Thirteen freeskiers and eight snowboarders are ready to represent the U.S. at the FIS World Cup slopestyle competition in Seiser Alm, Italy Jan. 24-27. This is the third time that Seiser Alm Snowpark has hosted a World Cup snowboard and freeski event.

“I look forward to coming to Seiser Alm every year,” said Lyon Farrell (Haiku, Hawaii). “The park is absolutely epic, and the people are too. I am so excited to be headed back to compete!”

Joining Farrell in the snowboard competition are numerous U.S. Snowboard Team athletes including Brandon Davis (Mammoth Lakes, Calif.), Ryan Stassel (Anchorage, Alaska), Chandler Hunt (Park CIty, Utah) and Sean Fitzsimons (Hood River, Ore.). Also, Americans Eric Beauchemin (Harrisburg, Penn.), Will Healy (Riverside, Conn.) and Dave Retzlaff (Holly, Mich.) are set to compete.

For the freeskiers, U.S. Freeski Team member Colby Stevenson (Park CIty, Utah) will be leading the way alongside Americans Deven Fagan (Brownfield, Maine), Kernan Fagan (Brownfield, Maine), Peter Raich (Park City, Utah), Tim Ryan, (Waterville Valley, N.H.), Ryan Stevenson (Washington, N.J.), and Quinn Wolferman (Missoula, Mont.). For the women, Julia Krass (Hanover, N.H) is searching for the win with teammate Eileen Gu (San Francisco, Calif.) who is coming fresh off her first World Cup podium in Font Romeu, France. In addition, U.S. Rookie Team members Grace Henderson (Madbury, N.H.), Marin Hamill (Park City, Utah), Rell Harwood (Park City, Utah), and American rail master Taylor Lundquist (Park City, Utah) will compete.

The freeski men are chasing U.S. Freeski Team’s own Alex Hall (Park City, Utah) and Mac Forehand (Winhall, Vt.) who currently hold the top two spots in the World Cup slopestyle standings. Meanwhile, Gu will be looking to take over PyeongChang Olympic gold medalist Sarah Hoefflin from Switzerland, who is currently sitting in the top position in the standings. With Gu just behind Hoefflin and coming in with momentum from Font Romeu, look for Gu to step her game up in Seiser Alm. In addition, Krass will focus on significantly improving her current position - 13th in the World Cup slopestyle standings.

On the snowboard side, following the Laax World Cup in Switzerland, Farrell is currently sitting in ninth in the World Cup standings trying to catch his teammate and current standings leader, Chris Corning (Silverthorne, Colo.) who is leading the World Cup standings in slopestyle. Ryan Stassel (Anchorage, Alaska) is in 12th and Sean Fitzsimons (Hood River, Ore.) is in 18th.

The 2018 Seiser Alm World Cup proved to be a very successful stop for U.S. Ski & Snowboard athletes topping the podium in three of four competitions. Caroline Claire (Manchester Center, Vt.) finished first alongside two-time Olympic medalist Nick Goepper (Lawrenceburg, Ind.), and Chris Corning (Silverthorne, Colo.). U.S. Ski & Snowboard athletes will be pushing to continue this success at the 2019 FIS World Cup slopestyle in Seiser Alm, Italy.

STANDINGS
Men’s World Cup freeski slopestyle
Women’s World Cup freeski slopestyle
Men’s World Cup snowboard slopestyle
Women’s World Cup snowboard slopestyle

HOW TO WATCH
All times EST
*Same-day broadcast

FREESKIING
Sunday, Jan. 27
6:30 a.m. - Men’s and women’s slopestyle - Seiser Alm, Italy - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
7:00 a.m. - Men’s and women’s slopestyle - Seiser Alm, Italy - Olympic Channel-TV*

SNOWBOARDING
Saturday, Jan. 26
6:30 a.m. - Men’s and women’s slopestyle - Seiser Alm, Italy - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold

 

U.S. Ski & Snowboard has announced a new year-long lip care partnership with Aubío Life Sciences. Aubío will be an associate sponsor of 2019 FIS Snowboard, Freestyle and Freeski World Championships, presented by Toyota, and will be activating at the events as well as at Mammoth Grand Prix, U.S. Alpine Championships and NASTAR Nationals. As the official cold sore treatment gel of U.S. Ski & Snowboard, Aubío will provide high quality lip care to some of the world’s greatest athletes.

“Winter sports can be hard on your skin, so we are excited to be partnering with Aubío Life Sciences, making life on the road and competing comfortable for our athletes and staff. Aubío’s Cold Sore Treatment Gel is Labdoor Sports certified, and we are proud to partner with a company as committed to safety as we are,” said U.S. Ski & Snowboard’s Chief Marketing Officer Dan Barnett.

The latest venture for the billionaire philanthropist, serial entrepreneur, and environmental activist John Paul DeJoria, co-founder of Paul Mitchell Hair Systems and Patron Spirits, is Aubío Life Sciences. Aubío focuses its vision on helping people to manage troublesome skin conditions. “I have invested in this company to make a tremendous difference, and I hope that people will be very pleased with wonderful results and the high quality behind Aubío,” said DeJoria.

