U.S. Ski & Snowboard prides itself in having some of the most elite winter sport athletes in the world. Without the help of top-tier training centers and development clubs, however, the goal of being the best in the world would be nearly impossible for U.S. Ski & Snowboard athletes.

The High Performance Center program, which was initiated in 2017, is the main way for the organization to connect with the growing training facilities across the country, as well as identify aspiring athletes that have the potential for the national team. This program encourages certified gold and silver clubs, who have excellence in athletic development, sports science, and sports medicine, to become a designated High Performance Center (otherwise known as HPC) with U.S. Ski & Snowboard, in hopes to improve the national system and developmental pathway for athletes.

“The whole process is to help elevate everyone,” says High Performance Coordinator for U.S. Ski and Snowboard Calin Butterfield. “We try to approach areas where we feel we can add value to bring everyone up to the same level, as well as learn from these centers to internally improve.” Butterfield, along with his team, has the goal of implementing consistent communication and collaboration with these clubs to elevate the nation as a whole in preparing athletes for snow sports competition.

The process for becoming an HPC for U.S. Ski & Snowboard starts with registering as a U.S. Ski & Snowboard club. Any U.S. Ski & Snowboard club has the opportunity to become certified as a bronze, silver, or gold status training facility by proving organizational, administrative, sports programming, and financial stability. Once a club is considered silver or gold status, they have the option to apply for HPC status and be reviewed for the program. According to Butterfield, the club must have “a fully functioning performance team,” which includes sports medicine staff, performance training or athletic development coaches on site, medical directors or strong relationships with a medical clinic, a facility to train, and some access to nutrition for athletes.  

Once a club becomes a High Performance Center, U.S. Ski & Snowboard provides consistent structured programming throughout the year. “We do multiple education workshops, where we go to them, try to bring them together as regions, or bring them all here to the Center of Excellence. Both HPC staff and our own staff benefit by learning in a collective, unified way,” says Butterfield. In addition to workshops, the staff of each HPC is encouraged to visit the Center of Excellence (COE) in Park City, Utah to spend time with national team coaches/sports development staff and create a proper communication network. “I also make visits to each HPC at least twice a year to observe, talk shop, and form that deeper connection,” says Butterfield.

Although it is only in its second year, the HPC program is rapidly growing to include some of the best training facilities and clubs in the country. In the first year, eight Gold-level clubs opted in to become an HPC: Burke Mountain Academy, Killington Mountain School, Green Mountain Valley School (GMVS), Stratton Mountain, Carrabassett Valley Academy, Squaw Valley Mountain, Sugarbowl Mountain, and Sun Valley Ski Academy. Almost 13 national alpine team athletes came from these clubs prior to their HPC designation, proving how worthy and valuable they are to U.S. Ski & Snowboard.  

Starting in the summer of 2018, two new developmental clubs, Proctor Academy ski area in New Hampshire and Mammoth Mountain in California, received the HPC title. These two clubs were reviewed and quickly accepted after it was decided that a partnership would be mutually beneficial. With many athletes training at both these facilities, as well as having long-standing relationships with U.S. Ski & Snowboard, there is much excitement for these partnerships.

"The impact from Proctor's HPC status has been immediate for our athletes and for our coaching staff. Collaboration with peer HPC clubs and talented U.S. Ski and Snowboard staff has provided real-time access to information, training, and collaboration to keep our program at the forefront of new developments in the sport of alpine skiing. From the weight room to on hill training environment, the partnership validates our commitment to keep our program advancing, and never allowing us to get complacent."

- David Salathe, Proctor Academy’s Alpine Program Director

“Our longstanding commitment to athletic excellence has been a Mammoth Mountain value since its inception. Becoming an official High Performance Center with US Ski and Snowboard was an integral step in our ongoing tradition of supporting the Olympic movement. We look forward to our continued partnership with U.S. Ski & Snowboard. Their Sport Science program, staff, and resources are truly world class. The Mammoth Mountain Ski & Snowboard Team is excited to see the development of our athletes and staff. Additionally, we are honored to play a part in the large-scale strategy of U.S. Ski & Snowboard’s quest to further build upon the strength of the country’s winter sports programs.”     

