Snow, VT
  January 12-15, 2021

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

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

Pratte Ski Camps
Copper Mountain, CO
Various options October 24 - November 14, 2020
 

U.S. Elite Camps
Copper Mountain, CO
November 2020

GTI Sports
Copper Mountain, CO
October 24 - October 31 and/or October 31 - November 7, 2020
Mt. Bachelor, OR
TBD

As part of a three-blog series highlighting ELITEAM alumnus and current Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team athlete Jimmy Krupka contributed to the ELITEAM blog with a "Day in the Life" piece highlighting his workout regimen. 

This summer we have 500 athletes following ELITEAM’s new “Dig Deep” Online Summer Training Program. With so many athletes working hard, striving to reach their goals and dreaming of the podium, we thought it fitting to give them a look behind the curtains to see what it takes to make it. Our “Summer Training Series” continues with a feature on an ELITEAM Alum recently named to the US Ski Team, Jimmy Krupka.

Jimmy will be traveling and training with the B Team this year. He generously took the time to document one full day of workouts, nutrition and mental skills training to share with us. What does a typical day look like for a top level athlete? Read on to experience “a day in the life” of a top athlete pursuing his dreams.

A DAY IN THE LIFE…
From 7:00am to 10:30pm, Jimmy takes us through a double workout day. From supersets to stretching, teammates to technique, he gives us a running commentary on his training day. It won’t take long for you to see he’s a smart, dedicated athlete, and knows how to dig deep…and enjoys it!

Check out the entire piece on the ELITEAM blog. 

Two-time Olympic champion, Land Rover Ambassador and winningest slalom skier of all-time Mikaela Shiffrin recently caught up with Mackenzie Moran from Ski Racing Media, prior to her on-snow camp at Official Training Site Timberline Lodge and Ski Resort in Mt. Hood, Ore. for a profile heading into the 2020-21 FIS Ski World Cup season.

With the global pandemic wreaking havoc on the United States, there are many unknowns for Mikaela and her fellow Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team athletes heading into the 2020-21 season, which is slated to feature the 2021 FIS Ski World Championships in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy. 

In the piece, Mikaela discusses everything from COVID and quarantine to becoming her own CEO and beyond. 

Mikaela Shiffrin: winningest slalom skier of all time (43). World Cup record-holder for most wins in a single season (17). Fulfilled child prodigy on track to become the winningest female skier of all time (currently with 66). Three-time World Cup overall champion, two-time Olympic gold medalist. 

Her athletic accolades continue to accumulate. But Shiffrin’s goal ahead of the 2020-21 season is not to break more records; it’s to set the record straight. For over a year, Shiffrin’s personal life has slowly unraveled into a state of turmoil. The season ended abruptly, without closure, after an attempted comeback in Are, Sweden. Then, the COVID-19 outbreak consumed the world and sent Shiffrin and the U.S. Ski Team home without a satisfying conclusion to the season. 

Rather than a return to normalcy, finding solace and escape through skiing, the 25-year-old woman became physically isolated, like most of the world, and was forced to wade through an uncharted territory of emotions in ways she’d never imagined. 

“Everybody keeps saying 2020 really stinks because of COVID. But this stay-at-home order is the only thing that’s allowing us to bring back some sanity or any kind of control over our lives.”

Mackenzie and Mikaela also touch on the logistical issues associated with the current global landscape, and how that might affect American athletes heading into the upcoming season. 

Physically getting to Europe will be a whole other battle. Travelers from the United States are currently barred from entering the European Union. Shiffrin’s passport is also nearly unusable, not because it’s about to expire, but because there isn’t a lot of room left for stamps. (And the U.S. passport office has been taking its time getting her a new one.) In light of the restrictions, Shiffrin is investigating and working toward visa exceptions, not just for her, but for her team personnel and teammates. She questions when getting to Europe will even be possible, if at all. She recently reached out to the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee to pressure the organization to find solutions sooner rather than later. FIS has not yet canceled Soelden, and October is quickly approaching. If she manages to get across the pond, returning stateside may not be an option. She’ll be in good company, as every American athlete in Europe this winter will likely face a choice: to commit and stay for seven months or remain in the U.S.

Check out the full article on SkiRacing.com.