Stifel U.S. Ski Team's own AJ Hurt continues to wow this season, earning her first-ever giant slalom podium on Saturday, Feb. 10, in Soldeu, Andorra, where she finished third overall after starting the second run in the sixth position. She finished just 0.15 seconds behind the day's winner, Switzerland's Lara Gut-Behrami, and 0.14 off second-place finisher New Zealand's Alice Robinson.

Hurt, 23, is the first U.S. woman other than Mikaela Shiffrin to grace a giant slalom podium since Lindsey Vonn in 2015. It's also her personal best in the discipline and her second podium in one season. Coming off an injury that took her out of the game for 2022-23 makes her success so far in 2024 even more surreal. 

"I didn't really know what to expect coming into today because I've never been here before," said Hurt. "I was hurt all last season, so I'm excited to be back; I'm excited even to be ski racing at all. So I went as hard as I could, and I'm glad this is the outcome."

Today, Hurt's result in the giant slalom moved her into position to qualify for her first World Cup Finals, another milestone accomplishment in the 2023-24 season. Not to mention, she shared the podium with a lifelong ski buddy, Robinson, who she skied alongside at Palisades Tahoe when the two were cutting their teeth trying to get their first World Cup starts. 

In addition to Hurt's success, Paula Moltzan was able to squeeze into a stacked top 15, finishing 11th overall and hanging on to her top 15 position in the giant slalom overall standings. 

Mikaela Shiffrin did not ski. However, she is back on snow, and working on testing her knee, to see when she will be able to return to racing.

Up next, Hurt and Moltzan, as well as Lila Lapanja, will represent the U.S. in Sunday's slalom. First run kicks off at 4:30 a.m. ET on skiandsnowboard.live, with second run starting at 7:30 a.m. ET. 

RESULTS 
Women's giant slalom

STARTERS
Women's slalom (name/bib)
Paula Moltzan (3)
AJ Hurt (33)
Lila Lapajna (42)

On Saturday’s giant slalom in Bansko, Bulgaria, River Radamus led the way for the Stifel U.S. Ski Team men in 12th place. Teammates Tommy Ford and George Steffey also found the top 30 in 26th and 28th place, respectively. 

“Solid team effort all around. It awesome to see George score his first points of the season and three in the second run,” said Radamus. 

The conditions were good with sunshine and a hard surface underfoot, allowing the men’s skiers to lay it down on the track. Radamus skied aggressively on his first run to initially land in the eighth spot. 

“I am moderately satisfied with my 12th place but I know I have a lot more to give, especially second run, but I will reset for the next one,” said Radamus. “The conditions here are awesome and very similar to what we see in the U.S. - pretty dry and grippy - so it was a good warm up for Palisades.”

Steffey skied fast out of the top 30 seed to punch it into the 23rd position first run, poised to mark his season-best giant slalom finish. Ford skied cleanly to safely land in the top 30. 

“Second run it got a little slushy, so to be successful today you had to be adaptable and ski lots of different conditions well,” said Radamus.

"It was a fun race today and it’s always great to be in the second run. I think our team is skiing well right now and hopefully we can build on today going into the domestic races," said Steffey. 

On the second run, the men were firing to the finish. Radamus landed a few positions back from his first run status to 12th with Ford and Steffey safely in the top 30. 

The winner of the race was Swiss phenom Marco Odermatt who is currently leading the standings in the overall, giant slalom, super-G and downhill. Second place went to the young Norwegian Alexander Steen-Olsen and third place to the current slalom leader, Manuel Feller of Austria. 

Stifel U.S. Ski Team athletes Brian McLaughlin and Isaiah Nelson also raced but did not qualify for a second run. 

The team was also pleasantly surprised to see alumnus Ted Ligety in Bansko running as the POV skier before the race began. He was able to say hi to the team and offer words of encouragement. 

“It was really cool to see Ted out there doing the POV for the race today as well," said Radamus, who is an unabashed Ligety fan. "It surprised us to see him here and it was cool to see an old friendly face. He gave me some words of inspiration."

The next giant slalom race will bring the U.S. skiers back home for the Stifel Palisades Tahoe Cup held Feb. 24-25. 

RESULTS
Men's giant slalom

“It sucks because we would have loved Chamonix,” said Stifel U.S. Ski Team speed skier Jared Goldberg from a beach in Viareggio, Italy. “But at least we got to come here to the beach, an Italian getaway,” Goldberg said jokingly. 

