Alpine skiing

Nicole Begue (Argentina)

Specialty: Downhill

Colorado connection: Born in Miami, Begue skis for Argentina but came up training through Ski and Snowboard Club Vail.

What to know: Begue finished sixth in the women’s super-G at the 2025 Youth Olympics in South Korea. In her lone World Cup start, in December, she finished 55th in a downhill at St. Moritz.

Competing: Feb. 8 (downhill), 12 (super-G)

Results: Finished 30th in the downhill, 22nd in the super-G.

Lasse Gaxiola (Mexico)

Specialty: Giant slalom

Colorado connection: The son of Vail ski racer Sarah Schleper and Federico Gaxiola, the Mexican national team coach.

What to know: Gaxiola, 18, is Mexico’s lone male Alpine competitor. He and his mother are the Olympics’ first mother-son duo to compete at the same games.

Competing: Feb. 14

Results: Finished 53rd in the giant slalom.

Phoebe Heaydon (Australia)

Specialty: Slalom, giant slalom

Colorado connection: The Australian tech skier lives in Edwards and graduated from Vail Mountain School. She grew up training with Ski and Snowboard Club Vail.

What to know: Heaydon, 20, is competing in her first Olympics. She took first in the slalom at the national championships in Santa Caterina, Italy, last April.

Competing: Feb. 15, 18

Results: Finished 34th in the giant slalom.

Kyle Negomir

Specialty: Downhill, super-G

Colorado connection: Born and raised in Littleton, “Nego” grew up ski racing at Copper Mountain

What to know: A specialist in the speed disciplines of downhill and super-G, Negomir scored his first World Cup points in 2023. His best career result came in Italy — he was 11th in a World Cup downhill in Val Gardena in December.

Competing: Feb. 7 (downhill), 11 (super-G)

Results: Finished 10th in the downhill, 26th in the super-G.

River Radamus

Specialty: Super-G, giant slalom

Colorado connection: The son of two decorated ski coaches, Radamus grew up in Edwards

What to know: Radamus was just 0.24 seconds from claiming a medal in giant slalom at the Beijing Winter Olympics, finishing fourth. This World Cup season, he’s finished sixth twice and seventh twice in his best event.

Competing: Feb. 11 (super-G), 14 (giant slalom)

Results: Did not finish the super-G, finished 17th in the giant slalom.

Sarah Schleper (Mexico)

Specialty: Super-G, giant slalom

Colorado Connection: Schleper hails from Vail and is the daughter of Buzz Schleper, whose ski shop, Buzz’s Boards, has been a staple in the village for over four decades.

What to know: This is Schleper’s seventh Olympics, but her first competing with her son, Lasse Gaxiola, for Team Mexico. She competed for Team USA for her first four Olympics, starting with Nagano 1998, and for Mexico in PyeongChang and Beijing. In the 2022 Winter Games, she was 37th in the giant slalom and 35th in the super-G. At 46, she is the oldest Alpine competitor in Olympic history.

Results: Finished 26th in the super-G, was disqualified in the giant slalom.

Mikaela Shiffrin

Specialty: Giant slalom, slalom, combined

Colorado connection: Born in Vail, Shiffrin calls Edwards home

What to know: A ski-racing prodigy who won her first World Cup race at 17, Shiffrin is already the GOAT of Alpine — blowing past Ingemar Stenmark’s record of 86 World Cup wins in 2023 and becoming the first and only skier to hit 100 wins in Feb. 2025. After a disappointing 0-for-5 showing at the 2022 Beijing Olympics, she looks primed to rebound on a familiar track in Italy, where she’s won four World Championships medals, including one gold, and landed on three World Cup podiums across five disciplines.

Competing: Feb. 10 (combined), 15 (giant slalom), 18 (slalom)

�����ܱ��ٲ�:��Finished fourth in the combined. Finished 11th in the giant slalom.

Lindsey Vonn

Specialty: Downhill, super-G, combined

Colorado connection: Born in Minnesota, Vonn moved to Vail at 12 to train with Ski and Snowboard Club Vail

What to know: Vonn’s riveting comeback story veered way off course on Jan. 30 after she crashed in a World Cup downhill in Switzerland. She announced that she still intends to compete with a brace after completely rupturing the ACL in her left knee, as well as sustaining meniscus damage and bone bruising.

Competing: Feb. 8 (downhill), 10 (combined), 12 (super-G)

Results: Crashed in the downhill, suffering a broken left leg. Pulled out of the remaining competitions.