With only two weeks to go until the 2019 FIS Snowboard, Freestyle and Freeski World Championships, presented by Toyota kicks off in Utah, many of the athletes expected to compete are well on their way to ensuring they are in the best possible physical condition to pull off a podium-worthy performance. But while the principles of physical preparation - getting enough sleep, eating well, avoiding overtraining, etc. - are fairly similar, the way each athlete readies themselves psychologically for this huge event - considered second only to Olympic competition - are very different.

For freestyle aerialist Ashley Caldwell (Park City, Utah), the 2019 World Championships holds significance in a number of ways. First, having lived and trained in Park City for the past seven years, she’s looking forward to competing in her own backyard. Second, this season Caldwell is recovering from shoulder surgery after she injured it the day before competing in the 2018 PyeongChang Olympic Winter Games. And finally, she not only won the aerials competition at the 2017 World Championships but did so by landing a full-double-full-full, the most difficult jump successfully completed by a female aerialist ever.

“My signature style is to perform the hardest tricks and that’s my plan for the 2019 World Championships, but this injury has put me on the little different trajectory."
 - Ashley Caldwell

Caldwell will have competed in just one other event this season prior to stepping into the White Owl jumps start gate during the World Championships next month. And so to alleviate some of the obvious pressure this event will present, Caldwell is looking forward to staying as busy as possible in the days leading up to the competition while stretching just a little more or going to bed just a little earlier. She hasn’t decided whether or not she’ll go for a repeat performance of a full-double-full-full - Caldwell considers several factors when deciding what jumps to perform and often doesn’t make a final decision until the day of competition. “But then again, Deer Valley is the most hyped-up event of our season where you get to feel like a rock star,” she says. “And the weather could be terrible, my shoulder might be feeling not great and yet because the crowds are so great and the volunteers are so great, I could be pushed to want to do something really awesome.”

Mogul skier Bradley Wilson’s (Park City, Utah) sentiments for Deer Valley are similar to Caldwell’s. “Deer Valley has been a World Cup moguls venue for so long, and I grew up watching and competing in plenty of events there, including seeing Jonny Moseley pull off the Dinner Roll and Shannon Bahrke win two medals there during the 2002 Olympic Winter Games,” he says. “Because of that, the Champion moguls run is really considered a hallowed ground for moguls skiers. I don’t know any athlete that doesn’t look forward to competing there.”

But sacred or not, because of its length, pitch and size of the jumps, Champion is also considered one of the most challenging moguls courses in the world. Wilson admits that it’s taken him a while to figure out how to keep the pressure presented by any one event - World Championships and others - from holding him back. His strategy: focusing on performance rather than results. “In judged sports like moguls, getting too results oriented can take away a lot of the fun of competing,” he says. “And so I have learned to just show up and do what I know how to do.” And when his day to compete in the World Championships arrives, Wilson figures he has two choices.

“I can let it take my breath away or I can just smile and enjoy it. I’m going to choose to take the second option.”
 - Bradley Wilson

Snowboardcross athlete Lindsey Jacobellis (Stratton Mountain, Vt.) maintains her perspective by considering every competition - X Games, World Cup, the Olympics and World Championships - in the same way. “Yes, World Champs has a bigger crowd, marketing and TV time,” Jacobellis admits. “But the field will include all the same athletes I have been racing with for years. I just focus on what I have to do and remember how long I have been doing this and have been successful.”

The 2019 World Championships’ mixed gender snowboardcross team event will present a new and different aspect of competition for Jacobellis, but one that she’s fully embracing and looking forward to.

“I am so excited to mix things up. The men and women always train and race on the same course and the ladies are fully capable of being in the mix with the men. We are still figuring out what the race format will be, but it will be a really fun and exciting race, especially as a spectator - the ultimate relay race!”
 - Lindsey Jacobellis

As of press time, halfpipe skier Brita Sigourney was actually still working on getting back into competition headspace. She had just returned from a two-week break - spent powder skiing in Japan with her parents and boyfriend - and was at Copper Mountain for her first day back in the halfpipe. “Because every competition was an Olympic qualifier, last year was really stressful and so I decided to take a break this year, which I’ve never done before,” Sigourney says. Sigourney’s plan leading up to the World Championships include “skiing like I know how” at the X Games (January 24 – 27), and taking care of herself. “I’m not as young as many of the athletes and need to take more time managing some aches and pains,” and having fun. “Park City is where I live and I’m really excited to get to compete in front of my friends, my family and my boyfriend’s family.”

