The 2020 Coop FIS Cross Country Ski World Cup Sprint Finals take place on March 17 at Wirth Park, just outside downtown Minneapolis, Minn. This event will mark the first time in two decades that the world's best athletes have competed on American snow.

U.S. Cross Country Ski Team member, and 2018 Olympic gold medallist, Jessie Diggins will lead more than 20 of her teammates and American competitors who are expected to start a World Cup race in the U.S. for the first time in 19 years. 

The Tuesday evening race will cap off the March 14-17 Fastenal Parallel 45 Winter Festival, which will include live music, craft beer, citizen races, and more.

Tickets are on sale and include everything from general admission, all the way up to unique VIP experiences. Be part of this historic moment celebrating worldwide winter sports by volunteering, purchasing a ticket, or becoming a partner, and coming out to Theodore Wirth Regional Park in March of 2020 for this once-in-a-lifetime event.

How do you become the “Best in the World” in a given sport? The answer is simple - practice as much as possible. However, when it comes down to defining “Best in the World” for members of the U.S. Freeski, Snowboard, or Snowboardcross Team, it is not as simple as having a strong work ethic and winning consistently.

“If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself."
- Henry Ford

Dedication to sport and finding success are critical elements to success, but being “Best in the World” also requires an athlete to be a great teammate...to make those around them better, while creating an environment that enables everyone to put their best foot forward.

Saas-Fee Training Camp at the world-class Stomping Grounds Park in Switzerland has introduced numerous activities to help create this culture of togetherness, while knocking down barriers between U.S. Ski & Snowboard athletes and teams. U.S. Pro Freeski Slopestyle Team member Darian Stevens, who recently made her return back to snow from injury, weighed in the multi-sport approach of camp. 

“There has been a lot of activities going on after skiing this camp,” said Stevens. “We have been renting out the fields and playing a multitude of sports. Pretty much anything from football, spikeball, soccer, volleyball, and everything in-between. I have been participating in quite a bit of spikeball as I brought my own set from the states to play with. Since knee surgery, activities like soccer and spikeball have been a challenge, but my knee is finally feeling good enough to really get some good games going on.”
 

At the 2018-19 edition of Saas-Fee training camp, Stevens was part of a serious string of progression where Maggie Voisin landed her first double 1260, Julia Krass landed her first double 1080, and Stevens landed her switch bio 1080. While past camps have been successful for Stevens, she shared how training and spending time with members outside of just the freeski slopestyle crew has been beneficial. 

“It's been really cool to meet new people on this trip and get acquainted in a carefree environment with teammates that you aren't super familiar with,” she said. “We've been doing a lot of activities in random groups, rather than by teams, which helps with intermingling. It's super fun to get together with a huge group of rad people, regardless of sport, all exceptional at what they do, coming together as one giant team. Since taking last year off due to injury, I haven't been around the whole team for quite some time, it feels great to be back in the mix.”

Freeskiing and snowboarding may not be traditional team sports, but truly acting as a team, creating culture, and learning from one another has endless benefits. Head Freeski and Snowboard Team Coach Mike Jankowski explained the thought process and goals to this year’s Saas-Fee Camp.

"Having all the different teams connect is super important,” he said. Although they may use different equipment in their competitions, everyone shares a common passion and encounter similar challenges along the path to success. The ability to create those bonds between teams reminds everyone that they are not alone and can lean on each other through the best and worst of times. Additionally, as a team, we aim to grow and improve by understanding and respecting each other. Sometimes it is easy to get caught up in our own path,  but stepping out and gaining perspective can be critical to our collective success.”

