Sophie Caldwell (Stratton Mountain, Vt.) skied two very smart sprint heats, setting her up for a fifth-place finish in the FIS Cross Country World Cup Dresden city sprint Saturday. The podium was swept by Sweden led by Stina Nilsson, Maja Dahlquist in second and Jonna Sundling in third.

In the semifinals, Caldwell rounded the final turn in the first lap towards the back but jumped on the Swedish train of Nilsson and Sundling moving up the outside to finish second for the heat, qualifying for the finals.

“Today was a long, flat course with a big headwind as you headed out of the stadium each lap, so my strategy was to conserve energy for the first lap and try position myself well with fresh legs for the second lap,” said Caldwell. “This worked quite well in my quarter and semi, but in the final, I was bopping around not quite in the draft at the beginning of the second lap and definitely lost my legs a bit for the last half of the lap.”

Also qualifying for the women was Julia Kern (Waltham, Mass.), skiing in her first World Cup of the season. Kern, along with D Team members Hannah Halvorsen (Truckee, Calif.) and Hailey Swirbul (Anchorage, Alaska) are in Dresden on their way to the U23 Championships beginning later in January.

In the men’s race, both U.S. qualifiers Andy Newell (Shaftsbury, Vt.) and Kevin Bolger (Burlington, Vt.) were in the same quarterfinal heat. Although Bolger led most of the first lap, neither one was able to advance. The race was won by Norwegian Sindre Bjoernestad Skar, followed by Gleb Retivykh of Russia and Erik Valnes from Norway in third.

Sunday’s event will be the team sprint, a true favorite of the Americans. For the women, Kern and Caldwell are teaming up for USA1, Sargent and Halvorsen are teamed up for USA2.  

RESULTS
Men’s Sprint Finals
Women’s Sprint Finals

START LISTS
Men's team sprint
Women's team sprint

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

Sunday, Jan. 13
6:40 a.m. - Men and women’s team sprint - Dresden, GER - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
1:00 p.m. - Men and women’s team sprint - Dresden, GER - Olympic Channel-TV*

The U.S. Moguls Team returns to North America and the FIS World Cup circuit with a moguls event Jan. 12 in WinSport’s Canada Olympic Park in Calgary. Rearing to get back in the gates, the Americans were looking sharp and on point during Thursday’s training.

“I’m really excited to get back into the swing of things. I love the North American part of the tour and am really stoked this year to compete with my family supporting me here in Calgary!” said Jaelin Kauf (Alta, Wyo.) who coming off back-to-back podiums from Thaiwoo, China, dons the yellow bib for the women.

The Calgary course is a “skiers’ course,” says Moguls World Cup Coach Caleb Martin. “The teardrop profile is classic. Halfway down the course the pitch drops to about 34 degrees leading into the bottom airs and across the finish line. It takes tremendous precision to slow down for the bottom air.”

The course is set and thanks to an abundance of man-made snow, the profile is consistent. The snow in Calgary has been dry and chalky, with skier traffic it loosens up nicely.

“I’m pretty excited for this contest. Calgary is always pretty challenging and, generally, the more technical skiers shine, which I think is cool,” said Hunter Bailey (Vail, Colo.). Bailey gave Ikuma Horishima (Japan) a run for his money during the Duals competition in Thaiwoo and has been skiing consistently well.

Other men to watch are Brad Wilson (Butte, Mont.) and Casey Andringa (Boulder, Colo.), who finished 6th and 7th in Calgary last season. “Casey Andringa is ready to pop, Calgary could be just what the doctor ordered,” said Martin.

Leading the women is Kauf, who's first in the FIS rankings by just five points over Perrine Laffont (France) and Yuliya Galysheva (Kazakhstan). Fellow American Tess Johnson(Vail, Colo.), currently ranked fifth in FIS standings, has the skiing to perform well on this kind of pitch. Kauf and Johnson hope to stand together on the podium this season, and Calgary could be where the magic happens.

Starters
Men
Brad Wilson
Hunter Bailey
Dylan Walczyk
Casey Andringa
Jesse Andringa
Kalman Heims
George McQuinn

Women
Jaelin Kauf
Tess Johnson
Olivia Giaccio
Hannah Soar
Nessa Dziemian
Alex Jenson

HOW TO WATCH
All times EST.
Preliminary schedule, subject to change
Saturday, Jan. 12
3:30 p.m. - Men and women’s moguls - Calgary, Alberta - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold

From February 1-10, approximately 1,400 athletes from 40 countries will converge on Utah to compete in the 2019 FIS Snowboard, Freestyle and Freeski World Championships, presented by Toyota—the biggest winter sports event to be held in Utah since the 2002 Olympic Winter Games. Contests held as part of this elite event will include snowboard and skicross; freeski and snowboard big air, slopestyle and halfpipe; snowboard parallel slalom and parallel giant slalom; and freestyle moguls, dual moguls and aerials.

But long before the first competitor arrives on deck, enters a start gate or drops in, multiple teams of course designers, builders and preppers will have put in countless hours planning, sculpting and refining the competition venues at Deer Valley Resort, Park City Mountain and Solitude Mountain Resort. Snow, hundreds of cubic feet of it, is where building each of these courses begins. Thanks to consistently cold temperatures and lots of natural snow in Utah this season, the 2019 World Championships host resorts have been able to make and stockpile plenty. Beyond this shared construction element, however, building the fields of play for each of these events is a very different and very specific task.

