The Associated Press recently interviewed newly-nominated Development Team athlete Bella Wright, who was an invitee with the U.S. Ski Team throughout the 2019-20 season and started in her career-first FIS Ski World Cup in Lake Louise, Canada. (Max Hall - U.S. Ski & Snowboard)
When the Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team returned to snow recently at Official Training Site Copper Mountain, Colo., they didn't know what to expect. Colorado in early June, in one of the hottest summers to date?! But, the Copper Mountain and U.S. Ski & Snowboard staff pulled it off together, and it was a productive camp.
That feat caught the attention of the Associated Press' Pat Graham, a longtime partner of U.S. Ski & Snowboard, who was impressed, to say the least. He featured the camp in a recent article, entitled "Peak performers: Shiffrin, ski team return to snow for camp".
In his piece, Pat interviewed newly-nominated Development Team athlete Isabella "Bella" Wright, who was an invitee with the U.S. Ski Team throughout the 2019-20 season and started in her career-first FIS Ski World Cup in Lake Louise, Canada. Bella, who won the 2019-20 super-G NorAm title, was stoked to be back on snow in Copper.
“Being back skiing, on the snow, it just felt like home,” said Bella Wright, who made her World Cup debut last season. “It felt like we were back doing what we’re supposed to be doing.”
Head women's coach Paul Kristofic added that the training was vital, since the Team missed spring training due to COVID-19. "It's just great quality mileage in the bank," he said.
Isabella Wright was first named to the Stifel U.S. Alpine Ski Team for the 2021 season. Wright grew up skiing and ski racing on the West Coast, out of the Snowbird Sports Education Foundation, and showed fast skiing from a young age.
Mikaela Shiffrin
Two-time Olympic gold medalist and seven-time world champion Mikaela Shiffrin bega
Mt. Hood is Open for Training, No 2020 Summer Fun Nationals Race
By Lauren Beckos
June, 27 2020
2020 Summer Fun Nationals has been canceled due to Covid-19 restrictions. Camps are still running at Mt. Hood this summer so check out the options and plan for SFN 2021.
We are sad to report that the 2020 event must be canceled. The restrictions currently in place for COVID-19 do not for allow for a large race event. A big thank you to Meri Stratton for all her work on planning this year's event and for the past 31 years. It is truly a labor of love for our sport and the masters community. We look forward to the 32nd Annual SFN in 2021.
There are still several summer camps running this summer at Timberline. Here's a listing for the next few months. If you make it to Mt. Hood, be sure to stop by and say hi to Fuxi in Government Camp.
Check out the Training Page for info on an August indoor training camps in the Netherlands as well as a full lineup of fall and winter camps. Information on the South America FIS camp is also on the training page and below in the FIS section.
When Dani Loeb was eight, she and her friends tried to build a snowman.
But the 1-inch snowfall, which was the first that Dani can remember in her hometown of Montgomery, wasn’t quite enough to form more than a snowball.
Ten years later, Dani, the girl who usually had to travel to see snow, is one of seven members of the women’s national Aerial Ski Team. Continue reading on AL.com
Alabama native Dani Loeb, part of the stacked U.S. aerials team, has 10 NorAm Cup wins, three World Cup top-10s, and was part of the 2023 World Championships roster.
Each year, the Masters hold Eastern and Western Regional Champions to bring together people from different race series. It's a opportunity to race against a larger field of competitors and see how you stack up.
EASTERN REGION CHAMPIONS
The 2020 Philips 66 Eastern Region Championships in Stratton, VT saw a variety of weather! Sunny and clear for the SGs and SL while the final GS day brought sleet and fog resulting in the race being finalized after 1 run. Not to be deterred, the Eastern Region Masters racers along with several visiting from the Canada Masters were able to throw down some great competition to crown the 2020 Eastern Region Champions!