More coverage:

• Lindsey Vonn is preparing to fly home to the US with more surgeries to come, team official tells AP.
• Lindsey Vonn hopes to go home after another surgery following crash in Olympic downhill.
• Lindsey Vonn’s father tells the AP he wants her to retire after her Olympic crash.
• Lindsey Vonn’s fall explained: A reverse banked section, an unfortunate bump and an inflated air bag.
• Breezy Johnson wins Olympic downhill on day marred by American teammate Lindsey Vonn’s crash.

Katie Hensien

Specialty: Giant slalom, slalom

Colorado connection: Attended the University of Denver, where she juggled academics and skiing

What to know: Hensien competed for the Pioneers while racing on the World Cup and Europa Cup circuits with the U.S. Ski Team. A tech specialist, her best World Cup result is a fourth in slalom in Oct. 2024.

Competing: Feb. 15 (giant slalom), 18 (slalom)

Results: Despite being named to the team, Hensien withdrew from competition because she was not fully healed after suffering a fractured tibia during training.

Bobsled

Hunter Powell

Specialty: Four-man bobsled

Colorado connection: Fort Collins native. He won the conference championship in indoor heptathlon and outdoor decathlon at CSU.

What to know: Powell, 29, made the transition from track and field to bobsledding in 2024. His four-man team finished seventh at the 2025 IBSF World Championships.

Competing: Feb. 21-22

Results: None yet

Freestyle skiing

Alex Ferreira

Specialty: Halfpipe

Colorado connection: Aspen native

What to know: This will be the third Olympic Games for Ferreira, 31. He captured the bronze in 2022 and silver in 2018.

Competing: Feb. 19-20

Results: None yet

Jackson Harvey (Australia)

Specialty: Moguls

Colorado connection: Born in Winter Park.

What to know: Harvey, 23, moved to Australia in 2022. His mother is originally from Melbourne.

Competing: Feb. 10, 12, 15

Results: Finished eighth in the moguls, lost in the second round of the dual moguls.

Birk Irving

Specialty: Halfpipe

Colorado connection: The son of a ski patroller grew up skiing at Winter Park.

What to know: Irving, 26, will be competing in his second Winter Olympics. He finished fifth in the halfpipe in 2022.

Competing: Feb. 19-20

Results: None yet

Svea Irving

Specialty: Halfpipe

Colorado connection: The younger sister of Birk Irving grew up at the base of Winter Park.

What to know: Irving, 23, is the younger sister of fellow Olympian Birk. She punched her ticket to the Games after finishing third at the Calgary Snow Rodeo World Cup. Fun fact: Their grandfather is John Irving, the author of “The Cider House Rules” and “The World According to Garp.”

Competing: Feb. 19, 21

Results: None yet

Riley Jacobs

Specialty: Halfpipe

Colorado connection: From Oak Creek

What to know: The 23-year-old Jacobs suffered a torn ACL in November 2024 but returned to competition for the 2025-26 season.

Competing: Feb. 19, 21

Results: None yet

Tess Johnson

Specialty: Moguls

Colorado connection: Vail native

What to know: Johnson, 25, was the youngest-ever moguls skier to be named to the national team when she was 14. She has two world championship dual moguls medals: a bronze in 2019 and a silver in 2025.

Competing: Feb. 10, 11, 14

Results: Finished 10th in the moguls, lost in the quarterfinals of the dual moguls.

Jaelin Kauf

Specialty: Moguls

Colorado connection: Vail native

What to know: Kauf, 29, captured a silver medal in 2022 Beijing Games in moguls.

Competing: Feb. 10, 11, 14

Results: Won silver in both the moguls and dual moguls.

Elizabeth Lemley

Specialty: Moguls

Colorado connection: Vail native

What to know: The 20-year-old was named the FIS World Cup rookie of the year in 2022. She also has a pilot’s license to fly four-seaters and prop planes.

Competing: Feb. 10, 11, 14

Results: Won gold in the moguls, bronze in the dual moguls.

Charlie Mickel

Specialty: Moguls

Colorado connection: From Durango

What to know: Mickel, 21, is a two-time national champion.

Competing: Feb. 10, 12, 15

Results: Finished 12th in the moguls, lost in the quarterfinals of the dual moguls.

Landon Wendler

Specialty: Moguls

Colorado connection: From Steamboat Springs.

What to know: The 25-year-old Wendler is making his first Olympic Games.