Follow U.S. Freeski, Snowboard, and Snowboardcross Team athletes at the Stomping Grounds Park Saas-Fee training camp below: 

INSTAGRAM
@usfreeskiteam
@ussnowboardteam
@thestompinggroundspark

FACEBOOK
@usskiandsnowboard
 

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee announced the 30 finalists for the 2019 Team USA Awards, Best of the Year, which recognize the outstanding achievements of Team USA athletes year-round on Monday. Double Olympic champion Mikaela Shiffrin is nominated for the Female Olympic Athlete of the Year. Fans are invited to vote for their favorite athletes and teams at TeamUSA.org/Awards through midnight Monday, Oct. 28.

The Team USA Awards honor athletes and teams of the year in six categories:

• Female Olympic Athlete of the Year
• Male Olympic Athlete of the Year
• Olympic Team of the Year, presented by Dow
• Female Paralympic Athlete of the Year
• Male Paralympic Athlete of the Year
• Paralympic Team of the Year, presented by Dow

Athletes and teams considered for Best of the Year were finalists for Best of the Month honors, dating back to the fall of 2018 and coinciding with the sport calendar. A USOPC nominating committee then selected the top-five finalists in the individual and team categories to advance to the voting round.

Mikaela is in good company, nominated alongside powerhouse athletes like record-breaking gymnast Simone Biles. her nomination comes following the best season of her career, having podiumed in 21 of 26 world cup races and earned 17 victories – the most by any skier in a single season – to improve her career total to 60 world cup wins and become the first athlete – male or female – in the history of the sport to win all six alpine disciplines. She finished her season by claiming four of five crystal globes as world cup season champion, and winning three medals (two golds and one bronze) at the world championships, becoming the first skier in history to win four consecutive world titles in the same event with her slalom title.

Online fan voting at TeamUSA.org/Awards accounts for 50 percent of the final tally, while members of the Olympic and Paralympic community – including an esteemed panel of Olympic and Paralympic journalists – account for the other 50 percent.

The six award winners will be announced during the 2019 Team USA Awards, Best of the Year, held on Nov. 19 at Universal Studios in Los Angeles. NBC will provide coverage of the awards show from 3-4 p.m. ET on Dec. 22.

Mikaela is now in Austria prepping for the FIS Ski World Cup opener in Soelden, Austria on October 26. 

VOTE FOR MIKAELA NOW

It’s not often that young ski racers at the regional and club level get to train next to or with Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team athletes. It’s even less common for these athletes to cross over while skiing at an indoor training venue. Enter: Snow Valley Indoor Ski Center, in Belgium. 

Three projects wrapped this past week at the indoor venue, including a tri-regional project co-led by the dynamic duo of Rocky/Central Region coach Kristina “Rev” Revello and Eastern Region coach Nate Bryant. The project included 15 athletes across the nation, ranging from first-year FIS and national development group athletes to collegiate athletes like Dartmouth’s Kalle Wagner and Nick Krause, and aspiring World Cup athlete Storm Klomhaus. There was great leadership from the older athletes, and growth opportunities for all involved. 

“The athletes and staff worked very hard to make gains, both on and off the hill,” Kristina said. “It was really exciting to ski inside and not have weather affect our training; the surface was generally consistent and provided a positive environment for learning. We were able to have our own dedicated space on the venue to set up appropriate courses and allowed space for better focus by limiting outside distractions.” What’s the value of limiting distractions? It meant the athletes were able to really hone in on what coaches were asking of them. “At this time in the season,” Kristina continued, “it’s important to continue working on building a well-balanced platform while pushing speed and agility, every athlete was faster and times were closer together as we moved through the week.”

Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club FIS coaches Robert Baker and Sara Radamus were there to support the project, with Sara specifically supporting Storm - who will now make her way to Sölden, Austria for additional training. Kristina noted that the staff worked very well together, and the level of experience made it easy to elevate their level of professionalism. 

“Additionally, everyone had a voice and gave input as to what we did well each day and what we can do better the next,” Kristina added. “I went in with a plan and an end-game, and each day we assessed our progress and made adjustments as needed. It’s good to have an outline with an end goal in mind, but to remain flexible and open to changing the plan. This is a point that means a lot to me as coach - creating a space where we can share in order to improve and make changes if needed. The athletes see this example and follow by voicing their own thoughts. It’s win-win for all of us!”