WESTERN REGION CHAMPIONS
The 2020 Western Region Championships were part of the FIS Masters Cup event in Northstar, CA. Racers were scored on results from 5 events: 2SG, 2GS(1-run each), and SL. Northstar did an incredible job hosting the event and putting together 3 days of great courses on a perfect race surface! Congratulations to the Western Region Champions!
The 2020 Phillips 66 National Speed Series overall champions are the top competitors in the overall group rankings for each of the Group A/B (age 18-64) men, Group C women, and Group D (age 65+) men based on total world cup points accumulated in the all races of the series. Races were held at Sun Valley, Stratton, Mammoth, Aspen Highlands, Northstar, Granite Peak, West Mountain, and Schweitzer. Prior to the cancelations we had a record 22 speed series races on the schedule! (Our previous record was 20.) Park City races were cancelled due to weather and races at Ski Cooper, Steamboat, and Mt. Bachelor were cancelled due to developments with COVID-19.
Competitors must have at least three starts to be eligible for series awards. With 1/3 of the planned NSS races cancelled, many classes would not have met the three-race minimum starts eligibility rule for series awards. Given these unprecedented circumstances, the Division Chairs voted unanimously to adjust the eligibility rule for 2020 as follows: Racers who met the three-race eligibility rule were scored first for both class and overall finish places. Racers with two starts were then added to complete the series awards finish order for both class and overall positions. See the links below for the full group and age class standing results:
18 USA FIS Masters Globe Winners - 2021 Season kicks off September in Argetina
By Lauren Beckos
June, 24 2020
USA FIS Masters Cup at Northstar, CO - Group A racers lined up at the top of the course and Class C6 racers on the podium.
2019-2020 Season Summary
The 2019-2020 FIS Masters Cup Season started in Nevados de Chillan, Chile in September 2019 with 26 racers from USA. For the USA racers, there was an opportunity to train for several days followed by 6 race starts over 4 days. The weather kept everyone on their toes, but they managed to get in several days of great training and racing along with some bonus time at local thermal hot springs on the tough weather days. The dramatic scenery of the area was further enhanced by a volcano active 5km away.
The USA FIS Masters racers took a break from the FIS calendar in November and December before jumping back across the pond in January. Excitement was at an all time high as racers traveled to Innsbruck, Austria for the World Winter Masters Games. The World Winter Masters Games (WWMG) are held every 5 years brining across athletes from all winter disciplines and this year's alpine events were also part of the FIS Masters Cup Calendar. Twenty U.S. Ski & Snowboard Members competed and 3 USA racers Lilla Gidlow, Stein Halsnes, and Pepi Neubauer achieved podiums in their age classes (picture below L to R in 1st place).
In early February, the FIS Masters Cup Circuit came to North America. After a 2019 ruling from the FIS Masters Committee allowing more race starts in North America, events were able to be hosted in both the United States and Canada for the first time. The USA events brought 99 racers together from 9 countries to Northstar, CA. Northstar delivered a stellar event with bluebird weather and top notch courses and race crew. A couple weeks later 16 USA racers traveled to Stoneham, Quebec for the Canadian events and toughed it out through some cold weather to enjoy and celebrate the return of Canada to the FIS Masters Cup circuit.
As COVID-19 spread across the globe, racers were packing up to head to the World Criterium Masters in Austria and Finals in Slovakia when the events were canceled. Much like the with World Cup, the show could not go on.
2019-2020 FIS Overall Winners
During the 2019-2020 season, USA racers attended events in Chile, Austria, USA, Canada, Australia, Croatia, and Italy. Eighteen USA racers were ranked internationally and 7 racers placed on the podium to win the coveted FIS Masters Cup globes. In the end over 50 racers were held before losing the last 3 events of the season.
