Top Five Fridays: December 13, 2024
After 5 years in retirement and multiple knee surgeries, Lindsey Vonn returned to racing this week, competing in a handful of friendly races at Copper Mountain, CO. We’ll touch on that more below! Image: FIS Alpine World Cup Tour on Facebook
#1: FIS World Cup Alpine Updates - The U.S. Men’s Speed Team Picks Up Where it Left Off a Season Ago as Lindsey Vonn Eases Back into Competition:
Hello, and welcome to Top Five Fridays, the December 13, 2024 edition! This week we’ve got a ton of FIS news to cover, including competitions from both the Alpine and Freeski circuits, as well as a dispute that’s brewing between the organization and its athletes. We’ll fill you in on all the latest news there, before rounding things off with a story regarding the first pair of legitimate electric powered skis, as well as a suite of excellent edits. But first: it’s World Cup Alpine Ski Racing Time.
If you caught up with us last week, then you already know that the ladies’ division had the weekend off as the races in Tremblant had to be cancelled due to a lack of snow. As a result, they were able to make their way directly over to Beaver Creek, CO, where they had the chance to watch the men’s races before getting into their own speed events this coming weekend. While there’s not a ton to discuss here, one interesting note that did pop up is the fact that Lindsey Vonn will be forerunning the courses at Beaver Creek this weekend ahead of the races. For those unfamiliar, a forerunner is essentially an athlete who skis the course first, just ahead of the first competing athlete, as a final check to make sure the course, judges, and event staff are all ready to roll once the first competitor drops. Another interesting Vonn note is that she also logged her first competitive races last week, racing in the FIS Fall Fest at Copper Mountain. Much like forerunning, these races didn’t hold any weight in the grand scheme of things, but they did allow Vonn to see how she measured up against her peers as a number of World Cup athletes used the event as something of a training run for this weekend’s races. And as for how she did? Well, Vonn finished in the top 30 in all four of the races she entered. Not bad, for an athlete competing for the first time after retiring over five years ago.
Over on the men’s side of the circuit, arguably the most highly anticipated races of the year on U.S. soil were successfully held, and the U.S. Team did not disappoint. Over the course of last weekend, the men competed in Downhill, Super G, and Giant Slalom races. In the first of those events, the Downhill, the U.S. men’s team had three athletes finish with points, with Bryce Bennett leading the way with a 6th place finish, Ryan Cochran-Siegle following in 12th, and rounded out by Sam Morse in 21st. A day later, in the Super G, it was River Radamus who led the way for Team USA, earning an 8th place finish, followed by Ryan Cochran-Siegle in 11th, Kyle Negomir in 19th, and Bryce Bennett in 28th. Unfortunately in that race, Sam Morse just barely missed out on points, finishing just .06 seconds behind 30th place. Finally, on the last day of races, River Radamus once again held it down for Team America with a 7th place finish.
All in all, this weekend’s events felt like last season’s if not slightly more encouraging. As you’ll recall, the modus operandi of the men’s team last season was to pack a number of solid results into each race, but ultimately missing out on most podiums. This past weekend in Beaver Creek had the same “just missed the podium” feel, but with at least one athlete finishing just outside the top 5 in each race, and another in the top 15 in two of the three races. So, while the team didn’t earn top honors last weekend, the did show plenty of promise, leading us to believe that podiums will surely come this season. For now, you can review the results from last weekend in Beaver Creek, or start looking ahead to their next opportunities, this weekend, in Val d'Isere.
#2: FIS World Cup Freeskiing Updates: There’s No Secrets in This Garden: The U.S. Men’s Team and Eileen Gu Dominate the Halfpipe:
In other FIS news, there was also more action on the freeski side of the sport, as China hosted their second World Cup event in as many weeks. This time, it was a halfpipe event at Secret Garden - the second of the season. On the women’s side of things, the results turned out about how you’d expect, although not without a little drama first. With all eyes and expectations on Eileen Gu, she took a rare fall iIn her first run of a best of three run format. The result was a score of just 26.25, leaving the field wide open, even if only for a run. As it turns out, that’s exactly what happened. In her second run, Gu put down a smooth, calculated performance, complete with effortless looking landings high up on the wall. As a result, she would earn a score of 90.00, which proved to be a full 7.75 points above the second place finisher. Perhaps someday one of her fellow competitors will catch up to Gu’s abilities, but that day didn’t happen last weekend, and at this rate, it likely won’t happen this season either. That said, not all is lost for the U.S. Team, as Seva Irving snuck onto the podium with a third place finish at Secret Garden. With a fourth place finish earlier this year in Cardona, Irving is now currently in second place overall in the halfpipe standings. Not a bad way to start the season!
