Every year at the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Congress awards ceremony in May, U.S. Ski & Snowboard recognizes the work of those behind the scenes and the people and organizations that provide athletes of all ages with opportunities to participate in ski and snowboard competitions.

U.S. Ski & Snowboard members can nominate in many of the award categories, including The Paul Bacon Award for excellent event organization, the John J. Clair Award for outstanding service to national teams and more.

How the process works

• Nominations for these awards are accepted from members who have a valid and current membership for the 2023-24 Season. 
• Each sport committee also submits its own nomination.
• Selection of awards winners is determined by a vote of the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Awards Working Group in early April.
• Winners are announced in May.

How to nominate

• Read through the categories open to public nomination.
• Click on the nomination link for each individual award for which you wish to nominate.
• Complete the nomination paying special attention to highlighting accomplishments required for each award.
• Nominees must also be current members of U.S. Ski & Snowboard.
• Click to submit.
• Remember, you need to submit nominations for each award separately.

DEADLINE TO SUBMIT NOMINATIONS: Friday, March 29, 2024

PUBLIC NOMINATION CATEGORIES

Paul Bacon Award (event organization)

The Paul Bacon Award is given to an individual or group for the greatest contribution to U. S. Ski & Snowboard in the field of race organization during the 2023-24 season. Traditional nominees include local clubs or individuals whose work has made a difference in providing good events for athletes.

PAUL BACON AWARD Nomination Form

John J. Clair Award (service to national teams)

The John J. Clair Jr. Award is given for outstanding service that benefited the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Team in 2023-24. Past recipients have included outside team support personnel, donors, journalists, movers and shakers. Most recipients have been individuals, though some organizations have been recognized. The recipient’s service should be to the national teams.

JOHN J. CLAIR JR. AWARD Nomination Form

Bud & Mary Little Award (service to FIS or USOPC)

The Bud & Mary Little Award is a lifetime achievement award presented to an individual who has contributed significantly through a long-term involvement with the International Ski & Snowboard Federation or U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee. Recipients are eligible to receive the award only once. Achievement should be lifetime; it is not specific to this past year.

BUD & MARY LITTLE AWARD Nomination Form

Buddy Werner Award (sportsmanship)

Have you seen any great acts of sportsmanship this past year? Nominations should be based on actions from the 2023-24 season. It is only open to individuals.

BUDDY WERNER AWARD Nomination Form

Russell Wilder Award (service to youth)

The Russell Wilder Award recognizes the most outstanding effort during 2023-24 in focusing the interests of American youth on the sports of skiing or snowboarding. It can be awarded to an individual or an organization.

RUSSELL WILDER AWARD Nomination Form

OFFICIALS NOMINATION AWARD CATEGORY*

West Family Award (outstanding official)

The West Family Award is a lifetime achievement honor, recognizing an outstanding certified official at any level.  Nominations come from the pool of current U.S. Ski & Snowboard Officials membership.

WEST FAMILY AWARD Nomination Form

*Nominations only open to those who hold a current U.S. Ski & Snowboard Officials membership. 

FIS TECHNICAL DELEGATE NOMINATION AWARD CATEGORY^

Westhaven Award (outstanding FIS technical delegate)

The Westhaven Award is a lifetime achievement award, recognizing an outstanding FIS technical delegate for his or her service over time. Nominations come from the pool of current FIS TDs.

WESTHAVEN AWARD Nomination Form

^Nominations only open to those who hold a current U.S. Ski & Snowboard Technical Delegate membership. 

Chris Lillis capped off the 2023-24 aerials World Cup circuit third on the podium on the day and third in the overall season standings. 

The Stifel U.S. Freestyle Ski Team aerials athletes took on the final World Cup of the season today in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Things took an unexpected turn as intense fog rolled in, causing results to be based on the qualification round. 

All five U.S. women and two men were set to compete in today’s finals, with Chris Lillis and Tasia Tanner leading the way in third and fifth, respectively. Lillis completed an excellent back full double full full, besting some of the greats, including overall silver medalist Pirmin Werner of Switzerland. Connor Curran landed just outside the top five in sixth. Derek Krueger finished 22nd.