Though in person meetings were shut down, FIS quickly adapted to move the Spring planning meetings online. The 2020-2021 FIS Masters Calendar has been approved and we're looking forward to kicking off the 2020-2021 season as soon as conditions will allow. The opening event in Australia have been cancelled, but so far the next event at Catedral Alta Patagonia in Bariloche, Argentina is still on as scheduled pending Argentina reopening to travelers on September 1st. Lisa Ballard, Masters former National Committee Chair who is also a coach and official has put together another great camp preceding the 6 FMC races. The camp and events are September 9-20 South American Masters Race Camp FlierRegister here.
Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team Wraps Up Successful Camp at Copper Mountain
By Megan Harrod
June, 22 2020
In early June, the entire women’s team, including A, B, C, and Development Teams, as well as the men’s Europa Cup team led by Matt Underhill, was able to return to the mountain in an unlikely location: Copper Mountain, Colo.—Official Training Site and home of the U.S. Ski Team Speed Center, where all athletes spend a significant amount of time in late October and November, heading into each FIS Ski World Cup season.
As Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team athletes returned home early in mid-March from a shortened 2019-20 season, they were faced with a plethora of unknowns amidst the new normal that a global pandemic would provide. On the top of their list? Uncertainty around when they’d be able to return to the mountain and be able to do what they love so much: ski fast.
In early June, the entire women’s team, including A, B, C, and Development Teams, as well as the men’s Europa Cup team led by Matt Underhill, was able to return to the mountain in an unlikely location: Copper Mountain, Colo.—Official Training Site and home of the U.S. Ski Team Speed Center, where all athletes spend a significant amount of time in late October and November, heading into each FIS Ski World Cup season. The conditions were nothing short of incredible, and World Cup speed and tech athletes including Olympians Mikaela Shiffrin, Alice McKennis, Alice Merryweather, Breezy Johnson, Laurenne Ross, Jackie Wiles and more were singing Copper Mountain’s praises for the opportunity.
“It was amazing that Copper was able to pull it off. I think they were ready to flip the switch when the county let them, and they kept the hills in good shape and had plenty of snow up there,” said Head Women’s Coach Paul “PK” Kristofic. “Obviously, we wanted to capitalize on the very best options for snow and altitude and hill profile, and Copper was by far the best choice at this time of year, and it became available. We were super happy they were able to do it—it took a ton of effort from Frank Kelble and the Copper Mountain staff to get it done, and then our entire sports science team and all of the staff that were able to check off the boxes to ensure we were able to pull off a camp safely.”
For Breezy, it was great to get back on snow and experience some sort of normalcy after the long break, “The precautions meant that we were a little more distant from our teammates than normal,” she commented. “I never realized quite how close we all were until we were literally required to stay away from each other. But luckily you need distance while you ski so things felt pretty normal in the course and on skis for the most part.”
In order to run safe camps, the U.S. Ski & Snowboard staff worked tirelessly to create and roll out a protocol to all athletes and staff returning to the mountain. This included minimizing contact with other training groups—including their teammates—and creating safe and small “team bubbles,” wearing masks, disinfecting workout equipment and any communal surfaces, distancing on the chairlift, and much, much more.
Despite all of the precautionary measures, World Cup technical skier and seven-time national champion Nina O’Brien was happy to be back on snow and admitted it wasn’t that different than normal. “It felt so good to be back on snow in Copper!” Nina exclaimed. “I’ve really missed skiing and my teammates these last months.”
“It was definitely a little strange to be social distancing on the mountain, but we all respected the rules and I felt totally safe returning to training,” she added. “Besides wearing face masks and sticking to our small training groups, it didn’t feel wildly different to be skiing with the COVID-precautions. Off the hill, the biggest changes we made were daily disinfecting of our condos, twice daily symptom monitoring, and changes to group workouts. I think our trainer Bob [Poehling] had the most difficult job of wiping down every piece of workout equipment between each person!”
