While club, academy and university coaches attended annual Congress meetings hosted by U.S. Ski & Snowboard in Park City, Utah, head men’s development coach Sasha Rearick hit the mountain with a strong crew of young, development-level male athletes at both Squaw Valley and Mammoth Mountain in California.

In the spring of 2016, U.S. Ski & Snowboard began a comprehensive study of its own alpine development system and an appraisal of other major nations in the sport. As a result of that study, a plan was created to bring about a sea of change in how U.S. Ski & Snowboard, along with its affiliated regional and club networks, approached future national team selection and development programs, specifically looking toward long-term success at the 2022 and 2026 Olympic Games and beyond. These changes led to the introduction of an innovative methodology for inviting and managing athletes into its alpine development program, deemed the Development Team (D Team) and National Development Group (NDG).

The goal is to expose the nation’s best athletes at the development level to value-added programming that will help them make the next big step to C Team, to the top of the NorAms, and, ultimately, to the World Cup podium. For now, it all starts with the Squaw and Mammoth camps early in the 2018-19 prep period, with athletes who are in line to make Development team criteria and others who are close.

Former head men’s FIS Ski World Cup coach Rearick is at the helm of the men’s alpine development program, working in close partnership with regional and club coaches. The camp is focused on three core areas: technical, tactical and cultural. From a technical standpoint, Rearick would like to see athletes maintain a balanced athletic stance through the turn. Tactically, the emphasis will be on the pressure in the fall line. Culture has been a key topic this spring for U.S. Ski & Snowboard, led by President and CEO Tiger Shaw, and the Development Team plans to come together for discussions that will allow them to create the team culture that they want and need to progress. In doing so, they will ask questions including, “What is the environment we want to create?” and “How do we prepare the team to grow within adversity?”

“This initial National Development Group project has been a great example of the hard work and strong collaboration between the national team, led by Sasha, and the regional and club networks,” noted Chip Knight, alpine development director. “The success of this new development initiative will require very clear communication between all entities, and Sasha has done an incredible job leading the way out of the gate.”

For this initial camp, Green Mountain Valley School's U19 Men’s Coach Nate Bryant and Burke Mountain Academy's Head Men’s FIS Coach JP Daigneault have joined Rearick. The intention is for them to bring back to their clubs what they have learned for future implementation at their own camps.

Even at the elite level, Rearick has stressed the importance of fundamental skills for athletes. The spring project started with a conditioning element at U.S. Ski & Snowboard’s Center of Excellence in Park City, Utah, followed by PSIA, slalom and giant slalom fundamentals sessions at Squaw Valley and culminating with a speed fundamentals block at Mammoth Mountain. Another unique element of the camp includes support from Matt Schiller, owner of the Park City Boot Room, who was on site assisting with boot fitting and conducting tuning clinics. Additionally, U.S. Ski & Snowboard’s Athlete Career & Education (ACE) Director, Julie Glusker, traveled to Squaw Valley to lead study sessions and offered virtual academic support for the duration of the camp.

U.S. Ski & Snowboard also invited PSIA instructor Michael Rogan and his Austrian counterpart Christopher Krabath, to lead the charge. “Chris is doing real work on lower leg engagement,” Rearick explained. “And what we’ve found was that part of the reason we’re out of balance is that we’re not rotating the femur inside the pelvis – internal rotation of the femur to establish the platform. So, we’re doing a lot of exercises to pinpoint that, which then allows the upper body to stay much more stable. We’re trying to get more athletic movement through the skiing – so flexion, extension, up-forward movement and forward movement are a big part of what they’re doing with athletes.”

The camp featured two days of free skiing on giant slalom skis, using the Squaw Valley terrain for off-piste-type mogul runs, and steep crud skiing to further enhancing the athletic, balanced stance and movement through skiing. Add to this, Rearick’s focus on “constraint-based training” featuring variable course sets that are extremely demanding, encouraged athletes to express themselves in these environments. From there, athletes go back to normal rhythm and timing in giant slalom and slalom sets. This facilitates a focus on skill acquisition so they learn movement correctly, and then skill adaptation.

