STAMFORD, Conn. – The winningest slalom skier in World Cup history and three-time Olympic medalist Mikaela Shiffrin will provide commentary and personally engage with fans in a special digital viewing experience of Mikaela’s Masterpiece on NBC Olympics’ Facebook page on Friday, May 22, at 8pm ET. During the half-hour program that showcases her biggest World Cup moments throughout 2018 and 2019, Shiffrin will comment and interact with fans on her memories surrounding the historic season.

The special, which premiered late last year on NBCSN, gives viewers an all-access look at Team Shiffrin during the 2018-19 campaign. The program highlights one of the greatest years in the history of alpine ski racing when Shiffrin won 17 World Cup races, four crystal globes, and her third straight overall globe. A trailer can be viewed here.

Coverage of Olympic Sports on NBC Sports Group platforms is a presentation of Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA.

Release courtesy of NBC Sports.

Olympic champion Chloe Kim announced her involvement with ALL IN, accepting her sponsor Oakley's nomination. ALL IN provides an online auction experience that directly benefits organizations providing food to kids, elderly, and frontline heroes in need. One hundred percent of the proceeds will directly benefit Feeding America, Meals on Wheels, World Central Kitchen, and No Kid Hungry.

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Chloe Kim (@chloekim) on May 13, 2020 at 5:32pm PDT

In getting involved with ALL IN, Chloe not only joins three-time Olympic snowboarding champion Shaun White—whose one-of-a-kind experience also included hitting the slopes at one of U.S. Ski & Snowboard’s official training sites Mammoth Mountain Ski Area in Mammoth Lakes, Calif.—but also two-time Olympic champion Mikaela Shiffrin and big names in the entertainment industry like Tiger Woods, Chris Pratt, Chris Hemsworth, Gisele Bündchen, Tom Brady, and more. 

The ALL IN Challenge, which has raised over $44 million, aims to be the world’s largest digital fundraiser in history by raising tens of millions of dollars to feed those in need. Food insecurity is a mounting issue, but never more important than during COVID-19 and the unprecedented shortage of food resources our nation is facing. 

Among those most in need: students who rely on currently closed schools for several of their meals each week; the newly unemployed who are facing uncertain circumstances; and a vulnerable elderly population sequestered in their homes without access to food. The ALL IN Challenge was created and built by Fanatics founder and executive chairman Michael Rubin, along with Alan Tisch, Gary Vaynerchuk, with support from the entire Fanatics team, all on behalf of the All In Challenge Foundation. 
 

Snowboard With Chloe Kim At Mammoth Mountain + Private Lunch + Gear
Do you want to hit the slopes with an Olympic Gold Medal winner? Get ready! You and one guest will ski and snowboard with Chloe Kim at Mammoth Mountain, plus join her for a private lunch. In 2018, Chloe became the youngest woman to win a gold medal in snowboarding at the Olympics at the age of 17. She also is a World Champion, Youth Olympics and X Games gold medalist. For your trip, you'll receive winter lift tickets for three days, and two-night lodging at Mammoth Mountain Inn will be provided. You will receive an autographed, competition-used snowboard from Chloe to add to your collection of memorabilia. You'll gear up and hit the slopes with amazing head-to-toe selections from Oakley—from the Prizm Lens technology goggles that Chloe wears in competition to snow apparel and more. You will get a $1,000 Visa gift card, and you'll receive an all-new sporty Superocean watch from Breitling. Select from a Breitling Superocean 36 in white or the Breitling Superocean 46 Black Steel with matching black dial and strap. This incredible snowboarding experience with Chloe Kim will leave you with many fond memories and some amazing gear to take home! 100% of the money raised through this Game/Auction will go directly to Feeding America, Meals On Wheels, World Central Kitchen and No Kid Hungry.

With just over one day left in the auction, Chloe’s bid amount sits at $10k. 
 

Learn More/Bid Now
 

U.S. Ski & Snowboard will be more connected than ever, announcing today its newest technology partner, Domo (Nasdaq: DOMO). Domo, a Utah-based software company, will serve as the organization’s Official Business Cloud Partner for the next three years and will be instrumental in the lead up to the Beijing Olympic Winter Games 2022.  

Domo makes it easy for organizations to leverage thousands of their data sources, making them more accessible, consumable and actionable for everyone across the company. As a result, business processes that traditionally took weeks, months or longer, can now be done in a fraction of the time, allowing teams and entire organizations to go fast, go big and go bold. 