With Sara’s dedication and support, Storm was able to train with the Europa Cup/World Cup tech women during their last two days. Kristina noted that Storm made tremendous improvements, while collegiate athletes Nick and Kalle each stepped up and were great examples of leaders to the younger athletes in the group. “Having college level athletes attend our camps is crucial for them, as well as being able to give back to the larger community,” Kristina said. “Many of the (younger) athletes would like to ski in college so it was good for them to have that interaction. Our younger invitee athletes were able to make strides and showed they belong with this national development group. Hopefully everyone will get a solid block in the gym and will come to Colorado with newfound motivation to go even faster.”

Along with the tri-regional project, the women’s development team project, led by head women’s development coach Marjan Cernigoj, was training alongside the women’s Europa Cup/World Cup tech team at Snow Valley. The development group included C Team athlete Galena Wardle - who is still doing her return to snow progression after sitting the 2019 season out with an injury - as well as D Team athletes Lauren Macuga, Ainsley Proffit, Emma Resnick and Zoe Zimmermann. This camp focused on additional high-level  pace in preparation for NorAm and World Juniors. 

The women’s Europa Cup/World Cup tech team, led by Head Coach Magnus Andersson and assistant coaches Kris Shampeny and Katie Twible, included six athletes: Keely Cashman, Katie Hensien, AJ Hurt, Abi Jewett, Paula Moltzan, and Nina O’Brien. These athletes led an Instagram takeover on Friday, showing fans what it’s like to ski indoors and partake in a crossover camp. 

“Each group has separate training environments, but there were crossover opportunities for the best athletes in the younger groups to ski-up with the faster/older athletes,” Alpine Development Director Chip Knight said. “They are training very similar, even parallel courses so the opportunity for direct comparison and analysis is readily available.” 

Chip added that “the project is unique because of the range of groups in close proximity, all focusing on slalom, in a weather-controlled environment, and each having the opportunity for massive training volume each day: two sessions, 20 runs per session, 800 turns per day, quick turn-around. The coaches all report impressive gains from the athletes in a very short period of time. The focus is slalom repetition, especially on timing of pressure, movement, and pace.”

Up next for the women’s Europa Cup and World Cup group will be a camp in Sölden, Austria on the Rettenbach Glacier in advance of the FIS Ski World Cup opener on October 26-27. 

U.S. Ski & Snowboard and Live Like Sam announced the inaugural Live Like Sam Day today. Live Like Sam was founded by Ron Jackenthal, the father of the late Sam Jackenthal, a Park City, Utah local and young man of strong character and values who was also a budding and promising world-class athlete. The 16-year-old freeskiing champion passed away in 2015 from injuries suffered in a training accident in Australia. 

Live Like Sam and the Sam Jackenthal Fund partnered with U.S. Ski & Snowboard in March of 2019 with the shared objective of providing young athletes the tools to succeed in sports and life with a sense of gratitude. Today, that partnership expands with the launch of Live Like Sam Day. October 10 holds a special significance as it marks the anniversary of Sam Jackenthal’s celebration of life in 2015.

“Live Like Sam Day is about spreading positivity and kindness, not only in a youth sports environment but across all communities,” said founder of Live Like Sam, Ron Jackenthal. “While Live Like Sam was founded following Sam Jackenthal’s tragic passing, the common thread that has kept his collective community together is a strong focus on the positive and what made Sam so special. Through Live Like Sam Day, we believe that by focusing on Sam’s outstanding qualities of kindness and positivity, we can make a difference both in the winter sports community and beyond.”

