Jessie Diggins delivered one of the standout performances of the weekend in Ruka, charging to second place in the women’s 20k skate mass start, her 80th World Cup podium, and reminded the world why she’s the reigning overall World Cup champion.

From the opening kilometer, the race took shape, with Sweden’s Ebba Andersson and Frida Karlsson leading, along with Norway’s Heidi Weng in the chase. Diggins had to hold on from the get-go. 

Diggins—last year’s winner of this race—tucked in right behind the Norwegians and Swedish women. Maximizing every downhill with her trademark tuck skate, staying calm, patient and perfectly positioned. As Kikkan Randall mentioned in the commentary of the race, a 20k is all about energy management, and Diggins executed that strategy from the start, until the last kilometer.

At halfway, around 10k, she sat just five seconds off the lead, the lone non-European surrounded by a sea of Swedish and Norwegian red and blue. Karlsson and Andersson continued to trade pulls at the front, with teammate Jonna Sundling sitting in third, but Diggins held her ground as the pace continued to rise.

With about 15k skied, Diggins remained only a few seconds back, with many wondering if she had it in her to make it to the front. Karlsson then launched an acceleration on the final lap, looking to outpace her teammates and string out the lead pack. Diggins visibly dug deep—at one point literally pounding her legs with her hands on the final downhill—before setting up one final push of her own.

And on the final Ruka climb, Diggins delivered the move she’s known for. She surged past Karlsson on the outside, almost getting caught in the netting, with a perfectly timed attack and skied over the top. Though it wasn't enough to catch Sweden's Sundling, who took the win, Diggins claimed her first World Cup podium of the season, her 80th of her career, and set the tone for what's to come. Norway's Heidi Weng finished third.

For the men, it was all about Zak Ketterson. With frozen, lightning-fast tracks, the men covered the 20k course in just 44 minutes. The conditions created a high-speed, tactical race—and two Americans were right in the mix.

Ketterson and Gus Schumacher skied confidently near the front from the early laps, consistently positioning themselves in the lead train. With about 2k to go, Schumacher suffered an unfortunate crash after skiing on a broken ski for a few kilometers after a tangle with another racer. Though he was back on his feet quickly, the burst of momentum was gone and he lost critical spots in the tightly packed group. For Ketterson, it was all about staying calm and ensuring that he was keeping his momentum up to the finish line. 

"I have had a ton of mass start races, both on World Cup and elsewhere, where I just was frantic and wasting energy for large parts of the race," said Ketterson, when asked about the importance of pacing. "That meant I’d always reach the critical stage at the end of the race with no energy left. I think I’m finally learning to be calmer and spend energy more efficiently."

Ketterson carried his form from his career-best World Cup finish two days earlier in the 10k classic. He held strong through the final lap and powered across the line in ninth—his first individual World Cup top-10 finish and another breakthrough moment in what is shaping up to be a standout season. Norway's Harald Oestberg Amundsen was first, Einar Hedegard was second and Sweden's Edvin Anger was third. 

"It feels amazing. My previous career best was from the end of the 2021-22 season, and I wasn’t able to come close to it for the next three seasons," said Ketterson. "It really wore at my confidence and self belief that it wasn’t able to beat that mark despite working my butt off year-after-year. To feel now that I finally got rewarded for years of hard work is the best feeling an athlete can ever feel."

The Stifel U.S. Ski Team had several athletes on course today, with Alayna Sonnesyn skiing to a top-30 result in 27th, Sophia Laukli  39th, Kendall Kramer 45th, Julia Kern 54th and Kate Oldham 62nd. For the men, Schumacher was 39th, Kevin Bolger 44th, John Steel Hagenbuch 45th, Zanden McMullen 57th, JC Schoonmaker 62nd and Luke Jager 64th. 

Now, the team heads to the site of the 2025 World Championships in Trondheim, Norway for a set of three races next weekend. 

RESULTS
Women
Men

Nina O’Brien led the Stifel U.S. Ski Team women in the giant slalom at the Stifel Copper Cup presented by United, taking 11th place. Mikaela Shiffrin was 14th. 

