Women's Alpine Improves Staff Structure
PARK CITY, UT (May 15) – The women's U.S. Alpine Ski Team has added a multi discipline program in order to continue to support and improve the high performance of Olympic medalists Lindsey Vonn (Vail, CO) and Julia Mancuso (Squaw Valley, CA) across all Audi FIS Alpine World Cup disciplines. Coaches Jeff Fergus will work directly with Vonn, while Chris Knight will continue to focus on Mancuso. Chip White, who was recently named U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association Coach of the Year and International Alpine Coach of the Year, will continue to lead the top performing women's speed team including Stacey Cook (Mammoth Mountain, CA), Leanne Smith (North Conway, NH), Alice McKennis (Glenwood Springs, CO) and Laurenne Ross (Bend, OR). Roland Pfeifer returns for another year at the head of a technical program that saw World Cup podiums from Mikaela Shiffrin (Eagle-Vail, CO) and Resi Stiegler (Jackson Hole, WY). Additionally, the Europa Cup team and Development Teams train together with Trevor Wagner focusing on speed disciplines and Seth McCadam responsible for the technical side.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Coaches Jeff Fergus and Chris Knight will lead a multi-discipline program that will focus on supporting Olympic medalists Lindsey Vonn (Vail, CO) and Julia Mancuso (Squaw Valley, CA)
- Chip White continues to lead the highly successful women's speed program that has won the nation's standings for downhill the past two seasons.
- Under White, six athletes finished in the World Cup top 25 for downhill and Vonn captured her fifth consecutive discipline title.
- Roland Pfeifer returns to the women's technical helm after helping Mikaela Shiffrin (Eagle-Vail, CO) and Resi Steigler (Jackson Hole, WY) to the World Cup slalom podium last winter.
- The Europa Cup and Development Teams will train together with Trevor Wagner coaching speed disciplines and Seth McCadam focused on technical skiing.
- The coaches and athletes recently wrapped an early May camp at Mammoth Mountain, CA.
- U.S. Ski Team athletes will be named in November during First Tracks at Vail, CO
QUOTES
Patrick Riml, Alpine Program Director
The shift in our women's program is to make sure our top performing athletes continue to get exactly what they need to perform. Chris [Knight] and Jeff [Fergus] worked well with this system last season and we saw a direct boost in Julia [Mancuso] and Lindsey's [Vonn] performance. It's their responsibility to put together plans that make sense for those athletes.
Both Chip [White] and Roland [Pfeifer] did a great job in leading their programs last season and we'll look for them to set new high markers for their athletes. And there is a great plan now in place with Trevor [Wagner] and Seth [McCadam] to get our younger athletes performing in the disciplines where they are showing the most talent.
Alex Hoedlmoser, Women's Alpine Head Coach
The multi program provides more freedom for Lindsey [Vonn] and Julia [Mancuso]. They are the best in the world and we want to keep them there. Now we have a plan and budget in place to make sure they get exactly what they need to stay on top.
The experience and passion that both Chip [White] and Roland [Pfeifer] have for coaching directly translated into the success that those programs saw last season. Now it's up to them to keep those athletes performing and bring a few more along that are right on the cusp of success.
The goal of our Europa Cup and Development teams is produce an environment that allows those athletes to climb the ladder faster. What we've had at this level in the past was mediocre four event skiing from these athletes. What we hope to see with this shift is successful two event skiing.
2012-2013 WOMEN'S U.S. ALPINE SKI TEAM COACHING STAFF
Program Director: Patrick Riml
Head Coach: Alex Hoedlmoser
World Cup Speed
Head Coach: Chip White
Assistant Coach: Andi Moser
Assistant Coach: Wade Bishop
World Cup Technical
Head Coach: Roland Pfeifer
Assistant Coach: Pete Anderson
Multi Discipline
Coach: Jeff Fergus – Lindsey Vonn
Coach: Chris Knight – Julia Mancuso
Europa Cup
Head Coach: Trevor Wagner
Assistant Coach: Jeff Pickering
Development
Head Coach: Seth McCadam
Assistant Coach: Mike Prado