Live Like Sam Day is meant to be a celebration in which we can all remind ourselves of the Live Like Sam guiding principles. With a mission of flooding the internet and our communities with a sense of kindness and giving, U.S. Ski & Snowboard athletes, friends of Sam, and winter sports communities impacted by Sam’s tremendous spirit are currently filling their respective social media feeds with amazing, personal, heartfelt videos of love, selflessness, and compassion. 

Join us in keeping Sam's spirit alive by spreading kindness in our communities and throughout the world. Check out how U.S. Ski & Snowboard athletes are celebrating Live Like Sam Day below or create your own video to share across your personal social media accounts answering the following questions: 

• What does it mean to Live Like Sam?
• What are you doing today to Live Like Sam?
• What acts of kindness and giving are you doing today?
• What acts of kindness do you do all the time?
• What are the three Sam characteristics you admire and emulate the most?

For more information about Sam or Live Like Sam Day visit LiveLikeSam.org.

Facebook
@usskiandsnowboard
@livelikesam.org

Instagram
@usfreeskiteam
@ussnowboardteam
@usskiteam 
@just.jackenthal.it

Hashtags
#LiveLikeSamDay
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Two-time Junior World Champion River Radamus was recently featured in the FIS' Q&A series, where he talks about everything from performing under pressure to skiing alongside Ted Ligety and beyond. 

Though he grew up in a ski racing family in Edwards, Colo., River really turned heads when he became the first skier to win three individual gold medals at the 2016 Youth Olympic Games in Lillehammer. He has shown a steady progression since, grabbing his first FIS Junior World Ski Championships medal (silver) in super-G in 2018, the 2018 NorAM overall title, and three Junior Worlds medals (gold in super-G and giant slalom, and silver in the team event) as well as scoring his first World Cup points during the 2019 season at Alta Badia, Italy, when he finished 24th.

Who is the most inspiring athlete to you and why?
As an American skier, there’s no bigger inspiration than Bode. I think our team kind of prides itself on doing things a little different from other nations. We have different advantages and disadvantages than other national teams so we have to be a bit unorthodox to succeed in this sport. There was no one more unorthodox than Bode. He always did things his own way and was completely unapologetic about it. And of course the results speak for themselves.  

Ted Ligety has had an important influence on your skiing style, and now you have the opportunity to train with him and discover his secrets. What are the most important lessons you have learned from him?
Haha if I told you his secrets, then they wouldn’t be secrets…

Seriously though, Ted leads by example. When Ted steps on the hill there’s an aura of professionalism that you can feel. He takes his business dead serious in a way that makes you feel guilty if you take it less so. Him being there raises the game of everyone around. 

How important is your team to you?
Team is crucial to me. My team is the reason I am where I am today. Our crew is really tight-knit. We push ourselves and each other extremely hard. We hold each other to a really high standard on and off the hill, and hold each other accountable when we fall short. I think when our standard of excellence is really high, it puts all of us in a position to succeed. We’re working hard right now to cultivate this culture, and make sure it’s sustainable beyond just our group, so that it lives as an understood legacy for years to come.

River will find himself full time on the FIS Ski World Cup circuit this year, so keep an eye on him when World Cup action kicks off in Soelden, Austria later this month.  

Read the full article on FIS-ski.com.

Want to learn more about River?
Follow him on Instagram.
 

Winter is here and you don't want to be left in the lodge! So it's time to learn or refresh yourself, about athlete SafeSport training and background check requirements so you can make the most of your-on-snow competition time this winter. Don't forget, all athletes 18 and older must complete SafeSport training and background checks on or before their 18th birthday. Read on for more information and answers to frequently asked questions.

Athlete SafeSport training highlights: 

Are athletes required to complete SafeSport training? Almost all adult U.S. Ski & Snowboard members (athletes, coaches, officials, and volunteers) are required to complete SafeSport training. Short Term Athlete Members due to their limited participation and Master Athletes who do not i) have regular contact with minor athletes or ii) have authority over minor athletes are exempt from training.