Champion moguls course and White Owl aerials jumps, Deer Valley Resort
“The crew of course builders at Deer Valley are so dialed in. Almost all of them, including both staff and volunteers, have built moguls courses there since before the Olympics,” says Nat Schirman, Champion Moguls Chief of Course and former NorAm freestyle skier.

Schirman and co-Chief of Course Tony Gilpin begin by stringing ropes and flags along the Champion Run designating where a snowcat driver should place the piles of snow that will eventually become moguls. Course builder volunteers then move through every inch of the course, removing ice chunks from the snow and further shaping the bumps. Schirman then invites local freestyle team athletes to ski the run, which continues to build the mogul field and allow he and Gilpin to see how the course is skiing. The final step is building in the two sets of jump tables, used by competitors as take-off for aerial maneuvers consisting of upright or inverted tricks. These are made by filling prefabricated forms with snow and water and the leaving them to freeze overnight.  

World Cup moguls courses generally range between 650 and 885 feet long with an average slope grade of 26 degrees. Deer Valley's Champion course is 827 feet long with an average slope grade of 28 degrees, making it one of the steepest, longest and most coveted moguls courses on the World Cup circuit. “It’s really one of the best moguls courses in the world,” Schirman says. “It’s steep at the top and allows the crowd to see athletes going for it from the top all the way to the finish.”

Deer Valley is also particularly well-known for its White Owl aerial jumps, a sport pioneered by the resort’s late Director of Skiing, Olympic Gold Medalist Stein Eriksen. Course builders will construct five jumps for the 2019 World Championships—one single (2.1 meters or 6 feet, 11 inches tall), two doubles (3.5 meters or 11 feet, 6 inches tall) and two triples (4.1 meters or 13 feet, 6 inches tall).

“Prior to building the actual jumps we spend about five days moving snow with a snowcat to get the profile of the course correct,” says Wayne Hilterbrand, the White Owl aerials course builder and jump builder for more than 20 national and international events since 2005. Other items on the pre-jump building checklist include grading the in-run, ensuring the transition curve—the stretch of the in-run from the ramp to the jump table—is a specific length, building the jump table and laying in the finish area.

Building the actual jumps starts with construction of a three-sided, steel and plywood jump form. Then a large industrial snowblower mounted to the front of a snowcat is used to fill the forms with snow. Volunteers pack snow into the forms by hand to eliminate air pockets; water is also added to help the snow harden. “The trick is to get enough water that they get hard, but not so much that they become total ice,” Hilterbrand says. After the forms are filled, the builders manipulate the snow further to achieve what’s called a rough shape. The jumps are then left to freeze overnight. The next day the forms are removed and official aerial jump shapers—typically coaches—carve the jumps into exact heights, lengths and angles for competition. Then the athletes get to fly. “We’ve estimated that, off the triple jumps, aerialists that get about 45 to 50 feet of air from the peak of the jump to the landing,” Hilterbrand says.

Doc’s Run big air, 3 Kings slopestyle course, Eagle Superpipe and Picabo’s run snowboard parallel slalom/GS, Park City Mountain
“Long before course construction begins,” says Park City Mountain Terrain Park Manager, “our team sits down and makes a plan for the course design.” Executing four separate competition venues—hosting the lion’s share of 2019 World Championships competition—involves multiple resort departments including snowmaking, grooming, competition services and fleet maintenance. Snowmaking and course prep begin soon after the resort opens for the season. And then as competition nears, Ingham and other course building staff use snowcats to shape the piles of snow into the basic feature profiles for slopestyle, big air and halfpipe.

To complete the final stage of the 600-feet-long, 70-feet wide, 18-degree pitch Olympic-caliber Superpipe, Park City Mountain relies on the expertise of Jake Ingle—U.S. Ski & Snowboard halfpipe builder and a part of the team responsible for the famed 2018 PyeongChang Olympic Superpipe. After resort crews have built the pipe decks and dig out the middle into the characteristic U shape, Ingle uses a snowcat fitted with an elliptical-arc-profile arm with an articulated augur (Ingle’s 'pipecutter of choice is the Zaugg Pipe Monster) to shave the Superpipe’s walls. “We try to use a drier snow to create a chalky riding surface,” Ingle says. And then, as is the case with all other freestyle event features, a team using hand tools puts the finishing touches on the Superpipe.

But Ingle’s job is really just beginning once the halfpipe is finished. “I start getting feedback from the athletes and coaches from the first practice session,” Ingle says. He also spends times watching training sessions to get firsthand clues about how the Superpipe is riding and seeks out veteran Grand Prix competitors who are typically able to provide more specific feedback. Once competition is underway, most of the work in the Superpipe shifts to slippers, hand shapers and the dye crew. Unless is snows. “Then I’m back in the snowcat on dawn patrol, digging the snow out before the day begins,” Ingle says.

