TOP FIVE FRIDAYS: DECEMBER 2, 2022
Lead Image: In her return to Killington, Shiffrin just barely missed the podium in the slalom race, while she and several of her teammates earned points in the giant slalom. More on that below! Image: U.S. Ski and Snowboard Team on Facebook
#1: Over $10,000 in Prizes Up For Grabs in This Year’s “SkiEssentials Youth Skiing Fundraiser”. Tickets on Sale for Just $10:
Want to win a pair of skis for as little as $10, or support our local youth ski programs? Get yourself a raffle ticket for our Annual Youth Ski Program Fundraiser!
Hello, and welcome to Top Five Fridays, the December 2, 2022 edition! This week we’re starting things a little bit differently as we want to let everyone know about an exciting raffle we’ve got going on: our annual Youth Ski Program Fundraiser. Each year, we run this online raffle in an effort to raise money for local ski programs here in the Stowe, VT, as well as our neighboring towns of Waterbury, Morrisville, Johnson, and Hyde Park. This year, with Basin Ski & Sports joining our family, we’re also offering support to programs in the Killington area as well. While we like to think this is enough reason to add a few $10 raffle tickets to your cart, we also realize that the chance to win high value prizes is at least equally alluring for many of you. With that in mind, we put together an absolutely bonkers lineup of prizes this year, consisting of: Atomic Shift 13 Bindings ($599 Value), BCA Stash 30 Backpack w/ SkiEssentials Accessories ($200 Value), Black Crows Camox Skis ($799 Value), Blizzard Rustler 10 Skis ($749 Value), Dynastar M-Free 90 W Skis ($529 Value), Elan Ripstick 96 Skis ($699 Value), Head Absolut Joy Skis and Bindings ($649 Value), Head Shape e-V8 Skis and Bindings ($999 Value), K2 Mindbender 89Ti Skis ($699 Value), Kastle ZX 100 Skis ($799 Value), Line Blade Optic 96 Skis ($699 Value), Rossignol Sender 104 Ti Skis ($749 Value), Salomon QST Blank Skis ($799 Value), and Stockli Stormrider 95 Skis ($1,199 Value). All told, that’s over $10,000 in prizes, with several incredible skis that could be yours for the cost of just one raffle ticket. So whether you’re someone who is eager to support youth ski clubs, someone who likes the idea of potentially winning a pair of skis for just $10, or someone who’s pretty into both, we recommend buying one or more raffle tickets. Tickets will be on sale right up until 12/23, when we’ll be announcing winners from the drawing. For your chance to win, head over to our raffle ticket page and buy as many as you’d like. Good luck!
#2: FIS Update: Solid Showings from Women in Killington and Men in Lake Louise:
Ryan Cochran-Siegle leans into a right hand turn on the downhill venue in Lake Louise, on his way to a 9th place finish. Image: U.S. Ski and Snowboard Team on Facebook
Alright, everyone’s got their tickets? Great, then let’s move into the FIS results portion of our weekly recap! As you definitely know by now, last weekend the womens’ circuit returned to Killington, where the world’s most attended women’s World Cup event took place. After a string of cancellations to start the year, a chance of inclement weather in Killington over the weekend, and cancellations at the Killington event last year, it’s with a bit of relief that we can say that the Killington event went off without a hitch. Over the course of two days, the venue hosted a giant slalom and a slalom race, both of which broke attendance records yet again. Unfortunately, we don’t have any podium results to report for the U.S. team, but that doesn’t mean the weekend was a wash. Rather, numerous athletes earned points in Saturday’s giant slalom race, with Mikaela Shiffrin leading the way in 13th, followed by Paula Moltzan in 18th, Nina O’Brien in 23rd (more on this later), and Katie Hensiend in 27th. The best result of the weekend however came a day later, when Shiffrin finished in 5th in the slalom race. While we would’ve loved to report some podiums coming out of the Killington stop, these finishes are still important in the overall scope of the season as each race is a chance to earn points that add up in the overall standings. Looking ahead, the women’s circuit is currently in Lake Louise for two downhill races and a super g, which we’ll be sure to recap next week.
Speaking of Lake Louise, it just so happens that that’s where the men’s circuit was last weekend for a similar lineup, with two super gs and a downhill race. Unfortunately, one of the super g races was canceled, giving the men just two chances to earn points. In the first of those two events, a downhill race, Ryan Cochran-Siegle and Travis Ganong seized the opportunity, finishing 9th and 13th respectively. While these two results were solid, they were unfortunately the highlight of the season as a day later, in the super g race, only Kyle Negomir earned points, finishing in 23rd. This week, the men’s circuit is in Beaver Creek, CO for another downhill and super g race, with the first of two downhills already having been canceled. With what’s expected to be a strong showing from the home crowd, we’ll see if the U.S. Team can continue to improve on their results. We’ll bring you up to speed next week, but for now, you can check out the schedule of events here.
