Due to the recently enacted European travel restrictions, and ongoing concerns in the United States and Canada regarding the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), U.S. Ski & Snowboard is cancelling all remaining U.S. domestic events, and working to return all U.S. Ski & Snowboard athletes back to the United States. In addition, Alpine Canada, and Nordiq Canada have cancelled events to coincide with U.S. Ski & Snowboard.

U.S. Ski & Snowboard is also cancelling all sanctioned and scheduled events beginning Monday, March 16. This includes all club-level events for all disciplines and any unnecessary gatherings, including banquets, awards and end of season presentations, etc. Expect further updates on future events, including U.S. Ski & Snowboard Congress.

At this time, U.S. Ski & Snowboard sanctioned events through Monday, March 16, will continue as scheduled, or as determined by local organizing committees, or local health and government officials that such events should be cancelled.

Individual participants of each event will be contacted by either the local organizing committees, clubs, or U.S. Ski & Snowboard regarding refunds of event entry fees.

The following major U.S. and Canadian events have been cancelled:

• Coop FIS Cross Country World Cup, Minneapolis, Minn.; March 17

• Moguls U.S. Freestyle National Championships, Squaw Valley, Calif.; March 19-22 

• Alpine Masters National Championships, Steamboat Springs, Colo.; March 17-20

• NASTAR National Championships, Snowmass, Colo.; March 24-28

• U.S. Alpine Tech Championships, Aspen Highlands, Colo.;  Mar. 28-31

• SuperTour Finals, at Sovereign Lake Nordic Ski Club in Vernon, B.C.; March 25-April 2

• NorAm Alpine Finals, Panorama, B.C.; March 17-24

In addition, the following events are currently taking place, and will continue as scheduled pending local health and government officials:

• U.S. Junior Moguls Nationals, Winter Park, Colo.; March 11-16

• U.S. Freestyle Aerial Championships, Bristol Mountain, NY; March 14

• U.S. Junior Cross Country Championships, Auburn, Calif.; through March 14

The health and safety of athletes and staff is the primary concern of U.S. Ski & Snowboard and we are monitoring the current outbreak COVID-19 closely. We remain in close contact with the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC), the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), as well as our local health authorities here in Utah for guidance and instruction.

For the latest updates, please CLICK HERE, this page will be updated as new information becomes available.

Due to the recently enacted European travel restrictions, and ongoing concerns in the United States regarding the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), U.S. Ski & Snowboard is working to bring athletes and staff currently in Europe back to the United States over the course of the next several days.

Worldwide, there remain a handful of events that are currently scheduled, however, U.S. Ski & Snowboard athletes and staff who have not yet traveled, will remain in the U.S.

All athletes and staff traveling back to the U.S. will be screened upon arrival and abide by all CDC guidelines. U.S. Ski & Snowboard continues to educate athletes and staff on the importance of reporting symptoms. Standard medical protocols will be followed for any athlete or staff member who reports symptoms consistent with COVID-19.

The health and safety of athletes and staff is the primary concern of U.S. Ski & Snowboard and we are monitoring the current outbreak COVID-19 closely. We remain in close contact with the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC), the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), as well as our local health authorities here in Utah for guidance and instruction. 
 

Dave McCoy, the visionary behind Mammoth Mountain, passed away at the age of 104 on Feb. 8, 2020. 

“Behind every mountain, is a story. And behind every story is a legend. One such legend was Dave McCoy.”

Because of Dave’s grit and tenacity, he built what no one imagined could be possible. Since its inception in 1953, he shared the fun and beauty of Mammoth Mountain with millions of people. Mammoth Ski Area grew from a single, homemade chairlift, to 3,500 skiable acres served by 28 lifts attracting the world’s best skiers and riders to its slopes. 

Mammoth Mountain has proved its ability to breed talent and foster a culture of athletic development that almost seems embedded in the mountain’s DNA. The resort has hosted the U.S. Grand Prix more than a dozen times and has been fortunate enough to name our Olympic athletes three times including in 1998—the first year the Olympics hosted snowboard halfpipe as an official event. Mammoth also hosted the final qualifying event before the 2014 and 2018 Olympic Winter Games. With one of the longest snow seasons in the United States, Mammoth Mountain became an invaluable training site for elite freeski, snowboard and alpine athletes. U.S. Ski & Snowboard is deeply saddened by the loss of Dave, his memory will live on the slopes of the mountain he built and loved. 
 

Mammoth Mountain is hosting a skiing and snowboarding celebration on Feb. 28. Skiing is what Dave loved most, may his memory encourage all skiers and riders to never forget the thrill of a turn. Because “As Dave would say, ‘The most fun, is having fun.’”

Hydro Flask, an award-winning leader in high-performance, insulated stainless steel flasks and soft good innovations and a Helen of Troy Limited (NASDAQ, NM: HELE) company, is excited to announce a multi-year sponsorship with U.S. Ski & Snowboard. The brand has signed on as the official water bottle and drinkware supplier of the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Team.

Through the program, Hydro Flask insulated products will be used by U.S. Ski & Snowboard Team athletes, coaches and staff while traveling, training and competing across seven disciplines – including alpine, freeski, freestyle, cross country, ski jumping, Nordic combined, and snowboard. Additionally, U.S. Ski & Snowboard and Hydro Flask will team up to offer consumer experiences and co-branded products.