Tanner executed a technically proficient back lay full on the women’s side to put herself in fifth place. Karenna Elliott was not far behind in seventh, followed by Kaila Kuhn in eighth, Winter Vinecki in 10th and Megan Smallhouse in 11th. 

In a typical competition, many athletes save their higher-difficulty tricks for later rounds to secure themselves a spot in finals by perfecting their easier skills early on. This choice had a big impact in today’s competition due to the cancelation of finals. Athletes who chose to perform harder skills in qualifying, such as Marion Thenault of Canada, were automatically in a better position in today’s scenario. 

The most significant impact of today’s format change was regarding the overall aerials Crystal Globe. Heading into the final competition, Winter Vinecki led the standings by just 12 points ahead of Australia's Danielle Scott. Vinecki qualified in 10th, while Scott was in second place, allowing Scott to take over the Crystal Globe. Although Vinecki did not finish on top, this was still a breakthrough season for her as one of the only women competing triples and consistently in contention for the top box in any competition. 

This season was also a breakthrough for Tasia Tanner, who was awarded the coveted FIS Rookie of the Year award. Her consistent performances and beautiful execution made her the obvious choice for this year's award. Tanner's results, along with every member of the team’s results, led the U.S. to win the overall aerials Nations Cup for the 2023-24 season. The award is an accumulation of the entire team’s results across the season compared to those of other nations. 

RESULTS
Women
Men

The Stifel U.S. Freestyle Ski Team moguls athletes wrapped up their time in Almaty, Kazakhstan, with today’s dual moguls event, where Landon Wendler earned his first World Cup podium alongside teammates Jaelin Kauf and Olivia Giaccio. 

At only 216 meters long, today’s course was one of the shortest the athletes raced this season. The short course led to athletes taking more risks in an attempt to take out their opponents, leading a few to lose their composure and ski outside of the control gates. 

The U.S. athletes started their show right off the bat in qualification, where all 12 Stifel U.S. Freestyle Ski Team moguls athletes advanced to the finals. The team avoided dueling against each other in the early rounds, leading to their success. 

Landon Wendler led the way for the U.S. men, taking out impressive opponents, including Matt Graham of Australia and Julien Viel of Canada. Wendler faced off with the greatest mogul skier of all time, Mikael Kingsbury of Canada, in the semifinals. He kept his composure and advancing to the small final, where he finished third, his first career World Cup podium. Wendler’s previous personal best in duals was seventh, which he earned in Almaty this time last year. 

“It means the world to finally stand on the box with people who I have looked up to my whole career,” said Wendler. “As well as all of the hard work and dedication to finally make my dreams come true. I couldn’t have made that dream come true without my parents coaches and friends.” 

Nick Page also advanced to the quarterfinals, finishing eighth, followed by Dylan Walczyk in 10th, Cole McDonald in 12th, and Dylan Marcellini in 16th. 

On the women’s side, we witnessed the familiar sight of Jaelin Kauf and Olivia Giaccio side-by-side on the podium as they finished second and third overall. Kauf took on overall moguls World Cup Crystal Globe winner Jakara Anthony in the big final. The results were as close as you can get, with Anthony winning 18-17. In the small final, Giaccio went head to head with teammate Tess Johnson in another close win of 18-17. The U.S. women swept second-sixth place, with Johnson in fourth, Hannah Soar in fifth and Alli Macuga sixth. Advancing to the round of 16 included Kasey Hogg, finishing 14th, and Elizabeth Lemley in 15th. 

Next up, the team heads to their final World Cup of the season in Chiesa in Valmalenco, Italy for dual moguls World Cup finals Mar. 16.

RESULTS
Women
Men

After a month-long hiatus from World Cup competition, the Stifel U.S. Freestyle Ski Team moguls athletes shined in sunny Almaty, Kazakhstan in today’s single moguls World Cup finals. Alli Macuga earned her first career moguls podium in second place and Hannah Soar was third. 