Spectator Information Guide: https://2019worldchamps.com/general/

HOW TO WATCH
All times EST
Preliminary broadcast schedule, subject to change
Streaming schedule TBA
*Same-day broadcast
**Next-day broadcast

Friday, Feb. 1
1:00 p.m. - Men and women's snowboardcross finals - NBCSN

Saturday, Feb. 2
3:00 p.m. - Men and women’s skicross finals - Olympic Channel
9:00 p.m. - Men and women’s freeski big air - Olympic Channel

Sunday, Feb. 3
1:00 a.m. - Men and women’s skicross - NBCSN**
1:00 p.m. - Team snowboardcross - Olympic Channel
3:30 p.m. - Men and women’s freeski big air - NBCSN**
5:00 p.m.-  Team snowboardcross - NBCSN*

Monday, Feb. 4
3:00 p.m. - Parallel giant slalom - Olympic Channel
7:30 p.m. - Parallel giant slalom - NBCSN*

Tuesday, Feb. 5
3:00 p.m. - Parallel slalom - NBCSN
9:00 p.m. - Men and women’s snowboard big air - NBCSN

Wednesday, Feb. 6
1:00 p.m. - Men and women’s freeski slopestyle finals - NBCSN
9:00 p.m. - Men and women’s aerials - Olympic Channel

Thursday, Feb. 7
12:00 a.m. - Men and women’s aerials - NBCSN*
9:00 p.m. - Team aerials - NBCSN

Friday, Feb. 8
1:00 p.m. - Men and women’s snowboard halfpipe - NBCSN
9:00 p.m. - Men and women’s moguls - NBCSN

Saturday, Feb. 9
1:00 p.m.- Men and women’s freeski halfpipe - NBC
9:00 p.m.- Men and women’s dual moguls - Olympic Channel

Sunday, Feb. 10
2:00 a.m. - Men and women’s dual moguls - NBCSN**
1:00 p.m. - Men and women’s snowboard slopestyle - Olympic Channel
4:30 p.m. - Men and women’s snowboard slopestyle - NBC*

EVENT SCHEDULE
All times MST (local time)

Friday, Feb. 1
11:00 a.m. - Snowboardcross final - Solitude Mountain Resort

Saturday, Feb. 2
1:00 p.m. - Skicross final - Solitude Mountain Resort
7:00 p.m. - Freeski big air final - Canyons Village - Park City Mountain

Sunday, Feb. 3
11:00 a.m. - Team snowboardcross final - Solitude Mountain Resort

Monday, Feb. 4
1:00 p.m. - Parallel giant slalom final - Park City Village at Park City Mountain

Tuesday, Feb. 5
1:00 p.m. - Parallel slalom final - Park City Village at Park City Mountain
7:00 p.m. - Snowboard big air final - Canyons Village - Park City Mountain

Wednesday, Feb. 6
11:00 a.m. - Freeski slopestyle final - Park City Village at Park City Mountain
7:00 p.m. - Freestyle aerials final - Deer Valley Resort

Thursday, Feb. 7
7:00 p.m. - Freestyle team aerials final - Deer Valley Resort

Friday, Feb. 8
11:00 a.m. - Snowboard halfpipe final - Park City Village at Park City Mountain
7:00 p.m. - Freestyle moguls final - Deer Valley Resort

Saturday, Feb. 9
11:00 a.m. - Freeski halfpipe final - Park City Village at Park City Mountain
7:00 p.m. - Freestyle dual moguls final - Deer Valley Resort

Sunday, Feb. 10
11:00 a.m. - Snowboard slopestyle final - Park City Village at Park City Mountain

Lindsey Vonn (Vail, Colo.) has 12 FIS Ski World Cup victories at Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, and she’ll have three opportunities to add to that total when she returns to the World Cup circuit this week with a pair of downhills and a super-G at the Italian resort. NBC Sports Gold will provide exclusive live streaming of Vonn’s return on Friday at 6:00 a.m. EST. NBC Sports Network will rebroadcast Vonn’s return with a rebroadcast of the women’s downhill at 7:00 p.m. EST Friday.

Vonn was scheduled to race last week in St. Anton, Austria, but heavy snow canceled the downhill and super-G events. The canceled downhill is rescheduled for Friday at Cortina d’Ampezzo, while the super-G has yet to be rescheduled. “I was really excited to race this weekend in St. Anton,” Vonn posted on Instagram last week, “but even more excited that it was rescheduled for Cortina next weekend ... at one of my favorite venues.”

Mikaela Shiffrin (Avon, Colo.), fresh off her latest World Cup giant slalom victory in Kronplatz, Italy, Tuesday, has indicated she will not participate in the Cortina downhill events but will be in the start house for Sunday’s super-G. Saturday and Sunday’s Cortina events, in addition to the men’s alpine combined, downhill and slalom in Wengen, Switzerland, will broadcast on the Olympic Channel, and stream live on OlympicChannel.com and NBC Sports Gold. The NBC Sports Network will also air a one-hour rebroadcast of the women’s downhill and super-G Sunday at 8:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. EST respectively.

Jaelin Kauf (Alta, Wyo.), who was third in FIS Freestyle World Cup moguls in Calgary, Alberta, last weekend, leads a highly-competitive U.S. Freestyle Team into the 2019 Putnam Freestyle Cup in Lake Place, New York, this weekend with FIS Freestyle World Cup moguls and aerials. NBC will air next-day broadcast of each event on Saturday and Sunday at 5:00 p.m. EST. Both Friday’s individual moguls and Saturday evening’s aerials will be streamed live on NBCSports.com and NBC Sports Gold.

Classic events highlight the FIS Cross Country World Cup circuit this weekend in Otepaa, Estonia, with a sprint scheduled for Saturday and women’s 10k and men’s 15k classic races Sunday. Both days will be streamed live on the OlympicChannel.com and NBC Sports Gold, with a re-broadcast each day on the Olympic Channel.