-  Pete Korfiatis, Mammoth Mountain’s Director of Athletics

The potential impact of these HPCs is crucial for further success in winter sports. Not only will HPCs provide athletes to U.S. Ski & Snowboard Teams, but they will assist in creating a more cohesive, consolidated system for teaching and training.

“We are going to need to lean on the HPC clubs to further drive education at local and regional clubs,” says Butterfield. With the natural sharing of personnel, methods, techniques, and even athletes, the HPC program has a goal of unifying the snowsport community. “We are trying to systemize so that a) everyone is speaking the same language and b) we as a national governing body (NGB) are doing what we need to be doing to support the growth of the system outside of just the central location here at the Center of Excellence,” says Butterfield.

Troy Taylor, High Performance Director for U.S. Ski & Snowboard, agrees with this goal. “This is a 2 to 3-way education process. Yes, it’s about our systems and processes being implemented into these clubs, but it’s also about us learning techniques from them and about clubs collaborating between themselves and sharing the best practices,” he remarks. “From our perspective, we really value these partnerships and the motivation towards driving these programs towards success.”

With consistent collaboration, a clear vision for improvement, and the dedication to creating a more unified system, the HPC program has the potential to have a lot of impact on the success of the United States in snowsport competition. U.S. Ski & Snowboard is nothing short of proud to able to partner with these powerful centers and continue the work to become the best in the world.
 

The networks of NBC Sports will broadcast more than 30 hours of FIS Ski World Cup slalom action, cross country’s Tour de Ski stage race, the 4-Hills Tournament for ski jumping, and nordic combined action to kick off the first week of the New Year.

Mikaela Shiffrin (Avon, Colo.) opens 2019 with a city event in Oslo, Norway on New Year’s Day. Shiffrin, who has won the past two city events in Stockholm, Sweden, in 2017 and Oslo in 2018, goes for the hat trick in Tuesday’s event, which will be broadcast live on the Olympic Channel, and streamed live on OlympicChannel.com and NBC Sports Gold at 10:30 a.m. EST.

From there, the White Circus rolls into Zagreb, Croatia, for a pair of men and women’s night slaloms Saturday and Sunday, both of which will stream live on OlympicChannel.com and NBC Sports Gold for the first run, and stream live on both platforms for the second run, along with TV broadcast on the Olympic Channel.

The Tour de Ski wraps up with five stages this week, including the grand finale hill climb up the slopes of Val di Fiemme ski resort in Italy on Sunday. Every stage will be broadcast live on the Olympic Channel and streamed live on OlympicChannel.com and NBC Sports Gold.

FIS Ski Jumping World Cup continues this week with the 67th running of the 4-Hills Tournament in Germany, and Austria. NBC Sports Gold will stream all the events, and select events will also be featured on the Olympic Channel.

The FIS Nordic Combined World Cup season returns to action following the holiday break with a pair of HS97/10k events in Otepaa, Estonia, Saturday and Sunday. Both events will stream live on OlympicChannel.com and NBC Sports Gold.

HOW TO WATCH
All times EST.
Preliminary schedule, subject to change
*Same-day delayed broadcast

ALPINE
Tuesday, Jan. 1
10:30 a.m. - Men and women’s city event - Oslo, NOR - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold

Saturday, Jan. 5
7:00 a.m. - Women’s slalom run 1 - Zagreb, CRO - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
10:00 a.m. - Women’s slalom run 2 - Zagreb, CRO - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold

Sunday, Jan. 6
6:15 a.m. - Men’s slalom run 1 - Zagreb, CRO - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
9:30 a.m. - Men’s slalom run 2 - Zagreb, CRO - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold

CROSS COUNTRY
Tuesday, Jan. 1
6:00 a.m. - Tour de Ski Stage 3 men and women’s sprint - Val Muestair, SUI - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold

Wednesday, Jan. 2
6:00 a.m. - Tour de Ski Stage 4 women’s 10k mass start - Oberstdorf, GER - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
8:00 a.m. - Tour de Ski Stage 4 men’s 15k mass start - Oberstdorf, GER - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold

Thursday, Jan. 3
7:00 a.m. - Tour de Ski Stage 5 men’s 15k pursuit - Oberstdorf, GER - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
8:45 a.m. - U.S. Cross Country Championships classic individual start - Craftsbury, Vt. - U.S. Ski & Snowboard Streaming
9:00 a.m. - Tour de Ski Stage 5 women’s 10k pursuit - Oberstdorf, GER - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold

Friday, Jan. 4
9:15 a.m. - U.S. Cross Country Championships classic sprint - Craftsbury, Vt. - U.S. Ski & Snowboard Streaming

Saturday, Jan. 5
8:00 a.m. - Tour de Ski Stage Stage 6 women’s 10k mass start - Val di Fiemme, ITA - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
9:10 a.m. - Tour de Ski Stage Stage 6 men’s 15k mass start - Val di Fiemme, ITA - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
2:00 p.m. - Tour de Ski Stage Stage 6 men’s 15k mass start - Val di Fiemme, ITA - Olympic Channel-TV*

Sunday, Jan. 6.
7:00 a.m. - Tour de Ski Stage Stage 7 women’s hill climb - Val di Fiemme, ITA - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
9:15 a.m. - U.S. Cross Country Championships freestyle mass start - Craftsbury, Vt. - U.S. Ski & Snowboard Streaming
8:45 a.m. - Tour de Ski Stage Stage 7 men’s hill climb - Val di Fiemme, ITA - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
2:00 p.m. - Tour de Ski Stage Stage 7 men’s hill climb - Val di Fiemme, ITA - Olympic Channel-TV

Tuesday, Jan. 8
8:45 a.m. - U.S. Cross Country Championships freestyle sprint - Craftsbury, Vt. - U.S. Ski & Snowboard Streaming

NORDIC COMBINED
Saturday, Jan. 5
4:00 a.m. - Men’s HS97 - Otepaa, EST - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
6:30 a.m. - Men’s 10k - Otepaa, EST - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold

Sunday, Jan. 6
5:00 a.m. - Men’s HS97 - Otepaa, EST - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
7:45 a.m. - Men’s 10k - Otepaa, EST - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold

SKI JUMPING
Monday, Dec. 31
8:00 a.m. - Four Hills Tournament men’s HS142 qualifying - Garmisch-Partenkirchen, GER - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold

Tuesday, Jan. 1
8:00 a.m. - Four Hill Tournament men’s HS142 - Garmisch-Partenkirchen, GER - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
5:00 p.m. - Four Hills Tournament men’s HS142 - Garmisch-Partenkirchen, GER - Olympic Channel-TV

Thursday, Jan. 3
8:00 a.m. - Four Hills Tournament men’s HS130 qualifying - Innsbruck, AUT - NBC Sports Gold

Friday, Jan. 4
8:00 a.m. - Four Hills Tournament men’s HS130 - Innsbruck, AUT - NBC Sports Gold

Saturday, Jan. 5
11:00 a.m. - Four Hills Tournament men’s HS142 qualifying - Bischofshofen, AUT - NBC Sports Gold

Sunday, Jan. 6
11:00 a.m. - Four Hills Tournament men’s HS142 - Bischofshofen, AUT - NBC Sports Gold

All streams are available via desktop (NBCSports.com/Live, NBCSports.com/Gold and OlympicChannel.com) as well as mobile, tablet and connected television platforms. The NBC Sports app, NBC Sports Gold app and Olympic Channel app are available on the iTunes App Store, Google Play, Windows Store, Roku Channel Store, Apple TV and Amazon Fire. Exclusive commercial-free coverage will be available for subscribers of the NBC Sports Gold Pass.

This weekend marks the final stop of the FIS Ski Alpine World Cup circuit in North America with women’s speed events in Lake Louise, Alberta, while the men tackle one of the circuit’s premier courses - Birds of Prey - at Beaver Creek, Colorado. The networks of NBC will broadcast/stream more than 40 hours of coverage this weekend, including more than 30 hours of live coverage.

Mikaela Shiffrin (Avon, Colo.) is fresh off her 45th career World Cup victory at Vermont’s Killington Resort and shifts gears this weekend to take on a pair of downhill races and a super-G, as she looks to build upon her speed resume where she scored her first career World Cup downhill victory last season. Unfortunately, Lindsey Vonn (Vail, Colo.) will not be heading to “Lake Lindsey” after sustaining a minor knee injury while training at Copper Mountain, Colorado.

Following up on a pair of top-20 results at Lake Louise last weekend, Ryan Cochran-Siegle (Starksboro, Vt.) looks to tame the Birds of Prey in three events this weekend - downhill, super-G, and giant slalom. Ted Ligety (Park City, Utah) finally kicks off his World Cup season this weekend at Beaver Creek after the opening GS of the season was rescheduled from Soelden, Austria, due to weather.

