Cross Country

World Juniors Classic Sprint Rundown: Ogden 8th, Keeffe 12th

Alpine

Noah Riemenschneider, on the Alpine U19 team, raced in Europe on a US Ski Team co petition project and made the podium in third place! Civetia, Italy UNI SL Race , 16 January 2019.
Getting on the podium in just about any FIS race in Italy or Austria as a junior is very difficult so this is quite an accomplishment. Congratulations, Noah!

Our younger athletes have been enjoying the incredible fresh snow and stunning clouds this past week! Here’s team “Howling Wolf Kitten Zooming Rocket Ski Team” checking out the view.

This week our coaches undertook an extraordinary watering project in the SSWSC-Stevens Family Alpine Venue, working to provide an exceptional training surface for all the athletes. On Tuesday, the U14 and U12 coaches unburied and pushed back nearly a mile’s worth of safety fencing to allow the boundaries to be groomed. Then on Tuesday night, the U16 and FIS coaches spent 12 hours in teams spraying water over the entire width and distance of the All Out race trail while our groomer worked the snow to seal in the moisture throughout the entire night. These coaches worked with headlamps in single digit temperatures until 5:00am to get the hill completed. Then the U14 and U12 coaches returned as soon as the lifts opened to replace the safety netting down the entire perimeter of the trail. Despite another 18” of champagne powder falling on top of their work, it seems that the surface underneath is excellent and the project will reap benefits for the athletes for weeks to come.

I share this story with you because I am proud of the attention to detail and the commitment to a quality training environment that was made by these coaches for the benefit of the kids. For many, the long night was just one day after a week-long speed event in Aspen. All the coaches completed this project together as a team. We were provided great support from Steamboat Ski & Resort Corporation to accomplish the project. We’ve never taken on such an ambitious project on the venue, it took a leap of faith that it could be done and a lot of legwork by Alpine Program Director Adam Chadbourne to pull it together. These are the things that need to be done to create champions on and off the mountain. That’s what we’re committed to do. Please join me in thanking these coaches for their tremendous efforts. -Jon Nolting, Associate Executive Director