During the slalom portion of the camp, the alpine athletes worked with the U.S. Ski Team moguls athletes. Unconventional? Yes! Effective? Definitely! The moguls team focused on carving skills, while the alpine crew learned how to keep the skis on the snow and have better upper and lower body separation.

The transition from the World Cup level to the development level has also been positively challenging for Rearick. “There’s a lot of communication with the clubs, coaches and parents prior to traveling to camp, trying to get a sense of what they need,” reflected Rearick. “This is not a full-time program. Rather, these are added opportunities that athletes are invited to. We’re trying to put together a program that athletes can do programming they’re familiar with at their club programs, yet at the same time take advantage of more opportunities led by U.S. Ski & Snowboard. The key here is supporting the clubs by identifying what is possible and communicating the steps they have to make. It’s been going great. We’re on the hill four and a half hours a day, so it’s been long days.”

This project is just one of many development projects for which Knight and new alpine director Jesse Hunt will be championing and Rearick will be implementing. The new initiative was a key topic of discussion at U.S. Ski & Snowboard Congress and was received with positivity and constructive conversation among key stakeholders at the club, academy and university level.

The 2018-19 season brings the following changes for Coach, Official, and Club Volunteer members.

• Background screening
  • Now required every two seasons
  • Minimum age requirement of 18 years
• SafeSport Training
  • The Core Center for SafeSport Training is required once.
  • A refresher course is required on an annual basis every season following the completion of the Core Center for SafeSport Training for each participating adult.
• Fast Start Coaching Course: Now required for Level 100 certification

These changes are in part due to legislation passed by Congress called ‘Protecting Young Victims from Sexual Abuse and SafeSport Authorization Act of 2017.’  Federal law now requires that adults who have regular contact or are in positions of authority over athletes must receive consistent education on prevention and reporting.

More details regarding SafeSport are available on the U.S. Ski & Snowboard website.

PARK CITY, Utah (May 1, 2018) – Olympian and long-time U.S. Ski & Snowboard Cross Country Sport Committee Chair Jon Engen passed away last week after a battle with cancer. Engen was a three-time Olympian, one of the rare athletes to compete in both cross country and biathlon, and a passionate supporter of both sports in the United States.

Originally from Norway, Engen emigrated to the U.S. to ski for Montana State University, graduating in 1983 with an engineering degree. He made his first Olympic team in 1988, competing in cross country, and followed that up with two more Olympic appearances in 1992 and 1993 as a biathlete.

“The whole U.S. Biathlon family is saddened by the news of Jon’s passing,” said U.S. Biathlon President and CEO Max Cobb. “He was a great competitor and a force for development within both the biathlon and the cross country skiing communities as one of the few individuals to compete for Team USA at the Olympics in both sports. His dry wit and enthusiasm were legendary. Jon will be greatly missed.”

Engen served as U.S. Ski & Snowboard’s Cross Country Sport Committee Chair from 2006 to 2014. He was involved in every aspect of the sport - as an athlete, coach, industry representative and sport leader - and is regarded as one of the committee’s most impactful leaders. He was inducted into the Sun Valley Ski Hall of Fame in 2014 and will be honored this week at the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Chairman’s Awards dinner with the Al Merrill Award for his service to nordic skiing in America.

“Much of the success we are enjoying now in cross country stems from the period when Jon’s committee and community leadership played a major role in the growth of the sport in America,” said U.S. Ski & Snowboard Chief of Sport Luke Bodensteiner. “Most of all, though, he was just an amazing, kind individual who just wanted to help the sport find success in America.”

Services for Engen are being planned for this summer.

SafeSport education and implementation, and the protection of youths and people of all ages engaged in sport at all levels are the number one priorities today for National Governing Bodies (NGBs) across the United States.

Thousands of people take part in U.S. Ski & Snowboard events, training programs and competitions annually, from grassroots levels right up to elite, and U.S. Ski & Snowboard is placing the very highest possible emphasis on making sure every participant can do so in an environment that is free from abuse, hazing, and bullying.

Recently, the US Congress passed the “Protecting Young Victims from Sexual Abuse and Safe Sport Authorization Act of 2017”, which now makes failure to report suspected child sexual abuse to police a violation of federal criminal law. This is an important step up in policy and one that U.S. Ski & Snowboard applauds and has implemented across our organization.