As for the men, the results of this weekend were an entirely different story for Team USA. While the women’s side of the sport is currently dominated by one competitor who represents China, on the men’s side it’s quite the opposite. Let’s put it like this: Team America took home first, second, third, fourth, and fifth at this weekend’s event. To say that Team USA was dominant would be an understatement. And not only that, but amongst the top three athletes, any one of them could be considered the favorite on any particular day.
This time around though, it was Nick Goepper who took home the gold in what was just his fifth World Cup Halfpipe event. While it’s true that Goepper has had tremendous success in Slopestyle, his decision to switch to competitive halfpipe skiing came as a bit of a surprise to most spectators of the sport. This past weekend though, Goepper proved to himself and to the world that it was a decision well made. Hot on his heels of course was Alex Ferriera, who earned his second second place finish of the year, followed by the elder statesman of the group, David Wise. While these three names are all familiar, either as halfpipe skiers or freeskiers in general, what’s almost equally impressive is that Hunter Hess, who has only relatively recently ratcheted up his efforts in formal competition, placed 5th. Behind him, Dylan Ladd took home 6th. All in all, it was a tremendous weekend for the boy’s team, and a huge congratulations goes out to all of them. Looking ahead, the next FIS World Cup Freeskiing event is scheduled for a week from this weekend, with another round of halfpipe skiing at Copper Mountain, CO. We suspect you’ll be able to catch this one live as it’s a domestic event, which is a nice relief from the complicated and often frustrating world of FIS broadcasts.
Speaking of which…
#3: Falling Short of Broadcasting Promises, FIS Turns Down a Lucrative Investment Offer, Frustrating its Athletes and Stakeholders:
No need to adjust your tv - the above video probably doesn’t work for you. That's because of where you’re located, and that’s the center of the issue with the FIS’s current international broadcasting rights conundrum.
Next up on the subject of FIS World Cup sports, is a much bigger conversation than the results from a weekend of competition. For this highlight, we once again find ourselves revisiting the confusing, dense, and even frustrating subject of FIS media rights. If you’re someone who’s tried to tune into FIS events this year, be it Freeski, Alpine Racing, or otherwise, it’s all but guaranteed that you’ve at least had some level of difficulty finding live streams or replays of the competitions you want to watch. It’s not a new problem - it’s one that the FIS has had for years, if not decades. It’s also a problem that current FIS president Johan Eliasch has promised to prioritize solving ever since his election to the position in the summer of 2021. It’s also however, a wildly complicated matter. Allow us to quickly revisit the dynamic before circling back to this week’s news.
Back in 2021, when Eliasch was vying to be elected to the position of FIS president, he campaigned on a platform that promised bringing the FIS up to the same level of international prominence as leagues like Formula 1, FIFA, or the PGA. A key part of pulling that off of course, was improving media agreements in order to make global viewership more accessible. As such, one of his first moves was to announce his intentions to centralize the media output of the league, putting an end to convoluted international broadcasting rights agreements that made global coverage of competitions overly complicated. The problem was, those broadcasting rights were contractually owned by longtime FIS partner Infront Media. When Eliasch made his intentions known, Infront got very, very mad, threatening to turn the situation into a legal dispute. Then, in July of 2023, the FIS announced that it had sold its media rights back to Infront, resuming their partnership with a slight change in the agreement: Infront would still own broadcasting rights, but the FIS would be in control of their digital footprint, meaning they would be able to post highlights and other content to their website and online. In other words, what this all means is, three and a half years after his election, Eliasch hasn’t made much progress in terms of improving the global availability of actual FIS broadcasts.
Enter: this week’s news.