It was a picture-perfect day in Almaty, known as a hub for freestyle skiing in Central Asia. At over 9,000 feet of elevation at the start, this is the highest start of any World Cup moguls event on the circuit. 

The U.S. had a great showing in the qualification round, where all seven women and four men advanced to finals. In finals, Jaelin Kauf, Alli Macuga, Olivia Giaccio and Hannah Soar put down solid runs to move on to the super final round of six. Right on the bubble was Kasey Hogg who is coming off her recent NorAm Cup overall win, finishing eighth, followed by Liz Lemley in ninth and Tess Johnson in 14th. 

On the men’s side, Landon Wendler and Cole McDonald skied well but did not have enough to move on to the super finals against tough competition, finishing seventh and ninth, respectively. Dylan Walczyk finished 14th and Nick Page finished 15th after gaining too much speed in the mid-section and skiing out. Dylan Marcellini finished 24th outside of finals. 

It was a tight competition in the women’s super finals where three U.S. athletes held on to podium positions until the final athlete, World Cup overall moguls Crystal Globe winner Jakara Anthony. With her win today, Anthony broke U.S. moguls legend Hannah Kearney’s record for most World Cup wins in a single season, earning victory number 13.

Macuga set a new personal best by finishing second, earning her first World Cup individual moguls podium. Macuga, the 2022-23 season FIS Rookie of the Year, has had an incredible 2023-24, earning her first career podium earlier this season in the Alpe d’Huez dual moguls. Right behind Macuga was Soar in third, her third podium of the season. Just off the podium was Kauf in fourth followed by Giaccio in sixth. 

"I’ve been working a lot on pushing myself on all aspects of mogul skiing and especially with my jumps and skiing out of them. I’ve been trying to put everything together this season and I still have lots to learn, but I’ve been pushing myself a lot and trying new things with my skiing," said Macuga. "I’m beyond ecstatic to get my first singles World Cup podium, let alone a second place! Especially alongside my teammate Hannah. [Moving forward] I want to keep the momentum going for the rest of the season and, as always, just have fun!"

The team competes Saturday in one of two remaining dual moguls events of the season. Watch the action live on March 8 at 3:30 a.m. ET on skiandsnowboard.live.

RESULTS
Women
Men

On the second day of competition in Lac-Beauport, Québec, Canada, Winter Vinecki led the way for the Stifel U.S. Freestyle Ski Team aerials athletes, earning her third individual win of the season. 

It was another moody weather day on course with intermittent rain and persistent clouds, leading many athletes to adjust their typical game plans. The weather didn’t appear to significantly impact the U.S. team, however, as they put on a show in the qualification round, advancing five women and two men into the finals. Included in this group was Winter Vinecki, who missed out on yesterday’s finals but qualified in the second position today. She was looking to regain the yellow bib, signifying the overall World Cup leader. Karenna Elliott, yesterday’s winner, ran into trouble in qualification, finishing in 13th place just outside of finals. Derek Krueger also finished outside of finals, landing in 17th, followed by Ashton Salwan in 22nd and Ian Schoenwald in 31st.  

In finals, Vinecki almost lost her balance on her landing, but her score of 76.05 was just enough to put her in the sixth position to advance into the super finals. Chris Lillis fell hard in finals, landing on the knoll, but he skied away unharmed. Just outside super finals was Megan Smallhouse, finishing eighth along with Tasia Tanner in 10th and Kyra Dossa in 11th. It was a close fight in finals for the men, with Connor Curran narrowly missing super finals, finishing in seventh place. Chris Lillis finished 12th. 

Ultimately, Kaila Kuhn and Winter Vinecki represented the United States in the final round of six. Here, Vinecki pulled out all the stops to get in the top spot by competing a back lay-full-full as the only woman attempting a triple in today’s competition. Her efforts paid off, as she earned her third individual and fourth overall win of the season, completed by regaining the well-earned yellow leader's bib. Kuhn toned down her difficulty in super finals but was technically perfect in her back lay-full. Kuhn sat in podium position in third place until the final competitor, current World Cup leader Danielle Scott, bumped her into fourth place. 