From the alps to the Italian coast, how did the Stifel U.S. Ski Team’s speed men find themselves here? A question Bryce Bennett, Jared Goldberg and Ryan Cochran-Siegle, three veterans of the team, pondered as they strolled down the beach in Tuscany in late January.

After the first super-G in Garmisch, Germany, word got out that the upcoming downhill races in Chamonix, France February 2-3 would be canceled due to lack of snow and not rescheduled. The news marked the fifth men’s speed race cancelation of the season for the downhill men. 

“I felt complete devastation,” said Bryce Bennett, currently ranked sixth in the downhill rankings. “Knowing some of our alumni like Marco Sullivan and Steven Nyman have had success there we felt pretty excited about it, so it was big bummer.”

So, what now? While most World Cup teams would head home after a race cancelation, the U.S. is a little different as traveling across the world on a day’s notice doesn’t always work out.

“I’ve been on the road since the beginning of December and I haven’t been home in a while,” said Bennett. “It’s tough because we are over here and we have to kill a week, so we came to the coast but it’s still not the same as being home.”

 A long haul in Europe isn’t new for the U.S. guys. 160 days is about how much time the ski team men will spend in Europe this season. As the weather evolves and change, forcing race cancelations, learning to adapt, pivot and enjoy Europe is something this team has grown accustomed to. So with this most recent cancelation, the men decided to refocus under the Tuscan sun on a beach.

“I think coming down here was a cool reset because usually we are in central Europe in the Alps and here it’s been sunny every day,” said Olympic silver-medalist Ryan Cochran-Siegle as he takes in the view of the sunset.

Don’t be fooled by their Instagram stories of sunsets and beach time. It has not just been a holiday in the sun for the ski racers. The primary goal of coming to the Italian coast was to take a visit to sports medicine facility Formula Medicine. A place frequented by many Formula 1 drivers to help athletes perform at their best mental capacity, a strategy they call “Mental Economy Training.” This visit made possible by a grant from Alterra Community Foundation. 

“Getting introduced to Formula Medicine and learning how to key in on our mental state and learning how to perform our best has been productive and I hope everyone is able to take something away from it,” said Cochran-Siegle.

The whole team spent multiple days in the facility going through various tests. The goal of the tests are to enable elevated standards of performance with low consumption of brain energy, and better management of stress, emotions and psychological pressure.

“We are pivoting to something positive here,” said Goldberg. “This is something we can do to get out of ski boots in warm weather and can maybe help ourselves race better or do life better. It is a way to be progressing in a way we wouldn’t normally.”

In addition to their time spent at Formula Medicine, the team struck a chord of team camaraderie with moments of fun, despite being with one another seemingly all year long. The men played beach volleyball, walked along the beach during gorgeous sunsets and cooked food together.

This time together off the snow and away from mountains also gave the men an opportunity to truly reflect on the season. The men started off with a bang in Val Gardena, Italy when Bennett won his second World Cup and took third place just a day later on the same track. The speed men went on to score top 10 results in Wengen, a top five in Kitzbühel and a few more top 10s in Garmisch.

“Where our strengths have always been I think we are good but where we’ve lacked in the past we have overcome,” said Cochran-Siegle. “Especially on the technical side, we are better at working with things more in your face and as a group embracing that challenge.”

This group, however, is hungry for much more. A hunger they plan to carry with them into Kvitfjell, Norway for the final speed races before World Cup Finals in March. 

“Our team is as good as any other team; it's just a matter of putting it all together on race day,” said Cochran-Siegle. “I like Norway a lot, different snow, different vibe, it always feels like a nice springtime race,” added Goldberg.

 The downhillers have faced a wave of emotions while on the Italian coast: disappointment from the canceled races and hope of a new perspective on how best to approach the additional free time abroad. Through it all, the American sense of humor shines through.

“Here is a pro move, send your lady on a flight then come down to Tuscany with the boys,” laughed Bennett who days earlier dropped his wife off at the airport. “Nothing like wine tasting in Tuscany with the boys that you’ve been hanging out with for 170 days this year.”

On Saturday, February 3 in Portes du Soleil, France, Ryder Sarchett won the FIS Alpine Junior Worlds alpine men’s giant slalom race. The Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation and University of Colorado Boulder ski team athlete beat out the competitive field by a mere 0.06 hundredths of second to take the win.

