Top Five Fridays: December 20, 2024
At last weekend's first ever Beaver Creek Birds of Prey women's races, Lauren Macuga earned her best career result. More on that below! Image: US Ski and Snowboard Team on Facebook
#1: FIS World Cup Alpine Updates - Lauren Macuga & Jared Goldberg Earn Career Bests:
Hello, and welcome to Top Five Fridays, the December 20, 2024 edition! In this year’s penultimate recap, we’ve got FIS World Cup alpine race results to discuss, followed by updates from Mikaela Shiffrin, the latest on protests in Park City, and some sneak peeks into what the future might hold for skiing’s inclusion in the Natural Selection Tour. We’ll get into all of that in due time, but first, let’s talk ski racing results.
This past weekend, the women’s circuit picked up right where the men left off, as Beaver Creek hosted their first ever World Cup women’s speed events. Fresh off a ten day break, thanks to Tremblant’s races being cancelled, the women’s circuit competed in a downhill and super g race over the course of two days. With Mikaela Shiffrin still sidelined due to injuries from her crash at Killington (more on that in our second highlight), it was anyone’s guess as to which U.S. athletes would lead the way in each of these two speed races. As it turns out, the answer was Lauren Macuga, who kicked off the weekend’s events with both a team and career best 4th place finish in Saturday’s downhill race. Also earning a notable finish in the downhill was U.S. athlete Breezy Johnson, marking her return to racing after a 14 month ban with a 13th place finish, proving that she hasn’t lost a step in her year away from the sport. Rounding things out for Team America in the downhill was Jacqueline Wiles, who snuck into the points with a 29th place finish. A day later, in the super-g race, it was once again Lauren Macuga who led the way for the Americans with a 12th place finish, followed by Keely Cashman in 21st, and Breezy Johnson in 28th. All in all, it was yet another solid weekend for the women’s team, who continue to look like one of the most well rounded teams from top to bottom in the sport. This weekend, they’ll look to continue building that storyline with back to back super-g races in St. Moritz, where Lindsey Vonn is expected to make her return. You can preview those races here.
On the men’s side of things, this week’s update starts out a bit underwhelming, before ending with some incredible news. First things first, let’s talk about results from Val d'Isere, Italy, where the men competed in giant slalom and slalom races last weekend. Once again, it’s worth noting that technical races are not the specialty of the men’s team at a time when slalom racing is seeing some of the highest level of competition ever. With that in mind, we share the news that Jett Seymour finished in the points for the first time this season, finishing in 21st place in the slalom race. The most surprising results of the weekend however, came a day later, when River Radamus and Tommy Ford finished 17th and 18th respectively in the giant slalom. For these two athletes who are more known for their speed skills, a pair of top twenty finishes is laudable.
The biggest news of the week, for either the men’s or women’s teams just happened, earlier today, in the super g race at Val Gardena / Groeden, Italy. There, the men’s team earned its first podium of the season, as Jared Goldberg took home the silver medal in the super g race, earning his first ever podium finish in the process. It’s truly an incredible result for the veteran racer who finds himself in the 12th year of his career. Looking ahead, there’s even more to be excited about this weekend, as tomorrow features a downhill race that Bryce Bennett has already won twice in his career. While we’re not saying he’s destined to earn a third gold medal, we are saying that there’s a chance. To learn more about that opportunity, click here.
#2: One Month and One Unexpected Surgery After Her Crash, Shiffrin’s Injury Status Remains Uncertain:
In other FIS alpine ski racing news this week, we wanted to dedicate a highlight to bringing you up to speed with the latest news from Mikaela Shiffrin, as she continues to recover from injuries incurred in her crash at Killington. Immediately after that incident, we knew that Shiffrin had avoided the types of injuries like, broken bones and ligament damage, that tend to end seasons early. We also knew though, that Shiffrin had taken on a different injury that’s much less common or predictable: a puncture wound. While it’s unclear how exactly this literal stab wound came to be, what is becoming clear this week is that it’s proving to be the trickiest part of Mikaela’s recovery.
In both a series of very personal social media posts, as well as in multiple interviews that we suspect were scheduled with expectations of producing a very different storyline, we’ve learned quite a bit about Shiffrin’s recovery process. Unfortunately, it’s complicated.
***Quick Warning Here: If you don’t love reading about medical details, go ahead and skip this next paragraph.***
Upon her initial treatments, doctors hooked Shiffrin up to what’s called a wound vac in an effort to expedite the draining of her wound and promote healing. Unfortunately, it ultimately became clear to Shiffrin’s doctors that the vac wasn’t going to be able to complete the job as a small pocket of fluid stubbornly remained. As a result, a surgery was required in which doctors manually cleaned out the remaining fluid, sutured the cavity back up, and installed a JP drain to ensure that the pocket remains fluid free.
***Ok, it’s safe to jump back in if you want to read more about Shiffrin’s prognosis!***
In the wake of the unexpected surgery, there’s both some good news and some bad news. The bad news is, the surgery undoubtedly delayed Shiffrin’s return for the foreseeable future, and it’s really anyone’s guess as to when she might be competition ready. At the moment, it’s not clear whether or not her return to World Cup races will happen this year, or next. The good news though, is that Shiffrin remains in incredible spirits despite being in what must be a very frustrating situation. Throughout her recovery, Shiffrin has been giving her fans incredibly personal glimpses into her life and recovery, while continuing to emit positivity throughout the process. If you haven’t already, you should seriously go check out her recent updates on Instagram. It’s rare to see an athlete, particularly of her caliber, give such a raw and honest portrayal of what it’s like to recover from an injury. Additionally, if you’re really craving Mikaela content, we’d also recommend checking out this piece from SkiRacing.com to learn more about her recovery, or this interview from Gear Junkie to learn plenty of interesting insights about Mikaela’s gear.
