Top Five Fridays: November 29, 2024
Mac Forehand worked his way into fifth place in qualifiers at last night’s Beijing Big Air, while Colby Stevenson came up big in Stubai. More on that below! Image: U.S. Ski and Snowboard Team on Facebook
#1: FIS World Cup Alpine Updates: Shiffrin Sets Herself Up for History:
Hello, and welcome to Top Five Fridays, the November 29, 2024 edition! This week, our American readership better be feeling particularly thankful, and not just because yesterday was Thanksgiving or because today is our insane Black Friday Sale. No, our American readers should be thankful for an even better reason: there’s a ton of snow on the ground, in the air, and in the forecast for countless regions. Whether you’ve found yourself skiing chest deep powder in Aspen like Chairlift Chat contributor Emily Crofton, or you’re in New England drooling over forecasts being measured by the foot - there’s never been a better time to be feeling thankful for Ullr blessing us with his presence.
Speaking of being thankful, here’s something else to be thankful for: Mikaela Shiffrin has a chance to make history in front of a home crowd, right here in Vermont this weekend. We’ll get into that a little bit more in just a second, but before we do, let’s check out the results from this past weekend, where both the men and women’s World Cup circuits found themselves in Gurgl, Austria for a slalom race each. Leading up to the event, there was (and continues to be) plenty of hype surrounding Mikaela Shiffrin as her quest to earn her 100th win in front of a Vermont home crowd has been one of the best storylines of the early season. Coming into Gurgl, Shiffrin would have to win 2 of her next 3 races in order to celebrate here in Killington. A win last weekend in Gurgl would have dramatically increased her odds of accomplishing that feat as doing so would mean that she would need to win just one out of the two races here in Vermont. A loss in Gurgl though? Well, that would mean she’d need to win both of her Killington races to accomplish it. So, what did she do? Shiffrin did what she does best of course: she won the race by over half a second, giving her her 99th career victory and presenting a tremendous opportunity for her this weekend. As you can imagine, we will absolutely be watching to see if she can accomplish this historic feat, and are of course wishing her the best of luck.
Despite all the well deserved Shiffrin hype, you should also know by now that the U.S. Women’s team has become an absolute force to be reckoned with. While Shiffrin is the undisputed leader of the team, there are also a number of other athletes on the team who’ve made their presence known on the World Cup circuit. One of those athletes? Paula Moltzan, who took home a 6th place finish last weekend in Gurgl. That result gives her her second top 10 result and third top 11 result across the first three races of the season. In other words, Moltzan’s is starting the season on a bit of a heater. While not podium finishes, which we suspect will come to Moltzan this season, these results are a huge part of why the U.S. Women’s team is the current leader in the Overall Nations Cup standings, which is the sum of all FIS points earned by members of a team.
On the men’s side, as we’ve stated, slalom points are much harder to come by. Still, Ben Ritchie did just that last weekend, finishing in 21st and earning himself 10 points. From here, while the women’s circuit is in Killington this weekend, the men’s circuit has a week off as they head to Beaver Creek, CO, where they’ll compete in a series of speed races next weekend. You can preview that schedule of events here.
#2: FIS World Cup Freeskiing Updates: A Big Showing in Stubai:
In other FIS World Cup news, we also have a handful of results to cover from the sport of freeskiing, as the first Slopestyle event of the season was just held at Austria’s Stubai Snowpark. Unfortunately, a week’s worth of snowy weather created less than ideal conditions in the terrain park, resulting in the men’s and women’s qualifiers events being scrapped entirely. Instead, all athletes competed in a best of two run final on the same day. As you might guess, that led to chaos for the judges, who were tasked with judging a field of 58 men and 26 women across a total of four runs. For the athletes, it also created a stressful situation as the new format amidst a massive field left little room for error.