The resort’s grooming department and well-seasoned race department are responsible for preparing the surface along the snowboard parallel slalom and parallel giant slalom run on Picabo’s Run in the Eagle Race Arena. “We take a similar approach to the snowboarding event venue as we would for a ski racing venue,” says Park City Mountain Competition Services Manager Karen Korfanta. “The ultimate goal is to get the two courses as even as possible, left to right. And snowboarders love going fast just as much as the ski racing population but the course surface should be firm, but not slippery or as dense as an alpine skiing event.” Ten to 15 slippers and four to six course workers will maintain the both the 470 to 500 meter parallel giant slalom course, as well as the 350 to 370 meter parallel slalom course.     

Main Street Run snowboardcross and skicross course, Solitude Mountain Resort
The 2019 World Championships snowboardcross/skicross course at Solitude Mountain Resort was designed and will be built by Nick Roma, founder of the Mountain Projects Company. “The terrain is different at every venue, so every snowboardcross and skicross course is different,” Roma says. “Because both the freeski and snowboard athletes will run the same line at Solitude, the challenge with this course is building features that are both safe for all riders that provide a high level of difficulty at the same time.”

To meet that challenge, Roma designed the Solitude’s state-of-the-art, 1,298-meter-long, 180-meter vertical skicross/snowboardcross course using a combined AutoCAD and Leka software platform—the first time this level of technology has been used to design a ski-/snowboardcross course in the United States. The course—which spans seven different multi-features consisting of 34 different rollers, multiple banked turns and two massive jumps—is located on the skier's right side of Solitude's Main Street run; the left side of the run will remain open throughout competition, allowing skiers front-row spectator access along its entire length. Beyond the time put in beforehand by Solitude's snowmaking staff, the course takes about two weeks and 500-plus hours to build, performed by multiple snowcat drivers that push and shape the snow mechanically and a team of on-the-ground course builders using specialized shovels and tools to refine every feature along the course by hand.

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
8:30 p.m. - Men and women’s skicross finals - NBCSN*

Sunday, Feb. 3
1:00 a.m. - Men and women’s freeski big air finals - NBCSN**
1:00 p.m. - Team snowboardcross - Olympic Channel
4:00 p.m.-  Team snowboardcross - NBCSN*

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

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

Wednesday, Feb. 6
3:00 p.m. - Men and women’s freeski slopestyle finals - NBCSN
9:00 p.m. - Men and women’s aerials - Olympic Channel
11:30 p.m. - Men and women’s aerials - NBCSN*

Thursday, Feb. 7
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

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
3:00 p.m. - Men and women’s snowboard slopestyle - NBC*

Monday, Feb. 11
10:30 p.m. - Women’s freeski halfpipe finals - NBCSN**

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. - Mixed Gender Team Snowboardcross Final - Solitude Mountain Resort

Monday, Feb. 4
1:00 p.m. - Snowboard Parallel Giant Slalom Final - Park City Village at Park City Mountain

Tuesday, Feb. 5
1:00 p.m. - Snowboard 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
 

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Tom Webb
Director of Marketing and Communications, U.S. Ski & Snowboard
+1.435.602.9644
tom.webb@usskiandsnowboard.org

FOR ACCREDITED MEDIA INQUIRIES:
Tom Kelly
Chief of Press
+1.435.602.9799
2019WorldChampsMedia@usskiandsnowboard.org
 

With the conclusion of the 2019 L.L.Bean U.S. Cross Country Championships at the Craftsbury Outdoor Center in Craftsbury, Vermont, Tuesday, U.S. Ski & Snowboard has named three teams to represent the nation in international competitions.

U23 World Championship Team
The U23 team of five men and five women has been selected to represent the United States at the 2019 Junior World Championships in Lahti, Finland, Jan. 20-27.

The team includes seasoned veterans of international competition with tremendous depth on the women’s side. “Julia (Kern), Hannah (Halvorsen), and Hailey (Swirbul) will be racing a World Cup in Dresden, Germany, and then head to World U23,” U.S. Ski & Snowboard’s Cross Country Sport Development Manager Bryan Fish said. “Their success at U.S. Nationals and experience on World Cup provides positive momentum rolling into World U23 Championship.”

Men
Peter Holmes (Sun Valley SEF/Truckee, Calif.)
Daniel Streinz (Northern Michigan University/ Hersey, Maine)
Hunter Wonders (APU/Anchorage, Alaska)
Ian Torchia (NMU/Marquette, Mich.)
Braden Becker (Williams College/ Yarmouth, Maine)

Women
Julia Kern (SMST2/Waltham, Mass.)
Hailey Swirbul (Alaska Pacific University/ Basalt, Colo.)
Hannah Halvorsen (APU/Truckee, Calif.)
Evelina Sutro (UVM/Burlington, Vt.)
Alayna Sonnesyn (SMST2/Plymouth, Minn.)

Junior World Championship Team
The Junior World Team of 12 athletes - six men and six women - was also named on Tuesday and will compete in Lahti, Finland, Jan. 19-27. The Junior Worlds take place alongside the U23 racing also taking place in Lahti.

“The Junior men’s team is the strongest team we have ever fielded with respect to performance and depth,” said Fish. “We have athletes that threaten in every event. We also return three of the four team members from the silver medal relay.

“Our women’s team is young in age, but many have international experience from past Under-18 trips,” Fish added. “They are ready for this next step.”