"It was a really good day, perfect weather warm with amazing snow. I knew it could be a good day and I sent it," said Sarchett. "Gave it all I had." 

The sun was overhead and the conditions were strong in Portes du Soleil for the final Junior Worlds alpine event. The women raced a slalom and the men finished the day off with the giant slalom. 

Sarchett knifed down a stellar first run, already in podium contention in third place. But come second run, Sarchett did not hesitate on his skis and laid down an extremely fast run to take the win over international competitors Alban Cannaferina Elezi of France in second and Sweden’s Fabian Ax Swarts in third place. It was a dramatic finish with very slim margins, with Sarchett ahead of second place by 0.06.

Sarchett joins an impressive list of previous American Junior World Champions. He is the first giant slalom champion since world champion River Radamus took the title back in 2019. Other previous Junior World Champions include world champion Paula Moltzan, Olympic silver medalist Ryan Cochran-Siegle and World Cup winner Steven Nyman to name a few.  

RESULTS
Men's giant slalom

On Thursday, February 1 at the FIS Alpine Junior World Championships in Portes du Soleil, France, the U.S. claimed third place in the evening mixed team parallel event. The U.S. team consisted of Stifel U.S. Ski Team athletes Liv Moritz, Elisabeth Bocock, Cooper Puckett and Camden Palmquist. The squad prevailed through four rounds to come out on the podium behind Norway and Sweden and ahead of North American neighbor Canada. 

“It was a super fun event and everyone skied so well,” said Camden Palmquist. "It was awesome to get a medal as a team because everyone had a a really important run that got us there," said Cooper Puckett. 

"I had never done a parallel before so this was an exciting first," added Elisabeth Bocock.

It was a busy night program with a big crowd watching on the sidelines. The surface was solid and the athletes did their best to ski away with the green light in each round.

“The snow held up better than I think any of us expected and was sweet until the end," said Palmquist.  

In the first round, the U.S. team won against Finland getting their groove established. Next the team beat out Switzerland in the quarterfinals.

"It was a really good fight, and cool to beat Switzerland in the second round who the U.S. lost to last year," said Bocock. 

In the semifinal, it was a tight race between the U.S. and Sweden with a tie-breaking time coming into play, moving the U.S. into the small final against Canada to battle for third place. But Canada could not keep up the pace against the U.S. team with two disqualifications and the U.S. took third by a commanding lead. 

"Beating Switzerland was huge and I loved being on this team and getting on the podium was so exciting," said Moritz. 

The Junior Worlds athletes now prepare for a men’s slalom and women’s giant slalom on Friday, February 1.

RESULTS
Team parallel 

The Stifel U.S. Ski Team men recently visited over 150 U.S. service members in Garmisch during the Garmisch, Germany super-G World Cup race series. The event hosted at the Edelweiss Lodge and Resort set up tables, chairs and a large American flag bringing the U.S. spirit to the alps.

“We have been able to do this type of visit a few times over the years now and it's great to connect with fans and service members in Germany,” said Stifel U.S. Ski Team member Bryce Bennett. “I brought a helmet for us all to sign and gift to the lodge as well, it's nice to feel like you are home in Europe,” said Jared Goldberg. 

The ski team was able to chat with the kids and family of the servicemen on a personal level signing autographs and exchanging words, a memorable experience for the team and for the military members in attendance. 

Towards the end of the event the whole room started chanting "U-S-A!" hyping the racers up for the upcoming competitions. 

The speed men went on to find super-G success amongst their newfound military fans with three top 10 results across the weekend, Ryan Cochran-Siegle and River Radamus leading the team. 

The speed men look forward to coming back to Garmisch in the hopes of connecting with the military personnel again. 

The Stifel U.S. Ski Team alpine men had a strong day in the Garmisch super-G with two in the top 10 and five in the top 30. River Radamus scored his best super-G result with an eighth place and his teammate Ryan Cochran-Siegle continued his streak of top 10 results in 10th position.

“The surface changed a lot today but I think today I was driving strong and had a good technical foundation all the way through,” said Cochran-Siegle. “Super-G has been a process for me this year and I am happy with today,” said Radamus.

The weather Sunday was opposite of the day prior, starting out with crystal clear skies and a stronger surface underfoot. The top skiers all pushed hard on the super-G track knowing that it was just one of the last speed races of the season. This after hearing the news that the Chamonix speed series, slated for the coming week, got canceled because of poor snow conditions

“We were all looking forward to Chamonix. I've yet to race that downhill and I think finding out late notice it was a bit of a ‘what are we doing now’,” said Cochran-Siegle. 

