The future of mogul skiing looks bright following a strong showing from up-and-coming athletes at the FIS Junior World Ski Championships in Chiesa in Valmalenco, Italy, March 23-25.

Newly crowned FIS Rookie of the Year skier Alli Macuga became a double Junior World Champion, winning the Team Dual Moguls with teammate Asher Michel and Dual Moguls events Friday and Saturday. 

“It was a very fun weekend with a tough course, with it being the end of the year it’s been a bit of a battle,” said Macuga. “I’m happy with the past few days and my results. I was really just trying to push after singles day to my best. Since it’s the end of the season I wanted to go out with a bang. Thanks to my family and my team and my sponsors again.”

Athletes competed in three events in three days. Friday was the single moguls event, where Macuga was the top American finisher, just off the podium in fourth. Kasey Hogg took fifth, Kylie Kariotis sixth, and Skylar Slettene 17th. On the men’s side Asher Michel took bronze, Jack Petrone finished 11th, Charlie Mickel 12th and Peyton Billeisen 15th. 

The Team Dual Moguls event ran Saturday with Macgua and Michel representing Team USA. The pair won gold, beating Team Canada in the Big Final. 

“It was a very fun team event and to ski with Asher, stoked for him,” Macuga said. “Having a partner was fun, he’s a very fast skier. I was happy to be at the top of the box with him.”

Sunday the American women went 1-4 in Dual Moguls. Macuga took gold, Slettene silver, Kariotis bronze and Hogg fourth. Petrone was the top American finisher for the men in fifth, Michel took 10th, Mickel 14th and Billeisen 29th. 

RESULTS
Women’s Moguls
Men’s Moguls
Team Dual Moguls
Women’s Dual Moguls
Men’s Dual Moguls

It was quite the day to wrap up the final sprint of the 2022-23 season in Lahti, Finland. The U.S. Cross Country Ski Team sent five athletes to the top-30, with Julia Kern and Ben Ogden leading the team in 15th and 13th, respectively. 

The conditions were anything but easy, with many athletes struggling to find the best line with the snow getting worse through the afternoon. Lahti is known for its sprint course - the steep uphill to the infamous right hand 180 degree turn into the long, working downhill. It's not easy and even the best in the world struggled, with many falls and broken poles as the day went on. 

With the overall sprint crystal globes on the line, the tensions were high across the board with highly contested races between athletes of several nations.

For the men, Norway's Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo ended the season right where he started it, in first. Crossing the sprint line for the last time this season ahead of the entire field, Klaebo clinched another sprint globe. For the women, Sweden's Maja Dahlqvist secured the overall sprint globe in dramatic fashion. In the quarterfinal heat, she needed to get first or second to secure a spot in the semifinals and this was made possible by a move from her teammate Moa Ilar. In the finishing stretch, Dahlqvist broke a pole and her sites of the crystal globe were diminishing right before her eyes, that was until her teammate completely stopped her momentum and let Dahlqvist pass so she could move onto the semis by crossing the line in second. "Teammate of the year" was heard throughout the stadium. With that move, Dahlqvist moved on to the semis, then advanced to the finals and finished the sprint in fourth, enough to clinch the 2023 FIS Overall Sprint crystal globe. 

Kern, Diggins and Brennan all advanced easily to the heats, with Diggins qualifying in 10th, Kern in 21st and Brennan in 23rd. In the heats, no U.S. women advanced to the semifinals, with Kern missing the lucky loser spot by less than a second. Diggins was fourth and Brennan was sixth in their heats.

"For me personally, I knew I had a lot in me," said Kern. "In the quarterfinal, I gave it what I had and was getting stuck in places and not quite finding the gears or windows I needed to find. But, I was proud with how I finished. I gave it what I had out there today and I am looking forward to tomorrow, the last race of the season!"

In the end, Diggins was 15th, Kern 16th and Brennan 29th. The winner of the day was Kristine Skistad of Norway who again shocked the cross country world again and won the classic sprint. 

"It was an exciting day! I was really happy with my qualifier," said Diggins. "It's fun to feel that I have decent energy at the end of the year because when it comes down to the end of the season, what you have is what you have! I went for it today and proud of how I skied on this course with tricky conditions. Huge thanks for the techs for working so hard and for everyone working on this course, the staff and the support team. I am really grateful for all the work they put in and am super excited to finish this season with one last race and give it my all."