Snow fell overnight at Copper—a welcome sight in the dry west—but caused a short delay in the start. However, the sun came out by first run and the course crew slipped the new snow off to unearth a perfect track. 

First run proved challenging for the U.S. women, who battled the light coming in and out and a long, leg-burning course at nearly 11,000 feet above sea level. After first run, O’Brien sat in 13th, Paula Moltzan 16th and Shiffrin 18th – and all felt they had more to give. 

“It’s those conditions where it’s easy to feel so good, but if you push too hard, it’s also not really fast,” said Shiffrin. “You have to really find the perfect balance. I felt really good though, so we’re going to go back and analyze it and see what to do better.” 

With the delay of race from the morning, the track was dark at the 1:30pm MT second run start time. Shiffrin raced first for the U.S. women and was pleased with her result.

“It’s really difficult to be really fast consistently for the whole run,” said Shiffrin. “I was able to execute like 90 percent of the run, so I'm psyched because it's hard to change your mentality between the first and second run of a race. To actually really put that into play and execute it, I feel like I was able to do that for the most part and that's a great direction for the coming races.”

O’Brien, who was also celebrating her 28th birthday, dialed up the aggressiveness on her second run, which bumped her up to 11th place overall. “I was really trying to go for it. You can see how aggressive everyone is skiing,” said O’Brien. “I'm not completely satisfied because I feel like I could have cleaned it up a little bit further, but I'm proud of the effort and it's a real pleasure to be racing here at home.” 

Molzan also turned up the aggression, but put her head through a gate panel and crashed out of the course. She DNFed but is OK. 

Keely Cashman and Tricia Mangan started at the Stifel Copper Cup, but did not qualify for a second run. Elisabeth Bocock was skiing fast first run, but crashed on the pitch. She is OK. 

Alice Robinson of New Zealand took the win by nearly a second. Julia Scheib of Austria was second and Thea Louise Stjernesund of Norway third.  

While it wasn’t the results the Stifel U.S. Ski Team women were hoping for, they were thrilled to be racing in front of the home crowd. 

“I've done a lot of World Cup races in Colorado and I've never seen this many people,” said Shiffrin, who hails from Edwards – just a short drive away from Copper. “It's really exciting to see so many people. There's so much enthusiasm. It's just amazing to be home and to have this kind of turnout for the World Cup.”

“I feel so lucky; my whole family's here,” said O’Brien, who lives in Denver. “I got to spend Thanksgiving with them. It happens to be my birthday too, so I'm feeling lots of love from everyone and hopefully everyone watching had a good time too.”

The women race slalom on Sunday to close out the weekend.

RESULTS
Women’s giant slalom

HOW TO WATCH

Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025
12:00 p.m. – women’s slalom, run 1 – LIVE on Outside TV (free)
1:00 p.m. – women’s giant slalom – tape delay on NBC & Peacock
2:00 p.m. – men’s giant slalom – tape delay on CNBC & Peacock
3:00 p.m. – women’s slalom, run 2 – LIVE on Outside TV (free), CNBC & Peacock

A warm, wet snowfall turned Saturday’s classic sprint in Ruka, Finland into a grind, with saturated tracks and noticeably slower qualification times than the 2024-25 season. On a day when skis mattered more than ever, athletes had to fight for every inch on one of the World Cup’s most demanding sprint courses. Jessie Diggins led the way for the Stifel U.S. Ski Team, in 10th, with Ben Ogden in 12th, Rosie Brennan in 15th and Gus Schumacher in 25th. 

Ruka’s sprint track is considered a “classic” for a reason: the final climb rises the equivalent of a 10 to 12-story building—22 meters of vertical and positioning on the hill is everything. Skiing over the top cleanly to carry momentum into the long double-pole finish straight is key, and races are often decided by fractions of a second.

All eyes were on the four U.S. athletes who advanced to the heats. Rosie Brennan, who has had an unconventional and interrupted summer of training due to illness, took an important early-season step by qualifying for the sprint heats. In her quarterfinal heat, Brennan skied confidently, sitting between third and fifth throughout the course. Her tempo up the final climb matched the leaders, but despite a powerful double pole to the line, she narrowly missed advancing. Still, Brennan walked away encouraged.