Despite the hectic schedule and anxiety inducing format, the U.S. Men’s team prevailed, earning some strong results. Taking the top spot on the podium was Colby Stevenson, who was able to put it all together on his second run after falling on his first. For his run, Stevenson put down a flawless Nosebutter Left Dub 1620 Japan (or Stale, depending on whose version you believe), into a Switch Right Dub 1440 Mute, capped off by a strong rail line, highlighted by a Nosebutter 450 onto the down rail. All in all, it was an impressive comeback run for one of Team America’s top Slopestyle athletes. Also worthy of inclusion in our coverage are Mac Forehand, who came up one point short of the podium with his fourth place finish, as well as Hunter Henderson who earned 7th.
Unfortunately, things didn’t go quite as smoothly for the women’s event though, as the weather that had been plaguing Stubai all weeklong began to make its return. Winds gradually picked up throughout the day, ultimately becoming problematic as athletes became unable to perfect their speed across the first two jumps. According to reporting from Newschoolers.com, a common theme across the women’s field was taking the first jump too big, followed by a lack of speed for the second jump. Those less than ideal conditions ultimately led a majority of athletes struggling to find success. But, not everyone struggled. When all was said and done, a top three consisting of Tess Ledeux, Mathilde Gremaud, and Sarah Hoefflin emerged to take first through third, in that order. As for the U.S. Team? Well, Marin Hamill just missed the podium, finishing in 4th place and .25 points behind Sarah Hoefflin in third. Considering the tricky conditions, that result has to be considered a success.
Looking ahead, the freeski circuit is currently in China, where Big Air athletes are competing in Beijing. At the time of this writing, qualifiers have been held and a men’s field of 51 has been trimmed to just 10. Amongst that 10 are two Americans: Troy Podmilsak who qualified in 8th, and Mac Forehand who qualified in 5th. Finals in that event are scheduled to happen on Sunday, so you can be sure that we’ll be back next week with a full report of the results. Until then, you can preview the events here.
#3: FIS Freeride Update: Brand New Freeride World Championship Event Announced:
For our third FIS highlight this week, we’re bringing you some big news from the world of FIS Freeride. As a quick reminder, the world of freeride skiing was shaken two years ago when it was announced that the FIS had purchased the Freeride World Tour. Along with that announcement came a range of emotions, from excitement to skepticism as those embedded in the sport all found themselves asking, “what does this mean for Freeride?” In the two years since then, the answer so far has been, “not much… yet.”
This week, the FIS announced that the first ever Freeride World Championship will be hosted from February 1-6, 2026. Operating as a standalone event, the announcement comes off as somewhat insignificant at first blush, but given proper consideration, it’s actually a pretty significant deal. To fully appreciate the announcement, let’s take a look at the event itself, as well as what it means for the future of the sport.
First things first, as we understand it, this new event is akin to the FIS’s other World Championship events, meaning that it will be held every two years, in addition to that year’s Freeride World Tour schedule. As such, athletes will not be competing to earn points for their Tour standings. Rather, the World Championship will be seen as the penultimate event, with the FWT being the primary way that most competitors will qualify. In addition to this pathway to the championships, the FIS has also created four additional routes that an athlete can follow in order to receive an invite. Included on that list are continental quotas and National Ski Association quotas which serve to ensure that athletes from nations around the world can earn representation at the event (bookmark this thought, we’ll circle back to this notion in just a second), even without making a run on the Freeride World Tour. Additionally, there are two wildcard rules: one host nation wildcard, and one FIS wildcard. While the language around these rules is somewhat loose, the general idea is that an athlete could be invited to the event if either the FIS or the host nation believes they deserve to be there. Our guess is that these might be used to extend an invite to an athlete who was unable to qualify due to injury, but they could also apply to an athlete that could generate excitement. The Marcel Hirschers and Lindsey Vonn’s of the freeride world. The Candide Thovexs, Aymar Navarro, or even Tanner Halls of the world.
By and large, that’s the full scope of the event: a one off, “World Championship” billed freeride event to be organized and hosted by the FIS, starting in Andorra in 2026. It will also be the first Freeride event produced by the FIS. Just as important as the event itself though, is the bigger picture as we keep an eye on the overarching goals for both the FIS and the sport of freeride. That goal, in a word, is the Olympics.