On the men's side, Ogden and Ketterson advanced to the heats with their fast qualifying times, Ogden was 7th and Ketterson was 27th. Ogden once again dawned the U23 green bib, an indicator that he is currently the fastest U23 athlete on the World Cup circuit; Ogden has been wearing the bib the majority of the season. Through the heats, Ketterson did not advance after an unfortunate broken pole and Ogden was in a similar situation. He narrowly avoided a massive crash, catapulting him to the front of the heat, yet he finished fourth in his heat, not moving on to the semifinals. Ogden finished the day in 13th, Ketterson was 28th. 

For the season overall, Kern finished within the top-10 in the overall sprint rankings, marking herself as one of the fastest and most consistent sprinters in the world, in seventh. Along with Kern, Ogden showed his consistency by finishing the sprinting season in tenth - a jump from last season where he finished 30th. 

Tomorrow the team will compete in the last World Cup race of the season, the 20k classic. 

RESULTS
Women's
Men's

SPRINT OVERALL
Women's
Men's

Today, March 25, marked the last slopestyle World Cup of the season in Silvaplana, SUI. Five American men and one U.S. woman were set to drop into finals for their last competition. Alex Hall, Colby Stevenson, Konnor Ralph, Hunter Henderson, and Mac Forehand went head-to-head in the men’s finals with a total of 16 competitors out on course.

Conditions were tough for the athletes as the wind continued to pick up through out the event and the visibility stayed consistently flat. However, this did not stop the men as we had four athletes in the top-10.

Hall stayed true to his signature style and ended up in fifth place as the top American for the day. Ralph took home his best ever World Cup performance to date with a sixth place. Stevenson added another top-10 to his decorated season career with an eight place, followed by Forehand in ninth place. Rounding it out for the men was Henderson in 11th place. 

On the women’s side, Grace Henderson was the lone wolf for American women. Henderson had just come back from a shoulder injury that had her off of snow for seven weeks. This pause in competition did not seem to affect her, as she easily made finals for her first event back. With this fuel under her belt, she was able to lace her two runs in finals, which ended her day in eight place with a score of a 72.75. 

For the overall season, there is much to celebrate. As a Nation, the USA finished second overall in the Nation's Cup Standings, right behind Canada and before Switzerland. Individually, Hall landed in the top-5 for the FIS Overall Slopestyle crystal globe, with Stevenson in seventh, Ralph in ninth and LaPlante in 11th. For the

The season has wrapped up for the freeski slopestyle athletes, highlighted by numerous wins, podiums and top-10's on the biggest stage in the world. 

Now, the team rests before they start preparing for 2023-24!

RESULTS
Men's 
Women's

SLOPESTYLE OVERALL
Men's
Women's

NATIONS CUP

Park City, UT, March 21, 2023 – U.S. Ski & Snowboard has formally announced the six athletes that have been selected to represent the United States at the 2023 Ski Cross World Junior Championships, which will take place in San Pellegrino, Italy, March 25-28. 

The 2023 team is composed of some of the strongest young athletes in the country who will compete at the international capital of snow sports on the Costabella slope at San Pellegrino Pass.

On the women's squad, Morgan Shute has had a strong season so far, with a win at Gore Mountain Ski Area NorAm Cup and six NorAm top-10 results since December. Along with Shute is her teammate from Carabassett Valley Academy Maggie Swain and Ski & Snowboard Club Vail’s Lindsey Labaugh. Swaine has four top-10’s  in NorAms with a fifth place in Nakiska, Canada. Labaugh also snagged four top-10’s, highlighted by her third place at Gore. 

"The World Juniors are an important international benchmarking event and are a stepping stone to higher-level international competition in the future like the World Cup," said Chip Knight, Athletic Development Director at U.S. Ski & Snowboard. "It’s an honor to be named to represent our country!"

On the men's side, Tanner Murphy, Jack Mitchell and Walker Robinson will represent the red, white and blue. Aleyska Ski Club’s Murphy has had a strong year, taking home second place at the National Championships at Copper Mountain Resort and three first place trophies at the NorAm Cups. Mitchell, who was on the podium in third at the NorAm Cup at Gore and in the top-10 three times, is ready for the next step. Robinson also joins the team, hailing from Team Summit Colorado, with six NorAm World Cups starts this season, landed in the top-10  in three of them.