“I’m really happy with today,” Brennan said after finishing 15th. “I was in a tough heat and am happy with how I skied it. Without a proper build into the season, I definitely feel I am missing some form and fitness, but doing back-to-back races was a huge win for me and each time I get to race, I am getting some good stimulus to build with moving forward.”

Jessie Diggins delivered, following the 10k classic fifth-place result the previous day. In the semifinals, Diggins lined up with a stacked field, finishing fifth in the heat, just outside of the top two that automatically advance to the finals, and wrapped up the day in 10th overall—an impressive start to her classic sprint season.

On the men’s side, Ben Ogden showed his "Benny Shuffle" in real time and advanced through to the semifinals before his day was cut short. However, a top-15 result is a positive metric this early in the season. 

"Definitely happy with today on the whole," said Ben Ogden. "I thought the qualifier wasn’t the best, but I felt good in the heats -- it was definitely a tricky quarterfinal to get through. And it's only the first week on the snow, so too early to know how I'm feeling, but good to be racing again."

Gus Schumacher also landed in the top 30, placing 25th and adding another World Cup points-scoring race to his resume. 

“Feeling pretty good after qualifying in classic for sure!” Schumacher said. “Definitely a tough ski weekend to start with near-freezing conditions and precipitation… made yesterday fairly rough, but my body feels strong. Excited for tomorrow! That race has been pretty good to me in the past. I think if I can stay relaxed and near the front I can compete up there with the leaders. We’ll see!”

The dominant Norwegians led the podiums of the day. For the men, Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo claimed his 99th individual World Cup victory, with teammates Erik Valnes in second and Ansgaar Evensen in third. Kristine Stavaas Skistad took home another sprint victory, with Sweden's Jonna Sundling in second and Maja Dahlqvist in third. 

For the rest of the Stifel U.S. Ski Team, Julia Kern was 41st, Kate Oldham 47th, Alayna Sonnesyn 50th and Erin Bianco 51st. For the men, Kevin Bolger was 35th, Jack Young 39th, Zak Ketterson 53rd, and JC Schoonmaker was 65th.  

With two race days now complete, the World Cup field will take to the start line one more time in Ruka on Sunday for the 20k skate, a race historically strong for several U.S. athletes.

Watch LIVE on skiandsnowboard.live, with men kicking things off at 4:00 a.m. ET and women at 5:45 a.m. ET.

RESULTS
Women
Men

Troy Podmilsak of the Stifel U.S. Freeski Team brought home his first World Cup victory on Nov. 28 in Secret Garden, China, the venue that played host to the 2022 Olympic Winter Games. Although Podmilsak was the 2023 big air world champion, he still lacked a World Cup victory in his trophy cabinet — that has now changed. 

Podmilsak impressed the judges in a challenging field, finishing the day with a 185.50 across his two scored runs. Troy showed off his right triple 2160 with a mute grab, the trick he premiered at the 2023 World Champs. Alongside the 21, Podmilsak threw a switch right triple 1980 with a safety grab. He was joined on the podium by Canada's Dylan Deschamps in second and New Zealand's Luca Harrington in third.

Mac Forehand, the only other American man to progress through to the finals, finished right off the podium in fourth. Forehand impressed the judges with his switch left triple 1980 with a mute grab, but couldn't clean up his second trick enough for a podium finish.

Konnor Ralph just missed the finals, finishing 11th overall. Hunter Henderson finished 21st, Cody Laplante 27th and Keagan Supple 54th.

On the women's side, Marin Hamill finished 13th and Grace Henderson 23rd. Neither American woman qualified for finals. Great Britain's Kirsty Muir brought home the win, joined by Canada's Naomi Urness in second and China's Mengting Liu in third.

The Stifel U.S. Freeski Team will continue their residency in China with the Beijing Big Air next week and Secret Garden Halfpipe in two weeks.