The FIS Snowboard World Cup Laax Open takes place in Switzerland this weekend with slopestyle and halfpipe events. Nineteen U.S. Snowboard Team athletes are participating, including Chloe Kim (Torrence, Calif.) and Chris Corning (Silverthorne, Colo.). All events will be streamed live on OlympicChannel.com and NBC Sports Gold. The Olympic Channel will rebroadcast the slopestyle at 3:00 p.m. EST Friday, and air the halfpipe competition live at 11:30 a.m. EST on Saturday.

HOW TO WATCH
All times EST.
Preliminary schedule, subject to change
*Same-day delayed broadcast
**Next-day broadcast

ALPINE
Friday, Jan. 18
4:30 a.m. - Men’s alpine combined run 1 - Wengen, SUI - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
6:00 a.m. - Women’s downhill - Cortina d’Ampezzo, ITA - NBC Sports Gold
8:00 a.m. - Men’s alpine combined run 2 - Wengen, SUI - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
7:00 p.m. - Women’s downhill - Cortina d’Ampezzo, ITA - NBCSN*

Saturday, Jan. 19
4:30 a.m. - Women’s downhill - Cortina d’Ampezzo, ITA - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
6:30 a.m. - Men’s downhill - Wengen, SUI - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold

Sunday, Jan. 20
4:15 a.m. - Men’s slalom run 1 - Wengen, SUI - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
5:00 a.m. - Women’s super-G - Cortina d’Ampezzo, ITA - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
7:00 a.m. - Men’s slalom run 2 - Wengen, SUI - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
7:00 p.m. - Men’s downhill - Wengen, SUI - NBCSN**
8:00 p.m. - Women’s downhill - Cortina d’Ampezzo, ITA - NBCSN**
9:00 p.m. - Women’s super-G - Cortina d’Ampezzo, ITA - NBCSN*

CROSS COUNTRY
Saturday, Jan. 19
6:55 a.m. - Men and women’s sprint - Otepaa, EST - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
3:00 p.m. - Men and women’s sprint - Otepaa, EST - Olympic Channel-TV*

Sunday, Jan. 20
3:30 a.m. - Women’s 10k interval - Otepaa, EST - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
7:00 a.m. - Men’s 15k interval - Otepaa, EST - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
1:30 p.m. - Women’s 10k interval - Otepaa, EST - Olympic Channel-TV*

FREESTYLE
Friday, Jan. 18
11:00 a.m. - Men and women’s moguls - Lake Placid, N.Y. - NBCSports.com & NBC Sports Gold

Saturday, Jan. 19
5:00 p.m. - Men and women’s moguls - Lake Placid, N.Y. - NBC**
7:00 p.m. - Men and women’s aerials - Lake Placid, N.Y. - NBCSports.com & NBC Sports Gold

Sunday, Jan. 20
5:00 p.m. - Men and women’s aerials - Lake Placid, N.Y. - NBC**

NORDIC COMBINED
Friday, Jan. 18
6:00 a.m. - Men’s HS118 - Chaux-Neuve, FRA - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
10:00 a.m. - Men’s 5k - Chaux-Neuve, FRA - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold

Saturday, Jan. 19
5:30 a.m. - Men’s HS118 - Chaux-Neuve, FRA - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
9:45 a.m. - Men’s 1-k - Chaux-Neuve, FRA - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold

Sunday, Jan. 20
5:00 a.m. - Men’s HS118 - Chaux-Neuve, FRA - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
7:30 a.m. - Men’s 15k - Chaux-Neuve, FRA - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold

SKI JUMPING
Friday, Jan. 18
3:00 a.m. - Women’s individual - Zao, JPN - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
12:00 p.m. - Men’s individual qualifying - Zakopane, POL - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
1:30 p.m. - Women’s individual - Zao, JPN - Olympic Channel-TV*

Saturday, Jan. 19
3:00 a.m. - Women’s team - Zao, JPN - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
10:15 p.m. - Men’s team - Zakopane, POL - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
10:00 a.m. - Women’s team - Zao, JPN - Olympic Channel-TV*
4:00 p.m. - Men’s team - Zakopane, POL - Olympic Channel-TV*

Sunday, Jan. 20
2:00 a.m. - Women’s individual - Zao, JPN - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
12:10 p.m. - Men’s individual qualifying - Zakopane, POL - NBC Sports Gold
8:00 p.m. - Women’s individual - Zao, JPN - Olympic Channel-TV*
7:30 p.m. - Men’s individual qualifying - Zakopane, POL - Olympic Channel-TV*
 

SNOWBOARDING
Friday, Jan. 18
6:00 a.m. - Men and women’s slopestyle - Laax, SUI - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
3:00 p.m. - Men and women’s slopestyle - Laax, SUI - Olympic Channel-TV*

Saturday, Jan. 19
8:00 a.m. - Men and women’s parallel giant slalom - Rogla, SLO - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
11:30 a.m. - Men and women’s halfpipe - Laax, SUI - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold

All streams are available via desktop (NBCSports.com/Live, NBCSports.com/Gold andOlympicChannel.com) as well as mobile, tablet and connected television platforms. The NBC Sports app, NBC Sports Gold app and Olympic Channel app are available on the iTunes App Store, Google Play, Windows Store, Roku Channel Store, Apple TV and Amazon Fire. Exclusive commercial-free coverage will be available for subscribers of the NBC Sports Gold Pass.