For speed specialist Alice McKennis, returning to snow was sweet, especially considering it came sooner than she had expected. She said, “It was really exciting to get back on snow and much sooner than anyone anticipated! Throughout the spring I had heard of many different ‘plans’ that local ski clubs were trying to put in place to ski that kept getting shut down—so I had my hopes up several times this spring that I would be able to ski that never came to fruition until now! The first few free runs of just going fast and free without any focus were incredibly fun! Then to work…”
Speaking of work, PK said that the focus for all of the athletes was fundamental technical work. For the women’s speed team, that meant a focus on giant slalom. “We made a conscious decision to really put some effort into our GS training and technical training to improve the technical aspects of the speed team,” noted PK. “We decided that as a staff, and it’s just a really good opportunity to do that. So we’re able to work technical fundamentals with freeskiing, and then do a really good progression in giant slalom through this entire block of training to really implement those technical improvements into their GS gate training. That’s been the primary focus.”
On the tech side, there was about a 50/50 split of slalom and giant slalom with “a lot of technical, basic fundamental work at the start of camp.” Other than the skiing itself, one of the most exciting components of this camp was welcoming four-time Olympian and U.S. Alpine Ski Team alumnus and 2010 skicross Olympian Casey Puckett, who most recently was a FIS coach for Aspen Valley Ski & Snowboard Club (AVSC).
“A big target for this camp was the introduction of Casey Puckett as the Europa Cup coach, as he was leading the entire group since [World Cup Tech Team Head Coach] Magnus [Andersson] wasn’t there, so it was a chance for him to work with those athletes for the first time, work with Katie [Twible] for the first time, and get to know everybody,” added PK. “The camp was high volume slalom and GS, focused on technical adjustments and progression. It was nice there because you could start changing slopes, you could go across three different hills and change the profile to change the challenge so you’re not stuck on one hill all of the time with one profile. You could move around and match up your progression to the challenge of the hill, which was really good.”
U.S. Ski Team athletes were surprised by how good the training conditions were for June, and though they battled with some warm weather, the snow held up and allowed for productive training. “We started the camp with a progression of drills,” said Nina, “and eventually worked our way into normal slalom and GS courses. I was mainly focused on getting a good feeling back on my skis and strong body position.”
For Alice and Breezy both, the giant slalom training and honing in on the technical fundamentals made for a great start to the 2020-21 season prep period. “The conditions were great! We certainly had some ‘spring’ conditions a few days where the snow softened rather quickly but our staff worked super hard with salting and slipping to make it the best possible,” commented Alice. “Our last couple days of full-length GS were really good, some of the best and more challenging GS training I have had in a long time!” Breezy added, “I’ve been trying to improve the technical aspects of my speed skiing for some time so working on GS was a great time to get some of that done. I was working on being dynamic and moving throughout the turn and staying level over the outside ski.”
Coming off a challenging season in which Alice returned from a horrible leg injury, she said she changed up her focus and thought a lot about the notion of “skiing out”—“skiing the turn deep, then getting really strong pressure above the gate, while pushing my upper body out and away from the gate as I have a tendency to move my upper body inside which weakens the top of my turn. It was really just a different way for me to think about leveling my shoulders up and worked really well.”
The athletes are full of gratitude to everyone who was able to ensure they made a safe and productive return to the mountain, including the U.S. Ski & Snowboard staff, team manager, Copper Mountain staff, and beyond. Alice also passionately added, “HUGE thanks to Copper Mountain, the lift operators, ski patrollers, groomers, Frank Kelble, and much of the Team Summit crew that put so much work into getting everything ready and making skiing happen again! Our staff did an incredible job as well being short-staffed without any of our European staff—Karin [Harjo] was certainly the MVP and we are so grateful for the help from Kristina Revello for joining us this camp! It was pretty fun having an all women's crew I must admit...additional thanks to my husband Pat and Napa (Jonathan Wyant) for helping with the ski preparation! All in all, it was a huge effort to make this training camp happen and I know how grateful all of us are! After a strange few months, it was motivating and inspiring to get on snow again.”