#3: U.S. Alpine Athletes River Radamus and Nina O’Brien Receive the Spotlight Treatment as Their Seasons Get Underway:
With a lot on the line in the year ahead, wild man River Radamus looks to the sky for answers. Image: U.S. Ski and Snowboard Team on Facebook
Keeping with the World Cup theme this week, we came across a pair of articles highlighting two rising U.S. Ski Team athletes: River Radamus and Nina O’Brien. Between the two pieces, there’s a wealth of information and insights about these two athletes, so we’ll try our best to share some of the highlights here while deferring you to the articles themselves for deeper dives. With that in mind, let’s start by checking in on the latest from River Radamus.
In an article from Aspen Times this week, we learn quite a bit about Radamus’s thoughts on his career thus far, his goals for the year ahead, and some of the ways in which he’s doing his part to develop the future of U.S. Skiing. For starters, we learn that Radamus is experiencing a bit of frustration as he feels like he hasn’t quite proven himself as a contender on the giant slalom circuit, citing the fact that he was the only top 15 finisher last year who never made it onto a podium. That said, he did come incredibly close at arguably the biggest race last season, finishing in 4th at the Olympics. With that in mind, Radamus is starting the year with a chip on his shoulder, feeling like he has something to prove to his competitors and the world; a feat that can only be accomplished by winning races. So far, with the slow start to the season, the only giant slalom race has been the opening weekend in Solden, where Radamus finished in 26th. His next chance to prove himself will come on December 10th, in Val d'Isere, France. In addition to these goals, the piece also touches on Radamus’s efforts to fund U16 ski racers, noting that that’s an age group where athletes struggle to afford the sudden jump in the cost of ski racing. To learn more about River’s outlook for the season ahead and efforts to support youth ski racing, check out the full writeup from the Aspen Times.
The other U.S. Ski Team athlete receiving a spotlight this week was Nina O’Brien, who we last checked in on back at the end of September. At that time, O’Brien, who’d suffered a devastating leg injury in Beijing, had just been cleared to return to snow. In our coverage, we shared the news that her journey would start at an indoor facility in Belgium, after which she planned to rejoin her teammates in the mountains of Europe. While her progress was exceeding expectations, there was no set timeline for her return to competition as it was yet to be determined how her leg would feel once it was back on snow. In this week’s piece from the New York Times, we learn even more details about what O’Brien’s medical and travel experiences were like in the days after her injury, as well as what her return to snow has been like. Within this article, the most interesting revelation was that doctors expected O’Brien to require up to two years to fully recover from her injury, and to be able to compete again. Instead, O’Brien has returned to form in just 9 months, with her first post-injury start occurring in the giant slalom race in Killington last weekend, in which she finished 23rd. Now that she’s back on snow and seemingly hasn’t lost a step, O’Brien will be one to watch this season as she resumes her podium chasing ways. To learn more about her journey, check out this writeup from the New York Times.
#4: Park City Emergency Operators Reporting Numerous Accidental iPhone Calls from Crashing Skiers:
Finally, we end this week with a story we found interesting coming out of Park City, UT. If you’re an iPhone owner, or someone who's seen recent iPhone ads on TV, you might be aware of a new feature in which your iPhone can detect a crash and automatically calls 911 on your behalf. The way it works is, your phone will detect “violent” motion, and if it suspects a crash, it’ll send you an alert in which it lets you know that it intends to place a 911 call within 10 seconds unless you cancel it. While this is all well and good, 911 operators in the Park City Area are reporting an increase in accidental calls stemming from skiers and snowboarders whose phones are calling them as the result of what the iPhone perceives as a crash. Regardless of whether that’s a skier or snowboarding actually taking a fall, or the phone simply jostling in the pocket or banging into a chairlift, this 10 second alert notification is popping up, going unnoticed, and resulting in a call to 911. In this case, the operator typically doesn’t hear much on the other end, so they call the number back. When they do, surprised skiers and riders have answered the calls and simply told the operator that everything is alright. According to dispatcher Susie Butterfield, she receives between 3-5 calls of this nature a day, out of her roughly 200 calls. In other words, if one dispatcher is receiving 3-5 calls a day, it ultimately means these accidental calls are happening somewhat frequently. So, what do 911 operators think you should do about these accidental calls? Absolutely nothing. According to Butterfield, she’s happy to continue taking the calls as they’re infrequent enough to not cause any issues, while she also would prefer to be notified in case an accident does happen. The takeaway from this story? If you’ve got an iPhone, and you take a fall, maybe just check your phone and make sure it’s not calling 911. Otherwise, proceed as usual.