Vermont Trained 1/5 of this Year’s U.S. Ski Team

October 18, 2015November 2, 2015 Biddle Duke 4784 Views Mikaela Shiffrin, ski, ski racing, skiing, vermont

Meet the Vermonters and Vermont-trained who make up 20 percent of this year’s U.S. Ski Team —By Biddle Duke

It’s no surprise that one fifth of the 50 skiers named to the U.S. Alpine ski team this summer hail from Vermont racing programs. A cradle of American skiing, Vermont has been producing the nation’s top skiers for the past 50 years, skiers such as Olympic champions Billy Kidd, Barbara Ann Cochran and Tiger Shaw (who is currently chief executive of the United States Ski and Snowboard Association, which manages American ski racing and the national team). The team is broken into four groupings, A through D, with A teamers offered the most funding.

The USSA also names a university team of top collegiate racers. This year’s team members with Vermont roots are:

A Team: Mikaela Schiffrin, Burke Mountain Academy

B Team: Ryan Cochran-Siegle, Cochran’s Ski Area and Mt. Mansfield Ski Club; Nolan Kasper, Warren and Burke Mountain Academy; Kieffer Christianson, Burke Mountain Academy

C Team: Tim Kelley, Cochran’s Ski Area and Mt. Mansfield Ski Club; Drew Duffy, Warren and Green Mountain Valley School; Nicholas Krause, Stratton Mountain School; Nina O’Brien, Burke Mountain Academy

D Team: Patrick Kenney, Burke Mountain Academy; Alice Merryweather, Stratton Mountain Academy National University Team: Griffin Brown and Sandy Vietze, University of Vermont

Biddle Duke

Competition columnist Biddle Duke grew up ski racing in New England, raised two ski racers and is passionate for the sport. For 17 years he owned and ran The Stowe Reporter, the award-winning paper that has been central to Vermont ski racing coverage, and then its sister publication, The Waterbury Record. He lives and writes from Stowe.