A team of 15 junior nordic combined and ski jumping athletes were named by U.S. Ski & Snowboard and USA Nordic to compete in the FIS Nordic Junior World Championships Jan. 20-27 in Lahti, Finland. The event will feature the debut of women’s nordic combined as a medal event at Junior Worlds, proof of the quick progress the sport is making towards hopeful future Olympic inclusion.

The team includes four men and four women on the jumping team, with five men and two women qualifying for the nordic combined team.

Selection was made from a series of qualifying events, including international events as well as world rankings through January 13.

Jared Shumate (Park City, Utah) is the unchallenged leader of nordic combined team. Shumate started the season with sixth and seventh places in the Steamboat Springs Continental Cup, both personal bests.

“I expect that he will fight for the top 10 in both individual competitions,” says USA Nordic coach Tomas Matura 

The rest of the nordic combined athletes will be competing in their first ever Junior World Championships. It’s a young team which will grow from the experience of competing on the world stage.

Tess Arnone (Steamboat Springs, Colo.) competed in last year’s exhibition event in Kandersteg, Switzerland. She will be looking to build on her 29th place last year and gain valuable experience as the lone U.S. entrant in the first women’s medal event. Arnone is currently ranked 10th in the Continental Cup standings – showing a very positive start to her season. Also, qualifying is Annika Malacinski (Steamboat Springs, Colo.) who had progressed quickly as a nordic combined skier after taking up jumping less than two years ago.

The women’s ski jumping team has shown great progress over the past year. The squad is young with some great up-and-coming talent. All four of the women’s team members qualified with their results at the Continental Cup level earlier this winter. 

“Last winter we had two athletes in the top 30 and our highest finish since 2013, Logan Sankey at20th. This year we have the potential to see all of these girls finish in the top 30,” said USA Nordic coach Blake Hughes.

Annika Belshaw (Steamboat Springs, Colo.) and Paige Jones (Park City, Utah) enter the new year ranked 10th and 13th respectively in the FIS Cup standings.

Andrew Urlaub (Eau Claire, Wis.), Decker Dean (Steamboat Springs, Colo.) and Greyson Scharffs (Park City, Utah) are all members of the USA Nordic Junior National Team, which was formed for the first time this past summer. They have progressed extremely well. Canden Wilkinson, the final member of the team recently moved away from nordic combined to specialize in jumping.

“He surprised us all with securing his spot for the Junior Worlds,” says USA Nordic coach Jan Druzina. “Our goal this season is to show consistency and good jumps in the competitions. A Top 30 finish is realistic, but we know surprises are always a possibility.”

Dean, Urlaub, and Scharffs are all coming off great finishes at the Park City, Utah FIS Cups. This should give them confidence as they head towards Lahti. 

The Junior World Championships will be held on the same venue that was used for the 2017 Nordic World Championships. The first event for Nordic combined will come on January 23 with jumping beginning on January 24.

2019 FIS NORDIC JUNIOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM

Men’s Nordic Combined Team

• Bennett Gamber, Steamboat Springs, Colo., Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club
• Beckett Ledger, Lake Placid, N.Y., New York Ski Education Foundation
• Niklas Malacinski, Steamboat Springs, Colo., Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club
• Evan Nicholas, Lyme, N.H., Ford K. Sayre Memorial Ski Council
• Jared Shumate, Park City, Utah, Park City Ski and Snowboard

Women’s Nordic Combined Team

• Tess Arnone, Steamboat Springs, Colo., Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club
• Annika Malacinski, Steamboat Springs, Colo., Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club

Men’s Ski Jumping Team

• Decker Dean, 18, Steamboat Springs, Colo., Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club
• Greyson Scharffs, 17, Park City, Utah, Park City Ski and Snowboard
• Andrew Urlaub, 17, Eau Claire, Wis., Flying Eagles Ski Club
• Canden Wilkinson, 16, Steamboat Springs, Colo., Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club

Women’s Ski Jumping Team,

• Annika Belshaw, 16, Steamboat Springs, Colo, Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club
• Paige Jones, 16, Park City, Utah, Park City Ski and Snowboard
• Anna Hoffmann, 18, Madison, Wis., Blackhawk Ski Club
• Samantha Macuga, 17, Park City, Utah, Park City Ski and Snowboard

U.S. Ski & Snowboard has announced today that Timberline Lodge and Ski Area will serve as an Official Training Site for American ski and snowboard athletes through January 2023. This agreement will see athletes from U.S. Ski & Snowboard, the Olympic National Governing Body (NGB) of ski and snowboard sports in the United States, training at Timberline Lodge and Ski Area through the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing, China, and beyond, providing invaluable snow access as athletes train to reach podiums.

As the only North American ski resort to stay open 12 months a year, Timberline will provide consistent, world-class access to snow for elite athletes on the alpine, moguls, halfpipe, slopestyle and snowboardcross teams. Timberline will play an integral role in the training of many future U.S. Ski & Snowboard Olympians.

