PARK CITY, Utah – U.S. Ski & Snowboard has announced that Bryan Fish has been promoted to the position of Cross Country Sport Development Manager. This is a new position and includes many of Bryan’s current duties at U.S. Ski & Snowboard, in addition to the key domestic and development responsibilities held by former Nordic Domestic Program Director Robert Lazzaroni. U.S. Ski and Snowboard will not fill that role but will hire a coordinator to assist Fish as he takes on his new role.

“This is an exciting time for the U.S. Cross Country Ski Team, and promoting Bryan Fish to fill this new role could not come at a better time,” said U.S. Ski & Snowboard Chief of Sport Luke Bodensteiner. “Bryan has done great work as the development coach and the team is now seeing the positive outcomes of his well-orchestrated strategy. He has been a large contributor to the strong results we are seeing at Junior Worlds and most recently at the International Junior Camp in Norway. With these added responsibilities, Bryan will continue to be the driving force with the development pipeline and become a larger player in the national cross country scene.”

Bryan’s new role as Sport Development Manager is unique in that it will allow Fish to continue to coach in camps and lead trips including Junior World Ski Championships and OPA Cup.  Sustainability has been built in these programs and it is important that this consistency for the athletes continues.

“Thanks to U.S. Ski & Snowboard for offering me the opportunity to expand my support to the Cross Country community,” Fish said. “As the Cross Country Development Coach, I have focused on collaborating with our ski community to build out the development system. We have worked together with coaches, clubs, divisions, and regions to fill in structural gaps with needed programming. We have also made significant strides in building a stronger national development system. The preparation and performance of our athletes at every level is proof we are moving in the right direction. I am excited to place a greater focus on establishing a clear pathway as we move ahead.”

Based in Park City, Utah, Fish assumes his new role effective immediately and will be actively seeking an additional hire to assist in this new role.

Luke Winkelmann (Bowling Rock, N.C.) led the way for the U.S. Team in snowboard slopestyle qualifiers Thursday at the 2018 FIS Junior Freeskiing & Snowboard World Championships.

In the first men’s qualifying heat, Winkelmann took the top spot with a score of 89.66. Jake Canter (Evergreen, Colo.) finished sixth with a score of 80.66 to advance to the finals. Japan’s Takeru Otsuka won the second heat with a score of 90.00. Will Healy (Riverside, Conn.) was fourth with a score of 84.00.

On the women’s side, Jade Thurgood (Salt Lake City) was fifth with a score of 71.20.  Ty Schnorrbusch (Frisco, Colo.) was eighth with 58.20.

The men and women’s slopestyle finals take place Friday at the Big Bucks Park at Cardrona Alpine Resort.

RESULTS
Men’s slopestyle qualifier heat 1
Men’s slopestyle qualifier heat 2
Women’s slopestyle qualifier

START LISTS
Men’s slopestyle finals
Women’s slopestyle qualifier

Ryan Stevenson (Washington, N.J.) put down the top score of the men's freeski slopestyle qualifiers Thursday at the 2018 FIS Junior Freeskiing & Snowboard World Championships.  Cody LaPlante (Truckee, Calif.) was also among the 12 competitors to qualify for Friday’s slopestyle finals.

In the first qualifying heat, Japan’s Taisei Yamamoto nailed the most technical rail line of the day, putting him top of the leaderboard with a score of 86.00, while Stevenson and Norway’s Birk Ruud had a close battle for the top spot in heat two.

Stevenson just pulled ahead with a more technical combination of tricks, including a backswap on wallride, left 270 in, right 270 in, backslide 270 safety out, left double 1260 safety, switch right double 1080 Japan, switch left double 1260 safety to score 90.33. LaPlante finished fifth in heat two with a score of 63.66.

The women’s slopestyle qualifications are scheduled to take place on Friday morning, followed by both men and women’s finals at 1:30 p.m. local time at the Big Bucks Park at Cardrona Alpine Resort.