Competing: Feb. 10, 12, 15

Results: Finished 17th in the moguls, lost in the first round to Charlie Mickel in the dual moguls.

Hockey

Joel Kiviranta (Finland)

Specialty: Forward

Colorado connection: Depth winger for the Colorado Avalanche.

What to know: He was part of the Finnish team that won the 2019 Ice Hockey World Championships.

Competing: vs. Slovakia, Feb. 11; vs. Sweden, Feb. 13; vs. Italy, Feb. 14.

Results: Two goals in two games.

Artturi Lehkonen (Finland)

Specialty: Forward

Colorado connection: No. 1 left wing for the Colorado Avalanche.

What to know: Lehkonen, 30, is on pace for career-highs in points and assists for the Avs this season. This is his second stint with the Finnish senior national team, following last year’s 4 Nations Face-Off.

Competing: vs. Slovakia, Feb. 11; vs. Sweden, Feb. 13; vs. Italy, Feb. 14.

Results: One goal and three assists through three games.

Gabe Landeskog (Sweden)

Specialty: Forward

Colorado connection: Captain of the Colorado Avalanche

What to know: Landeskog, 33, didn’t play with the Avs from the end of the 2021-22 season (when Colorado won the Stanley Cup) until the 2024-25 playoffs due to a knee injury. He’s been Colorado’s captain since the 2012-13 season, when he was just 19, and is the third-longest tenured captain behind just Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby and Washington’s Alexander Ovechkin.

Competing: vs. Italy, Feb. 11; vs. Finland, Feb. 13; vs. Slovakia, Feb. 14.

Results: Two goals and an assist through four games.

Nathan MacKinnon (Canada)

Specialty: Forward

Colorado connection: No. 1 center for the Colorado Avalanche

What to know: MacKinnon, 30, is the NHL’s leading goal scorer (40) this season and is second to Oilers’ Connor McDavid in points (91). The No. 1 overall pick in the 2013 NHL draft is high among the franchise’s scorers, ranking third in goals (407), second in assists (699) and second in points (1,106).

Competing: vs. Czechia, Feb. 12; vs. Switzerland, Feb. 13; vs. France, Feb. 15.

Results: Two goals and three assists through three games.

Cale Makar (Canada)

Specialty: Defenseman

Colorado connection: Defenseman for the Colorado Avalanche

What to know: Makar, 27, has won the James Norris Memorial Trophy twice in his career for being the NHL’s top defenseman. NHL Network named him the fourth-best player in the league entering this season, two spots behind teammate Nathan MacKinnon. And a fun fact: He was the cover athlete for the NHL 24 video game.

Competing: vs. Czechia, Feb. 12; vs. Switzerland, Feb. 13; vs. France, Feb. 15.

Results: One goal and three assists through three games.

Martin Necas (Czechia)

Specialty: Forward

Colorado connection: No. 1 right wing for the Colorado Avalanche.

What to know: Necas, 27, will be making his third stint with the Czech national team. He scored seven points (1 goal, 6 assists) to help the team win the 2024 IIHF World Championship. He’s on pace for career highs in goals, assists and points this season for the Avs.

Competing: vs. Canada, Feb. 12; vs. France, Feb. 13; vs. Switzerland, Feb. 15.

Results: Three goals and four assists through four games.

More coverage:

• Injured Avalanche stars should be ready for 2026 Winter Olympics.

Brock Nelson

Specialty: Forward

Colorado connection: No. 2 center for the Colorado Avalanche

What to know: Nelson, 34, has played 44 games for the U.S. national team, tallying 19 goals and 16 assists.

Competing: vs. Latvia, Feb. 12; vs. Denmark, Feb. 13; vs. Germany, Feb. 15.

Results: Two goals and an assist through three games.

Jaccob Slavin

Specialty: Defenseman

Colorado connection: Erie native and a star at Colorado College

What to know: Slavin, 31, joins Nick Shore (2022), Troy Terry (2018) and John Grahame (2006) as Colorado natives named to the U.S. Olympic men’s hockey team in the 21st century. He has twice won the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy (2021 and 2024), which is the NHL’s sportsmanship award.

Competing: vs. Latvia, Feb. 12; vs. Denmark, Feb. 13; vs. Germany, Feb. 15.

Results: One assist through three games.

Devon Toews (Canada)

Specialty: Defenseman

Colorado connection: Defenseman for the Colorado Avalanche

What to know: Toews, 31, was part of the Canadian team that won the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament last year. Since joining Colorado in 2020, he’s been paired with Cale Makar as the team’s top defensive line. They’re in the Olympics.