FIS Nordic Junior World Ski Championships in Lahti will be shown via live stream via a subscription package. All events, with the exception of qualifications, will be streamed live at www.jwsc2019.com.

Men
Gus Schumacher (Alaska Winter Stars/Anchorage, Alaska)
Johnny Hagenbuch (Sun Valley SEF/Sun Valley, Idaho)
Ben Ogden (UVM/Landgrove, Vt.)
Luke Jager (APU/Anchorage, Alaska)
Noel Keeffe (University of Utah/Steamboat Springs, Colo.)
Zanden McMullen (APU/Anchorage, Alaska)

Women
Kendall Kramer (NSCF-FXC/ Fairbanks, Alaska)
Novie McCabe (Methow Valley Nordic/Winthrop, Wash.)
Waverly Gebhardt (Steamboat Springs Winter Sports/Steamboat, Colo.)
Sophia Mazzoni (Sun Valley SEF/Sun Valley, Idaho)
Mara McCollor (Minneapolis Ski Club/ Plymouth, Minn.)
Sydney Palmer – Leger (Sun Valley SEF/Park City, Utah)

U18 Scandinavian Championships Team
A 12-person U18 Team has been named for the U18 Scandinavian Championships taking place annually in Otepaa, Estonia, Jan 20-23.  Many U18 women declined to accept nominations to the team in lieu of accepting nominations for the Junior World Team.

“This three-event race series is a critical piece of the U.S. development pipeline to prepare athletes for the Junior Worlds by giving them great international race experience,” said Fish.  “This is a very talented group of young men and women.”

Men
Joshua Valentine (GMVS/Australia)
Will Koch (Stratton Mountain School/Peru, Vt.)
Brian Bushey (GMVS/Montpelier, Vt.)
Kai Mittelsteadt (Bridger Ski Foundation/Bozeman, Mont.)
Michael Earnhart (Alaska Nordic Racing/Eagle River, Alaska)
Lane Myshrall (PCSS/Park City, Utah)

Women
Charlotte Ogden (Stratton Mountain School/Landgrove, Vt.)
Nina Seeman (Bondville, Vt.)
Adrianna Proffitt (Alaska Nordic Racing/Chugiak, Alaska)
Annie McColgan (Mt Bachelor Sports Education foundation/Bend, Ore.)
Kate Oldham (Aspen Valley Ski & Snowboard Club/Carbondale, Colo.)
Abigail Streinz (Craftsbury Outdoor Center/Hershey, Maine)

The U.S. Freeski Team is traveling to Font Romeu, France, this week with a full squad of eager competitors ready to kick off the new year with their second FIS Freeski World Cup slopestyle event of the season Thursday through Saturday.

At the first slopestyle World Cup in Stubai, Austria, U.S. Rookie Team member Mac Forehand (Winhall, Vt.) claimed second-place and his first World Cup podium. Forehand’s result has him sitting just behind the leader Henrik Harlaut of Sweden in the FIS Freeski World Cup slopestyle standings. Also, joining Forehand in the top-10 in the standings is Alex Hall (Park City, Utah) and William Borm (Chaska, Minn.) after strong performances in Stubai.

“I feel pretty good going into Font Romeu,” said Forehand. “I’m just gonna have fun with it and ski my best. The course was running well today so I'm pumped on that. There is some weight on my shoulders because of world champs coming up and I haven’t secured a spot yet.”

Forehand will be striving to earn his second-consecutive podium of the 2018-19 World Cup season. However, with a strong international field, including his own U.S. Freeski teammates, this will be no easy task. Forehand will be joined by teammates Hall, Borm, McRae Williams (Park City, Utah), Nick Goepper (Lawrenceburg, Ind.), Colby Stevenson (Park City, Utah), Joss Christensen (Park CIty, Utah) and American Quinn Wolferman (Missoula, Mont.).

For the women, Maggie Voisin (Whitefish, Mont.) is leading the charge following a third-place finish at the Dew Tour in Breckenridge, Colorado, last month. Joining Voisin are teammates Caroline Claire (Manchester Center, Vt. ), Julia Krass (Hanover, N.H.), Devin Logan (West Dover, Vt.) and U.S Rookie Team member Eileen Gu (San Francisco).

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

HOW TO WATCH
All times EST
*Same-day broadcast

FREESKIING
Saturday, Jan. 12
4:20 a.m. - Men and women’s slopestyle - Font Romeu, FRA - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
2:00 p.m. - Men and women’s slopestyle - Font Romeu, FRA - Olympic Channel-TV
 

The most grueling part of the season is finally over, and Mikaela Shiffrin (Avon, Colo.) can finally take a day off and enjoy the fact that in seven FIS Ski World Cup races over the past 18 days, she won four, finished second twice, and her worst result was fifth.

“I’m dead, I’m done,” Shiffrin said after finishing second to Slovakia’s Petra Vlhova in Tuesday’s World Cup slalom on a snowy night under the lights in Flachau, Austria. “We have a short bit of time for some rest and some training before Kronplatz (Italy, Jan.15), and that’s really good, because if we had to race tomorrow. I don’t think I could do it.”