“This partnership with Timberline provides our teams with the benefit of easy access to world-class on-snow training throughout the summer. Timberline is well-known for its great conditions throughout the year, and is so accessible for our teams, allowing them to gain critical on-snow training time at multiple points throughout the summer. Training at Timberline is a mainstay for our athletes, supporting the summer training they need, and is a critical component of our drive to be Best in the World,” commented U.S. Ski & Snowboard’s Chief of Sport, Luke Bodensteiner.

The partnership with Timberline will give U.S. Ski & Snowboard a solid basis to work from in laying down training strategy for the next four-year cycle in preparation of the 2022 Olympic Winter Games. Access to a domestic, year-round snow surface is invaluable for athletes competing in seasonal sports including ski and snowboard disciplines.

As an official U.S. Ski & Snowboard training site, Timberline will host an estimated 160 U.S. Ski & Snowboard athletes and personnel across 45 days each year. Because Timberline has extensive terrain and year-round snow coverage, the resort is ideal for setting up the many courses necessary for training multiple sports disciplines. The alpine team will have access to two lanes, primarily slalom with some terrain build as conditions allow. The moguls team will have access to flats, a bumps lane and a jump. The freeski and snowboard team will have access to the halfpipe as constructed, an airbag, park jumpline and rails, one 55-65 foot jump as constructed (with the option for more as space and snow allows) and access to three variations of down rails and six other rail features – side and straight on entrance as constructed.

In addition to providing training for national team athletes, Timberline is also instrumental in supporting U.S. Ski & Snowboard’s talent development pipeline. Each year the U.S. Snowboard Team’s Project Gold program brings together the top junior athletes in the country in snowboarding and snowboardcross for an annual progressive talent development camp. The top juniors in the country, selected from Hole Shot and USASA Nationals, get the opportunity to train with the U.S. Snowboard Team’s national team coaching staff. Three development camps for Alpine are held at Timberline each year: Women’s Development Team, Men’s Development Team and U16 National Development. These camps focus on skills development in slalom and giant slalom.

“Timberline has a long and storied history as a summer training site for U.S. Ski & Snowboard. From Tony Sailer, Billy Kidd, Steve and Phil Mahre to Ted Ligety; from Cindy Nelson and Picabo Street to Julia Mancuso, Mikaela Shiffrin, Red Gerard, Shaun White and Maddie Bowman - all have trained at Timberline in the summer, as well as virtually all other U.S. Olympic Alpine athletes," commends Timberline's president, Jeff Kohnstamm, "We are very proud of this tradition and have worked with U.S. Ski & Snowboard to formalize our relationship. This will further meet the needs of U.S. athletes and promote the world-class summer ski and snowboard training that is Timberline’s Palmer Snowfield."

A rested, re-charged and pasta-fueled Mikaela Shiffrin (Avon, Colo.) finally mastered the one giant slalom course that has given her fits the past two years to pick up FIS Ski World Cup victory number 53 in Kronplatz, Italy, Tuesday.

“This is maybe the most difficult slope that we ski on the women’s side,” Shiffrin said of the Erta Trail, where she finally won her first World Cup GS on Italian snow. “It’s super cool for us to come here because it’s pushing the limits and showing that we can do this technical kind of skiing. For me, it was nice today because I didn’t have good results here last year, or the year before, so it was a bit of redemption on this track.”

Starting bib 5, Shiffrin came out fired up in the first run, building a 1.39-second lead over Tessa Worley of France, and 1.42 seconds over Slovakia’s Petra Vlhova. Worley posted the fastest second-run time to move into the lead ahead of Italy’s Marta Bassino, leaving Shiffrin as the final racer on course.

“The second run with the lead, I was trying to ski it as if I didn’t have a lead,” said Shiffrin, who took a 1.21-second win over Worley. Bassino was third at 1.57 seconds. “The surface was perfect today and it was really good to be aggressive. It’s an amazing trail and I really wanted to get to the finish, but do it the right way, so I’m really happy.”

With her victory, Shiffrin leads Vlhova by 496 points in the overall World Cup standings, and she moved atop the giant slalom standings as well, 10 points ahead of Worley. Shiffrin also leads the slalom and super-G World Cup standings.

Nina O’Brien (Denver, Colo.), who scored her first World Cup points earlier this season in slalom at Killington, Vermont, returned to the World Cup in Kronplatz and picked up her first World Cup giant slalom points, and finished 26th.  

“I think today, it was really nice to show myself that it didn’t take some magic skiing that I’ve never done before,” said O’Brien. “I felt solid in my skiing and that was good enough today, so I think that gives me, and hopefully the other girls a little bit of confidence for the next races.”

Up next, the women’s World Cup moves on to Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, Friday with a rescheduled downhill from last week’s canceled race in St. Anton, Austria. Lindsey Vonn (Vail, Colo.) is scheduled to make her return to World Cup action Friday. Downhill racing will also take place Saturday in Cortina, followed by super-G Sunday. Shiffrin has indicated she will not start either of the two downhills, but as the World Cup super-G leader, she may be in the start house for Sunday’s super-G.