“The goal of partnering with Domo is to identify our business’ strengths and weaknesses through our data, and implement targeted solutions,” said U.S. Ski & Snowboard Chief Technology Officer Mark Schneider. “Our organization is dedicated to the dreams of American ski and snowboard athletes in pursuit of excellence. By using the Domo platform, we mirror that excellence in our business practices by making informed decisions based on what the data tells us. In unifying our data and segmenting it properly we can better interact with our stakeholders, from our athletes to our staff, media and sponsors, donors and supporters.”


“Domo helps organizations of all sizes modernize and mobilize business processes through shining a light on dark data and empowering everyone - from the C-suite to the frontline -  in record time with the intelligence they need to optimize performance,” said Jay Heglar, Domo’s Chief Business Officer. “We’re thrilled to partner with the U.S. Ski & Snowboard and help them put their data to work for the benefit of the U.S. athletes and all of U.S. Ski & Snowboard’s constituents.”

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About Domo
Domo is the Business Cloud, empowering organizations of all sizes with BI leverage at cloud scale, in record time. With Domo, BI-critical processes that took weeks, months or more can now be done on-the-fly, in minutes or seconds, at unbelievable scale.  For more information about how Domo (Nasdaq: DOMO) helps its customers go fast, go big and go bold, visit www.domo.com. You can also follow Domo on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

Domo, Domo Business Cloud and Domo is the Business Cloud are registered trademarks of Domo, Inc.

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 2020, 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

Two-time Olympic champion and Land Rover ambassador Mikaela Shiffrin announced her involvement with ALL IN, accepting the young phenom Coco Gauff’s (fellow Barilla athlete) nomination. ALL IN provides an online auction experience that directly benefits organizations providing food to kids, elderly and frontline heroes in need. One hundred percent of the proceeds will directly benefit Feeding America, Meals on Wheels, World Central Kitchen, and No Kid Hungry.

In getting involved with ALL IN, Mikaela not only joins fellow U.S. Ski & Snowboard stars Chloe Kim and Shaun White—whose one-of-a-kind experiences include hitting the slopes at one of U.S. Ski & Snowboard’s official training sites, Mammoth Mountain, in Mammoth Lakes, Calif.—but also big names in the entertainment industry like Tiger Woods, Chris Pratt, Chris Hemsworth, Gisele Bündchen, Tom Brady, and more. 

The ALL IN Challenge, which has raised over $44 million, aims to be the world’s largest digital fundraiser in history by raising tens of millions of dollars to feed those in need. Food insecurity is a mounting issue but never more important than during COVID-19 and the unprecedented shortage of food resources our nation is facing. 

Among those most in need: students who rely on currently closed schools for several of their meals each week; the newly unemployed who are facing uncertain circumstances; and a vulnerable elderly population sequestered in their homes without access to food. The ALL IN Challenge was created and built by Fanatics founder and executive chairman Michael Rubin, along with Alan Tisch, Gary Vaynerchuk, with support from the entire Fanatics team, all on behalf of the All In Challenge Foundation. 

 

 

 

 

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I am FINALLY able to announce that I’m accepting the #ALLINCHALLENGE (thanks to @cocogauff for nominating me!!)! It may not be @prattprattpratt’s get “Eaten By A Dinosaur” challenge (which I’m tempted to bid on myself), but I’m super excited about this package! I’m offering a VIP, once-in-a-lifetime experience to the World Cup at @killingtonmtn, behind-the-scenes access to my @atomicski race and service team, a full Atomic gear set-up, a full access @ikonpass, my signature @oakley goggles, @usskiteam gear and more!! 🤯 Let’s come together to help the most vulnerable during this difficult time and provide food to those in need—kids, elderly and frontline heroes. I challenge @adaripp, @kttunstall, @michaelfranti, and @joelmchale to go ALL IN! Hit the link in my bio to bid/learn more. @allinchallenge

A post shared by Mikaela Shiffrin ⛷💨 (@mikaelashiffrin) on May 19, 2020 at 10:01am PDT