The 2023 Junior Worlds will include individual ski cross and a team event for both men and women. Live timing will be provided by the International Ski Federation (FIS).

2023 Ski Cross World Junior Championships Athletes
Name – hometown, club, birthdate

Women

Morgan Shute – Allendale, NJ, Carrabassett Valley Academy, 9/13/2006
Maggie Swain – Kingfield, ME, Carrabassett Valley Academy, 7/10/2006
Lindsey Labaugh – Avon, CO, Ski & Snowboard Club Vail, 4/10/2005

Men

Tanner Murphy – Tahoma, CA, Alyeska Ski Club, 3/3/2005
Jack Mitchell – Wenatchee, WA, Mission Ridge Ski Team, 3/3/2003
Walker Robinson – Frisco, CO, Team Summit Colorado, 6/27/2006

Coaches

Morgan Haymans
Rodney Robinson
Mike Phelan
Adam Bourns

Mikaela Shiffrin of the Stifel U.S. Alpine Ski Team wrapped up the 2022-23 season in style, winning her 88th World Cup at the World Cup Finals giant slalom in Soldeu, Andorra. It was her 138th career podium and her 21st giant slalom win, breaking two women’s records. She also received her second career giant slalom crystal globe, marking her the most successful skier in the discipline, along with her fifth overall crystal globe, the biggest prize in ski racing.

Shiffrin skied to win, taking the first run handily by .62 seconds and put down a smart second run to secure the win by .06. It was her seventh giant slalom win of the season and her 21st career World Cup win—breaking Vreni Schneider’s record of 20 GS wins, which Shiffrin tied last week. The overall record is held by Ingemar Stenmark of Sweden, who won 46 GS races throughout his time on the World Cup circuit.  

"I was so nervous at the start," laughed Shiffrin. "I think there isn’t a reason. You want to do well and it doesn’t matter about the records—you just want to do well."

The win extended Shiffrin’s overall record for World Cup wins to 88 and officially gave her the giant slalom globe, which she had clinched in her record-tying 86th win last week. She also received the overall FIS crystal globe for the fifth time after the race with a personal best 2,206 World Cup points throughout the season, which beat her record from 2018-19, when she won a historic 17 races. Tina Maze of Slovenia holds the record for more points in a single season with 2,414 from 2012-13. Shiffrin now has 15 crystal globes from 13 seasons—five overall and 10 discipline titles—including three from this season: overall, GS and slalom. This is Shiffrin’s second overall globe in a row, and she is one of only four skiers to win the overall at least five times.

The result also increased Shiffrin’s resume to 138 World Cup podium finishes, breaking the record held by Lindsey Vonn.

Norway’s Thea Louise Stjernesund was second in her first career podium and Valerie Grenier of Canada was third. Stifel U.S. Alpine Ski Team skier Paula Moltzan finished 15th. Nina O’Brien did not finish her first run. Watch the replay of the race on CNBC at 3 p.m. ET today, March 19. 

No Stifel U.S. Alpine Ski Team men competed in the men’s slalom on Sunday. Ramon Zenhaeusern of Switzerland took the win with Lucas Braathen of Norway in second and Henrik Kristoffersen of Norway in third. Braathen’s second place secured him the slalom globe—a hard-fought title throughout the season. Marco Odermatt of Switzerland won the overall globe.

RESULTS
Women's giant slalom
Men's slalom

HOW TO WATCH

Sunday, March 19
3:00 p.m. ET - Women's Giant Slalom, CNBC*

*delayed broadcast

The aerial skiers of the U.S. Freestyle Ski Team closed out their competition season under bluebird skies at World Cup Finals in Almaty, Kazakhstan on Sunday. 

Three women represented the U.S. in finals: Kaila Kuhn, WInter Vinecki and Dani Loeb with Kuhn and Vinecki both advancing to the super final round. Kuhn performed full full in the first final round so as to have her higher degree of difficulty trick for Supers - double-full full - which earned her a score of 89.18. She held in third position until Australia’s Laura Peel wowed the crowd with her lay tuck full to win the event. Kuhn was the top U.S. finisher of the day in fourth. She ends the season ranked fourth overall - a career best.