Federal law now requires that adults who have frequent contact with athletes or are in positions of authority over athletes must receive consistent and regular education on the critical importance of prevention of all forms of abuse, bullying, and hazing, and are empowered to report whenever they suspect something untoward is taking place.

At our recent Congress, U.S. Ski & Snowboard announced a number of operational updates to ensure that our organization is implementing best practice across all levels of our organization in this critical area. This will start from the grassroots with U.S. Ski & Snowboard member clubs, and extend to all areas of the Center of Excellence.

All employees of U.S. Ski & Snowboard must complete SafeSport training and background screening before their first day of work. All interns, volunteers and contractors who have access to the Center of Excellence, or who frequently interact with athletes, and those who have access to confidential U.S. Ski & Snowboard information related to the organization or athletes, must also complete SafeSport training and background screening before their first day of interning, volunteering, or beginning contract work.

The changes will also impact U.S. Ski & Snowboard member clubs, as they will be required to implement the same standards of SafeSport training and education, and background screening, as all those who work at or with U.S. Ski & Snowboard in Park City, and at the FIS events in the United States. These mandatory requirements will include:

• Criminal background screening for all employees, coaches, officials, and volunteers who are in regular contact with athletes, or in positions of authority over athletes
• Consistent education on prevention of sexual abuse, bullying, and hazing, and clear reporting structures in place to enable anyone who is concerned about any of these areas to be able to come forward and report
• The development and implementation of policies to limit, as much as possible, one-on-one interactions with athletes at any time
• Implementation and enforcement of policies and preparation for and quick response to random audits for compliance by the US Center for SafeSport
• Background screening and SafeSport training: Now required all employees, coaches, officials, and volunteers who are in regular contact with athletes, or in positions of authority over athletes every two seasons
• Fast Start Coaching Course: Now required for Level 100 certification

These policies and processes are in the process of implementation across all levels of U.S. Ski & Snowboard’s member programs. More details regarding SafeSport are available on the U.S. Ski & Snowboard website.

PARK CITY, Utah (May 1, 2018) – U.S. Ski & Snowboard will recognize more than 50 athletes, coaches, clubs, and leaders who have supported skiing and snowboarding at this week’s annual U.S. Ski & Snowboard Congress. The awards include gold awards, silver awards, athlete, coach and club of the year awards in each sport, and sport-specific awards.

The organization’s highest honor, the Julius Blegen Award, will be awarded to the late Bruce Crane, acknowledging his lifetime of service to skiing and snowboarding. Crane spent much of his life serving his passion both professionally and as a volunteer in the sport of ski racing. Throughout his career, Crane served as a competition director for multiple organizations and worked at the 1998 and 2002 Olympic Winter Games. He was world acclaimed for his work in race timing and scoring, athlete ranking systems, and racecourse homologation. Crane was honored many times for his service, including the Westhaven Award for service as a technical delegate in 1997 and the Bud and Mary Little Award for his work with the International Ski Federation (FIS), and the U.S. Olympic Committee in 2002.

U.S. Ski & Snowboard announced various gold awards, including Olympic champion Jessie Diggins as the recipient of this year’s Beck International Award, Rowmark Academy’s Troy Price (Salt Lake City) as development coach of the year, Dave Reynolds and Mike Ramirez as international coaches of the year and Alaska Pacific University Nordic Ski Center as club of the year. Additionally, Brad Ghent (Edwards, Colo.) will receive the Westhaven Award for his service as a U.S. Ski & Snowboard and FIS technical delegate.

The Utah Olympic Park, Waterville Valley Resort, Craftsbury Outdoor Center and Central Cross Country Skiing will receive silver awards for their service to and support of the sports. The Utah Olympic Park, winner of the John J. Clair Jr. Award, serves as a training center for the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Team for elite and development level athletes in multiple Olympic disciplines. Waterville Valley and Craftsbury Outdoor Center will receive the Paul Bacon Award for their event organization, including the 2018 U.S. Freestyle Moguls Championships at Waterville Valley and two SuperTour stops at the Craftsbury Outdoor Center. Central Cross Country Skiing will receive the Russell Wilder Award for service to youth through its Nordic Rocks program.