Meet Mikaela Shiffrin At Killington Women's Ski World Cup + Full Ski Gear Setup
Hit the slopes in style, thanks to two-time Olympic gold medalist Mikaela Shiffrin! She's going All In and giving you and a friend VIP tickets to the women’s FIS Ski World Cup—aka the HomeLight Killington Cup—in Killington, Vermont. You'll enjoy behind-the-scenes access to the bib draw and press conference, and you'll have an exclusive meeting and photo op with Mikaela. Of course, the three-time Overall World Cup champion isn't sending you home empty-handed. You and your guest will take home a U.S. Ski and Snowboard kit for two, complete with jackets and a gift bag. As the winner, you'll receive a Killington race bib signed by Mikaela, a pair of Oakley Flight Deck XM Mikaela Shiffrin goggles and an Atomic boot-fitting experience, including skis, boots and bindings and a behind-the-scenes tour with Mikaela's race and service team. To top it off, the winner will receive a full-access IKON pass with no blackout dates, so you can try out all of your new gear at 43 destinations around the globe. 100% of the money raised through this Game/Auction will go directly to Feeding America, Meals on Wheels, World Central Kitchen, and No Kid Hungry.

Package Details:

• 100% of the money raised through this Game/Auction will go directly to Feeding America, Meals On Wheels, World Central Kitchen, and No Kid Hungry.
• Behind-the-scenes access to bib draw, press conference and exclusive meeting and photo op with Mikaela
• Lodging for two (2) for Friday and Saturday evening in Killington, Vermont
• One (1) full-access, no blackout dates IKON Pass
• One (1) pair of Oakley Flight Deck XM Mikaela Shiffrin snow goggles
• One (1) signed Killington race bib
• One (1) ski, boot and binding package of winner's choice from Atomic and VIP boot-fitting service at a premier ski shop in Killington, Vermont, plus an exclusive, behind-the-scenes tour with Mikaela's Atomic race and service team

As bidding closed on May 26, Mikaela raised $41,000 for charity. One hundred percent of the proceeds will directly benefit Feeding America, Meals on Wheels, World Central Kitchen, and No Kid Hungry.

Learn More

The Davis U.S. Cross Country Ski Team welcomes two new staff members for the 2020-21 season, including Development Team coach Kate Barton, and to the World Cup Service Team, Chris Hecker.

Kate brings a wealth of knowledge to the team as both a former competitor and coach, most recently at Vermont’s Middlebury College. Since 2016, Kate has been the assistant nordic coach at Middlebury, and prior to her tenure there, she was the head coach at Burke Mountain Academy for many seasons. Kate replaces former Development Team coach Bernie Nelson, who stepped down following the 2019-20 season.

“I am competitively motivated, and feel lucky to be acquiring this group from Bernie, who obviously did an incredible job of building a strong and successful team,” Kate said. “I’m excited to bring my authenticity as a person, my love for the sport of skiing, and my principled approach to coaching to the Development team. I hope to continue to collaborate with the greater ski community and to inspire and support the athletes as they pursue their goals and dreams.”

Over the past few years, Kate has worked with many athletes in regard to development projects. She has led and volunteered the National U16 Elite Camp, the U18 Scandinavian Championships, and the FIS World Junior/U23 World Championships.

“Kate brings a special blend of knowledge, experience, passion for the sport, and nurturing support and care for the athletes she encounters,” Davis U.S. Cross Country Team Program Director Chris Grover said. 

Chris Hecker is the newest member of our World Cup Service Team, replacing Jean-Pascal Laurin, who stepped down following the 2019-20 season to dedicate more time to his quickly booming farming operation. Chris Hecker brings a wealth of experience on the World Cup circuit to the U.S. Team, most recently working with Rex Ski Wax. He also worked for U.S. Biathlon in recent years, providing service at the World Champs, World Cup, and IBU Cup level events.  

“We are very excited to bring another person that we know, trust, and respect into our service group and overall team family,” Chris Grover said.

CLUB OF THE YEAR
Stratton Mountain School

Always one of the top multi-sport programs in America, Stratton Mountain School earned top honors as the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Club of the Year. The Vermont academy also picked up both Freeski and Snowboard Club of the Year recognition.

"We are proud to receive recognition as U.S. Ski & Snowboard's Overall Club of the year after a season of immense hard work and achievement for all five of our winter sports programs. Following this past season's athletic accomplishments, alongside another year of impressive college placements, our community is excited to continue the tradition of excellence that has guided Stratton Mountain School since 1972."
  - Chris Kaltsas, Headmaster

Established in 1972, Stratton Mountain School has a storied tradition. It has sent 46 student-athletes to the Olympics, capturing six medals. Over the years, it has placed 118 athletes onto national teams, including 17 this past season. It was also named Club of the Year in 2009.