What happens if an athlete’s SafeSport training is not completed prior to turning 18? All athletes must complete SafeSport training no later than their 18th birthday to be eligible for participation/competition in U.S. Ski & Snowboard events and training with your club. Pending members are ineligible to participate. 

If I’m turning 18, can I complete SafeSport training now? Yes, you may complete SafeSport training now if you have parental consent. The consent is built into the SafeSport policy in online registration. Member Services will provide instructions once you’ve registered for membership. 

Does U.S. Ski & Snowboard recommend 17-year-old athletes complete SafeSport training prior to their 18th birthday? Yes. Training must be completed no later than your 18th birthday to avoid being placed on pending status and ineligible from participating in U.S. Ski & Snowboard events. We encourage athletes and their parents to have 17 year old athletes complete training prior to their 18th birthday to avoid any delay in participation/competition. However, you may delay training until closer to your birthday by calling or emailing Member Services.

How will U.S. Ski & Snowboard know I’ve completed training? It’s important that all those who take SafeSport training include their 7-digit U.S. Ski & Snowboard membership number/ID and add U.S. Ski & Snowboard as your membership affiliation when creating your SafeSport account. U.S. Ski & Snowboard will be notified of your course completion automatically when your account includes these two items. In this case, there would be no need to remit your completion certificate.

Athlete background screening highlights:

As an athlete, am I required to undergo background screening? Much like SafeSport training, almost all adult U.S. Ski & Snowboard members (athletes, coaches, officials and volunteers) are now required to undergo periodic criminal background screening. Short Term Athlete Members due to their limited participation and Master Athletes who do not i) have regular contact with minor athletes or ii) have authority over minor athletes are exempt from the background screening requirement.

What happens if I don’t complete the background screening prior to turning 18? All affected athletes will have 45 days from their 18th birthday to complete screening. On day 46, the athlete will be placed on pending status and ineligible to compete.  

If I’m turning 18, can I register for background screening now? Yes, you may register for screening once you’ve registered for membership. Parental consent will be captured within the screening company’s registration process and is required for all those under the age of 18. Member Services will provide instructions once you’ve registered for membership 

Does U.S. Ski & Snowboard recommend 17-year-old athletes complete background screening prior to their 18th birthday? Yes. Background screening can take several weeks. We want to avoid the potential for athletes being placed on pending status and prohibited from participating in U.S. Ski & Snowboard events. We encourage athletes and their parents to have 17-year-old athletes complete screening prior to their 18th birthday to avoid any delay in participation/competition. Athletes will have a maximum of 45 days from their 18th birthday to complete the screening process.

The youngest woman to win an Olympic Snowboarding gold medal and the reigning FIS Halfpipe World Champion Chloe Kim today announced she will be taking the 2019-20 season off from competition. The announcement was released on Kim’s YouTube Channel earlier today, where she commented on her motivations and reasoning for the brief stint away from the competition scene. 

“I have decided to take this season off from competition and I will be going to school at Princeton University,” she said with her signature Chloe Kim smile. “It was a tough decision for me to make. I love snowboarding and I love competing, but I have been doing it for my whole life pretty much... It was hard for me mentally to compete so much as our competition schedule is just insane. I just wanted to give myself one year to take a break.”

Although allowing for a mental refresh is a significant part of her decision, Chloe also commented on the benefits of taking a season off could have for her physical health. 

Referring to the 2019 U.S. Open, Kim said, “when I broke my ankle, it was a very minor fall. That made me think my body is tired. It can’t take slams as well as it used to. I take care of myself, I train, but at the end of the day, I think my body was just tired. I want to be in good health for the next Olympics and for the rest of my life, so I feel this was a good decision.” 

In addition to Kim’s efforts to remain mentally and physically healthy, she also has her eyes on the bigger picture, being a well rounded human being. 