While giving up a victory by just .15 seconds to Vlhova Tuesday - who coming into Flachau had finished second to Shiffrin in every World Cup slalom race this season - may be disappointing, Shiffrin can take solace in building an almost insurmountable lead in the season-long battle for claiming her third-straight overall World Cup title, and her sixth-straight World Cup slalom title,

“It’s a bit mixed emotions,” Shiffrin said of the narrow loss. “Yeah fifteen-hundredths is so small, and there is some disappointment, but I’ve also been ahead of Petra by the same small margin.”

“I knew that I can’t win every race, and every time I’m there, she’s also right there,” Shiffrin added. “I know the second run she was going to go like crazy, she wasn’t far behind, and I had to be really aggressive and I had some spots - a few mistakes here and there - and that cost some time. But anyway, it was a big fight and she is doing a really great job, so I have to say congrats. But, yeah, it’s motivation too!”

Tuesday’s victory was the seventh World Cup win for Vlhova, and the 74th career World Cup podium finish for Shiffrin. Katharina Liensberger provided the home-country fans some last-minute excitement as the young Austrian finished third in a dramatic outcome after Sweden’s Anna Swenn Larsson thought she had finished third, but found out as she was preparing for the podium celebration and watching her run on the jumbotron screen that she had in fact straddled, and was disqualified. It was Liensberger’s her first career World Cup podium.

Paula Moltzan (Burlington, Vt.) posted her career-best World Cup result, finishing 12th, after posting the second-fastest second run time (only Vlhova was faster, by .36!).

“After the first run, I was not thrilled with my skiing, but still happy to be in the second run,” said Moltzan, who returns to school at the University of Vermont next week and is planning to compete on the NCAA circuit for the remainder of the season. “Second run I kind of went all out, I put my heart on the line, and it paid off.”

With her overall World Cup lead of 446 points, and an 80-point slalom lead over Vlhova, Shiffrin has some decisions to make as for her strategy for the remainder of the season. To make the decision more challenging, she also leads the World Cup super-G standings, and with this week’s weather forecast not looking favorable in St. Anton, Austria, for scheduled downhill and super-G races - both of which Shiffrin wasn’t planning to compete in anyway - she very well could be the super-G leader heading into the speed events in Cortina, Italy, Jan. 17-20.

“I have to make some decisions about what the schedule is going to be for the next couple of weeks, and also going into World Championships, and to know that (Vlhova) is so strong in slalom, so strong in giant slalom, and not really doing speed,” she said. “I have to decide what is more important? Do I want to be able to do speed, slalom, GS? Or do I want to be really strong in slalom and GS, and how does that fit into the program leading into World Championships. So then it’s just making some decisions about that. How I can train? How I can manage the energy? And for sure, how can I manage the motivation?”

RESULTS
Women’s slalom

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

ALPINE
Saturday, Jan. 12
4:15 a.m. - Men’s giant slalom run 1 - Adelboden, SUI - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
5:45 a.m. - Women’s downhill - St. Anton, AUT  - NBC Sports Gold
7:30 a.m. - Men’s giant slalom run 2 - Adelboden, SUI - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold

Sunday, Jan. 13
4:15 a.m. - Men’s slalom run 1 - Adelboden, SUI - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
5:45 a.m. - Women’s super-G - St. Anton, AUT  - NBC Sports Gold
7:30 a.m. - Men’s slalom run 2 - Adelboden, SUI - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold

Julia Kern (SMST2/Waltham, Ma.) and Ben Saxton (SMST2/Lakeville, Minn.)  skied to freestyle sprint victories in the final day of the 2019 L.L.Bean U.S. Cross Country Championships at the Craftsbury Outdoor Center in Craftsbury, Vermont, Tuesday.

Kern skied strong in the quarterfinals and worked her way into the finals as a lucky loser in the semifinals. Kelsey Phinney (SMST2/Boulder, Colo.) won her semifinal round to advance to the finals.

“In the finals, there were a lot of tangle ups and I got boxed out and was towards the back coming into the last hill,” said Kern, who took the outside line down the finish stretch. “I made my move on the hill and felt really strong in the last straightaway just gave it my all.”

Hannah Halvorsen (APU/Truckee, Ca.) was second and Phinney completed the podium in third.

In the men’s race, Logan Hanneman (APU/Fairbanks, Alaska) entered the heats as the top qualifier with Noel Keefe (UU/Steamboat Springs, Co.) Qualifying second, but it was Saxton who took the win for the day and the national title.

“I’m very excited with my win and it was a very enjoyable day of racing,” said Saxton. “I was coming up that last hill with Logan Hanneman next to me. He is a strong finisher forcing me to do what I always do, try to run away from him.”

Hanneman skied to second place on the podium with Keefe taking third.

RESULTS
Men and women’s sprint

Five U.S. Snowboard Team athletes and two more American athletes are headed to Kreischberg, Austria this weekend to compete in their second FIS Snowboard World Cup slopestyle Saturday and Sunday.

After the first slopestyle World Cup in Secret Garden, China, U.S. Pro Team athletes Lyon Farrell (Haiku, Hawaii) and Ryan Stassel (Anchorage, Alaska) are sitting in fifth and sixth respectively in the FIS Snowboard World Cup slopestyle standings. After making finals in Secret Garden, Stassel and Farrell will be looking for a spot on the podium in Austria.