Club of the Year recognizes a club with a commitment to program, youth, and overall athlete development, along with the development of facilities, commitment to the region and national structure, coach certification, and professional development, plus season accomplishments.

Stratton Mountain School provides a unique environment that offers each student the opportunity to pursue excellence in competitive winter sports and college preparatory academics while developing strong personal values. The program, which features alpine, cross country, freeskiing, freestyle and snowboard programs, is a gold level U.S. Ski & Snowboard Podium Club.

This past year the club saw success in all five sport programs from current and alumni athletes. Will Koch won cross country bronze at the Youth Olympic Games, 2019 alum Zeb Powell took gold in knuckle huck at X Games Aspen and 2018 graduate Caroline Claire won a slopestyle World Cup at Seiser Alm.

This past season alpine sent five student-athletes to U.S. Junior National Championships, freeski qualified 15 to USASA Nationals, 75% of freestyle athletes qualified for Junior Nationals with 50% making it to U.S. Championships, nordic continued its string of 25 years with at least one medal at Junior Nationals and snowboard recorded 57 podiums at USASA events.

In recent years Stratton Mountain School has focused on facilities. It has developed a high-performance center focused on sport science and sports medicine including a field house, gymnasium, strength and condition, rehabilitation and outdoor fields, as well as an air awareness center and yoga studio.

DEVELOPMENT CLUB OF THE YEAR
Franconia Ski Club

New Hampshire’s Franconia Ski Club was named Development Club of the Year for its longstanding commitment to fostering a love of winter sports and raising successful athletes in its community. Recently, the significant investment in facilities and training venues has provided new opportunities for programming and partnerships and set the club up for continued success. 

Over the past decade, the Franconia Ski Club has grown to become one of the most notable development programs in New England. Its membership has grown from 40 in 1998 to 192 this past year and a waiting list for 2020-21. The club impacted development across the region, as well as nationally, with the first phase of the Mittersill at Cannon Mountain Improvement Project, with a $4 million investment in trail and lift development. The next phase, including the Mittersill Performance Center, is underway. The venue was the site of the 2017 NCAA Championships and the 2019 U.S. Junior Championship Super-G.

The club has taken the NHARA U14 state title from 2016-2020, and the U12 title from 2015-2019. The club has a host of athletes ranking in the top five YOB in the east and top 15 in the nation. Franconia’s Dylan Welch is ranked number one in the country in slalom for YOB 2004.

Introduced in 2019, the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Development Club of the Year Award is an award presented to a member club that has distinguished itself in providing outstanding youth development programs. Key criteria include exceptional or unique programming focused on developing athletes ages 13 and under; providing opportunities for youth to enter the sport, providing a positive, engaging experience for young snowsports athletes; commitment and encouragement of youth athletic development; implementation of best practices and innovation for long-term athlete development; use and support of U.S. Ski & Snowboard resources intended for development levels; conversion of athletes to higher levels of involvement, participation and competition; develops and encourages a lifelong passion and enthusiasm for participation in snowsports. 

The Franconia Ski Club is a silver certified U.S. Ski & Snowboard Podium Club, presently working on its gold certification.

“Our mission at the Franconia Ski Club is to impart the joys of skiing and the lifelong lessons of healthy competition. All of our programs take that mission to heart, using it as a guiding principle in the development of our athletes. We focus on providing our athletes with the highest level of alpine racing instruction available and fostering within them a love of and respect for the sport.  This approach, along with access to the world-class training and racing facilities at Mittersill at Cannon Mountain, has allowed us to develop some of the best athletes in not only the Eastern Region but also the U.S.”

- Eric Price, Program Director

SPORT CLUBS OF THE YEAR
Alpine Club of the Year - Burke Mountain Academy 

A longstanding and highly revered program, Burke Mountain Academy was named U.S. Ski & Snowboard Alpine Club of the Year. The program excelled this year with success at every level from U12 up to FIS, and NorAm, including five athletes making National Development Group criteria, plus qualifying athletes for Alpe Cimbra (former Topolino) and OPA Cup. Burke has created a powerful guiding framework for its program that challenges the status quo in helping athletes manage training and racing loads. As a U.S. Ski & Snowboard Development site, Burke’s impact has extended even more broadly as a strong program partner in the Eastern Region with a Speed Week and other regional training opportunities. Burke also brought on board two notable past stars to help with the athletic programs including Felix McGrath and Olympic champion Diann Roffe, a 1985 Burke graduate.

