Ski Racing this Week

Val Gardena Preview With Doug Lewis

On this week's Tips and Tales, Sean Higgins and Mackenzie Moran will be breaking down the recent World Cup action in Courchevel, Val d’Isere, and St. Moritz, as well as taking a brief look ahead to this weekend’s racing with the women taking on Val d’Isere this week and the men in Val Gardena, Italy.

After the discussion, Doug Lewis is back on the show this week to talk all things Val Gardena. Val Gardena is one of the most exciting stops on the men’s Tour and one that has quite a bit of history for the American Downhillers as well. It’s a really great talk so you’ll definitely want to stick around for it.

To go directly to the discussion with Doug Lewis, skip to the 33:35 mark.

Lake Louise and Beaver Creek Recap

After two long weekends in Beaver Creek and Lake Louise for both the men and the women of the World Cup, Sean Higgins and Mackenzie Moran had a lot to analyze. Both writers were on the ground at last week's races, experiencing the action up close and personal.

The men's side of the tour saw a couple of shake-ups in terms of podiums this week, with career-best finishes by 22-year-old Marco Odermatt in the super-G and Tommy Ford in the giant slalom. The women's side of the tour also had a couple of "unexpected" results, as Ester Ledecka won the first day of the downhill (another career-best finish) and a couple of women had break-through results in both the super-G and the downhill.

All-in-all, who do we think will make a play for top spots in the disciplines contested this weekend? Well, it's up for debate.

As always, listening is free and in addition to SkiRacing.com, you can also find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Beaver Creek and Lake Louise Preview With Doug Lewis

U.S. Ski Team great Doug Lewis returns to Tips and Tales for the second week in a row and we talk all about this weekend’s World Cup racing with the men in Beaver Creek and the women opening their speed season in Lake Louise. Both Doug and the Ski Racing Media team are here in Beaver Creek for the legendary Birds of Prey races and things are shaping up to be pretty spectacular with favorable forecasts for the weekend and a near-perfect racing surface looking to deliver three days of epic racing on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

We mentioned in last week’s show that Doug will be joining us on Tips and Tales periodically throughout the winter to talk about some of the most iconic stops on the World Cup tour. From Bormio, to Kitzbuehel, to Cortina, Doug has either raced these races himself or seen them enough times throughout his career as an athlete and broadcaster to give us some real insight on just what it takes to come out on top.

To go directly to the discussion with Doug Lewis, skip to the 3:40 mark.

Killington and Lake Louise Preview With Doug Lewis

On this week’s show Mackenzie Moran and Sean Higgins will be looking back on last weekend’s action up in Levi, Finland, as well as looking ahead to this weekend’s World Cups in Killington, Vermont.

Later in the show, Sean also sits down with U.S. Ski Team legend Doug Lewis to talk about the weekend’s men’s speed opener in Lake Louise. If you aren’t familiar with Doug already we think it’s a safe bet you’ll be familiar with his voice. He’s been a regular alongside Steve Porino on NBC’s skiing broadcasts in the past and has MC’d the finish area at domestic World Cups for years in places like Beaver Creek and Killington. We are also very excited to announce that Doug will be joining us on the show periodically throughout the winter to talk with us about some of the most iconic stops on the World Cup tour. Bormio, Wengen, Kitzbuehel, Cortina, and more, Doug has either raced these races himself or seen them enough times throughout his career to give us some real insight on just what it takes to come out on top.

To go directly to the discussion with Doug Lewis, skip to the 33:00 mark.

Levi Preview With NBC Sports' Steve Porino

On today’s show, Sean Higgins sits down with NBC Sports’ Steve Porino to talk all about this weekend’s World Cup slalom opener in Levi, Finland, and discuss the outlook for the rest of the season in slalom. Can anyone beat Mikaela Shiffrin? Who will step up in a crowded men’s field with the retirement of Marcel Hirscher? We cover all of that and more in this week’s episode.

Steve and the Ski Racing Media team were fortunate enough to spend last week in Copper Mountain, Colorado, and were able to observe some pre-season training from the likes of the U.S. Ski Team’s Shiffrin and many other national teams who come to Copper to train before the rest of the World Cup season gets underway. It’s a very unique opportunity for those of us in the media and we took full advantage of it.