“It got a little bit challenging today, the jump was a little soft so a bit of a journey for everybody to get used to,” Kuhn said. “I’m happy with my consistency this season. I ended up fourth overall this year, best so far. It was my first double-full full on this site, so I am happy to have put it to my feet.”

Vinecki performed double-full full to qualify into Supers, which left her with full full for her final jump. She earned 79.69 for fifth place. Dani Loeb finished 12th and Megan Nick 14th. Australia went one-two on the podium with Peel and Danielle Scott, respectively, and Canada’s Marion Thenault took third. 

Chris Lillis and Derek Krueger both made finals appearances. Lillis stomped a full double-full full to qualify in second for the super final round. He called double-full full double-full - a quint - but had difficulty in his takeoff and didn’t have the room to complete five twists. He took it down to a quad to safely land to his feet. Aerial skiers must perform the trick they call prior to takeoff or it’s considered a DNF so Lillis unfortunately earned no score for his jump and finished the day in sixth. 

Krueger finished tenth and Quinn Dehlinger 16th. 

Switzerland went first and second with Permin Werner and Noe Roth, respectively, and Canada’s Emile Nadeau finished third. 

The U.S. Aerials Freestyle Ski Team earned the Nations Cup, an impressive feat for a season with only six events to draw points from. 

“It feels really good to be part of the team that's been so consistent this season,” said Kuhn. “To win the Nations Cup again, along with moguls this weekend, shows how hard we’re training and that all of it is paying off. I can’t think of a better way to end the season.”

“It is great to win the Nations Cup,” said Head Aerials Coach Vladimir Lebedev. “I’m glad the whole team is healthy and that we finished the season strong.”

RESULTS
Women’s Aerials
Men’s Aerials
Women’s Discipline Standings
Men’s Discipline Standings

If an avalanche breaks off above the slopestyle course during practice, most would call it quits, but for the U.S. Freeski Team slopestyle men competing in Tignes, France, nothing would stop them. On March 15, Tignes experienced a large avalanche boom down from the peaks, just above the slopestyle course, where the men were training for their upcoming competition. Videos were captured of the competitors running away from the looming mist and snow. Fortunately, no one was injured and the slopestyle course stayed intact. This would only fuel the fire for the men to show that nothing would get in their way.

Just three days later, Hunter Henderson, Troy Podmilsak, Konnor Ralph and Cody LaPlante were set to drop into finals on a balmy day. The weather could not have been more perfect and the slopestyle course was in mint condition, with three jumps and three variations of rails. 

Each competitor had two opportunities to put down their best run for the judges. LaPlante laced his first run of the day and scored an 85.00 flat to end up in eighth place as the top American finisher. Rookie team member Ralph followed LaPlante in ninth place with a score of 83.25. Podmilsak completed his first run to score a 78.75 which put him in 12th place for the day. Unfortunately, Henderson had trouble during his two finals runs and was not able to land either, placing him in 16th. 

As it may have not been the results the men were looking for, they were able to acquire another competition day under their belt. The U.S. Freeski Team slopestyle team will look to finish off their season strong in Silvaplana, Switzerland, March 23-25th. 

Results 
Men's slopestyle

Replay 
Tignes Slopestyle World Cup

Stifel U.S. Alpine Ski Team athlete Mikaela Shiffrin skied onto the World Cup podium for the 137th time, taking third in the World Cup Finals slalom in Soldeu, Andorra to tie the record for most alpine skiing World Cup podiums for a woman. She also received her seventh career slalom World Cup crystal globe, marking her the most dominant slalom skier of the 2022-23 season.

“My first several slalom globes, it’s almost like I won them almost without understanding,” Shiffrin reflected after the race. “I had less pressure when I was skiing—feeling young, just trying to earn my spot to be racing on the World Cup still. Now there’s always a little more weight.  Every single race I feel the weight of having to be one of the best in the world no matter what the day is. It’s quite a privilege but somedays it’s quite heavy. But today it didn’t feel heavy, it just felt like a really good opportunity. It was the best way to finish the season in a race.”