RESULTS
Women’s giant slalom

STANDINGS
Women’s World Cup overall

HOW TO WATCH
All times EST
Preliminary schedule, subject to change
*Same-day delayed broadcast
**Next-day broadcast

Friday, Jan. 18
4:30 a.m. - Men’s alpine combined run 1 - Wengen, SUI - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
6:00 a.m. - Women’s downhill - Cortina d’Ampezzo, ITA - NBC Sports Gold
7:30 a.m. - Men’s alpine combined run 2 - Wengen, SUI - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
7:00 p.m. - Women’s downhill - Cortina d’Ampezzo, ITA - NBCSN*

Saturday, Jan. 19
4:30 a.m. - Women’s downhill - Cortina d’Ampezzo, ITA - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
6:30 a.m. - Men’s downhill - Wengen, SUI - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold

Sunday, Jan. 20
4:15 a.m. - Men’s slalom run 1 - Wengen, SUI - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
5:00 a.m. - Women’s super-G - Cortina d’Ampezzo, ITA - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
7:00 a.m. - Men’s slalom run 2 - Wengen, SUI - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
7:00 p.m. - Men’s downhill - Wengen, SUI - NBCSN**
8:00 p.m. - Women’s downhill - Cortina d’Ampezzo, ITA - NBCSN**
9:00 p.m. - Women’s super-G - Cortina d’Ampezzo, ITA - NBCSN*

All streams are available via desktop (NBCSports.com/Live, NBCSports.com/Gold andOlympicChannel.com) as well as mobile, tablet and connected television platforms. The NBC Sports app, NBC Sports Gold app and Olympic Channel app are available on the iTunes App Store, Google Play, Windows Store, Roku Channel Store, Apple TV and Amazon Fire. Exclusive commercial-free coverage will be available for subscribers of the NBC Sports Gold Pass.
 

U.S. Ski & Snowboard, the Olympic National Governing Body (NGB) of ski and snowboard sports in the USA, and Orig3n, Inc., the leader in lifestyle genetic testing, are excited to announce Orig3n as the Official Genetics Partner of the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Team. A pioneer in genetics and regenerative medicine research, Orig3n arms individuals with knowledge of their minds and bodies at a genetic level. As the Official Genetics Partner of U.S. Ski & Snowboard, Orig3n will help some of the world’s top athletes understand how to harness the power of their genetics in their journeys to podiums at the Olympics, World Championships and other events.

As part of the new agreement, Orig3n will work with the experts at U.S. Ski & Snowboard’s sports science lab at the U.S. Ski & Snowboard’s Center of Excellence headquarters in Park City, Utah, helping U.S. Ski & Snowboard develop specialized programs tailored to each team member’s biology, in order to improve each athlete’s training and performance.

Fans of U.S. Ski & Snowboard will also have the opportunity to engage with Orig3n through domestic event activations. 

The partnership will officially kick off at the 2019 FIS Snowboard, Freestyle and Freeski World Championships, presented by Toyota, to be held in Utah Feb. 1-10, 2019.

“We are excited to welcome Orig3n into our family of partners,” said U.S. Ski & Snowboard’s Chief Marketing and Commercial Officer Dan Barnett. “Orig3n’s mission - to create a healthier future by helping us understand our bodies and minds on a genetic level - falls directly in line with U.S. Ski & Snowboard’s mission of creating the greatest snow sports athletes in the world. With the integration of Orig3n’s genetic tests into our sport science lab, we will be able to give athletes an edge in their training and performance, allowing them to better understand their bodies’ potential strengths and areas for development. Athletes, trainers and coaches will be able to make more proactive nutrition and fitness choices, helping us continue to push the boundary of performance in our sports,”

“We couldn’t be more excited or proud to be working with the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Team to enhance the training and development of U.S. Olympic athletes,” said Robin Y. Smith, CEO of Orig3n. “This partnership is a great example of how genetic science can be used by everyone to enhance aspects of their health and wellness. In this case specifically, U.S. Ski & Snowboard is adopting cutting edge technology and innovative approaches in partnership with Orig3n to build the best training and development plan tailored to the athlete’s inherent abilities.” 

In a race where the second, third and fourth place teams all had the same official time, the U.S. team of Sophie Caldwell (Stratton Mountain, Vt.) and Julia Kern (Waltham, Mass.) placed fourth in the FIS Cross Country World Cup team sprint in Dresden, Germany, Sunday. Sweden II and Norway were the other nations in the same time with Norway edging out the U.S. for third.  The race was won by Sweden I, with Sweden II in second.

“That was a super fun day out there,” said Caldwell. “Julia skied amazingly, and it was so cool for our team to be right in the mix. I tried to pace myself to catch the top three teams at the beginning of my last leg because I didn’t want to implode, and once I caught them, I tried to conserve as much energy as possible.

“I learned from yesterday that it’s better to be patient than be out on your own fighting the wind, so I gave one big final push in the finishing stretch and unfortunately it wasn’t quite enough for the podium,” Caldwell added.