RESULTS
Men’s slopestyle qualifier heat 1
Men’s slopestyle qualifier heat 2

START LIST
Men’s slopestyle finals
Women’s slopestyle qualifier

Jade Thurgood (Salt Lake City) finished fourth in snowboard big air competition at the 2018 FIS Junior Freestyle Ski & Snowboard World Championships at Cardrona Alpine Resort in New Zealand Wednesday. Ty Schnorrbusch (Frisco, Colo.) was fifth.

Japan’s Kokomo Murase took the gold medal, followed by Canada’s Sommer Gendron with the silver and China’s Ziyan Ren with the bronze. Wednesday’s competition was originally scheduled for Sunday, Aug. 25, however, weather conditions delayed the finals to Wednesday.

Snowboard competition at the Junior World Championships, part of the Winter Games NZ, continues Thursday with the slopestyle qualification, and Friday with the slopestyle finals. Both Thurgood and Schnorrbusch are scheduled to compete.

RESULTS
Women’s big air

START LISTS
Men’s slopestyle qualification heat 1
Men's slopestyle qualification heat 2
Women’s slopestyle qualification

The FIS Ski World Cup returns to Vermont’s Killington Resort Thanksgiving weekend, and tickets go on sale Wednesday, September 5 at 9 a.m. EDT.

The World Cup will once again bring women’s giant slalom and slalom races to Vermont and is expected to attract the best athletes in the world, including 2018 Olympic gold medalists Mikaela Shiffrin (Eagle-Vail, Colo.), Italy’s Sofia Goggia and Sweden’s Frida Hansdotter.

New this year and, in addition to an already action-packed, fun-filled weekend, Killington Resort will host free concerts Friday through Sunday featuring Barenaked Ladies, Michael Franti, KT Tunstall and Paul Oakenfold. Additional entertainment includes the World Cup Festival Village, fireworks, parades and a Friday night bib draw featuring top athletes.

“It’s an honor and a pleasure to welcome the best women ski racers in the world back to Killington for the third year,” says Herwig Demschar, chair of Killington’s World Cup Local Organizing Committee.  “Spectators will be treated to a weekend of exciting racing, as well as a top music line-up, ensuring it will be a party not to be missed. This year, we are hoping to make history by breaking attendance records, showing the world how New England fans support their favorite ski racing stars!”

Tickets for the Saturday and Sunday events are sold separately. Ticket offerings for 2018 Killington Cup include:

General Admission - Free

In addition to the ticket offers, there will be plenty of free access viewing space for all fans to enjoy. The free area provides standing room access near the base of the Superstar trail and along the run with two jumbo screens for viewing the full race course.

New for 2018 - 4241’ Finish Pavilion - $150

The new 4241’ Pavilion located on skier’s left of Superstar (below the KMS bag jump) includes a semi-heated tent and premium viewing area featuring a continental breakfast and an all-you-can-eat BBQ with soft drinks and hot beverages catered by the Peak Lodge. A beer and wine cash bar with specially priced drinks will be available.

SuperFan – $125

The SuperFan ticket includes standard Grandstand tickets, along with a World Cup commemorative item and a Killington adult lift ticket voucher for the 2018-19 winter season that can be redeemed without restriction.

Premier Grandstand – $100

The Premier Grandstand offers guaranteed access to the highest five rows of the grandstands at the base of Superstar trail, providing one of the best vantage points of the course. This ticket includes a mid-week, non-holiday lift ticket voucher valid for the 2018-19 winter season. Premier Grandstand tickets are extremely limited in quantity and 100% of the proceeds benefit the Killington World Cup Committee.

Grandstand – $40

Ticketed Grandstands are located at the base of the Superstar trail, adjacent to the race course, and are general admission for all rows except the top five. The grandstand provides an elevated view of the race course, along with two jumbo screens broadcasting top-to-bottom race coverage. Limited accessible seating access is available in the front row of the grandstand.

Free parking and shuttles will be available around Killington Resort, however, attendees can purchase a preferred parking pass for guaranteed parking in the K-1 parking bays for $50 or in the Vale parking lots for $20. Preferred parking passes can be purchased when tickets go on sale at killington.com.