The sport’s top male skiers pushed hard to find their way on the top of the result sheet again. The overall, downhill, super-G and giant slalom leader, Marco Odermatt, skied with fire to take the win ahead of Austrian Raphael Haaser and young swiss skier Franjo Von Allmen. Cochran-Siegle skied a very solid line to land 10th. This is his fifth top 10 result of the season. Radamus coming from behind in bib 34 had very fast splits all the way down to find his way into the eighth spot. His career best super-G result.

“I know with my best run I could have finished higher both days but I am psyched with where the skiing is at and ready to close out a busy January,” said Radamus who just wrapped up 10 races in the month of January alone. 

It was also a day of success for the rest of the Stifel U.S. Ski Team. Sam Morse, or as his teammates call him “Moose” blasted up from bib 54 to the 23rd position. Veterans Jared Goldberg and Bryce Bennett cracked the top 30 in 28th and 29th place. Jack Smith made his World Cup debut in Garmisch and skied into 43rd place. Kyle Negomir, Wiley Maple and Isaiah Nelson landed in 36th, 37th and 42nd place. 

While there will not be another speed race for a little bit longer than usual, the men’s speed team is feeling the momentum building with solid results all season long. The squad is ready to rest and ramp up for the final speed series before the World Cup finals in Kvitfjell, Norway February 17-18.  It will be one super-G and one downhill race. 

RESULTS
men's super-G

Stifel U.S. Ski Team athlete Ryan Cochran-Siegle continues his strong season with another top 10 result in the Garmisch, Germany super-G. 

“I liked how I went out and skied today. You definitely need to push here,” said Cochran-Siegle. 

The weather conditions started with heavy fog, warm weather and a lot of salting facing the course workers. However, by 11 a.m. CET, the weather started to turn and the surface was manageable for the speed racers. 

Cochran-Siegle started with bib four and was in the green all the way down until the last interval when he punched the line initially just 0.09 hundredths off the pace. The favorites for the race, Marco Odermatt of Switzerland and Frenchman Cyprien Sarrazin, surprisingly fell off the pace. Odermatt landed in fourth and Sarrazin 11th. 

Instead, the podium welcomed new faces. The French team, on fire this season, snagged another World Cup win with Nils Allegre. It was Allegre's his first World Cup win. Second place also went to a World Cup podium newcomer, Italian skier Guglielmo Bosca with Loic Meillard of Switzerland in third. 

“It’s one of those races where it's not that complex so you really have to give it your best and generate as much as possible with every turn,” said Cochran-Siegle. 

Stifel U.S. Ski Team skier River Radamus was just shy of his career best super-G result in 17th place. Wiley Maple also landed in the top 30 in 26th. 

Jared Goldberg, Bryce Bennett, Isaiah Nelson, Sam Morse and Kyle Negomir also raced and landed in 31st, 33rd, 45th, 50th and 52nd, respectively. Jack Smith was set to make his World Cup debut this weekend but due to a lingering injury will hold off until Chamonix next week.

Overall the men’s team is excited to build on Saturday and come firing into Sunday for a second super-G. 

“I think with colder weather overnight it could be a bit of a different style of race tomorrow so it should be fun,” said Cochran-Siegle. 

The action begins again at 5:45 a.m. ET on skiandsnowboard.live. 

RESULTS
Men's super-G

HOW TO WATCH 
5:45 a.m. - men’s super-G, Garmisch, Germany - LIVE on skiandsnowboard.live (on demand on Outside Watch on Monday)

In Gangwon, South Korea Team USA athletes Morgan Shute and Walker Robinson claimed the silver medal at the Youth Olympic Games for the Team Event in Ski Cross. 

The duo coming off a strong individual ski cross result for men and women the day prior hammered hard to come out with the silver. The group finished above Switzerland and below the Swedish ski cross team. 

One of the key moments in this battle for the medal was when Robinson was able to get back up and keep going after crashing hard in his semifinal heat. 

“I crashed in the semi final and went down pretty hard, worst pain I have ever felt,  but I knew I could not let the team down,” said Robinson. “I knew I needed to push through because we had a medal to win so I skied down the second run and thankfully Morgan was able to make it through.” 

This is the second silver medal at the Youth Olympic Games for Shute who claimed the silver in the women's ski cross event. 

RESULTS
Ski cross