Women's team athletes were treated to an almost entirely female staff, including Rocky Central Regional Coach Kristina Revello, women's speed team physio Torey Anderson, Assistant Europa Cup tech coach Katie Twible, and Assistant World Cup speed coach Karin Harjo.
In terms of what’s next, PK said: “We’re keeping all options open and we have multiple plans in place, and all of them are driven by our ability to travel and travel safely.” Currently, the women’s team has plans that are all domestic, plans that are based in Europe, and those in the Southern Hemisphere “which are definitely challenged at the moment.” He added, “The number one priority is to do it safely and number two is to be able to capitalize on the best training we can get safely, so that may turn out to be a domestic Mt. Hood program for the summer.”
U.S. Ski & Snowboard sanctioned training camp attendance is optional. U.S. Ski & Snowboard athletes and staff should not feel pressure to travel to train. All sanctioned training camp policies and protocols are subject to change based on local, state, and federal public health orders, updated guidance from the USOPC, or updated U.S. Ski & Snowboard policies.
Isabella Wright
Isabella Wright was first named to the Stifel U.S. Alpine Ski Team for the 2021 season. Wright grew up skiing and ski racing on the West Coast, out of the Snowbird Sports Education Foundation, and showed fast skiing from a young age.
Mikaela Shiffrin
Two-time Olympic gold medalist and seven-time world champion Mikaela Shiffrin bega
Proffit's Unlikely Path to U.S. Alpine Ski Team Featured in St. Louis Post-Dispatch
By Megan Harrod
June, 22 2020
Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team Development athlete Ainsley Proffit was recently featured in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's "Best of St. Louis" series, featuring the region's top performers in Olympic and recreational sports in an article entitled, "From St. Charles to U.S. ski team: Ainsley Proffit's unlikely quest to be queen of the hill."
Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team Development athlete Ainsley Proffit was recently featured in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's "Best of St. Louis" series, featuring the region's top performers in Olympic and recreational sports in an article entitled, "From St. Charles to U.S. ski team: Ainsley Proffit's unlikely quest to be queen of the hill."
“I remember my first year racing out in Colorado,” Proffit recalled. “I came out for Colorado’s end-of-season championships, where all best racers who were 11 or 12 years old all competed, all the best kids in the state. In the first race of the series I got second and one of the moms asked my mom where I was training. Did I go to Austria or Switzerland for special coaching? How was I so good from Missouri? It was me skiing at Hidden Valley every day.”
Alabama native Dani Loeb, part of the stacked U.S. aerials team, has 10 NorAm Cup wins, three World Cup top-10s, and was part of the 2023 World Championships roster.
This column was originally posted by Gus at SkiPost.com.
My last couple blocks of training have gone pretty well, with one setback called shin splints, caused by running too much early in the spring. It's been a little bit of a bummer to not run for the last month or so, but it hasn't impacted my training too much. It has also made me much more conscious of how careful you have to be when returning to full summer mileage. I've still been able to train well with biking and roller skiing, and it's made it so I can ride my new mountain bike more than I would, which is a nice silver lining! I even did mountain bike intervals one day for the first time ever. It's definitely a different feeling, you have to make sure you don't overload your legs too much so you don't just hit a wall and lose power. I still was able to breathe hard and get my heart rate up so I think it was a worthwhile session! Mostly, though, I've been doing my intervals on roller skis.
Other than that, I've still been riding motocross once or twice a week on easier weeks, hanging out with our new puppy, and working on a summer class, so I have plenty going on!
I'm really looking forward to getting back into running over the next several weeks, I just have to take it slow. I really do enjoy running, so it'll be fun to be back doing more hiking and bounding intervals. Other than that, I look forward to the next time I can see my U.S. teammates. Our U.S. Ski Team camp in Park City that was originally scheduled for June got moved back again to a tentative August date, which is kind of a bummer because I miss those guys that I haven't seen since the season ended. While I'd rather be able to hang out and train with them once in a while, there is something very nice about just staying in one place to train, especially if that place is home. It's been really easy for me to settle in and focus, while mixing training alone, with AWS, and with other friends also training here. That brings me nicely into my question of the month, which asks about doing intervals alone, and how to feel productive in those sessions.