VIP ticket packages are available at kwccgivesback.org in partnership with the Killington World Cup Committee, which supports athlete hospitality and provides grants to support winter sports infrastructure and access to winter sports throughout the region.

For additional information about Killington Resort and the 2018 Audi FIS World Cup, please visit killington.com/worldcup.

Fresh off a World Cup downhill mountain bike podium at Mont Saint Anne, Canada, Mazie Hayden (North Clarendon, Vt.) switched gears, continents, and many time zones to win the silver medal in skicross at the 2018 FIS Junior Freestyle Ski & Snowboard World Championships at Cardrona Alpine Resort Monday.

"I’m super excited to have a podium finish at junior worlds, especially after having bad luck at them last year," Hayden said. "Podiuming at worlds was one of my most important goals, and I’m happy to show that the U.S. can hold its own in ski cross."

Hayden qualified second Sunday behind Canada’s Mikayla Martin, who went on to win the gold medal Monday. Elliane Hall of Great Britain won the bronze.

"I had a rough start in finals but managed to hold second and had a clean run the rest of the way down," Hayden said. "The course was very rutted so I was happy to stay on my feet."

In the men’s skicross final, Great Britain’s Oliver Davies won the gold ahead of Austria’s Sandro Siebenhofer, who took the silver, and Russia’s Maxim Vikhrov with the bronze. Stuart Whittier (Cape Elizabeth, Maine) led the way for Team USA in 10th; Justin Wallasch (Acton, Calif.) was 14th and Leo Brougher (Los Altos Hills, Calif.) was 15th.

Freeski competition continues with slopestyle qualifiers Wednesday, with the finals set for Friday.

RESULTS
Men’s ski cross
Women’s ski cross

Jake Vedder (Pinckney, Mich.) rode away with the men’s snowboard cross gold medal, and Mike Lacroix (Shrewsbury, Mass.) took home the bronze, at the 2018 FIS Junior Freestyle Ski & Snowboard World Championships at Cardrona Alpine Resort Monday. In the women’s snowboardcross finals, Livia Molodyh (Hubbard, Ore.) won the silver medal.

Vedder was the top qualifier and simply rode away from the rest of the field, winning his opening round and cruising through the quarterfinals, semifinals and into the finals. In the finals, Vedder moved to the front from the start and escaped the carnage behind to win his first junior world title.

“I hear someone say ‘woah’ next to me, I look over and his board’s right by my head, and then we made contact going in to turn five and I went down,” said Lacroix.

"And then the German (Maximilian Rathgeb) went shooting by us into second but somehow crashed in the last bank," added Grondin "I don't know what happened to him there. It was a crazy race, but it was fun."

Snowboard competition continues Tuesday with the team snowboardcross event.

RESULTS
Men’s snowboard cross
Women’s snowboard cross

Kevin Bickner (Wauconda, Ill.) soared to a 10-place result in Summer Grand Prix competition in Habuka, Japan, Saturday.  Bickner put down jumps of 119.0 and 129.5 to improve upon his 23rd place result from Friday night’s competition.

Japan’s Ryoyu Kobayashi won both days, as Russia's Evgeniy Klimov was runner-up both Friday and Saturday. Japan’s Daiki Ito was third Friday night with Daniel Huber of Austria third on Saturday.

RESULTS
Men’s Large Hill individual Friday
Men’s Large Hill individual Saturday

Mac Forehand (Winhall, Vt.) and Ryan Stevenson (Washington, N.J.) kicked off the 2018 FIS Junior Freestyle Ski & Snowboard World Championships, winning gold and silver respectively in Sunday’s big air event at Cardrona Alpine Resort. Cody Laplante (Truckee, Calif.) just missed the podium, finishing fourth.

“I’m feeling amazing, I’m so happy to win,” Forehand said. “On the second run I did a trick (switch triple cork 1620) I’ve only landed once before so I was so happy to land that.”

Stevenson put down a switch double cork 1440, blunt grab on run two and triple cork 1440 safety on run three, the judges rewarded him for super clean execution, long grabs and big amplitude with the silver medal.