The U.S. Cross Country Ski Team returns to the 1994 Olympic site of Lillehammer, Norway, for three events this weekend: men and women’s freestyle sprint Friday; a mass-start women’s 10k freestyle and a 15k mass-start men’s freestyle Saturday; and a 10k classic pursuit for women and 15k classic pursuit for men Sunday.

The U.S. women have fond memories of Lillehammer as Sadie Bjornsen (Winthrop, Wash.) finished on the podium in the classic sprint last season with a third-place result. Teammate Jessie Diggins (Afton, Minn.) finished sixth, and Sophie Caldwell (Stratton Mountain, Vt.) was ninth.

USA Nordic’s U.S. Nordic Combined Team members Ben Loomis (Eau Claire, Wis.), Taylor Fletcher (Steamboat Springs, Colo.) and Jasper Good (Steamboat Springs, Colo.) kick off the World Cup season in Lillehammer this weekend with three stages comprising the Lillehammer Tour. Friday features an individual HS98m jump with a short 5k cross country race with athletes seeded based on jump results. On Saturday, a mass-start 10k will be followed by one jump on the HS98m hill. Sunday’s finale features another individual event, but athletes will move to the large HS140m jumping hill, and follow with a 10k cross country.

On the ski jumping side, Kevin Bickner (Wauconda, Ill.) will represent the men’s USA Nordic/U.S. Ski Jumping Team in Nizhny Tagil, Russia, for a pair of HS134m events Saturday and Sunday. In the women’s season World Cup opener, Nita Englund (Florence, Wis.), Nina Lussi (Lake Placid, N.Y.) and Tara Geraghty-Moats (West Fairlee, Vt.) will represent USA Nordic’s U.S. Ski Jumping Team in three events in Lillehammer, two HS98m competitions Friday and Saturday, and one HS140m large hill competition Sunday.

HOW TO WATCH
All times EST
*Same-day delayed broadcast

ALPINE
Friday, Nov. 30
12:30 p.m. - World Cup men’s downhill, Beaver Creek, Colo. - NBC Sports Gold & NBCSN
2:00 p.m. - World Cup women’s downhill, Lake Louise, CAN - NBC Sports Gold & Olympic Channel
5:30 p.m. - World Cup women’s downhill, Lake Louise, CAN - NBCSN*

Saturday, Dec. 1
1:00 p.m. - World Cup men’s super-G, Beaver Creek, Colo. - NBC Sports Gold & NBCSN
2:00 p.m. - World Cup women’s downhill, Lake Louise, CAN - NBC Sports Gold & NBCSN
5:00 p.m. - World Cup men’s super-G recap, Beaver Creek, Colo. - NBC*
6:00 p.m. - World Cup men’s super-G, Beaver Creek, Colo. - Olympic Channel*
10:00 p.m. - World Cup women’s downhill, Lake Louise, CAN - Olympic Channel*

Sunday, Dec. 2
1:00 p.m. - World Cup men’s giant slalom, run 1, Beaver Creek, Colo. - NBC Sports Gold & Olympic Channel
1:00 p.m. - World Cup women’s super-G, Lake Louise, CAN - NBC Sports Gold & Olympic Channel
2:30 p.m. - World Cup men’s giant slalom, run 2, Beaver Creek, Colo. - NBC Sports Gold & NBCSN
5:00 p.m. - World Cup men’s giant slalom recap, Beaver Creek, Colo. - NBC*
6:30 p.m. - World Cup women’s super-G recap, Lake Louise, CAN - NBCSN*
11:30 p.m. - World Cup men’s giant slalom, run 2, Beaver Creek, Colo. - Olympic Channel*

CROSS COUNTRY
Friday, Nov. 30
6:00 a.m. - World Cup men and women’s sprint, Lillehammer, NOR - NBC Sports Gold & Olympic Channel

Saturday, Dec. 1
4:30 a.m. - World Cup women’s 10k, Lillehammer, NOR - NBC Sports Gold & Olympic Channel
6:15 a.m. - World Cup Men’s 15k, Lillehammer, NOR - NBC Sports Gold & Olympic Channel
12:00 p.m. - World Cup women’s 10k, Lillehammer, NOR - Olympic Channel*
9:30 p.m. - World Cup women’s 10k, Lillehammer, NOR - NBCSN*