“I’m really looking forward to Kreischberg,” said Stassel. “The last two events I did there, I ended up on the podium, so I’m hoping to keep that good competition juju going.”

In addition, following a second place in slopestyle at the Dew Tour in Breckenridge, Colorado, Chris Corning (Silverthorne, Colo.) is searching for his first World Cup slopestyle podium of the season to compliment his strong early-season big air results, including a victory Cardrona, New Zealand, and second in Modena, Italy.

Other U.S. Snowboard athletes set to compete include Sean Fitzsimons (Hood River, Ore.) and Judd Henkes (La Jolla, Calif.). Americans Grant Giller (Salt Lake City, Utah) and Will Healy (Riverside, Conn.).

Kreischberg, Austra was home to the 2015 FIS Snowboard World Championships where Stassel was crowned World Champion in slopestyle and his teammate Kyle Mack (West Bloomfield, Mich.) earned third-place. With strong historical performances in Kreischberg, U.S. Snowboard Team athletes are ready for competition to commence in Austria.

HOW TO WATCH
*Subject to change
*All times EST

Snowboard
Saturday, Jan. 12
6:30 a.m. - Men and women’s slopestyle - Kreischberg, AUT - NBC Sports Gold
 

The White Circus moves onward, from Zagreb, Croatia to Flachau, Austria for the highly anticipated night slalom under the lights. So, we move from “Snow Queen” to “Snow Space Salzburg Princess,”—a title Mikaela Shiffrin (Avon, Colo.) has enjoyed three times before, in 2013, 2014 and 2018.

Shiffrin will look to sparkle once again under the lights at Flachau, in front of 15,000+ screaming and glühwein-imbibing Austrian ski fans, foaming at the mouth to see the best female slalom skiers in the world take on the Hermann Maier FIS World Cup run. This is Austria, my friends, where skiing is a religion and ski racers are gods and goddesses. Floodlights will fall upon the slope named for the legendary Maier, and the best will be crowned princess, and take home the largest prize purse on the FIS Ski World Cup circuit for women. 

Shiffrin's got a target on her back, and it's not just Slovakia's Petra Vlhova that's aiming for her. Vlhova has finished second to Shiffrin in all five slalom events this season. She laid down the fastest time in Saturday evening's second run at Zagreb, Croatia by a mere .09 seconds, but with a blazing fast first run with a 1.34-second lead—there was no chance for Vlhova, despite a massive mistake by Shiffrin in the middle of the course. Sweden's Frida Hansdotter loves Flachau, and has two victories on the track. And then there's the Swiss, Wendy Holdener, who collected 19 World Cup podiums in slalom, but has yet to claim her first victory. This is currently the record for most World Cup podiums in a single event without winning. That's a hard one to swallow, and to say she wants the victory badly would be a gross understatement. 

Last year in Flachau, Shiffrin found herself in an unfamiliar position—second to Austrian Bernadette Schild, who was perfectly poised to become a hometown hero under the lights. In fact, Shiffrin trailed Schild by a .37-second margin going into second run—which is a massive deficit for Shiffrin and something she was definitely not used to. Though it may be challenging to have a target on your back, it's even more concerning if you're the one Shiffrin is aiming for...and Shiffrin used that as motivation to beat Schild by a whopping 1.31 seconds, and therefore the victory by .94 seconds overall. Wow. Talk about domination. 

Shiffrin is fully aware that she has some stiff competition this season, and you'll want to pay close attention, as she will be gunning for it Tuesday night, under the lights. What's on tap for Shiffrin Tuesday night?

Shiffrin Statistics - Flachau (courtesy of Gracenote Olympic/International Ski Federation):

• Mikaela Shiffrin has won the last seven World Cup slalom races. She could equal the all-time women's record of eight successive slalom victories in the World Cup, set by Vreni Schneider from 1988 to 1989 and equalled by Janica Kostelic from 2000 to 2001.
• Shiffrin has won a women's record 37 slalom events on the World Cup. On the men's side, only Ingemar Stenmark (40) has won more World Cup slalom events.
• Shiffrin has won 12 of the last 13 World Cup slalom races, with the only exception the race in Lenzerheide (28 January 2018) where she failed to finish her second run (winner Petra Vlhová).
• Shiffrin can become the third woman to win the first six slalom races of a World Cup season after Kostelic (first 8 in 2000/01) and Schneider (all 7 in 1988/89).
• Shiffrin has collected 52 World Cup race wins in total, seventh most all-time. Schneider (55) and Hermann Maier (54) are in fifth and sixth place respectively.
• Shiffrin has won three World Cup races in Flachau (all slalom), a joint record among men and women, alongside Janica Kostelic.
• Shiffrin has claimed seven World Cup slalom victories in Austria, equal to Schneider and only trailing Marlies Schild (9) for most among women.
• Shiffrin has won 10 World Cup races in total in Austria, one shy of the women's record of 11 held by Schild, Lindsey Vonn, Renate Götschl and Annemarie Moser-Pröll.
• Shiffrin has claimed 20 podium finishes in ladies' World Cup events in Austria, one fewer than record holders Götschl and Moser-Pröll (21).