Shiffrin’s podium ties her with Lindsey Vonn’s women’s podium record and brings Shiffrin's total podium percentage above 55%, meaning that she podiums in more than half of her World Cup starts. The only men with more World Cup podiums are retired skiers Marcel Hirscher of Austria with 138 and Ingemar Stenmark of Sweden with 155. Shiffrin already has the most alpine skiing World Cup wins in history with 87, having beat Stenmark’s record last week.

Plus, the Stifel U.S. Alpine Ski Team women won the FIS Nations Cup for slalom. The combination of slalom points earned by the slalom team helped achieve this great effort. This is the first time in history that the U.S. has gotten this title. This honor is highlighted by Shiffrin's stellar slalom performance this season as well as Paula Moltzan's top seven slalom ranking season. 

The day was tricky, with warm weather and soft snow. Shiffrin was fourth after first run, and was able to bump up a place to the podium with a fast second run. Stifel U.S. Alpine Ski Team skier Paula Moltzan was sitting in sixth after first run, but had to hike second run and dropped to 16th place. Petra Vlhova of Slovakia took the win with Leona Popovic of Croatia in second place.

On the men’s side, Tommy Ford was the leading Stifel U.S. Alpine Ski Team man, finishing in 18th place. River Radamus did not finish his first run.

"Today was more linked together from top to bottom than I've had for the second half the season. I've had runs here and there but it was good and it felt good to do that again," said Ford. 

Marco Odermatt of Switzerland won his 13th Audi FIS Alpine Ski World Cup of the season by an astonishing 2.11 seconds to tie the men’s single-season win record. He also broke Austrian Hermann Maier’s men’s record of 2,000 points from the 1999-00 season, accumulating 2,042 points so far for the season. Henrik Kristoffersen of Norway was second and Marco Schwarz of Austria was third. Odermatt also took home the GS crystal globe.

The men race slalom on Sunday, while the women race giant slalom to wrap up the season. Shiffrin will have a chance to break the World Cup podium tie in tomorrow’s GS, where she has already secured the GS crystal globe. Stream both races live on skiandsnowboard.live or Peacock, or watch the delayed women’s GS broadcast at CNBC at 3 p.m. ET. Watch the recap of today’s women’s slalom on CNBC at 3 p.m. ET.

HOW TO WATCH
all times EST

Saturday, March 18
3:00 p.m. - Women's Slalom, CNBC*

Sunday, March 19
4:00 a.m. - Women's Giant Slalom, Run 1, skiandsnowboard.live, peacocktv.com
5:30 a.m. - Men's Slalom, Run 1, skiandsnowboard.live
7:00 a.m. - Women's Giant Slalom, Run 2, skiandsnowboard.live, peacocktv.com
8:30 a.m. - Men's Slalom, Run 2, skiandsnowboard.live
3:00 p.m. - Women's Giant Slalom, CNBC*

*delayed broadcast

On another day of racing in Falun, Sweden, five Americans advanced to the quarterfinal heats in the skate sprint. Jessie Diggins, Rosie Brennan, Julia Kern and Sammy Smith advanced for the women and Ben Ogden for the men. 

It was another partly cloudy day at the racing complex, with thousands of fans packed in around the sprint course - showcasing the fan base of Swedish skiing. In the qualification round, seven women and five U.S. men were on the start list, among the other 52 other women and 68 men. Diggins, Brennan, Kern, Smith, Novie McCabe, Lauren Jortberg and Hailey Swirbul started for the women, while Zak Ketterson, Luke Jager, JC Schoonmaker, Kevin Bolger and Ogden started for the men. 

A highlight of the day included Sammy Smith, the youngest competitor in the field by nearly three years, qualifying for the heats in her second-ever skate sprint start. Smith is an all-around athlete and when she is not skiing, Smith is an avid soccer player, runner and freestyle skier. 

Overall, Diggins finished 13th, Kern 14th, Smith 27th, Brennan 29th and Ogden 12th.

In the last several weeks, the race schedule has been stacked with the 50k Holmenkollen and a long World Championships program. Fatigue is a real threat to all athletes on the circuit but with only two more locations left to race, athletes are finding what is left in the tank and giving it their all. 

"With all of this racing, my body has just been unpredictable. Today, my body just had nothing and it was tough to find much sprinter power in my legs," said Brennan. "It's time to rest up and a few more races to give some fight for!"