RESULTS
Women
Men

Hydro Flask U.S. Snowboard Team athletes Lily Dhawornvej and Brooklyn DePriest joined American Judd Henkes in the first World Cup final of the 2025–26 snowboard big air season in Secret Garden, China.

The riders battled windy conditions and a worn-down jump left over from the rescheduled freeski finals earlier in the day but the Americans held strong and delivered an impressive performance to kick off the season.

In her first two jumps, Dhawornvej attempted to put down the same trick she stomped in qualifications — a back-10 drunk driver — but was unable to stick the landing and washed out on both attempts. An under-rotated front-10 drunk driver on her final run ended her chances of a podium finish, but the up-and-comer walked away with invaluable experience heading into a crucial 2025–26 season.

Japan swept the women’s podium with Mari Fukada taking first place, Reira Iwabuchi second and Miyabi Onitsuka third.

In his first World Cup finals appearance, Hydro Flask U.S. Snowboard Team rider Brooklyn DePriest washed out on his first jump but bounced back with a massive switch back triple 19 mute on his second attempt to keep himself in contention. With the pressure on, DePriest dropped in for his third and final run and delivered — a clean back-18 melon that put him in third place just ahead of fellow American Judd Henkes.

After landing a competition-first front-butter 1440 in qualifications, Henkes looked to make another statement on the World Cup stage. His first jump — a front-1 nose butter to switch back-12 melon — earned a score of 79.00 and placed him in second but his next two runs, a hardway cab-12 indy and a cab-9 off the toes, while incredibly stylish, were not enough to keep pace with China’s Yiming Su and Chunyu Ge.

Japan’s Ryoma Kimata joined the hometown heroes to round out the men’s top three. DePriest finished the day in fifth — a major leap from his previous World Cup best of 24th — and Henkes took sixth.

The Hydro Flask U.S. Snowboard Team remains in China for another round of big air competition in Beijing next weekend, Dec. 5–6.

Results
Women
Men

On Friday’s men’s giant slalom in Copper, Colorado hometown boy River Radamus landed in the top 15 in front of a buzzing U.S. crowd at the Stifel Copper Cup presented by United Airlines. 

“ I love racing here. I love the home atmosphere, and I knew that if I gave anything less than everything I had, I'd be regretting and finish,” said Radamus. 

The Stifel U.S. Ski Team athlete was the top performer of the day and sole American to land in the second run. On the first run Radamus was strong through the top splits but held back too much to find himself in 14th place. 

As the sun was going in and out the crowds began to show up for run two. Radamus pushing out of the gate just after the first 15 racers with the plan to push his limits. In the green for the first few splits he held back just too much and bumped back a few spots. 

Radamus was able to maintain a top 15 finish as many racers after him had significant trouble with the long course and altitude. Radamus would slide into the 15th position. 

“I grew up watching the Birds of Prey World Cup in Beaver Creek. And that was sort of what inspired me to become a ski racer. I just need to put two good runs together,” said Radamus. 

Stifel U.S. Ski Team athletes Isaiah Nelson, Patrick Kenney and Ryder Sarchett also raced and landed in 35th, 37th, 38th and 47th place. Bridger Gile did not finish but is ok. The winner of the race was first time World Cup winner from Austria Stefan Brennsteiner. Norwegian Henrik Kristoffersen took second with Croatian Filip Zubcic in third. 

The women will take on the Copper Cup track tomorrow with a giant slalom. 

RESULTS
men's giant slalom

On day two of competition, Noah Elliott proved why he’s called the king of banked slalom, winning back-to-back banked slalom World Cups in Landgraaf. This is his eighth banked slalom World Cup win in a row. Kate Delson and Zach Miller added more podiums to their repertoire on Friday, both finishing third. 

In qualifications, Delson finished third in the women’s LL1/LL2 classification, followed by Brenna Huckaby in fifth, just missing out on finals. Dennae Russell finished ninth, along with Rebecca Johnston in 15th. In men’s LL-2, Elliott took the top spot and Mike Schultz finished sixth. Miller led the way in men’s LL-2 qualifying fourth, Keith Gabel came in seventh and Joe Pleban in eighth. 