Joining Shiffrin in Flachau will be Paula Moltzan (Prior Lake, Minn.), who also skis for the University of Vermont, and has shown some significant promise this season. Not only has Moltzan scored in Killington (17th place), Vermont and Courchevel, France (15th), but she also laid down the 12th fastest run on Saturday in Zagreb before straddling and DNFing second run. Hailing from the Buck Hill, and coached as a young athlete by the legendary Erich Sailer, Moltzan became the first American woman to win slalom gold at World Junior Championships, in 2015 at Hafjell, Norway. Guess who else was in that race? None other than Vlhova. Moltzan is extremely happy to be skiing on the collegiate circuit, but also really enjoying being back on the World Cup again. Fun fact: Moltzan scored her first World Cup points in Flachau in January of 2016, finishing 25th. 

"It's been really fun to be here—the U.S. Ski Team has been really helpful at the races, integrating me into their program, which has been really nice and a huge help for me," Moltzan said after second run in Zagreb. "I'm pretty excited to be heading back to by college team [University of Vermont] and keep on racing back in the U.S. One more [in Flachau], first, before we head back—and I'm hoping to make that the best one."

Catch all of the action on NBC Sports Gold. See who to watch and where to catch all the action below.

STARTERS
Paula Moltzan
Mikaela Shiffrin

START LIST
Women’s Slalom

HOW TO WATCH
All times EST.

Tuesday, Jan. 8
12:00 p.m. - Women’s slalom run 1 - Flachau, AUT - NBC Sports Gold
2:45 p.m.  - Women’s slalom run 2 - Flachau, AUT - 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.

Mikaela Shiffrin (Avon, Colo.) is back in action to kick off the first full week of 2019 World Cup action with a Tuesday evening slalom in Flachau, Austria. NBC Sports Gold will offer exclusive live streaming as Shiffrin goes for her eighth-straight World Cup slalom victory at 12 noon EST for the first run, and 2:45 p.m. EST for the second run.

The first speed events of the season for the women are also scheduled for this weekend in St. Anton, Austria, and Lindsey Vonn (Vail, Colo.), has announced that she’ll start alongside her U.S. Ski Team teammates Laurenne Ross (Bend, Ore.) and Alice Merryweather (Hingham, Mass.). However, all are anxiously watching the weather forecast closely as snow is expected throughout the week. NBC Sports Gold will offer exclusive live streaming of both the downhill and super-G this weekend.

Though she is the current leader in the World Cup super-G standings, Shiffrin has stated she will not race in this weekend’s super-G and downhill in St. Anton, but does plan to return to speed next weekend in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy.

On the men’s side, giant slalom and slalom events are scheduled for Adelboden, Switzerland, Saturday, and Sunday. Leading the U.S. Ski Team will be Ryan Cochran-Siegle (Starksboro, Vt.), Ted Ligety (Park City, Utah) and Tommy Ford (Bend, Ore.). The Olympic Channel will broadcast the second run both days, with live streaming of the first and second runs available on OlympicChannel.com and NBC Sports Gold.

Fresh off the L.L.Bean U.S. Cross Country Championships, newly crowned classic sprint champion Ida Sargent (Craftsbury, Vt.) joins Julia Kern (Waltham, Mass.), Hannah Halvorsen (Truckee, Calif.) Hailey Swirbul (El Jebel, Colo.), and Sophie Caldwell (Stratton Mountain, Vt.) for this weekend’s FIS Cross Country sprint and team sprint events in Dresden, Germany.

On the men’s side, Simi Hamilton (Aspen, Colo.), Kevin Bolger (Sun Valley, Idaho), Erik Bjornsen (Anchorage, Alaska) and Andy Newell (Shaftsbury, Vt.) for sprint action in Dresden. Both days will be streamed live on OlympicChannel.com and NBC Sports Gold, with daily recaps broadcast on the Olympic Channel. The L.L.Bean U.S. Cross Country Championships also wrap up Tuesday in Craftsbury, Vt., with the freestyle sprint. Live streaming begins at 8:45 a.m. EST.

Freestyle kicks back into action with a FIS Freestyle World Cup moguls in Calgary, Canada, their first competition of the new year. Jaelin Kauf (Alta, Wyo.), hot off back-to-back first-place finishes in Thaiwoo, China, will be wearing the yellow leader's bib and leading her team into Saturday’s competition. The event will be broadcast live on the Olympic channel and streamed live on OlympicChannel.com and NBC Sports Gold at 3:30 p.m. EST Saturday.

Font Romeu, France, is hosting the first FIS Freeskiing World Cup slopestyle of 2019, and U.S. Freeski Team members Maggie Voisin (Whitefish, Mont.), Devin Logan (Manchester Center, Vt.), and 2018 Olympic slopestyle silver medalist Nick Goepper (Lawrenceburg, Ind.) are scheduled to compete. Live streaming will be available on OlympicChannel.com and NBC Sports Gold, with a recap show airing on the Olympic Channel at 2:00 p.m. EST Saturday.

Chris Corning (Silverthorne, Colo.) leads the way for the U.S. Snowboard Team as the FIS Snowboard World Cup circuit continues with a slopestyle event in Kreischberg, Austria, Saturday and Sunday that will stream live exclusively on NBC Sports Gold.

FIS Ski Jumping World Cup continues for both the men and women this weekend, with the men competing in a pair of HS135 events in Val di Fiemme, Italy, and the women competing in two HS137 events in Sapporo, Japan.