To go directly to the discussion with Steve Porino, skip to the 3:28 mark.

Catching up With Ryan Cochran-Siegle

On this week's Tips and Tales, Sean Higgins sits down with U.S. Ski Team star Ryan Cochran-Siegle. Ryan has been steadily climbing the ranks of the World Cup in recent years and kicked his season off last month in Soelden with an 11th place finish, which was also his best opening racer ever on the World Cup. Ryan also made his first career appearance at World Cup Finals last spring in super-G and is currently the only skier on the men’s team that bridges the gap between speed and tech on the World Cup, regularly competing and scoring points in downhill, super-G, giant slalom, and combined.

Ryan is as good of a guy as there is in ski racing and it was great to catch up with him about Soelden, his outlook on the season, and how he has evolved as a skier and person over the years before he headed off to Colorado to prepare for the rest of the World Cup season.

To go directly to Ryan's interview, skip to the 4:30 mark.

Soelden Recap and the U.S. Ski Team's Nina O'Brien

On this week’s show, Sean Higgins and Mackenzie Moran will be recapping all the action from last weekend’s World Cup opener in Soelden, Austria. Sean and Mackenzie talk about the good, the bad, and the ugly from the weekend and discuss the bizarre equipment saga of one of Austria's top women's skiers, Katharina Liensberger.

A little later in the show, Mackenzie got the chance to interview rising U.S. Ski Team technical star and multiple time U.S. National Champion, Nina O’Brien. Nina started her World Cup season off on the right foot on Saturday, scoring some valuable points with a 21st place finish and the two discuss her weekend, the vibe of the women's technical team, and her outlook for the rest of her season on the World Cup.

To go directly to the Nina O'Brien interview, skip to the 19:50 mark.

Soelden World Cup Preview and Coaches' Education with Gareth Trayner

World Cup racing is back! On this week's episode of Tips and Tales, Sean Higgins and Mackenzie Moran dive head-first back into the World Cup and take a look at what to expect from the upcoming season opener in Soelden, Austria, the things we’re looking to see out of the first few races, and the storylines we will be following all winter long. A little later in the show, Sean sits down for an interview with U.S. Ski & Snowboard Director of Sport Education, Gareth Trayner, where they talk all things coaches' education and some exciting new developments in that realm over at the national governing body.

To go directly to the Gareth Trayner interview, skip ahead to the 22:10 mark.

Team X's Coley Oliver

On this week's episode of Tips and Tales, we talk with Team X’s Head of Strength and Conditioning and Assistant Coach, Coley Oliver.

Last summer, the all-female Team X was formed in Park City with the goal of supporting elite-level female skiers and their post-graduate ski racing ambitions. It just so happened they were looking for another coach too. It was an opportunity Oliver simply couldn’t pass up so he packed up his truck and made the move back home to Utah.

With strong results across the board from Team X’s athletes last season and Dartmouth grad Forest Peterson even making a World Cup start in Killington, the team showed that they were for real. Unfortunately, the team suffered a few injuries too but that’s where Oliver’s expertise as a trainer comes in.

Oliver and host Sean Higgins talk about his coaching philosophy, integrating his athletes for training and racing with the national team, and the challenges of helping elite-level athletes return from injury without the support system of a national program.

Jaqueline Wiles and Her Return to the World Cup

The U.S. Ski Team's Jacqueline Wiles has been on quite the journey over the past year and a half. At 27-years-old, Wiles has been a rising star on the powerhouse U.S. women’s World Cup speed team for a number of years now and has earned her way to two third-place downhill finishes on the World Cup, one coming in 2017 in Altenmark-Zauchensee, Austria, and the other coming almost exactly one year later in Cortina D’Ampezzo, Italy, site of the 2021 World Championships.

Unofortunately, that momentum came to a screeching halt just days after her second World Cup podium in the final race series before the 2018 PyeongChang games where she suffered a traumatic knee injury after a hard fall in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.

Now returned to snow and looking towards her first World Cup start in almost two years, Wiles talks about everything from her relationship with the great Lindsey Vonn, the unique dynamics of the World Cup speed tea, her plans for the coming season, and her post-ski racing career in aviation. You won't be disappointed.