Sunday, Dec. 2
4:15 a.m. - World Cup women’s 10k pursuit, Lillehammer, NOR - NBC Sports Gold & Olympic Channel
5:45 a.m. - World Cup Men’s 15k pursuit, Lillehammer, NOR - NBC Sports Gold & Olympic Channel
2:30 p.m. - World Cup women’s 10k pursuit, Lillehammer, NOR - Olympic Channel*
9:00 p.m. - World Cup women’s 10k pursuit, Lillehammer, NOR - NBCSN*

NORDIC COMBINED
Friday, Nov. 30
5:00 a.m. - World Cup men’s HS98 - Lillehammer, NOR - NBC Sports Gold & Olympic
8:30 a.m. - World Cup men’s 5k - Lillehammer, NOR - NBC Sports Gold & Olympic

Saturday, Dec. 1
3:30 a.m. - World Cup men’s mass start 10k - Lillehammer, NOR - NBC Sports Gold & Olympic Channel
8:15 a.m. - World Cup men’s mass start HS98 - Lillehammer, NOR - NBC Sports Gold & Olympic Channel

Sunday, Dec. 2
4:35 a.m. - World Cup men’s HS140 - Lillehammer, NOR - NBC Sports Gold & Olympic Channel
8:05 a.m. - World Cup men’s 10k - Lillehammer, NOR - NBC Sports Gold & Olympic Channel

SKI JUMPING
Friday, Nov. 30
9:45 a.m. - Men’s individual HS134 qualifying, Nizhny Tagil, RUS - NBC Sports Gold & Olympic Channel
11:30 a.m. - Women’s individual HS98, Lillehammer, NOR - NBC Sports Gold & Olympic Channel
7:00 p.m. - Women’s individual HS98, Lillehammer, NOR - Olympic Channel*

Saturday, Dec. 1
9:45 a.m. - Men’s individual HS134, Nizhny Tagil, RUS - NBC Sports Gold & Olympic Channel
11:15 a.m. - Women’s individual HS98, Lillehammer, NOR - NBC Sports Gold & Olympic Channel
7:00 p.m. - Men’s individual HS134, Nizhny Tagil, RUS - Olympic Channel*
8:30 p.m. - Women’s individual HS98, Lillehammer, NOR - Olympic Channel*

Sunday, Dec. 2
6:45 a.m. - Women’s individual HS140, Lillehammer, NOR - NBC Sports Gold & Olympic Channel
10:00 a.m. - Men’s individual HS134, Nizhny Tagil, RUS - NBC Sports Gold & Olympic Channel
7:00 p.m. - Men’s individual HS134, Nizhny Tagil, RUS - Olympic Channel*
8:30 p.m. - Women’s individual HS140, Lillehammer, NOR - Olympic Channel*

Fans can catch all the action in spectacular high definition via NBC Sports online at NBCSports.com/Live or through the NBC Sports app which is available on the iTunes App Store, Google Play, Windows Store, Roku Channel Store, Apple TV and Amazon Fire. Exclusive commercial-free coverage will be available for subscribers of the NBC Sports Gold Pass, available here: https://www.nbcsports.com/gold/snow

Taylor Fletcher (Steamboat Springs, Colo.) posted the third-fastest roller-ski time to finish 15th in Planica, Slovenia at a Summer Grand Prix.

"Today was a solid day. Nothing too special. I was late on my jump which caused me to miss out on a bunch at the end of the jump," Fletcher said. "The race was good, for sure, but I was all alone and didn't get any help out there. With that, I am still happy with today as it was handfuls better than any competition from last year. Progress is all that matter and I am moving forward."

Fletcher scored 88 points in the HS140 jumping portion, then turn a 10k time on 23:09 in the roller ski, just 5.9 seconds from the top time of the day.

Austria's Mario Seidl posted a jumping score of 127.8 and held on for an 8.5-second victory. Norway's Espen Bjoernstad was second and Aguri Shimizu of Japan was third. 

"It was a pretty good day for Taylor and we're happy with the overall result," said USA Nordic Head Nordic Combined Coach, Martin Bayer.

RESULTS
Men's HS140/10k