“Our headquarters in Bend are neighbor to one of Oregon’s premier ski and snowboarding destinations, where many of our employees spend quality time outside of work. We’re excited to support an organization that aligns with our culture and hometown roots,” said Hydro Flask General Manager Scott Allan. “Our mission to inspire happier, healthier and more sustainable lives outdoors makes partnering with U.S. Ski & Snowboard the perfect fit for our brand.”

The multi-year program will support the U.S. Ski & Snowboard team through the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing.

“Hydro Flask is known for innovation and performance, and we’re excited to share their insulated products with our world-class athletes and fans,” said U.S. Ski & Snowboard Chief Marketing Officer Andy McKeon. “This program will help support winter sports athletes by keeping them hydrated throughout training and competition, including the 2022 Olympic Winter Games. At the same time, replacing single-use containers with Hydro Flask’s reusable bottles while traveling and in everyday life will help reduce plastic consumption and waste – an effort that is important to us.”

Dedicated to uniquely refreshing experiences, innovative design and an unparalleled user experience, Hydro Flask continues to receive accolades for its insulated products. Hydro Flask has been the recipient of several Red Dot, GOOD DESIGN™ and iF Design Awards, including the coveted iF gold award. The Company has grown to become the number one overall American water bottle brand in Sporting Goods and Outdoor, according to third party data.  

Wintersteiger, official supplier to U.S. Ski & Snowboard since 2001, and exclusive tuning partner for the Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team, set up a pop-up shop at the U.S. Ski Team Speed Center at Copper Mountain this past November. 

Wintersteiger’s World Cup pedigree and support of the U.S. Ski Team make them the obvious machine tuning choice for both the U.S. Ski Team and other U.S. Ski & Snowboard club programs training at Copper Mountain. For the U.S. Ski Team, the goal was to launch a ski education platform that would allow coaches to address equipment problems quickly, visually. The idea is that properly tuned equipment makes it easier for the athlete to execute technique, and well-maintained equipment turns better and glides faster, thus, simply, increasing the athletes’ performance. 

For this event, Wintersteiger race technicians partnered with Swix and former U.S. Ski Team Serviceman, Graham Lonetto, to offer a full complement of services: ski evaluation, new ski prep, stone grinding, ceramic disc edging, and Wax Future cycling. Wintersteiger’s race technicians had a complete range of race tuning equipment, including a Scout. The Wintersteiger Scout offers the highest caliber ceramic disc finishing for precise tuning of side and base edges as well as World Cup proven grinds to ensure the smoothest, fastest base possible.

The ski tuning clinic program included in-depth training about ski tuning safety, a ski audit, ski flattening and structure, and identifying the missing piece—for instance, asking the questions: Is the binding position correct? Is the base bevel correct? Is the base structure correct? Are we using the correct side edge bevel? Is the wax correct? This initiative proved to be a significant help to the U.S. Ski Team, and development level athletes, in particular.  

“Winterstieger and Swix teamed up to provide a tuning center at the U.S. Ski Team Speed Center at Copper Mountain during the month of November,” commented Land Rover U.S. Ski Team Alpine Director Jesse Hunt. “With its state-of-the-art equipment and well-educated service personnel, this tuning center was a game-changer for the development athletes attending Copper Mountain camps. Hundreds of skis were evaluated and, as a result, many of those skis were tuned by professional technicians onsite. It was an amazing service for our up-and-coming athletes, many of whom have not received this type of ski preparation before. Big props, specifically, to serviceman Michael Beer, who did the lion’s share of the work.”

Initially, these services were exclusive to the U.S. Ski Team but were then made available to other athletes around November 10th. The temporary shop in Copper acted as a supplement to Wintersteiger’s established partner locations in Colorado that use the same machinery and processes found in factory race rooms around the world. With the ultimate goal of minimizing equipment as a variable, it is critical that the machines your local shops utilize are as serious as you are. 

The hope is that U.S. Ski Team will take the lead internationally with projects like the “in-house” tuning shop/lab and concept center at the Center of Excellence, the U.S. Ski Team Speed Center at Copper Mountain, Colo., the spring coach’s training at Mammoth, Calif. (Level 100, 200, 300 and 400 coaching training), and sponsored regional training seminars with associated accreditation—for example, Green Mountain Valley School’s (GMVS) service center with proper machines/training techniques and wax/tools support. 

Check out the article Todd Carroll wrote for Ski Racing Media, entitled “Backshop Stonegrinding Illustrated” for more information.  

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About  Wintersteiger
With four decades of experience and more than 30,000 ski tuning machines including 1350 automated ski tuning machines sold worldwide, Wintersteiger is the global market leader in racing service solutions. The Austrian, German, and US Ski Teams, as well as ski manufacturers Atomic, Fischer, Head, Rossignol, and Salomon, rely on the highest-quality results provided by Wintersteiger ski tuning machines.

About U.S. Ski & Snowboard
U.S. Ski & Snowboard is the Olympic National Governing Body (NGB) of ski and snowboard sports in the USA, based in Park City, Utah. Tracing its roots directly back to 1905, the organization represents nearly 200 elite skiers and snowboarders in 2019, competing in seven teams; alpine, cross country, freeski, freestyle, snowboard, nordic combined and ski jumping. In addition to the elite teams, U.S. Ski & Snowboard also provides leadership and direction for tens of thousands of young skiers and snowboarders across the USA, encouraging and supporting them in achieving excellence. By empowering national teams, clubs, coaches, parents, officials, volunteers and fans, U.S. Ski & Snowboard is committed to the progression of its sports, athlete success and the value of team. For more information, visit www.usskiandsnowboard.org.