#3: Three Years After Their Game Changing Protest, Park City Ski Patrol is Ready to Strike Again After More Stalled Contract Negotiations:
Park City Ski Patrol is “strike ready,” meaning their members have voted to authorize a strike, should it come to that point. Image: Park City Professional Ski Patrol Association on Facebook
Moving on from FIS alpine news this week, we feel compelled to bring you up to speed on the last round of ski patrol news coming out of Park City. There, the ski patrol union has announced that they have officially authorized a strike. The move comes as Vail and the Park City Ski Patrol Union have failed to come to a new contract agreement following the expiration of their previous one, which ended in April. Now, in the early weeks of the season, the PC Ski Patrol Union is ratcheting up the pressure to get a deal done by enacting the possibility of a strike. Should that happen, it has the potential to shut down the resort, although Vail has stated that they will be able to continue operating through a strike. Noting that you can only operate a resort if there is an operational ski patrol unit, PC Ski Patrol quickly responded by asking patrollers at other mountains to support their cause, and to not accept any offers, should Vail come calling. In other words, things between the two parties have certainly been heating up.
Of course if all of this sounds familiar, it’s for good reason: a nearly identical story played out three years ago, as the Park City Ski Patrol Union very publicly protested while also threatening a strike. As was the case in December of 2021, the biggest sticking point for this round of negotiations is once again the issue of wages and benefits. Citing the immense range of talents and expertise required to be a ski patroller, the union is once again arguing that starting wages for such a specialized role should be compensated accordingly. It’s hard not to agree. Looking back to 2021 when the recently expired contract was agreed upon, the average patroller was set to make just $19 an hour. Now, citing inflation and again arguing the prowess required to be a patroller, the union is asking for a starting wage of $23 an hour, with higher increases in compensation as patrollers become more experienced. Ultimately, the goal is to make patrolling a viable, full time, seasonal job.
Despite the ongoing disagreements regarding the value of a ski patroller though, there is reason for hope. On Tuesday of this week, Park City’s Park Record shared a report in which Bill Rock, president of Vail Resorts’ Mountain Division, said he was feeling good about progress being made in regards to the negotiations. After a tumultuous week last week, Monday’s meeting brought about more understanding, and a mutual agreement to bring in a moderator to help the two sides come to terms.
As was the case last time this happened in Park City, the underlying storyline here is the precedent that PC Ski Patrol’s efforts could set across the industry. In the years since their public protest in 2021, we’ve already seen numerous ski patrol outfits at other resorts vote to unionize and ultimately also earn improved benefits and wages.This year’s effort will likely not only set a new precedent for starting wages, but is also showing early signs of empowering other outfits once again. On Wednesday of this week, for example, patrollers at Keystone (another Vail resort) staged a walk-in as a symbol of their own unity as they also find themselves in the midst of an unproductive contract renegotiation. While we have yet to see what their efforts will yield, it’s safe to say that the push towards higher wages and better benefits for ski patrollers is far from over.
As always, we’ll continue to keep you posted as this story unfolds.
#4: Chris Benchetler and Kristi Leskinen Share Their Goals for Skiing’s Inclusion in the Natural Selection Tour:
Finally, we end this week with something of a mini highlight as we continue to get excited for skiing’s inclusion in the Natural Selection Tour (NST). In case you missed it or don’t know what we’re talking about, the Natural Selection Tour has been one of the most entertaining competitions in snowboarding for years, as its unique tournament bracket style format and slopestyle-esque backcountry runs have resulted in several incredible moments. Back at the end of October, it was announced that NST will be expanding beyond snowboarding, welcoming skiing, as well as surfing and biking, into the fold. At the time of the announcement, very few details were shared, other than that it would take place in Alaska in Mid-April, and that a number of legendary names in freeride skiing had been tied to it.
This week, we learned a little bit more about who’s working behind the scenes to make this happen, as well as what they’re hoping to accomplish. Back when the ski division of NST was first announced, two of the names linked to it were Chris Benchetler and Kristi Leskinen. Now, coming to us by way of two posts on Instagram, we now know that both are acting as a part of NST’s Athlete Advisory Council, which was presumably set up to help ensure that the NST “gets it right” when it comes to entering the world of skiing. In the posts, each athlete speaks on what their goals are for the event, and what they hope to see come of it. Between the two of them, the vision is more or less to host a big mountain freeride event on film quality venues, ideally resulting in film quality runs, taking place in a competitive setting.
Now, if you find yourself thinking, “that sounds a lot like the Freeride World Tour,” well, you’re not wrong. On paper they’re similar, in the sense that they’re both big mountain events asking skiers to put down their best runs. In the nuance though, they’re quite different. For one, rather than taking place in association with a ski resort, like the Freeride World Tour does, the NST is going to take place on a uniquely selected venue, deep in the Alaskan backcountry. Additionally, if previous NST events are any indicator, it won’t just be the location and runs that are movie quality, but the conditions will be too. Whereas the FWT selects a day from a weather window and the snow quality is what it is, our gut tells us that the NST will be much more selective when it comes to finding powder. All told, there is still plenty to learn about this exciting new event, with this week’s news ratcheting up the anticipation even further. To learn more about this latest update, check in with the NST Ski Instagram.