A hallmark at Burke has been its high-quality races. At the core to that has been the contribution of David Iverson for the last 13 years at Burke, and 13 before that at Green Mountain Valley School - executing upward of 40 races annually. Iverson, who will be leaving his role, was acknowledged by U.S. Ski & Snowboard for his lifelong contribution to the Eastern Region.

Burke is a gold-certified U.S. Ski & Snowboard Podium Club.

“We consider our school and all of the athletic programs a community and we really do believe that the shared sense of commitment to one another elevates the experience. Our primary charge at Burke is character development, and the athletic and academic programs are vehicles for that holistic education. The sense of community that exists among all the athletes and their families is what makes that education possible because it cultivates an environment with a high degree of trust in which the athletes are willing to take appropriate risks, learn through failure and ultimately strive to achieve their goals.”

- Willy Booker, Headmaster

Cross Country Club of the Year - Alaska Winter Stars

U.S. Ski & Snowboard named Alaska Winter Stars as its Cross Country Club of the Year. Alaska has always been a strong division for cross country skiing. But since the inception of Alaska Winter Stars in 1997 by Jan Buron, the state is impacting the top levels of the sport in new ways. Buron believed that athletes who want to compete at the top level must begin their training as children and participate in a year-round program with the same group of coaches. It takes years of dedication to master the skills and develop the strength of a champion. 

This past year, Alaska Winter Stars athlete Gus Schumacher won Junior Worlds gold, as well as leading the SuperTour and becoming a national champion. Sixteen club athletes qualified with Team Alaska for Junior Nationals with eight qualifying for the Arctic Winter Games. Over time, 17 Alaska Winter Stars athletes have taken Junior Nationals titles. Nordic combined skier Carter Brubaker qualified for the Youth Olympic Games. At the state level, 23 club athletes representing five different high schools made the Alaska High School State Championships where Alaska Winter Stars grabbed its 23rd skimeister title in 22 years. The club also won the award in 2010.

“One of our club's strengths is helping athletes develop into lifelong skiers. Our younger junior program focuses on having fun and many athletes transition to being competitive on the state, national, or even international level as high schoolers and beyond.”

- Jan Buron, Club Founder

Freeski Club of the Year - Stratton Mountain School 

The U.S. Ski & Snowboard overall Club of the Year, Stratton Mountain School (SMS), was also named as Freeski Club of the Year. SMS is one of America’s premier multi-sport clubs, with its freeski program growing to become one of the most successful in the country and a catalyst for the growth of the sport in the east. Its main goal is to provide wholesome experiences to their athletes to ensure long-term success in both athletics and life. This past year the program grew by nearly 50% in participants.

Its new state of the art Air Awareness Center features a skating area, mini ramps, foam pit, trampolines, and more, giving athletes full access to top tier training. The club also provides strength and conditioning courses, yoga, agility training, and secondary sports to athletes, as well as assisting student-athletes in navigating the balance between their athletic and academic future. 

SMS is an important regional center for freeski with its summer Action Sports Camp and an annual Young Guns Project on-snow. Stratton Mountain Resort also hosts multiple USASA events in all four disciplines and is a top venue for development level competition. It’s helped the club produce top-tier development athletes who have been strong in NorAms and the FIS/USASA Futures Tour, where Max Siudak won this past season in Copper Mountain. The club qualified 15 athletes to the USASA Nationals this past season. SMS is home to U.S. Freeski Pro Team athletes Mac Forehand and Caroline Claire.

Stratton Mountain School is a gold-certified U.S. Ski & Snowboard Podium Club.

“Our objective at SMS is to keep it fun, while maintaining our focus on goals. We have an awesome coaching staff that makes it fun for athletes and keeps them fully engaged.”

- Jesse Maliis, Freeski Director

Freestyle Club of the Year - Wasatch Freestyle

Utah-based Wasatch Freestyle was named U.S. Ski & Snowboard Freestyle Club of the Year. It also won the honor in 2006. Wasatch Freestyle, which operates at both Snowbird and Deer Valley, is known as one of the premier freestyle moguls programs in America, with high-level elite coaching staff, continuous engagement in events, and a congruent goal of developing the best athletes and leaders possible.