Other silver award recipients include Tom Johnston (Bud and Mary Little Award) for his service to the FIS and the U.S. Olympic Committee, Ritchie Date (West Family Award) for his work as a U.S. Ski & Snowboard official, Dr. Jamie Watkins (J. Leland Sosman Award) for his service as a team physician and Olympic Champion Kikkan Randall (Buddy Werner Award, and Team Athlete Giving Back Award) for her sportsmanship and leadership as well as her work with the Fast & Female program.

All of this year’s awards will be presented at the Chairman’s Awards Dinner on May 3 in Park City.

2018 U.S. SKI & SNOWBOARD JULIUS BLEGEN AWARD RECIPIENT

Bruce Crane (Park City, Utah)

U.S. SKI & SNOWBOARD GOLD AWARD RECIPIENTS

Westhaven Award (top U.S. Ski & Snowboard technical delegate) – Brad Ghent (Edwards, Colo.)

U.S. SKI & SNOWBOARD SILVER AWARD RECIPIENTS

Paul Bacon Award (event organization) – Waterville Valley Resort + Craftsbury Outdoor Center & Nordic Ski Club

John J. Clair Jr. Award (service to the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Team) – Utah Olympic Park

Bud and Mary Little Award (service to FIS/USOC) – Tom Johnston (Pinedale, Wyo.)

Buddy Werner Award (athlete sportsmanship, leadership) – Kikkan Randall (Anchorage, Alaska)

Russell Wilder Award (service to youth) – Central Cross Country Skiing, Nordic Rocks

J. Leland Sosman Award (service as team physician) – Jamie Watkins, MD (Snowmass Village, Colo.)

West Family Award (U.S. Ski & Snowboard official) – Richie Date (Park City, Utah)

Team Athlete Giving Back Award – Kikkan Randall (Anchorage, Alaska)

PARK CITY, Utah (April 30, 2018) – U.S. Ski & Snowboard will recognize 31 individuals and organizations for Athlete, Coach, and Club of the Year awards at the upcoming U.S. Ski & Snowboard Congress. Top honorees this year include Jessie Diggins (Afton, Minn.), recipient of the Beck International Award, U.S. Ski & Snowboard’s top athletic honor, U.S. Snowboard Team’s Mike Ramirez and David Reynolds for Coach of the Year, Troy Price for Development Coach of the Year and Alaska Pacific University for Club of the Year.

Jessie Diggins made history this season when she and teammate Kikkan Randall (Anchorage, Alaska) brought home the gold medal in the team sprint at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang, South Korea. It was the first U.S. women’s cross country medal and only the second cross country medal ever following Bill Koch’s silver at the 1976 Games. Diggins also had a spectacular World Cup season with eight podiums, including victories in Seefeld, Austria and Falun, Sweden.

“It is an honor to be receiving the Beck International Award, and I’m extremely grateful to the team that created so many extraordinary racing opportunities this season,” said Diggins. “Our coaches and staff have worked tirelessly, putting the rest of their lives on hold to travel the world with us and help us achieve athletic excellence. Our teammates have put in thousands of hours of training to push the level of skiing in this country forward. This season wouldn’t have happened without such amazing support!”

U.S. Snowboard Team coaches Mike Ramirez and Dave Reynolds led their team of 18 athletes to four Olympic medals, including two gold, three X Games medals, 11 World Cup podiums and an overall World Cup title. Their guidance and dedication to their team have helped U.S. Ski & Snowboard’s slopestyle and big air teams become the “Best in the World!”

As junior program director at Rowmark Ski Academy in Salt Lake City, Troy Price has fostered a high level of development for his athletes at Rowmark and the entire intermountain division. He established the division’s development committee nine years ago and has served as committee chair since its inception, playing a key role in managing development projects, running the Tri-Divisional Championships and fielding a Western Region team for this season’s Whistler Cup.

Alaska Pacific University has long supported the development and success of cross country skiing athletes at every level. This season, APU had a total of nine current and alumni athletes compete at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games, including Olympic Champion Randall, Sadie and Erik Bjornsen (Winthrop, Wash.) and Rosie Brennan (Park City, Utah).

