LAAX, Switzerland (Jan­. 21, 2017) – With perfect weather in a perfect halfpipe, Americans dominated the LAAX Open on Saturday, which also served as a stop on the FIS World Cup tour for the first time in 2017. Chloe Kim (Torrance, CA) and Chase Josey (Hailey, ID) earned the wins for the women and men respectively, while LAAX Open 2016 winner Arielle Gold (Steamboat Springs, CO) was second for the ladies.  

After also winning the season opener at the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix at Copper Mountain in December, Kim made it back-to-back World Cup wins by taking top honors in LAAX. She now leads the FIS halfpipe rankings, and isn’t expected to slip from the top anytime soon—Kim is absolutely dominating the competition; she used a run to win at Laax that was almost exclusively switch, featuring only one frontside spin and it was a 1080. “I'm so stoked that I was able to put down some good runs today,” Kim said of her win. “I couldn't be any happier.”

LAAX, Switzerland (Jan­. 20, 2017) – Jamie Anderson (South Lake Tahoe, CA) scored a third-place podium finish at one of the most prestigious contests of the year - the LAAX Open - which served as a stop on the FIS World Cup Tour for the first time in 2017. Julia Marino (Westport, CT) also had a strong showing for the women, finishing just off the podium in fourth. Red Gerard (Silverthorne, CO), who is fresh off his first World Cup podium at Kreischberg last week, was fourth for the men.

The podium was Anderson’s third of the year, after a stellar December that featured wins in big air at the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix at Copper Mountain and slopestyle at the Breckenridge Dew Tour. “I’m really happy,” Anderson said of the finish. “It was a great contest, really progressive.”

SOLITUDE MOUNTAIN RESORT, UT (Jan. 17, 2017) – The world’s elite snowboardcross and skicross athletes will head to Solitude Mountain Resort this week for the second stop of the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix tour. The Solitude Grand Prix snowboardcross also serves as a FIS World Cup and the skicross will serve as a NorAm Cup. Both races will be test events for 2019, when the Wasatch resort is slated to host the snowboardcross and skicross FIS World Championships.

The Solitude event follows on the heels of a stunning World Cup win by U.S. Snowboarding athlete Hagan Kearney (Telluride, CO) in Montafon, Austria on Dec. 16. It was Kearney’s first career World Cup win. “I'm excited to finally race in the U.S.,” Kearney says of the upcoming Solitude event. “It's been a few years and we all miss racing in front of our home crowd. The win (at Montafon) is just an extra high going into it.”

KREISCHBERG, Austria (Jan. 14, 2017) – It was a great showing for the American men at the first slopestyle World Cup of the season, with Ryan Stassel (Anchorage, AK) and Red Gerard (Silverthorne, CO) both earning spots on the podium, finishing second and third respectively.

It was Stassel’s third World Cup podium of the season - he was third at the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix big air at Copper Mountain in December and third at the big air Olympic test event at Alpensia, Korea in November. The Alaskan native also took home the FIS World Championships title on the same Kreischberg course in 2015.

Ryan Stassel scored his third World Cup podium of the season, finishing second in Austria Saturday. (FIS)

WATERVILLE VALLEY, NH (Jan. 13, 2016) – It was a great week for U.S. Snowboarding at the Toyota U.S. Revolution Tour, with Kyle Mack (Bloomfield, MI) taking a win and Lyon Farrell (Haiku, HI) taking second for the men and Nora Healey (Plymouth, NH) earning a win for the women.

The Waterville Valley stop of the Rev Tour featured back-to-back slopestyle competitions, one on Thursday and one Friday. A chance to earn valuable FIS points as well as World Snowboard Tour points, the Revolution Tour is an important competition tour for elite up-and-coming athletes.

U.S. Snowboarding’s snowboardcross team will participate in a community outreach event on January 17 at 4 p.m. in conjunction with the upcoming Toyota U.S. Grand Prix at Solitude Mountain Resort.

Members of the team will visit the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Salt Lake’s Lied location in the Poplar Grove neighborhood of Salt Lake City. This Boys and Girls Club location serves more than 800 kids aged 6-18 every year, providing them with a stable environment to succeed in school and become good citizens.  

The athletes will speak with local children about following your dreams and overcoming obstacles as well as teach them about the sport of snowboardcross.  Additionally, Boys and Girls Club participants will be invited to watch their new friends compete at the U.S. Grand Prix finals, a FIS World Cup for snowboardcross, on January 21 at nearby Solitude Mountain Resort.

WATERVILLE VALLEY, NH (Jan. 9, 2017) – The 2017 Toyota U.S. Revolution Tour heads to the East Coast this week, making its second stop at Waterville Valley, New Hampshire. At the second of four stops on the tour, Waterville Valley will play host to two separate slopestyle competitions for both snowboard and freeski athletes.

WATERVILLE VALLEY HIGHLIGHTS

Some of the world’s best junior athletes will compete at the Toyota U.S. Revolution Tour on the sculpted jumps and jibs of Waterville Valley’s Exhibition Terrain Park, the resort’s premier, large park with a dedicated Poma lift.

A breeding ground for elite freestyle athletes, the Waterville Valley Academy has produced world-class athletes such as U.S. Snowboard Pro Slopestyle Team member Chas Guldemond.

Known as “New Hampshire’s Family Resort,” Waterville Valley features 265 skiable acres with an altitude of 4,004 feet and vertical drop of 2,020 feet, 60 trails and 11 lifts. 

Listed alongside major athletes from the NFL, MLB, NBA, summer Olympics and more, Chloe Kim (Torrance, CA) was the youngest athlete to be included in Forbes’ annual 30 Under 30: Sports list.

Forbes boasts an acceptable rate of less than four percent (less than getting into Harvard) to get into the exclusive 30 Under 30 lists, with the decisions made by James Harden of the Houston Rockets, Nike’s Chairman Emeritus Phil Knight and Casey Wasserman, the CEO and chairman of the Wasserman Media Group.

See the full 30 Under 30: Sports list here.

It takes a different kind of athlete to race snowboardcross. Telluride’s Hagen Kearney, well, he’s a different kind of athlete. Today, he’s a World Cup winner!

Snowboardcross is a hardscrabble contact sport pitting four riders against each other at high speed down a course that pitches and winds through banked turns and soaring jumps. It made its Olympic debut in 2006 with American Seth Wescott taking gold. It’s a sport won on strategy, finesse and sometimes luck, amidst the chaos of bumping elbows roller derby-style.

Take one look at Kearney and the first thing that comes to mind is motorcycle dude, heavy metal rock star or skateboarder. All are correct. With shoulder-length hair flowing in the wind, he’s equally at home atop the deck of a skateboard or his 1972 Shovelhead chopper.

MONTAFON, Austria (Dec. 18, 2016)—Americans Alex Deibold (Boulder, CO) and Nick Baumgartner (Iron River, MI) secured a third-place finish at the first snowboardcross team World Cup race of the season on Sunday.

It was an exciting final with multiple lead changes and lots of passing. In the end, Spanish team of Laro Herrero and Lucas Eguibar edged the field for the win. Emanuel Perathoner and Omar Visintin of Italy took second, while Deibold and Baumgartner were able to capitalize on a finish-line crash to take the podium position.

For the ladies, Rosie Mancari (Anchorage, AK) and Lindsey Jacobellis (Stratton Mountain, VT) made the final and finished just off the podium in fourth place.

Hagen Kearney (Telluride, CO), who scored his first World Cup win in the individual race on Saturday, was ninth with teammate Nate Holland (Squaw Valley, CA).