The team is headed into a well-deserved rest and training period before they travel to Almaty, Kazakhstan, for their final World Cup of the season on Mar. 10. 

RESULTS
Women
Men

The Stifel U.S. Freestyle Ski Team aerials athletes are on the road again in Lac-Beauport, Quebec, Canada, where Karenna Elliott earned her first World Cup win in Saturday’s World Cup event. 

Lac-Beauport is a new stop on the aerials World Cup circuit, but it holds a strong freestyle history and is the home of many Canadian team members as their training site. 

The weather on course was varied, with rain scattered throughout the afternoon, causing sticky snow conditions. The unpredictable weather and snow caused athletes to land further down the hill than they were used to, leading to overcorrections for many. 

The U.S. started the day strong, sending four women and two men into the finals. Kaila Kuhn and Connor Curran led the way for the U.S., qualifying in third and 10th, respectively. In only his sixth World Cup start, Curran competed a triple for the first time, completing a successful back full full full. 

Due to deteriorating conditions in finals, Elliott was the sole U.S. team member to make it to super finals. In the first super finals of her career, she made sure to make her team proud. First, Elliott completed her back full double full for the first time in competition, executing it beautifully. With this jump, she was able to follow up her first super finals by making her first podium, standing on the top box.

"[This] feels like an absolute dream. I had never made a super final round before, so all I wanted to do today was to land a nice jump and make the top 6. Then, after landing my jump, I knew I was in a good position, but after seeing the results come in, I lost it, realizing what had just happened. I cried after realizing I got my first podium and then balled my eyes out when I won," said Elliott. "That was only my ninth full double full on snow, and first one in competition, so to be able to land it was incredible! I actually did one in training the day before yesterday, and it didn’t go well, and I really hurt my knee. I wasn’t sure if I would be able to even jump today as our team doctors almost pulled me. But once I was in the final round, my coach and I decided that if I wanted a chance at a podium, then I would need the full double full and go down with a fight."

Just outside the super finals was Megan Smallhouse, who finished seventh, followed by Kaila Kuhn in ninth, Kyra Dossa in 11th, Winter Vinecki in 13th and Tasia Tanner in 14th. 

On the men’s side, Chris Lillis led the team, finishing seventh, and was joined by Connor Curran in the finals, who took eighth. Ashton Salwan landed in 23rd, Derek Krueger in 24th and Ian Schoenwald in 26th. 

The team is headed right into another aerials World Cup in Lac-Beauport on Saturday, Feb. 11. Women’s qualification begins at 9:30 a.m. ET, followed by men's at 11:30 a.m. ET. Tune in to finals live tomorrow at 1:45 p.m. ET on skiandsnowboard.live. 

RESULTS
Women
Men

On the final night of competition at the 2024 Intermountain Health Freestyle International at Deer Valley, the crowd was roaring and the dual moguls action even better, with three Americans on the podium. Jaelin Kauf took second, Olivia Giaccio third and Dylan Marcellini took home his first career World Cup podium in third place in front of 10,000 cheering fans. 

It was a successful three days of competition, highlighted by moguls, aerials and dual moguls events, attracting the best freestyle athletes in the world to Utah. But Saturday was special, with the enormous crowd for duals only getting bigger as the evening progressed. With endless action, tough crashes and the athletes putting it all on the line, the dual moguls competition brought entertainment and thrills. 

Going into the first round of dual moguls, it was the round of 64 for men and round of 32 for the women. With the men kicking off the event, an abrupt change of weather conditions nuked snow onto the Champions course, creating a challenging course with heavy, slow snow and extremely limited visibility. As the night continued on, the snow did not let up and the athletes had to adapt. 

Going into finals, 11 Americans advanced through to the finals, including eight women and three men. On the men’s side, Marcellini and Nick Page punched their tickets from round to round, and eventually battled each other in the small finals for third place. Both had stellar runs, but a small mistake by Page propelled Marcellini into the third place position, with Page fourth. 