This past season, 16 Wasatch Freestyle athletes qualified for Junior Nationals, 12 for U.S. Championships, three for Junior World Championships, nine for the NorAm tour, and two for World Cup. On the NorAm tour, Wasatch collected a dozen podiums plus a season title for Madison Hogg with sister Kasey second. The club also played host to both the Bumpin’ the Bird regional competition, as well as the Deer Valley NorAm.

But the club’s focus goes well behind results and events. It takes pride in its staff and the work it does to teach life skills and core values. In nominating Wasatch Freestyle, the freestyle community spoke about the club as a role model to others, exemplifying best practices with its dedication, work ethic and passion for freestyle skiing.

“Wasatch Freestyle has provided a very positive experience for young people and their families who have come through our programming. Along with our partners, Deer Valley Resort and Snowbird, we have not only been able to provide area youth with a great competitive ski program but also an experience where young people learn great life skills - leadership, time management, goal setting and good citizenship. I am fortunate to have worked with so many great young people and their families over the years. Wasatch Freestyle is one of the great living legacies of our Olympic movement and a tribute to the ski industry here in Utah.”

- Jon O’Brien, Director 

Nordic Combined/Ski Jumping Club of the Year - Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club

For the fourth consecutive year, the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club (SSWSC), a gold-certified club, has been named U.S. Ski & Snowboard Nordic Combined and Ski Jumping Club of the Year. It’s the sixth time the club has won the honor.

As a multi-discipline club, SSWSC has a unique approach to youth development with different disciplines working together. It’s unity between club, community, staff, athletes, parents and volunteers, together with its major support partners of the City of Steamboat Springs and Steamboat Ski & Resort Corporation, gives the program a strong platform from which to work. Over the last two years, the club has soared to its highest numbers with 150 athletes participating in the jumping and combined program.

The club placed five of the eight athletes on the Youth Olympic Games Team with seven on the Junior Worlds Team. Niklas Malacinski finished fifth at Youth Olympic Games and qualified for the national team. SSWSC qualified 15 athletes for USA Nordic national teams next season.

SSWSC is a gold-certified U.S. Ski & Snowboard Podium Club.

“We believe that high-end athletics is a byproduct of strong life skills like, commitment, grit, perseverance, dedication and striving with passion. While the SSWSC has had great success producing many national and Olympic team athletes, our focus is more centered on the life skills and the achievement process. We believe success is all about setting a foundation of life skills that will serve an individual in athletics and beyond. We are just proud of our members that go on to be successful in other endeavors as we are with our Olympians.”

- Todd Wilson, Ski Jumping/Nordic Combined Director

Snowboard Club of the Year - Stratton Mountain School 

The 2020 U.S. Ski & Snowboard overall Club of the Year also picked up honors as Snowboard Club of the Year. Under the leadership of Olympic champion Ross Powers, SMS Snowboard is recognized as one of the top programs in the nation, committed to providing each student-athlete with the opportunity to pursue excellence in competitive winter sports and college preparatory academics while developing strong personal values. 

Training groups are formed at SMS based on ability, motivation, and individual goals. Athletes go through a fitness evaluation to determine groups, with coaches working one-on-one with athletes to develop goals.

The program is committed to both youth and long-term elite athlete development in the region, holding multiple camps throughout the year. The winter Young Gun Project allows athletes to experience on-snow training at Stratton Resort and winter-term tutoring at SMS. The summer Action Sports Camp hosts athletes in Stratton’s new Air Awareness Center.

With a long-standing commitment to events, SMS hosts annual USASA competitions in all six disciplines. This past season it also helped to host a 2020 Futures Tour event at Mount Snow as well as the 2020 Vermont Open at Stratton Resort. 

In the 2019-20 season, SMS snowboarders scored 18 top-10 finishes in Futures Tour events, with five athletes earning Rev Tour starts. SMS riders also took 57 USASA podium finishes. SMS rider Zeb Powell took X-Games knuckle huck gold with SMS junior Acy Craig taking part in the Youth Olympic Games.

Stratton Mountain School is a gold-certified U.S. Ski & Snowboard Podium Club.

“After 10 years of leading the SMS Snowboard Team, I’ve come full circle from my days as a student-athlete at Stratton Mountain School to now helping the next generations by providing them with the knowledge and the opportunities to progress to their highest level.”

- Ross Powers, Snowboard Director 

Athletes are committed to their sports, but they are also engaged in their communities and with other causes that are dear to them. The Team Athletes Giving Back award was initiated in 2013 to recognize the dedication of athletes to causes that help others and to showcase their causes. The winning athlete’s charitable cause will receive a $5,000 grant in the name of the athlete. 