“When you get stuck in the same routine over and over again, year after year, it gets pretty hard, she said. “I felt like a lost part of myself. I felt like I didn’t have a life outside of snowboarding...It made me a little nervous thinking that my life was 100% snowboarding. After the Olympics, I took the SAT’s, ACT’s, and got into my dream school. I’m really excited to set foot in the classroom… I’m really excited to meet new people and explore that part of my life.”

Although Kim’s news may come as a shock to the competitive snowboarding world, she has made it clear that she is not going anywhere in the long run and we can expect her to be dropping back into the halfpipe come the start of the 2020-21 season. Last season, Kim topped the podium at five out of the six events winning at a rate of 83%. Without the most dominant women in snowboard halfpipe competition on the start list this season, keep watch for the young up and coming riders looking to fill what are very large shoes. 

Check out Chloe's YouTube Announcement
 

U.S. Ski & Snowboard today announced the 2019-20 Race to the Cup Series. The Race to the Cup parallel giant slalom and parallel slalom will consist of four NorAm stops with the final stop selected as the NorAm Finals. The Race to the Cup is designed to bridge the gap between grassroots and FIS World Cup level competitions. The Tour also qualifies athletes to Junior World Championships and Project Gold Development Camps. 

The Tour will kick off in Minnesota with a stop at Buck Hill. The Tour then heads west to Steamboat Springs, Colo. and Holiday Valley, N.Y. USASA Nationals at Copper Mountain, Colo. will serve as the final stop of the Tour and NorAm Finals. 

The Race to the Cup Tour is open to athletes ages 15 who are ready to take their racing to the next level. Athletes must have a current FIS and U.S. Ski & Snowboard membership to compete in the events. 

“We are excited to return to these excellent locations for the Race to the Cup event series, ” said U.S. Ski & Snowboard Sport Development Senior Manager Ashley Deibold. “These events showcase the top up and coming snowboard racing athletes.”

Please visit usskiandsnowboard.org for detailed schedules and registration information. 

SCHEDULE

Buck Hill, Minn.
December 20-22, 2020

Steamboat Springs, Colo.
January 23-25, 2020

Holiday Valley, N.Y.
February 2-4, 2020

USASA National Championships (PGS and PSL NorAm Finals)
Copper Mountain, Colo.
March 30-31, 2020

A childhood Christmas present turned Head Moguls Coach Matt Gnoza into a lifelong skier, and the sport soon became a family tradition. Matt remembers always looking for the “next level of skiing,” which is how he got into crushing bumps. After 21 years with Killington Mountain School, where Matt served in various capacities, including Development Program Director - that’s right he even had oversight over the alpine development programs, a big deal for a freestyle coach - Matt joined U.S. Ski & Snowboard following the 2014 Olympic Winter Games. A sense of curiosity fuels Matt’s coaching philosophy, and as someone who has raised two accomplished freeskiing sons, he understands the importance of looking beyond his discipline to dig deep into what good coaching, ski related or not, is all about. In this next installment of our “Coach’s Column,” Matt shares what he and his staff are up to in disrupting the “norm” in elite moguls skiing.

We’re bringing you stories from the ground through the lens of our coaching staff who know our athletes best. These staff members spend countless hours traveling from point A to point B in the winter with athletes, eating dinner as a team, training in the gym and on the mountain, often celebrating Thanksgiving away from home and instead with their athletes and fellow staff members, and the list goes on. They’re more than a team…they’re a second family – a winter family. It’s not easy to be away from home. The days are long and the load is heavy, and it’s sometimes thankless work for these behind-the-scenes heroes. We hope that by sharing their stories, in their words, it will give you all some understanding and appreciation for what it takes to create an environment in which our athletes can thrive.

Enjoy the journey,

Lara Carlton

Freestyle Communications Manager

------------------

At the end of last season my staff and I reflected and asked ourselves, “What can we do differently?” Every moguls team in the world is going about things the same way.