When the FIS first purchased the FWT, the overall understanding was that the end goal was to earn Olympic inclusion for Freeride skiing and snowboarding in the 2030 games. As you might expect from a sport where “free” is both half the name and a core tenet, there was some “shoring up” to do in order to take the competition from an independent organization to a worldwide, unified sports league worthy of Olympic consideration. While we suspect that plenty has gone on behind the scenes over the past two years, the announcement of an FIS World Championship is a significant step towards showing the International Olympic Committee that Freeride is a sport which can include athletes from all over the world, competing in a structured setting, and in which a winner can be easily identified. Those involved in the sport have always known this to be true, but the production of an FIS World Championship event, complete with cohesive qualification criteria, should go a long way in legitimizing the sport in the eyes of the IOC. Should all go to plan, the 2026 Freeride World Championships will undoubtedly be touted as proof of the sport’s global popularity and fairness, strengthening freeride’s case for Olympic inclusion. While only time will tell what comes of this effort, things are certainly trending in a positive direction for those wanting to see freeride take place at the 2030 Winter Games in Salt Lake City. Regardless of how you feel about the path that freeride skiing is on, it’s hard not to admit that seeing an Olympic freeride competition in Utah in five years would be pretty amazing. To learn more on this latest news, check out the official announcement from the FIS.
#4: Washington's Bryce James Might Have the Best Retro Ski Collection in America, But There’s More to the Story:
This beautiful neon quiver comes to us by way of RetroSkier.com, the website managed by Bryce James to showcase his massive collection of retro ski gear. If you’re into time travel, we recommend giving it a look! Image: RetroSkier.com
Finally, we’ll wrap things up this week with a highlight that’s not at all competitive, and instead focuses on a purely fun side of the sport. That story is the story of Bryce James who lives in Washington and owns what is quite likely the largest collection of retro ski gear and equipment in North America. In order to fully appreciate this story, we have to go back to the 1980’s when James was in his prime, competing in Hot Dog competitions in the Pacific Northwest. To say skiing was a lifestyle for James would be an understatement. By all accounts, James’s passion for the sport was immense and he truly embodied the freestyle ski culture of the 80’s and early 90’s. James was living the dream until 1996, when he suffered a significant spinal cord injury while attempting to make a surprise paraglide entrance to his son’s birthday party.
As a result of the accident, James required two emergency lifesaving surgeries, followed by the prognosis that he’d never walk again - let alone ski. Despite the outlook, James remained convinced that he’d be back on skis someday, electing to undergo two more surgeries as well as a rehab regiment that he hoped would get him back on his feet. At some point during this process, he also found himself perusing eBay, browsing listings for old skis that reminded him of his heyday. And then one day he bought a pair of Olin Mark IV’s. And then “The Ski” from Scott. And then a pair of those classic red, white, and blue skis from K2. And then… the snowball effect had officially taken over as James became hooked on finding and buying vintage gear that reminded him of his youth.
Now, at this point the story wanders into some pseudo-science, but James swears that with every purchase, his nervous system got a little boost. With every new ski, glove, and goggle that he bought, James could feel a small bundle of nerves come back online. Three years and a mountain of vintage ski gear later, James finally clicked back into skis in 1999.
In the two and a half decades since this incredible recovery, James’s collection has continued to grow to the point where he can now claim ownership of the largest private collection of vintage ski gear in North America, if not the world. Not only that, but James puts it to use, making about 15 appearances on the mountain a year and still throwing the occasional backflip on straight skis while wearing neon outerwear. For James, a man who narrowly escaped death and clawed his way back to a semblance of his former life, at the end of the day, it’s all about just one thing: having fun.
All in all, James’s story makes for a perfect Black Friday read, and we’d for sure recommend checking it out. Likewise, we’d also recommend checking out RetroSkier.com, a site that James operates to showcase his collection. Browsing it is like wandering around a virtual museum, with each image bringing forth new feelings of satisfaction.