All award recipients will be recognized at the annual Chairman’s Awards Dinner on May 3 in Park City.
 

2018 U.S. SKI & SNOWBOARD ATHLETES OF THE YEAR

• Beck International Award: Jessie Diggins (Afton, Minn.; SMS T2)
• Alpine Athlete of the Year: Mikaela Shiffrin (Eagle/Vail, Colo.; Burke Mountain Academy/Ski & Snowboard Club Vail)
• Adaptive Athlete of the Year: Tyler Walker (Franconia, N.H./U.S Paralympic Team)
• Cross Country Athlete of the Year: Jessie Diggins (Afton, Minn.; SMS T2)
• Freestyle Athlete of the Year: Jaelin Kauf (Alta, Wyo.; Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club)
• Freeskiing Athlete of the Year: David Wise (Reno, Nev.)
• Nordic Combined Athlete of the Year: Ben Loomis (Eau Claire, Wisc.; Flying Eagle Ski Club)
• Ski Jumping Athlete of the Year: Kevin Bickner (Wauconda, Ill.; Norge Ski Club)
• Snowboarding Athlete of the Year: Jamie Anderson (S. Lake Tahoe, Calif.; USASA South Tahoe Series)
   

2018 U.S. SKI & SNOWBOARD COACHES OF THE YEAR

• International/Snowboard Coach of the Year: Mike Ramirez + Dave Reynolds (U.S. Snowboard Team)
• Development/Alpine Domestic Coach of the Year: Troy Price (Rowmark Ski Academy)
• Adaptive International Coach of the Year: Graham Watanabe (U.S. Paralympics)
• Adaptive Domestic Coach of the Year: Erik Leirfallom (National Ability Center)
• Alpine International Coach of the Year: Chip White (U.S. Women’s Alpine Ski Team)
• Cross Country International Coach of the Year: Jason Cork + Matt Whitcomb (U.S. Ski Team)
• Cross Country Domestic Coach of the Year: Bryan Fish (U.S. Ski Team)
• Freestyle International Coach of the Year: Matt Gnoza (U.S. Ski Team)
• Freestyle Domestic Coach of the Year: John Dowling (Ski & Snowboard Club Vail)
• Freeski International Coach of the Year: Ben Verge + Andrew Woods (U.S. Freeski Team)
• Freeski Domestic Coach of the Year: Jesse Mallis (Stratton Mountain School)
• Ski Jumping/Nordic Combined International Coach of the Year: Uroš "Balki" Vrhovec (USA Nordic)
• Ski Jumping/Nordic Combined Domestic Coach of the Year: Colin Delaney (NYSEF)
• Snowboard Domestic Coach of the Year: Brady McNeil (Ski & Snowboard Club Vail)
   

2018 U.S. SKI & SNOWBOARD CLUBS OF THE YEAR

• Club/Cross Country Club of the Year: Alaska Pacific University Nordic Ski Center
• Alpine + Ski Jumping/Nordic Combined Club of the Year: Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club
• Freestyle Club of the Year: Winter Park Freestyle Program
• Freeski + Snowboard Club of the Year: Aspen Valley Ski & Snowboard Club

WASHINGTON (April 26, 2018) – U.S. Ski & Snowboard athletes, coaches, and staff brought home four awards from the Team USA Awards, Best of the Games, recognizing Team USA’s outstanding performances and awe-inspiring achievements from the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018.

Shaun White (Carlsbad, Calif.) was named Male Olympic Athlete of the Games, Chloe Kim (Torrance, Calif.) was named Female Olympic Athlete of the Games, U.S. Cross Country Ski Team coach Jason Cork was named Olympic Coach of the Games, and U.S. Ski & Snowboard Vice President, Communications Tom Kelly received the Building Dreams Award.

With an impressive 97.75-point final run to claim gold, White became the first snowboarder to win three Olympic gold medals and is the first American man to win gold medals at three Olympic Winter Games. He now owns the second-most gold medals among U.S. men in Olympic Winter Games history.