This week, we learned about a massive proposal that was made on November 30th, when CVC Capital Partners (an investment firm with a long history of investing in sports leagues) offered the FIS approximately $420 million in exchange for a 20% stake in the commercial rights for the league’s snowsports. Within a few days, Eliasch responded to the proposition with a letter that said that the FIS is, “very well capitalized and has no current need for further funding to help to deliver its strategic plans.” In other words, thanks, but no thanks.
While it’s important to note that the CVC offer wasn’t an outright effort to change the broadcasting landscape of the company, it’s obvious to most spectators that that was the intention of the plan. That opportunity, as well as the FIS’s quick dismissal of it, has quickly caused a bit of a rift between athletes and other stakeholders, and FIS, who seemingly reaffirmed its close partnership with Infront by rejecting this new offer.
This week, a letter was sent to the FIS which was signed by over 50 stakeholders who implored the organization to give the CVC offer continued consideration. And just to clarify, by “stakeholders,” we mean quite a few of your favorite athletes. Signing the letter were names like Mikaela Shiffrin, Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, Sofia Goggia, and Alex Hall, as well as U.S. Ski and Snowboard Team CEO Sophie Goldschmidt. The reason why all of these notable names so quickly and forcefully requested additional consideration? It’s simple: they want the same thing we do. They want FIS sports coverage to be more readily available worldwide, so that the league can grow in popularity, ultimately providing more opportunities for more athletes.
For now, unfortunately, it looks as though the FIS is too tightly intertwined with Infront Media to make any changes, despite Eliasch’s initial promises. We’re sure this story will continue though, and hopefully one day we’ll bring you big news about improved international broadcasts. But for now, you can read all there is to know about this latest chapter in the saga by checking out the report from the Associated Press, or from SkiRacing.com.
#4: You Thought Electric Skis Were Just a Joke? Think Again:
Finally, we’re rounding things out this week in typical Top Five fashion: by highlighting a story that we think contains high amusement value, and one that is sure to get the comments section popping over on YouTube.. As you might recall, this past April Fool’s day, J Skis announced their “official” collaboration with Tesla, producing an electric ski capable of zipping skiers effortlessly around the mountain. It was hilarious, because it was a joke. Fast forward to today, just over 8 months later, and we’ve just been introduced to another electric ski, but this time it’s no laughing matter.
Coming to us by way of Swiss company E-Outdoor, is the E-Skimo, an electric assist ski designed specifically for uphill adventures. Setting aside the many questions that immediately come to mind, the E-Skimo is objectively a pretty impressive technological feat. Taking cues from traditional snowmobiles, the E-Skimo features a 15 lb/ft gearless hub motor which relies on a 220-Wh lithium battery to power a tread that runs underfoot. Recognizing the potential danger of a ski that constantly wants to propel itself forward, the E-Skimo acts more like an electric assist than a fully throttled vehicle. That is, the motors are equipped with sensors and a GPS module to sense when the user is in the act of sliding their ski forward, and when they do, the tread kicks in and gives them a little extra help. According to the E-Skimo website, the tread assist saves climbers roughly 30% of muscle exertion, allows them to ascend roughly 80% faster, and enables them to climb 4 times higher. “And what if,” you might ask, “I happen to fall? Will my E-Skimo skis take me for an unstoppable ride?” No, as a matter of fact, they won’t, so long as you let go of the sensor equipped poles that shut off the motors as soon as you let go. And as for the downhill? Well, you simply remove the battery, the motor, and the tread, put them in your backpack, and begin skiing as you would any other ski.
At the very least, it’s a pretty interesting concept, and the design of the technology itself seems to be well thought out. There are, of course, endless questions to be asked and answered if this technology should ever take off. We’ll let you guys take on that task in the comment section, but before we wrap this one up, there is one last piece of information that’s crucial here: E-Skimo does not intend to produce and sell skis. Instead, it aims to be sold as a piece of technology, allowing other brands to incorporate the system into their own skis. Does that mean we’ll be seeing E-Skis from brands like Blizzard or Nordica, whose parent company Tecnica Ski Group just announced a partnership with E-Outdoor? Maybe. It’s far too soon to say with any certainty, and as it always does, only time will tell. Until then, we have lots and lots of questions. For now, learn all there is to know about the new E-Skimo ski by checking out this report from NewAtlas.com, or head over to their official website.