It was Marcellini’s first World Cup podium; his previous best dual moguls finish was 15th place. But he had a fourth place in last year’s single moguls, and knew that he could put down on this course. “It means so much to me to be able to do this at home,” said Marcellini. “I got fourth here last year and that was a surreal moment. To be able to top this this year was another step up the ladder and feels great.” 

Marcellini had a tough week, having crashed while training and hurt his ribs and hip, but ignored the pain and sent it in front of his friends and family. “It means so much to my mom and my dad and everyone who supported me along this way,” he said. “It’s just awesome to be able to put down a result for them and for everybody that has been there for me, that supported me that believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself.” 

Also making finals, Charlie Mickel finished 14th. Ikuma Horishima of Japan took the win with Benjamin Cavet from France in second. 

In the women’s race, the pressure was on, with World Cup overall leader Jakara Anthony of Australia being the one to beat. In the small final, Giaccio dualed Japan’s Hinako Tomitaka, and put down a solid run to just narrowly beat her for the third place position, landing on the podium for the second time this weekend and adding her eighth World Cup podium to her 2023-24 season. Next up was the superfinal, with Kauf dualing Anthony. It was neck and neck down Champions. Kauf, known as the fastest women’s moguls skier in the world, put down a solid run but was unable to beat Anthony, ultimately getting second place. It was Kauf’s ninth podium of the season and 34th overall. 

“This is probably my favorite day of the year—duals day at DV is hard to beat,” said Kauf. “To take home two silvers in front of friends and family at Deer Valley is a perfect way to end the weekend. There are so many people coming to support me and it makes it fun. It is super special standing at the top of the course and hearing that crowd.”  

Hannah Soar and Kasey Hogg were also in the top 10, with Soar finishing seventh and Hogg eighth. Tess Johnson was 11th, Lulu Shaffer 14th and Liz Lemley 15th. Alli Macuga took a hard crash but is OK and finished 16th. 

RESULTS

Women’s dual moguls
Men’s dual moguls

Under the lights and in front of a deafening crowd at the Intermountain Health Freestyle International at Deer Valley, the Stifel U.S. Freestyle Ski Team aerials athletes put on a show, with Winter Vinecki winning her third World Cup of the 2023-24 season and Connor Curran taking home his first career World Cup victory.

The weather was not in the athletes’ favor, with heavy snowfall through qualifications slowing down the snow, ultimately taking away the triple jump opportunity from the athletes due to unsafe conditions. All athletes could only go off the double jump, which made it a different ballgame. Most of the men compete triples, as well as some of the women, with many not training doubles regularly.

Going into qualifications, where the top 12 advance through to finals, the U.S. women put an impressive seven into the finals, led by Karenna Elliot qualifying in second place. For the men, three advanced through, stacking the finals lineup on both sides with American athletes. 

In the finals, the men and women went one after the other. Kaila Kuhn landed the second best score and advanced easily to super finals, alongside Vinecki and teammate Tasia Tanner. Vinecki, who has been the only woman throwing triples in competition, needed to put her best double tricks down alongside the strong field of women. The same rang true for the men. 

Curran, who stated he wasn’t “throwing his best tricks in training” easily advanced through to finals, winning qualifications. Going into the finals with confidence, Curran then moved to super finals alongside his teammate and Olympic champion Chris Lillis.

At the end of the night under the Deer Valley lights, it was six women and six men in the super finals. Vinecki threw down a back-double-full-full, besting all of the competitors and skied into the finish area, all smiles to take her fourth career win. Vinecki further solidified herself as the strongest aerials athlete on the circuit, continuing to lead the overall World Cup standings

“I had to throw a trick that I only had done once in training her in the last two months,” said Vinecki. “I’m happy to have just put it to my feet and excited to be on top! It’s incredible. All of my family is right here and just got to see me win—I’m so happy.” 