There aren’t many variabilities you can build into a moguls run: it has to be a series of turns and jumps. But there is variability you can build into how you teach moguls skiing. We realized we’ve been teaching the same way that everyone is teaching, talking about “bending our knees” or “adjusting our hands,” different things like that. But when we stepped outside what I like to call the “moguls box,” and did some digging, we found this concept of external cueing - when the athlete focuses on the outcome of his or her movement.

What we’re working on is finding different ways to realize what we say really matters. We want to use words that carry specific information that illicit a certain physical movement. That’s our goal. For example, taking off on a jump. We used to talk about “pressing off of your toes” and “extending your knees” and “lifting with your arms.” And now, rather than “pressing with our toes,” we’re “pushing through the jump, we’re extending to the sky.” We’ve taken these internal cues and turned them into external cues in a way to give the athletes something to work on. We’re trying to really get the athletes to go “oh that’s what that’s going to feel like.”

Change doesn’t happen overnight - especially in a sport that’s become so entrenched in tradition. I’ve been coaching moguls skiing for going on 28 years now. We still ski on pretty narrow skis and we still go through the moguls and perform jumps. Albeit the speeds are faster, the technique is cleaner, the jumps are more difficult than they were. But the sport on the whole hasn’t changed that much, so what you have to do is not be afraid to try new things so that we can then advance the sport.

I relate it a lot to baseball. Just recently there’s been a lot of talk about all of the hitters hitting high-fly balls and this thing called “launch angle”. They’re seeing a dramatic change in how many home runs are being hit around the league because everyone is focused on the launch angle of the ball when it comes off of the bat. So, I asked our staff, “What is moguls’ launch angle?” What can we find in our sport to make our athletes hit a homerun every time they’re at the top of the course? We’re finding that in this external cuing the athletes are starting to think about their skiing a little bit differently and thinking about ways in which they can make that adjustment other than just hitting a little ground ball and hoping that it does all right.

In moguls there has always been this focus of perfecting your next trick before you climb the ladder to the next one. As a staff we’re working on making sure we’re not sweating the small stuff through the variation training we’ve implemented and combined this with external cueing. We need to focus on making sure it works and is going to get scored. We’re not going to focus on “oh that back tuck was good, but the feet could have been just a tiny bit tighter.” Were they tight enough to get a good, high score? Yes. Then we’re good.

The current team has really bought into the randomized training approach. During camps they’re not just hiking or lapping and going up to do the same backflip over and over again all day. They’re going from a backflip to a back full to a cork 7 back to a backflip back to a cork 10 or, oh let’s add a grab on a backflip. The athletes are feeling really good and successful when all of a sudden, they just did six different jumps and stomped the landing on all of them.

Maybe you’re thinking, “Okay Matt I get it, you’re totally attempting to revolutionize the moguls world one external cue at a time. But how do you measure the success of this?” Glad you asked. From training we are starting to see desired results, so that tells me we’re achieving the skills we’re after. And then hopefully through these successfully developing these skills we’re going to see the results when competition day comes around. This team is fired up and hungry to build off of the momentum from last season.

Once you stop learning, you die. We’re not winning every week yet so there’s got to be something else out there that can help make us that much better. My approach to coaching has always been an openness and a willingness to learn from others. And I think I have a pretty good filter where I can take information from multiple places and say, “this piece of information was really solid I am going to put into my coaching and maybe that piece I’m going to let go.” Plus, after 28 years it just gets boring to say the same thing over and over.

This process has been fun and rewarding and it aligns with our coach statements we created as an organization through the USOPC’s Appollo Project. It’s been a fun process to think differently about the turn; about the jump. It’s different, but it’s the same. We’re still trying to get athletes to jump as high as they can and perform clean tricks. We’re still trying to get them to absorb over the top of the mogul, or edge of the ski, or have good pressure in the boots - but now we’re saying it differently. That part’s been neat to me because I kind of feel like I’m teaching a new thing, even though I’m not.