In the finals, Delson advanced to the small final after battling with the Netherlands' Lisa Bunschoten. Miller took on reigning World Champion Emanuel Perathoner from Italy and advanced to the small final. Elliott continued his dominance, winning his heat to move into the big final. Elliott, Miller and Delson all won their final races to finish first, third and third overall respectively. 

Next up, the team is heading back to the United States for a training block before their next World Cup in Kühtai, Austria in January. 

RESULTS
Women
Men

Jessie Diggins launched her final World Cup season with a statement performance in Ruka, Finland, delivering her best-ever result on the storied 10k classic course and showing strong early-season form while wearing the yellow bib. Zak Ketterson led the men to a 14th place finish, a career-best individual result. 

For the past 13 seasons, Ruka has served as the opening World Cup stop—a venue known for setting the tone of the year and testing athletes immediately. The women went out first. Diggins entered today’s event ranked as the No. 1 skier in the world after bringing home the overall FIS Crystal Globe last season—an honor she has now won three times. 

For Diggins, this race also marked the last “first start” of her career. Ruka’s opening weekend is notoriously brutal—defined by steep, punchy climbs, fast technical descents, little rest and the infamous “Ruka Climb” into the stadium. That final climb averages a 14% gradient with pitches that spike to 17%—a wall of a finish. 

At the halfway mark at 5k, Diggins sat sixth, only 16 seconds off the lead of Sweden's Frida Karlsson, posting times that kept pressure on the front of the race. In the final kilometers, Diggins began putting down some of the fastest splits in the field and held her position through the line as athletes continued to finish. She moved up to fifth place, marking a new career best for the 10k classic in Ruka. 

Karlsson was untouchable from start to finish, claiming the win with another dominant performance, her second consecutive win in the Ruka 10k classic. Norway’s Heidi Weng finished second and Karlsson’s teammate Ebba Andersson rounded out the podium in third.

Kikkan Randall, Olympic champion and longtime friend to Diggins, summed up the moment: “When you know it's your final season, and you've already done everything, she can just come in here and ski with reckless abandon.”

“My goals for the whole season are to be happy, healthy and in the present moment," said Diggins, post race. "Really soak it in, because this is the last time I get to do this, and that's really special to me. And so, I was just thinking about going out there and smashing a 10k in Ruka one last time and laying it all out. And, as usual, in a race one of my goals is to cross the finish line with nothing left and today, I did that. I was really happy with the race. There were people out there chanting ‘last one, last one,’ which was so cool because I felt the support and love from so many people from so many countries. For the actual race result, it was super exciting to have my best-ever Ruka classic 10k. My combo of kick and glide on a tricky day was great. All said and done, I am coming into the season right where I want to be.”

Seven U.S. men started the race, signaling the depth of a men’s program that enters the season as one of the strongest in U.S. history. Conditions added an extra layer of difficulty; as the race went on, the course began to ice up, making it difficult for athletes to engage their kick zones cleanly. Many athletes battled icing throughout the event, leading to significant time losses on the steeper sections.

But the conditions and tempo of the field did not stop Ketterson from delivering a standout day, earning his career-best individual World Cup result—surpassing his previous top finish of 15th at the 2022 Falun World Cup.

At the end of the day, Norway’s Martin Løwstrøm Nyenget won the day, over the second-place winner, Johannes Høsflot Klæbo. Austria’s Mika Vermeulen delivered a surprise performance in third.

The U.S. has 14 athletes racing today. For the men, Ben Ogden was 34th, Gus Schumacher 37th, Zanden McMullen 49th, JC Schoonmaker 62nd, John Steel Hagenbuch 64th and Luke Jager 68th. For the women, Rosie Brennan was 24th, Julia Kern 42nd, Sophia Laukli 48th, Kendall Kramer 50th, Alayna Sonnesyn 54th, and Kate Oldham 73rd. 

Saturday, the team is back for the skate sprint, with finals live on skiandsnowboard.live at 5:25 a.m. ET.