“I’m very, very stoked,” Stevenson said. “First run I didn’t do the trick I wanted so I got a little stress out. I was stoked to land my second two runs. I’m so hyped to lace them up.”

Rounding out the podium was Spain’s Thibault Magnin taking the bronze medal with a switch left triple 12 on run one, and a flawless left triple cork 1620 on his final hit. 

In the women’s event, Russia took gold and bronze with Anastasia Tatalina taking the victory and countrywomen Lana Prusakova in third. Estonia’s Kelly Sildaru won the silver. For Team USA, Svea Irving (Winter Park, Colo.) was fifth.

Four Americans Qualify For Ski Cross Finals
In the women’s skicross qualifier, Mazie Hayden (North Clarendon, Vt.) was second. In the men’s skicross qualification, Justin Wallasch (Acton, California) was seventh, Stuart Whittier (Cape Elizabeth, Maine) was 12th; Leo Brougher (Lo Alton Hills, Calif.) was 13th. The men and women’s skicross finals take place Monday at Cardrona Alpine Resort.

RESULTS
Men’s big air finals
Women’s big air finals
Men’s ski cross qualification
Women’s ski cross qualification
 

Luke Winkelmann (Blowing Rock, N.C.) kicked off the 2018 FIS Junior Freestyle Ski & Snowboard World Championships with a silver medal in the snowboard big air, leading three Americans into the top six Sunday.

The heavy-hitting men’s big air competition opened the delayed festivities at the Winter Games NZ in hugely entertaining fashion on Sunday, with Japan’s Takeru Otsuka claiming the gold medal. Canada’s William Buffey claimed the bronze medal. Jack Coyne (Edwards, Colo.) and Dylan Okurowski (Vail, Colo.) were fifth and sixth respectively.

Heavy winds at Cardrona Alpine Resort had shut down the big air competition during its scheduled slot on Saturday, forcing it to be rescheduled to Sunday morning. However, on Sunday morning the wind persisted forcing several delays, and come noontime the competition was looking to be in danger of cancellation. 

But at the 11th hour, the winds abated and, under sunny skies on the perfectly-shaped Cardrona big air kicker, the Junior men were able to get back to work at the venue that had yielded such an impressive qualification round two days previous. 

From the outset, it was clear that it would be tough to match Otsuka despite the high-caliber of the field after the 17-year-old posted a score of 96.0 for his best jump in Friday’s qualifiers. On Sunday, Otsuka picked up right where he left off in the qualifying round, stomping a frontside triple cork 1440 on his first run before coming back in his second run and putting down a cab triple cork 1440 mute that earned a 96.4 to make it the best jump of the competition.

“The wind stopped out there and it got perfect and I just went at it,” said Winkelmann, who admitted after a putting down a simple 360 in his final run that the standard set by Otsuka was too much to chase down. “I stomped my first two runs (frontside triple cork 1440 tail grab and a switch backside triple 1260 mute) and I was super hyped with that and now I’m just stoked. I hadn’t landed my switch back 12 all day, didn’t land a single one in practice, so it’s crazy that I landed that in competition. And then I just cruised on my third run.”

The ladies’ junior big air World Championships are slated to take place later in the week after the wind also wiped out their program on Saturday. That competition is tentatively scheduled to take place on Wednesday morning. 

The 2018 FIS Junior Freestyle Ski & Snowboard World Championships continue Monday with snowboardcross finals.

Eight Americans Qualify For Snowboardcross Finals
Five men and three women qualified for the snowboardcross finals for Team USA Sunday at Cardrona Alpine Resort. For the men, Jake Vedder (Pinckney, Mich.),Kurt Hoshino (Huntington Beach, Calif.), Mike Lacroix, (Shrewsbury, Mass.) and Zachary Stewart (Cape Elizabeth, Maine) will compete in the finals Monday. In the women's qualification, Livia Molodyh (Hubbard, Ore.), Isabella Gomez (Issaquah, Wash.) and Kiersten Edwards (Londonderry, Vt.) will compete in the finals Monday.

RESULTS
Men’s big air
Men's snowboardcross qualifications
Women's snowboardcross qualifications