“I think my race went well, I skied big, confident and aggressive so I could hold my position,” said Kern. “My goal was to stay out of trouble today and I achieved that which I was happy about. There was a lot of jostling around with it being such a flat and fast course with a huge head wind, so it was a constant battle to hold your position in the draft and not get tangled up.”

The second U.S. women’s team of Ida Sargent (Craftsbury, Vt.) and Hannah Halvorsen (Truckee, Calif.) did not advance beyond the semifinals.

On the men’s side the U.S. team of Erik Bjornsen (Winthrop, Wa.) and Andy Newell (Shaftsbury, Vt.) did not advance beyond the semifinals. The men’s race was won by Norway I, followed by Norway II and Russia I in third.

The World Cup season continues Jan. 19-20 in Otepaa, Estonia, with a men and women’s sprint, and a women’s 10k and men’s 15k individual start.

RESULTS
Men’s Team Sprint Finals
Women’s Team Sprint Finals

HOW TO WATCH
All times EST

Saturday, Jan. 19
6:55 a.m. - Men and women’s sprint - Otepaa, EST - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
3:00 p.m. - Men and women’s sprint - Otepaa, EST - Olympic Channel-TV*

Sunday, Jan. 20
3:30 a.m. - Women’s 10k interval - Otepaa, EST - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
7:00 a.m. - Men’s 15k interval - Otepaa, EST - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
7:00 p.m. - Women’s 10k interval - Otepaa, EST - Olympic Channel-TV*

It was a successful return to competition for the U.S. Moguls Team in Calgary “Cow Town,” Canada, at WinSport’s Canada Olympic Park. The U.S. had four men and four women qualify for finals: Jaelin Kauf (Alta, Wyo.), Tess Johnson (Vail, Colo.), Olivia Giaccio (Redding, Conn.) and Nessa Dziemian (East Hampstead, N.H.) on the women’s side and Brad Wilson (Butte, Mont.), Casey Andringa (Boulder, Colo.), Hunter Bailey (Vail, Colo.) and Jesse Andringa (Boulder, Colo.) on the men’s.

Jaelin Kauf leads the Americans, skiing into a third place, just behind Perrine Laffont (France) in first and Yulia Galysheva (Kazakhstan) in second. “I had a lot of fun out here; the course was really nice, and we had great conditions. It was fun to put down three solid runs today. I made some mistakes, specifically top air, but I’m happy with how I’m skiing and competing, so stoked to end up on podium again,” Kauf commented on today’s competition.

Kauf sits behind Laffont in the FIS rankings at second by a mere three points. “Expect her back in yellow when we head back to Canada after this coming World Cup in Lake Placid,” says Head Moguls Coach Matt Gnoza. “The fight for yellow bib will be down to wire this season between Jaelin and Perrine. Jaelin is hungry for it, she maintains being seconds faster than rest of the field so she’s in contention for every event.”

Overall the women skied strong, “I’m really happy with how women skied in qualifications,” says Gnoza. “Olivia qualified in third and Jaelin in second. They’re getting their job done. Tess didn’t have the finals run she wanted but she made some corrections in her skiing to make it to the super finals, to finish sixth, which was impressive. Nessa has been skiing consistent top to bottom runs, skiing very scorable stuff.”

Olivia Giaccio continues to push the boundaries of moguls with her run, which has the highest degree of difficulty for the women of the World Cup circuit. It will pay off, in a big way, down the road. Hannah Soar (Killington, Vt.) came back from significant ankle injury, putting down some good runs and earning World Cup points. Regional skier Alex Jenson (Park City Ski & Snowboard Club) continues to ski strong and is on the brink of top breaking into the top-16 more consistently.

On the men’s side, Mikael Kingsbury (Canada) topped the podium, followed by Walter Wallberg (Sweden) in second and Daichi Hara (Japan) in third. Hunter Bailey achieved a career best with a fifth-place finish, skiing in his career-second World Cup finals. “Hunter was phenomenal and consistent in finals. I can’t be prouder for him and how he’s grown and trusted the process,” says Gnoza.  

Jesse Andringa had a career-defining moment, skiing in his first World Cup finals, finishing 13th. “It was pretty crazy making the final and skiing against the top dogs - such a fun and exciting experience,” said Andringa. “I had a small mistake and didn’t end up as well as I’d hoped but it’s exciting to see that I’m capable of skiing with all of these hot shots.”

Bailey and Andringa both made big statements today. “Those guys are going home with significantly lower bib numbers and significantly higher confidence,”Gnoza comments. Bailey cut his bib number from 35 down to 16 and Andrindga went from 40 to 22.

Casey Andringa continues to ski well. "He is developing into one of the top World Cup athletes for sure," said Gnoza.

The growth in performance from the national team goes deeper. Kalman Heims (Killington Mountain School), earned his first World Cup points with a 29th place. George McQuinn (Winter Park Competition Center Team), although didn’t have the run he hoped for, learned a lot about World Cup level skiing, which will pay off in the long run.

The first World Cup event of the New Year was a proving ground for the U.S. Team. “Having eight in finals is something I’m pretty proud of. We want to see more podiums, but part of the process is to get there first. We had a big step accomplishing that here in Calgary.”

RESULTS
Women's Moguls
Men's Moguls