RESULTS
Women
Men

Stifel U.S. Ski Team athlete Ryan Cochran-Siegle snagged 10th place in the season opener super-G in front of a domestic crowd at the Stifel Copper Cup presented by United Airlines. River Radamus also landed in the top 30 in 22nd and Kyle Negomir was 24th. 

It was an exciting day as men's World Cup racing returned to Copper Mountain for the first time in 49 years. Cochran-Siegle kicked off the race wearing bib one. Despite flat light, he knifed his turns and pushed the limits, but on the last pitch, Cochran-Siegle fell onto his hip and lost all momentum. He somehow managed to pop up and finish for a miraculous recovery.

“I didn't get enough space entering that left footer around the bend, so then that fall away just kept pulling and I didn't get enough direction for that one right footer. But the snow was great,” said Cochran-Siegle. 

Even with the error, Cochran-Siegle still ended up in the top 10 - his best super-G result in nearly two years - and something he will be able to use heading into the speed events at the Stifel Birds of Prey. 

“I honestly didn't feel that I skied that well until I got into the flats,” said Cochran-Siegle. “To still be competitive until that last split, I think there's definitely something to take from that and I have more gas in the tank.” 

The crowd continued to buzz throughout the late morning and into the afternoon, but revved up as each American stood in the start gate. Radamus came down flying with solid splits throughout the course, but held back a little on the bottom to land safely within the top 30. Negomir was the next big moment for the American squad, fighting through illness to end up 24th. 

“We're all pushing right to the absolute limit, but there were a couple of gotcha turns down the bottom that we're taking some names for today,” said Radamus. 

It was an exciting day for young Tanner Perkins in bib 69, who chased the world's fastest skiers to the finish to take 51st place in his first ever World Cup. He smiled in the finish and took off his helmet to show off his haircut to the fans. It's been a long-standing tradition on the men's team to give a haircut to the rookie starting his first World Cup race - and the crowd loves Perkins' American flag-inspired 'do. 

“The biggest thing I feel is I just want to push harder and ski faster and risk even more every time,” said Perkins. “I did a good job remembering that this is just ski racing and it's still just a sport at the end of the day.” 

Finally, it was the great return of Norwegian Aleks Aamodt Kilde to the World Cup after nearly two seasons away from the sport after a crash in Wengen, Switzerland. The athletes and fans were on their feet to welcome the great downhiller back to the World Cup tour. It was a special moment for Kilde and the ski racing community, including his fiancée and Stifel U.S. Ski Team athlete Mikaela Shiffrin, who greeted him in the finish. 

Sam Morse, Wiley Maple, Bryce Bennett and Jared Goldberg landed in 52nd, 60th, 61st and 65th, respectively. The winner of the race was the Swiss phenom Marco Odermatt, while Austria's Vincent Kreichmayer and Raphael Haaser were second and third. 

The racing continues Friday with a men’s giant slalom. 

RESULTS
Men's super-G

The Toyota U.S. Para Snowboard Team kicked off their World Cup season in the fridge this morning, where Kate Delson and Noah Elliott took home wins and Zach Miller finished in third in banked slalom. 

Landgraaf, Netherlands, is a familiar kick-off point for the team, having started their seasons there for the last four years. The indoor facility offers a unique opportunity to start racing earlier in the season, and it is a stop that continuously brings excellent results for the U.S. 

In qualification, Delson took the top spot for the LL1/LL2 women and Elliott for the LL1 men. They continued this momentum into the big finals, where both held on to the top spot and took home the win. Miller finished on the podium in the men’s LL2 classification and Brenna Huckaby finished third for the LL women. Outside of finals, Mike Schultz and Keith Gabel both finished sixth in their classifications, followed by Joe Pleban and Rebecca Johnston, both taking 10th and Dennae Russel in 12th. 

"Super stoked to kick off the first competition of this season with my first banked slalom podium and win," said Delson. "I am incredibly grateful to be a part of this team. With the training opportunities we’ve had this summer, I was able to push my riding to get these results. I'm proud of the whole team, it’s only November, and we are just accelerating up from here."

Tomorrow, the team is back in the banks starting at 3:30 am ET.  

RESULTS
Women
Men