Kevin Bickner (Wauconda, Ill.) will be the lone USA Nordic representative in Italy, while current Nordic Combined Continental Cup leader Tara Geraghty-Moats (West Fairlee, Vt.) will be joined by Nita Englund (Florence, Wis.) and Nina Lussi (Lake Placid, N.Y.), who returns to international competition following a knee injury at last year’s Olympic Trials. OlympicChannel.com and NBC Sports Gold will provide live streaming of both events, with a recap show airing on the Olympic Channel Saturday and Sunday.

Taylor Fletcher (Steamboat Springs, Colo.) continues to build form heading into this weekend’s FIS Nordic Combined World Cup in Val di Fiemme, Italy, featuring a pair of individual events and a team event. Fletcher, who posted the fasted 10k freestyle skate in last Sunday’s World Cup, will be joined by USA Nordic teammates Jasper Good (Steamboat Springs, Colo.) and Ben Loomis (Eau Claire, Wis.) this weekend in Italy. All events Friday, Saturday and Sunday will be streamed on OlympicChannel.com and NBC Sports Gold.

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

ALPINE
Tuesday, Jan. 8
12:00 p.m. - Women’s slalom run 1 - Flachau, AUT - NBC Sports Gold
2:45 p.m.  - Women’s slalom run 2 - Flachau, AUT - NBC Sports Gold

Saturday, Jan. 12
4:15 a.m. - Men’s giant slalom run 1 - Adelboden, SUI - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
5:45 a.m. - Women’s downhill - St. Anton, AUT  - NBC Sports Gold
7:30 a.m. - Men’s giant slalom run 2 - Adelboden, SUI - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold

Sunday, Jan. 13
4:15 a.m. - Men’s slalom run 1 - Adelboden, SUI - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
5:45 a.m. - Women’s super-G - St. Anton, AUT  - NBC Sports Gold
7:30 a.m. - Men’s slalom run 2 - Adelboden, SUI - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold

CROSS COUNTRY
Tuesday, Jan. 8
8:45 a.m. - U.S. Cross Country Championships freestyle sprint - Craftsbury, Vt. - U.S. Ski & Snowboard Streaming

Saturday, Jan. 12
7:15 a.m. - Men and women’s sprint - Dresden, GER - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
1:00 p.m. - Men and women’s sprint - Dresden, GER - Olympic Channel-TV*

Sunday, Jan. 13
6:40 a.m. - Men and women’s team sprint - Dresden, GER - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
1:00 p.m. - Men and women’s team sprint - Dresden, GER - Olympic Channel-TV*

Monday, Jan. 14
12:00 a.m. - Men and women’s team sprint - Dresden, GER - NBCSN**

FREESKIING
Saturday, Jan. 12
4:20 a.m. - Men and women’s slopestyle - Font Romeu, FRA - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
2:00 p.m. - Men and women’s slopestyle - Font Romeu, FRA - Olympic Channel-TV*

FREESTYLE
Saturday, Jan. 12
3:30 p.m. - Men and women’s moguls - Calgary, Alberta - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold

NORDIC COMBINED
Friday, Jan. 11
3:55 a.m. - Men’s HS135 - Val di Fiemme, ITA - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
7:25 a.m. - Men’s 10k - Val di Fiemme, ITA - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold

Saturday, Jan. 12
3:55 a.m. - Men’s HS135 - Val di Fiemme, ITA - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
8:05 a.m. - Men’s team sprint 7.5k - Val di Fiemme, ITA - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold

Sunday, Jan. 13
3:55 a.m. - Men’s HS135 - Val di Fiemme, ITA - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
8:25 a.m. - Men’s 10k - Val di Fiemme, ITA - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold

SKI JUMPING
Friday, Jan. 11
11:55 a.m. - Men’s HS135 qualifying - Val di Fiemme, ITA - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold

Saturday, Jan. 12
2:20 a.m. - Women’s HS137 - Sapporo, JPN - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
9:55 a.m. - Men’s HS135 - Val di Fiemme, ITA - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
10:30 a.m. - Women’s HS137 - Sapporo, JPN - Olympic Channel-TV*
5:00 p.m. - Men’s HS135 - Val di Fiemme, ITA - Olympic Channel-TV*
7:50 p.m. - Women’s HS137 - Sapporo, JPN - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold

Sunday, Jan. 13
10:55 a.m. - Men’s HS135 - Val di Fiemme, ITA - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
10:30 a.m. - Women’s HS137 - Sapporo, JPN - Olympic Channel-TV*
5:00 p.m. - Men’s HS135 - Val di Fiemme, ITA - Olympic Channel-TV*

SNOWBOARDING
Tuesday, Jan. 8
12:45 p.m. - Men and women’s parallel slalom - Bad Gastein, AUT - NBC Sports Gold

Wednesday, Jan. 9
7:00 a.m. - Men and women’s team parallel slalom - Bad Gastein, AUT - NBC Sports Gold

Sunday, Jan. 13
6:30 a.m. - Men and women’s slopestyle - Kreischberg, AUT - NBC Sports Gold

All streams are available via desktop (NBCSports.com/Live, NBCSports.com/Gold and OlympicChannel.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.