Team Athletes Giving Back Award
Tess Johnson, Vail, Colo./U.S. Freestyle Ski Team
Girl PowHER, a program of Vail Valley Foundation

Tess Johnson is a five-year member of the U.S. Freestyle Ski Team, an Olympian and a rising star in her sport of moguls skiing. A native of Vail, she’s very engaged in her community working with young girls to convey her passion and experiences as an athlete to motivate and inspire them. She was honored by U.S. Ski & Snowboard with the Team Athletes Giving Back Award for her work with Girl PowHER. Girl PowHER, associated with the Vail Valley Foundation, is an organization very close to her. Its mission is to empower young women mentally, emotionally, and physically to ensure that each girl reaches her full potential. Johnson spends time working with young girls on their passion projects, telling them about her experiences as an Olympic athlete, or just hanging out with them as a friend.

“Every moment of working with GirlPowHER has been a joy because these girls have taught me just as much as I have to offer them,”  said Johnson. “Every girl has something great to offer the world. Sometimes it just takes another girl to help her realize that, and GirlPowHER is the epitome of that. I feel so lucky that I get to play a small role in helping these girls realize their potential.”

Steamboat Springs native Buddy Werner is a legend - one of only two Americans to ever win the fabled Hahnenkamm downhill in Kitzbühel, Austria. But beyond his prowess as a ski racer, Werner was known mostly as a favorite teammate who put sportsmanship above all. He died tragically in an avalanche at St. Moritz, Switzerland in 1964. Each year since 1966, an athlete has been honored for their own contributions to sportsmanship.

Part of being a team member is always being a team member! Hannah Halvorsen (Truckee, Calif./Alaska Pacific University Nordic Ski Team), who was nominated by her teammates, is a rising young star on the U.S. Cross Country Ski Team and a Junior World Championships medalist. On the eve of the season, Halvorsen was struck by a car while crossing the road. While she battled for her life in a hospital and later rehabbed at the Center of Excellence, she put her teammates first.

From the moment she regained consciousness, she made sure her teammates knew. As the season progressed, she maintained encouraging dialogue from afar - always a part of the team. She used her life-altering situation to invigorate her teammates and the entire cross country community, carrying her message of positive thinking and goal setting to junior skiers as a means of inspiring them to greater heights. Through it all, Halvorsen says she has learned patience and appreciating small gains. She knows that when she can race again she’ll appreciate it more than ever before.

“This award immediately confirmed my suspicions that I am surrounded by a very loving bunch,” said Halvorsen. “Throughout this difficult season of injury, I haven't gone a week without hearing from at least one of my teammates. Thank you to my teammates - not only for voting me for the Buddy Werner Award but for never forgetting about me. You guys are where I learned the value of sportsmanship.” 

 

 

 

 

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They say there is no gain without pain. Then I must be gaining a lot. -Willie Nelson PC: @t2foundation

A post shared by Hannah Halvorsen (@hannah.g.halvorsen) on Feb 9, 2020 at 4:16pm PST

 

 

 

 

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😊😀👯‍♀️

A post shared by Hannah Halvorsen (@hannah.g.halvorsen) on Jan 31, 2020 at 8:23pm PST

 

 

 

 

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My little leg took her first elliptical steps today. She’s growing up so fast!

A post shared by Hannah Halvorsen (@hannah.g.halvorsen) on Mar 11, 2020 at 4:29pm PDT

Central Cross Country Skiing's (CXC) Nordic Rocks Program has been announced as one of eight global finalists for the FIS SnowKidz Award.

The SnowKidz Awards showcase the world’s top kids' snow programs, recognizing best efforts to bring youth to the snow. Each national ski association gets a chance to submit one program from their country, and U.S. Ski & Snowboard chose Nordic Rocks as the submission for the USA. The Top 8 programs were announced on May 4 and include:

• Australia: Torah Bright Mini Shred
• Czech Republic: SnowKidz Tour & SnowKidz Park
• Finland: Snow Moves!
• Greece: Seek a Snowflake Tour
• Portugal: Ski4All
• Spain: Schools Promotions Programme
• Sweden: Everyone on Snow
• USA: Nordic Rocks

FIS will announce the winners of the SnowKidz Award 2020 on June 1.