Competing: vs. Czechia, Feb. 12; vs. Switzerland, Feb. 13; vs. France, Feb. 15.

Results: One goal in three games.

Figure skating

Ellie Kam

Specialty: Pairs with Daniel O’Shea

Colorado connection: Grew up in Colorado Springs, currently attends the University of Colorado — Colorado Springs.

What to know: Kam, 21, teamed with her pairs partner, Danny O’Shea, in 2022. Together, they’ve captured two bronzes, a silver and a gold over the last four U.S. Championships.

Competing: Team event pairs, Feb. 6 and 8; Pairs short program, Feb. 15; Pairs free skating, Feb. 16.

Results: Won gold in the team event, finished ninth in the pairs.

Daniel O’Shea

Specialty: Pairs with Ellie Kam

Colorado connection: Colorado Springs resident. Graduated from the University of Colorado — Colorado Springs.

What to know: O’Shea, 34, is a veteran of the sport. This will be his first Olympic Games after missing out in 2018 when he and his partner, Tarah Kayne, finished runner-up in the U.S. Championships. They were given an alternate spot for the Games as the U.S. only had one pairs spot that year.

Competing: Team event pairs, Feb. 6 and 8; Pairs short program, Feb. 15; Pairs free skating, Feb. 16.

Results: Won gold in the team event, finished ninth in the pairs.

Nordic skiing

Lauren Jortberg

Specialty: Cross-country skiing

Colorado connection: Boulder native

What to know: Jortberg, 28, was a three-time NCAA All-American at Dartmouth College.

Competing: Feb. 10

Results: Reached the quarterfinals in the women’s sprint.

Niklas Malacinski

Specialty: Nordic combined

Colorado connection: Grew up in Steamboat Springs

What to know: The 22-year-old was a gold medalist at the 2024 U.S. National Championships and won gold and silver at the 2023 World University Games. His father was a ski instructor and his mother was nearly an Olympic swimmer.

Competing: Feb. 9-11, 13, 15-19

Results: Finished 13th in the individual large hill/10K, 18th in the individual normal hill/10K.

Hailey Swirbul

Specialty: Cross-country skiing

Colorado connection: Born and raised in El Jebel.

What to know: Swirbul, 27, retired in 2023 but came back in 2025. She competed in the 2022 Beijing Olympics.

Competing: Feb. 7, 12, 14

Results: Finished 39th in the 10K.

Ski jumping

Annika Belshaw

Specialty: Ski jump

Colorado connection: Born and raised in Steamboat Springs.

What to know: Belshaw, 23, has won nine gold medals at the U.S. National Championships. She isn’t the only ski jumper in her family. Her younger brother Erik also competes professionally.

Competing: Feb. 7

Results: Finished 21st in the normal hill individual, disqualified from the large hill individual and finished seventh in the mixed team event.

Jason Colby

Specialty: Ski jump

Colorado connection: From Steamboat Springs.

What to know: Colby, 19, was the highest-ranked American ski jumper in 2024.

Competing: Feb. 9, 10 and 14.

Results: Finished 20th in the normal hill individual, 31st in the large hill individual and finished seventh in the mixed team event.

Ski mountaineering

Cam Smith

Specialty: Ski mountaineering

Colorado connection: Lives in Crested Butte. Graduated from Western Colorado University.

What to know: The 30-year-old is an 11-time U.S. Ski Mountaineering national champion and five-time North American Ski Mountaineering champion.

Competing: Feb. 19 and 21

Results: None yet

More coverage:

• How Crested Butte resident����ap rise as face of US ski mountaineering led him to sport����ap Olympic debut

Sled hockey

Brett Bolton

Specialty: Forward

Colorado connection: Attends CU-Boulder.

What to know: Bolton, 19, was part of the Team USA roster that won the Para Hockey Cup in December. He scored his first career hat trick (three goals in a game) in the semifinal and followed it up with the game-winning goal in the championship.

Competing: vs. Italy, March 7; vs. Germany, March 9; vs. China, March 10.

Results: None yet

Declan Farmer

Specialty: Forward

Colorado connection: Lives in Boulder.

What to know: Won gold medals with Team USA in 2014, 2018 and 2022. He is the U.S. all-time leader in career goals, assists and points.

Competing: vs. Italy, March 7; vs. Germany, March 9; vs. China, March 10.