On the men’s side, Curran successfully landed a full-double-full, scoring a 102.22, putting him into first place. He was only barely beaten by Alexandre Duchaine of Canada, who threw a back-double-full-double-full, one of the most complex tricks to throw in competition, to best Curran’s score by less than a half of a point, landing a 102.57. With that, Curran, who was part of Park City Ski & Snowboard before he made the Stifel U.S. Freestyle Ski Team, stepped on the podium for the first time on his home course. Lillis finished the evening just off the podium in fourth place. 

“I’m really excited,” said Curren. “I think that’s about it. I don’t know how to really describe it; I’m just so excited. I had no idea. I’m just so glad I got to be here—I was just focusing on the jump I was going to do and make it to my feet. At the end, I was just trying to beat myself.”

Curren’s career-best place before tonight was 13th at the 2023 Intermountain Health Freestyle International at Deer Valley. One year later, the young star was on the podium, making a mark with a second place in one of the more challenging World Cups on the circuit. “It means the absolute world,” he said. “I can’t wait to do it again. It’s always been a dream to podium here at Deer Valley. I’m just so stoked that I got my dream going.”

RESULTS
Women
Men

Giaccio First, Kauf Second at Deer Valley

On the first day of competition at the 2024 Intermountain Health Freestyle International at Deer Valley, Stifel U.S. Freestyle Ski Team athletes Olivia Giaccio and Jaelin Kauf went one-two in the moguls competition, with three of their teammates in the top six, including Hannah Soar in fourth, Alli Macuga fifth and Kasey Hogg sixth. Nick Page finished fifth. 

On a challenging weather day, that started with rain then transitioned to snow, Deer Valley Resort welcomed the best moguls skiers in the world back to the infamous Champion course, the 2002 Olympic venue, for what many call the “Super Bowl of Freestyle Skiing.” 

With qualifications kicking off in the afternoon, the top 16 athletes advanced to the finals. On the women’s side, that included nearly the entire U.S. roster, led by Giaccio, Kauf, Soar, Lemley, Macuga, Hogg and Tess Johnson. 

In the women’s final, all the women were throwing down impressive tricks despite the heavy snowfall and variable course conditions. After the first run in finals, the U.S. women made a statement going into super finals with five out of six super final positions: Giaccio, Kauf, Soar, Macuga and Hogg. 

The highlight of the evening came with the final athlete descending onto the course. With a roaring crowd, filled with friends, family and steadfast moguls fans, the atmosphere was electric, cheering on Giaccio through the bumps. On the second hit, Giaccio threw a cork 1080, and landed perfectly to win the competition. It was the first time in history a woman won a competition with that trick. It is also Giaccio’s first win since the 2021-22 season, where she took home a victory in Ruka, Finland. 

“It was just incredible. That was my first Deer Valley podium,” said Giaccio. “To do it under the lights with my friends and family, seal in with a win and to get the first (women’s) moguls win with a 1080 in the run was incredible. Something I’ve dreamed of.”

Kauf, who landed in second place, secured her 33rd career World Cup podium and celebrated with her teammate. “This is such an incredible event. It’s all of our favorite every year. We look forward to it every single year,” said Kauf. “So stoked for all of our girls to be skiing so well and so stoked for Olivia for getting that win today!”

For the men’s race, Park City local Page led the men, finishing in fifth place. It was a redemption story for the accomplished Page, who has World Cup wins under his belt but had a tough time on his local hill last season and did not make finals. This year was different, sending it into the finals and throwing a cork 1440 on his final hit to thrill the crowd and take fifth. “I’m happy, really happy,” said Page. “After a poor performance last year, I definitely wanted to come back with some vengeance this year. It really felt like everything came together. And landing that 14 in front of the home crowd was pretty cool. I could hear the cheers right when I finished and it was electric.”

In the finals, similar to the women, the U.S. men stacked it into the round of 16. Landon Wendler eighth, Charlie Mickel 10th, Cole McDonald 11th and Dylan Walczyk 13th. 

The Intermountain Health Freestyle International continues Friday with an aerials event Friday night and dual moguls Saturday. 

RESULTS
Women
Men