Howard Peterson, an influential leader of the U.S. Ski Association and later the Soldier Hollow Legacy Foundation, passed away Monday (May 11) in Heber City, Utah. His four decades of service to skiing and snowboarding was marked with a keen focus on providing support to athletes at every turn.

He cared deeply for the teams and was extremely passionate about our sports. He was always quiet and thoughtful, but never without an opinion.
- Tiger Shaw, President & CEO of U.S. Ski & Snowboard

Peterson was a pivotal figure in pushing a legacy concept that resulted in the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City, and the resultant venues for athlete training. He was a key individual in the movements to bring freestyle and snowboarding into the Olympics. And he single-handedly pioneered cash prizes for athletes through his exertion of international influence.

“As an athlete on the U.S. Ski Team (in the early ‘90s), I remember Howard toting around his huge leather handbag full of papers,” recalled U.S. Ski & Snowboard President and CEO Tiger Shaw. “He was always there for us if we had questions, concerns, or problems. He cared deeply for the teams and was extremely passionate about our sports. He was always quiet and thoughtful, but never without an opinion.”

A noted rock climber and cross country skier from Maine, Peterson was a founder of the National Ski Touring Association (now Cross Country Ski Areas Association) before moving to a role with the U.S. Ski Association (USSA) in 1978 that would change the face of the sport globally over the next decades. 

In his early days with USSA, Peterson worked out of the organization’s Brattleboro, Vt. office, developing programs like the Great American Ski Chase and Bill Koch Youth Ski League. He raised the level of member programs through clever marketing and corporate partnership. In 1984 he was tapped to head the organization, helping USSA out of a deep financial hole and to a period of prosperity.

In 1988, Peterson engineered a deal to bring together the U.S. Ski Team and U.S. Ski Association into one entity, moving the organization from its base at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs to Park City.

As secretary general of USSA in the late 1980s, Peterson pushed the U.S. Olympic Committee to select a candidate city based on its willingness to develop legacy facilities for athletes. His efforts resulted in Salt Lake City winning over Anchorage in 1989 by two votes and venues that continue to serve athletes and the public today.

In his longtime engagement with the International Ski Federation (FIS), he advocated for integration of adaptive skiing, freestyle skiing and snowboarding into the Olympic and Paralympic programs. He also pioneered cash prizes for athletes in 1990. Peterson was also a vanguard of ethics in sport, boldly tackling the issue with both the U.S. Olympic Committee and FIS. He served for many years as the head of the FIS Advertising Matters Committee where he took on the seemingly uninteresting task of writing rules with an eye on how commercial marking parameters could be used to help fund athletes.

Peterson retired from the USSA in 1994. Five years later, he led an initiative to form the Soldier Hollow Legacy Foundation. The venue proved to be one of the most engaging of all the 2002 sites. Its legacy resulted in training facilities for athletes used yet today, as well as a regional outdoor recreation center that continues to thrive. He retired from that role in 2014.

Soldier Hollow became his pride and joy, helping raise $1-million to build the Day Lodge, starting the Soldier Hollow Charter School in 2002 and bringing events like the Sheepdog Classic to the region, generating millions in economic impact to Wasatch County.

“He was a loyal soldier for the USSA and FIS, making a difference for both organizations,” said former U.S. Ski & Snowboard President and CEO Bill Marolt.  “He was always a positive proponent.”

“We will miss Howard as a friend, a colleague and a leader,” said Luke Bodensteiner, now chief of sport development for the Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation and general manager of Soldier Hollow Nordic Center. “He was steadfast in his vision that the Olympics in Utah would leave a legacy for winter sport for generations to come. And we continue to enjoy the impact of his tireless efforts today, particularly at Soldier Hollow, which became so near and dear to him, and into which he invested so much of himself.”

U.S. Ski & Snowboard awarded Peterson its highest honor, the Julius Blegen Award, in 2004. He also received the Bud & Mary Little Award for service to FIS and USOC in 1999. Just two years ago he was recognized by Utah Ski Archives with its S.J. Quinney Award for contribution to sport in the state. Cross Country Ski Areas Association gave him its Founders Award in 2018.

Peterson, who was 69, died after a long illness. His wife, Susan, passed in 2016. The two met ice climbing on New Hampshire’s Mount Washington in 1976. They were married in 1989, enjoying a life of travel and adventure - visiting 80 countries together. Peterson was also a noted climber, pioneering many first ascents. Family and friends will plan an appropriate tribute when conditions are appropriate in the future.