In her first Olympics, Kim nailed a 98.25-point on her victory lap run in halfpipe, that included two back-to-back 1080s, after posting a 93.75 on her first run to secure the gold medal. She is the youngest woman from any nation to win a gold medal in snowboarding.

As a coach for the U.S. Cross Country Ski Team, and the personal coach of two-time Olympian Jessie Diggins, Cork was instrumental in leading Team USA to its first-ever Olympic medal in women’s cross country skiing, and the first U.S. gold medal in the sport. In addition to the historic gold medal in the team sprint, Cork also guided Diggins to three individual top-five finishes – the best-ever for an American woman in Olympic cross-country skiing (prior to the gold medal).

In a career that has spanned 32 years and nine Olympic Winter Games, Kelly has dedicated his life’s work to telling the incredible stories of Team USA athletes and highlighting the historic milestones that have made U.S. Ski & Snowboard a perennial power on the world’s biggest stage. In a pioneering move that reimagined media coverage at the Olympic Games, Kelly was the mastermind behind the USOC’s Managing Victory tour, which is designed to help Olympic medalists capitalize on their success and promote their sport in the immediate aftermath of their podium performance. Now a cornerstone of both summer and winter versions of the Games, Team USA celebrated the sixth installment of the program at the PyeongChang Olympics, which also marked the final Games for Kelly in his current role with U.S. Ski & Snowboard.

Other Team USA, Best of the Games winners include:

• Olympic Team of the Games – U.S. Olympic Women’s Ice Hockey Team
• Female Paralympic Athlete of the Games – Oksana Masters, Nordic skiing
• Male Paralympic Athlete of the Games – Dan Cnossen, Nordic skiing
• Paralympic Team of the Games – U.S. Paralympic Sled Hockey Team
• Paralympic Coach of the Games – Gary Colliander, Nordic skiing
• Jesse Owens Olympic Spirit Award – Kristi Yamaguchi, 1992 Olympic gold medalist, figure skating

The six athlete and team award winners were determined by online fan voting at TeamUSA.org/Awards, where nearly 600,000 fan votes determined 50 percent of the final tally. Members of the Olympic and Paralympic family – including an esteemed panel of Olympic and Paralympic journalists – accounted for the other 50 percent. For coaching awards, National Governing Bodies selected their nominees and the winners were determined via selection committee.

The awards were presented during a live recording of the Team USA Awards, Best of the Games ceremony, held on April 26 at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, D.C. The awards show will be televised as a 90-minute feature for the first time ever and will air May 12 from 6-7:30 p.m. EDT on NBCSN.

In this update from U.S. Ski & Snowboard, I’m writing to share important topics with which our team is currently engaged.

Reflecting on the 2018 season, we have much to be proud of - from the Olympic Winter Games to the World Cup and Grand Prix circuits, to all major events in which our incredible athletes excelled. While we have had a number of great successes, this season has also revealed areas where we are simply falling short of our ambitious goals and objectives. My laser focus and that of our entire organization is on improving our operations, the culture of our teams and the effectiveness of our overall athletic development systems, all of which is aimed at helping our athletes become, and remain, the Best in the World while providing a safe and healthy environment.

Like every organization striving for excellence, we have, and always will have, challenges to face and tackle. We must always be committed to a culture of continuous improvement. We have made plans to address key challenges and opportunities over the last several years that we are already executing. At the same time, we are also carefully listening and responding to input and challenging every assumption and plan. We embrace public dialog and the feedback we receive from all quarters. We also hear and understand the need for more transparency. With this in mind, I wanted to share with you some key updates within our organization:

• Team structures: We are restructuring our freestyle and alpine departments to provide a new and renewed focus on domestic and development level programming combined with supporting our national teams. These restructuring efforts will be ongoing, and are focused on improved culture and domestic program integration.

• Athlete safety is of paramount importance and a fundamental priority for our organization. We are continuously evaluating how we improve SafeSport training, awareness and enforcement at all levels of U.S. Ski & Snowboard’s operations. Additional details on this critical work will be discussed further during U.S. Ski & Snowboard Congress in early May.