SkiPost: Gus, Nordic skiers train many hours, and there are many times when skiers are training without their team or group.
What advice would you give for junior and young adult skiers who are doing intervals sessions on their own over the summer? How can they feel like they are putting in the effort when they don't have coaches around to push them or teammates to strive toward. How can athletes training alone feel like they are staying competitive, even when they don't have anyone to compete with?
While I think doing intervals with other people around the same speed as you can be very beneficial, I also think it is extremely important to do some interval sessions totally on your own. This makes it easier to focus on your own technique and pace, which are key things to be able to control in a race. Sometimes it can be hard to motivate or get hype when you're alone (hard things to fake!). Coaches and teammates are common ways to do this, but finding ways to hype yourself up for individual workouts is important, so you're not as reliant on a group. Personally, I like to watch video of good skiers before training, and I also like thinking about future races and how I want them to go. Those things get me fired up to train hard. One other hurdle is how you can feel competitive even without people around. A great way to do this is to find a hill or loop that you like for a specific interval set, and always do those intervals there. Comparing times is a way to be competitive against yourself and try to always get better. Set loops are also good if you're not as comfortable with pacing, because then you can see your changes in speed from interval to interval. One downside would be pressure to push too hard, but if you're aiming for a specific number of intervals, you won't be able to finish them with high quality if you go too hard!
Alabama native Dani Loeb, part of the stacked U.S. aerials team, has 10 NorAm Cup wins, three World Cup top-10s, and was part of the 2023 World Championships roster.
Olympic gold medalist Julia Mancuso announced her latest endeavor, a new podcast called "Just Be Yourself with Julia Mancuso," where Julia will "welcome you into my life in a unique way and I'm excited to take you guys along with me on this adventure as we share in this journey together. I want to support your journey toward the future you dream of as you create it." (Getty Images)
Olympic gold medalist and U.S. Alpine Ski Team alumna Julia Mancuso announced her latest endeavor, a new podcast called "Just Be Yourself with Julia Mancuso," where Julia will "welcome you into my life in a unique way and I'm excited to take you guys along with me on this adventure as we share in this journey together. I want to support your journey toward the future you dream of as you create it with unwavering determination."
The always fun-loving, wild, tiara-wearing woman, Julia was a young phenom—part of the famous 1984 birth year that included standout teammates and fellow Olympic champions Lindsey Vonn and Ted Ligety. Growing up in Squaw Valley, California, Julia was inspired by the spirit in the Olympic Valley, host of the 1960 Winter Olympic Games. Each day she passed the Olympic rings going to and from school.
For Julia, success came quickly, as she grabbed five junior world championship gold medals and three bronze medals—across four disciplines. She raced her first World Cup when she was just 15-years-old and made her first Olympic team in 2002 at 17 in Salt Lake City, Utah. Nagging hip pain as a result of hip dysplasia would eventually force Julia to retire just before the 2018 Olympic Games, but she would do so in style, at the site of her first career FIS Ski World Cup super-G victory in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy...wearing a superhero cape, dressed as "Super Jules".
Full of ups and downs, Julia's career was nothing short of exciting. She kept the mood light, was a big event performer who pulled out all the stops on the biggest stage of them all, donned a tiara on the Olympic podium, danced, smiled and had fun. In doing so, she won more Olympic medals than any American woman in alpine skiing, with four, and grabbed five FIS Ski World Championship medals. She has also stood on the world cup podium 36 times and started in 398 world cup races.
Of her new venture, Julia wrote in her Instagram announcement, "Stay tuned as I'll be making an announcement in the next couple of days about how you can be involved in the show. Until then, stay true to yourself and get ready for the adventure to begin!"
2019-2020 Season Summary