At the end of the day, the team focused on the fast skis and the amount of Americans in the heats - showcasing the depth that this team is building on the international stage. Now, rest is a priority before tomorrow's second-annual 4.5k mixed team relay, which the U.S. Cross Country Ski Team won just one year ago.

Quest for the Overall

Diggins' quest to the FIS overall crystal globe is closer than ever. Before this race, Diggins was 123 points out from the FIS overall crystal globe and is second in the standings for the overall distance globe. After today's sprint, she has narrowed the gap even more, with the next couple of races key in clinching the season. 

"It is an honor to be in the fight at all and sitting second in the overall and distance, but it is not something that I try and focus on or think about a lot because so many things need to line up and go right over the course of the whole season," said Diggins. "It is of course something that is really cool and exciting and fun and especially knowing all the fans that are following it! Me personally, I am trying to focus on every day and racing the best that I can. Each day, I go out there and have some concrete process goals that I am working towards and that is my main focus right now."

Brennan is currently sitting in fourth place in the overall World Cup globe standings while Kern is sitting in fifth and Ogden in 10th for the sprint World Cup overall sprint standings.

RESULTS
Women
Men

The mogul skiers of the U.S. Freestyle Ski Team battled it out Saturday one last time at the Dual Moguls World Cup Finals in Almaty, Kazakhstan to secure the discipline’s Nations Cup. Jaelin Kauf snagged another podium with a second place finish and Olivia Giaccio earned her third-career World Cup podium with a third pace finish. 

Kauf dueled against teammate Hannah Soar in the Quarter Final and Giaccio in the Semi Final to make it to the Big Final against France’s Perrine Laffont. 

“Today was good, really fun,” said Kauf. “Unfortunately, I did have to take out a few teammates.” 

The battle for the top position pitted Kauf and Laffont together for one last time this season. Kauf had the advantage down the middle section but Laffont managed to cross the finish line first to take the win. “I was just trying to get to that top air first, make Perrine chase me a little. I focused on skiing my run and keeping it as clean as possible. She kind of snuck ahead on that bottom air and got me. I left it all out there, that’s all I can do.”

With this result Kauf ends the Dual Moguls season ranked third overall. “I am really stoked with that.”

Giaccio battled teammate Alli Macuga in the Small Final to take third. Giaccio has been knocking on the door of podium positions all season, so to end the tour on this note felt especially sweet. 

“It feels really good, feels like a little bit of a relief in a sense to know that I can kind of break that barrier again,” Giaccio said. “It’s been tough throughout the season feeling so close yet so far. I’m thankful that I managed to make it happen. Big thanks to my coaches, to my family and my mentors for helping me push through run by run.”

Macuga’s fourth place finish marks a career best for the newly minted Rookie of the Year. It was a strong showing for the women overall, with five going two through six: Kauf (second), Giaccio (third), Macuga (fourth), Lulu Shaffer (fifth - a career best) and Soar (sixth). Tess Johnson finished tenth and Kasey Hogg finished twelfth.

On the men’s side Dylan Walczyk was the top American finisher in sixth place. The Americans met some heavy hitters in the quarter final round. Landon Wendler dueled against Sweden’s Walter Wallberg to finish the day seventh. Nick Page met Canada’s Mikael Kingsbury and finished the day in eighth. Cole McDonald finished 11th, Charlie Mickel 19th and Asher Michel 25th. Kingsbury won, Wallberg finished second and Australia’s Matt Graham took third. 

Moguls finishes their competitive season at Waterville Valley Resort for U.S. Freestyle Nationals March 22-26. 

Head Coach Bryon Wilson was proud to finish the tour strong and looks forward to the work ahead. “It was a really great weekend here in Kazakhstan,” he said. “Leaving here with four medals, and leaving with both Nations Cups in moguls and dual moguls is incredible. 

“I am impressed with the development crew and excited where we’re headed as a team. It fires me up going into prep season! We’re going to take a couple days to finish off the season at Nationals, get a little breather, and then back to work this spring and summer.”

RESULTS
Women’s Dual Moguls
Men’s Dual Moguls
Women’s Discipline Standings
Men’s Discipline Standings