• Financial transparency is of critical importance and a goal of this organization. We publish information which gives clear details of our operating budget (available here), and will publish mid-May when our 2019 budget is final and approved, additional information about sport-specific athlete costs and benefits involving funding allocations and the specific steps we are taking to increase funding and decrease costs for our athletes. This includes the Bob Beattie Travel Fund and other campaigns supporters have so generously helped us all to create. Benefits of being a team member will also be detailed, including our highly utilized significant career and academic support.

The upcoming U.S. Ski & Snowboard Congress, May 1-5 in Park City, Utah will be the perfect opportunity for attendees to learn more about the important topics that our team is engaged with, and to provide thoughts, ideas and feedback on the changes we are implementing to help us achieve our vision and goals by executing our mission. Those who know me and this organization know that we always welcome any and all feedback. We are listening carefully and working hard to make U.S. Ski & Snowboard stronger, with our core focus, as ever, on athletes.

Thank you for your continued support.

Tiger Shaw
President & CEO
U.S. Ski & Snowboard

Olympic gold medalist Chloe Kim (Torrence, Calif.) is one of four Olympians named to Time's 100 Most Influential People in 2018.

Kim made history at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang, performing two back-to-back 1080s - a first for women's snowboarding - in her halfpipe run to claim the gold. Under an immense amount of pressure, competing in her parents home country, Kim rode brilliantly and shined brightly as one of Team USA's biggest stars.

Read David Chang's Time essay on Chloe Kim.

U.S. Ski & Snowboard has announced today that Jesse Hunt has returned to the organization as Alpine Director, a role he last held with U.S. Ski & Snowboard in 2009 after 16 years with the organization. Jesse takes up the role with immediate effect, returning to U.S. Ski & Snowboard after nine years with Park City Ski & Snowboard where he was Program Director and General Manager.

During Jesse’s previous tenure with U.S. Ski & Snowboard, the U.S. Ski Team enjoyed arguably its most successful run of results in alpine racing in its history, including four FIS Overall World Cup titles, 12 Olympic medals and 18 World Championship medals.

“Jesse is re-joining our team at a pivotal time,” said Luke Bodensteiner, U.S. Ski & Snowboard’s Chief of Sport. “Some of our alpine team’s greatest successes have been propelled by the work that Jesse accomplished during his first tenure with us. He’s the right person to lead our team right now, as we continue to maximize the capability of our elite team, while also activating the roadmap in our development efforts to build our team for the future. The nine years that Jesse has spent at Park City Ski & Snowboard, one of our largest club programs, allows him to return to us with a fully rounded perspective of all levels of the sport, and positions him uniquely to lead our collaboration with clubs nationally, and our efforts internationally.  He will bring a unique, comprehensive, and American perspective to the position, and we’re incredibly happy to welcome him back to the team.”

“Firstly, I want to thank everyone at Park City Ski & Snowboard for being such an incredible group of people to work with over the last nine years. I leave with many happy memories, but I am delighted that Tiger, Luke, and the whole U.S. Ski & Snowboard team have given me the chance to come back home,” added Jesse, originally from Burlington, VT and a Park City resident since 1990. “We have an exciting challenge ahead of us to give our alpine ski racers the chance to be Best In The World, but that is precisely the challenge that motivates me the most, helping athletes achieve everything that they are capable of. We have a strong mix of highly experienced athletes and those coming up through the ranks in both the men’s and women’s teams, in speed and tech, and the chance to help all of them achieve greatness is one I could not turn down.

“Additionally, the recent announcement the team made that Sasha Rearick is joining Chip Knight in the alpine development program means we have a very strong team in place to help us achieve our goals in the World Cup program for years to come, and, in particular at the 2022 and 2026 Games, and beyond. I cannot wait to start work and am thrilled to be back.

“Our whole alpine program will benefit tremendously from the leadership and clear direction Jesse will bring,” said Tiger Shaw, CEO and President of U.S. Ski & Snowboard. “We had a successful 2018 Winter Olympic Games, but we know we did not achieve all our goals in alpine. Jesse’s appointment adds an incredible amount of value to our elite athlete alpine program, but he will also be a key part of the plan we have been activating for some time now in development. I am confident that we have the right mix of experience, passion, dedication and a strong plan that will help our alpine program achieve more than they think possible, both internationally and back home in the USA.”