Results: None yet

Malik Jones

Specialty: Forward

Colorado connection: Born and raised in Aurora.

What to know: He was part of the gold-medal-winning team in the 2022 Beijing Games.

Competing: vs. Italy, March 7; vs. Germany, March 9; vs. China, March 10.

Results: None yet

Snowboarding

Chase Blackwell

Specialty: Halfpipe

Colorado connection: Blackwell hails from Longmont and considers Copper Mountain his home mountain.

What to know: As a young boy, Blackwell wanted to be like Shaun White after he saw the Olympic legend compete at the X Games at Buttermilk. He wound up facing White in 2021 at the U.S. Grand Prix in Aspen, where he captured the U.S. National Championship as the top American finisher on the World Cup circuit.

Competing: Feb. 11, 13

Results: Finished 15th in the halfpipe.

Jake Canter

Specialty: Slopestyle, big air

Colorado connection: Calls Silverthorne home

What to know: Canter overcame a life-threatening traumatic brain injury in 2016 while training on a trampoline at Woodward Copper. Doctors gave him only a 20 percent chance of living. He recovered and returned to nowboarding in 2017, though the injury left him permanently deaf in his right ear.

Competing: Feb. 5, 7, 16, 18

Results: Finished 15th in the big air.

Lily Dhawornvej

Specialty: Slopestyle, big air

Colorado connection: Lily and her brother, Caleb, also a competitive snowboarder, grew up riding at Copper Mountain

What to know: Dhawornvej’s uncle, a snowboard instructor at Copper, taught her and her brother how to ride. She’s a human joystick — adept at riding switch and spinning in all four directions.

Competing: Feb. 8, 9, 16, 17

Results: Finished 20th in the big air.

Stacy Gaskill

Specialty: Boardercross

Colorado connection: The University of Colorado student hails from Golden.

What to know: At the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing, Gaskill finished seventh in women’s boardercross and ninth in the mixed team event. Outside of snowboarding, she’s a three-time World Ultimate Frisbee champion as a member of the University of Colorado Women’s Ultimate A Team.

Competing: Feb. 13, 15

Results: Finished 13th in the boardercross.

Red Gerard

Specialty: Slopestyle, big air

Colorado connection: Gerard lives in Silverthorne.

What to know: Gerard, 25, the gold medalist in slopestyle at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Games, will be competing in his third Olympics — and plans to roll deep with some 40 family members and friends in tow to watch him compete. He has seven siblings — five brothers and two sisters.

Competing: Feb. 5, 7, 16, 18

Results: Finished 20th in the big air.

Ollie Martin

Specialty: Slopestyle, big air

Colorado connection: Martin’s hometown is Vail.

What to know: Just 17, Martin enters his first Olympics as the youngest male snowboarder in history to win a World Cup slopestyle event. The two-time world championship bronze medalist also holds the distinction of being the youngest snowboarder ever to land a 2160-degree spin and the first rider in the world to stomp both a frontside and backside 2160.

Competing: Feb. 5, 7, 16, 18

Results: Finished fourth in the big air.

Jake Pates

Specialty: Halfpipe

Colorado connection: Pates hails from Eagle.

What to know: After finishing eighth in the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Games’ halfpipe final, Pates stepped away from competitive snowboarding in 2019 as a result of repeated head injuries. In March 2020, he founded the Happy Healthy Brain Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to raising awareness about concussion protocols and advancing brain health for athletes through baseline brain scanning.

Competing: Feb. 11, 13

Results: Finished eighth in the halfpipe.

Madeline Schaffrick

Specialty: Halfpipe

Colorado connection: Schaffrick’s hometown is Steamboat Springs.

What to know: A teenage prodigy who first made her professional debut in 2008 at just 14 years old, Schaffrick stepped away from competitive snowboarding at 20 and found a career as a plumber. She returned to competition in 2024 after a nearly decade-long hiatus spent coaching and will compete in her first Olympics at 31.

Competing: Feb. 11, 12

Results: Finished 15th in the halfpipe.

Cody Winters

Specialty: Boardercross, parallel giant slalom

Colorado connection: Steamboat Springs is his hometown

What to know: Winters finished 29th in parallel giant slalom at the 2022 Beijing Winter Games. In January 2025, he captured third place in parallel slalom at Bad Gastein, Austria—Team USA’s first Alpine snowboard world cup podium since 2015. He is the first rider to compete in World Cup events across both parallel and snowboard cross disciplines since 2009, managing one of the most demanding competition schedules in snowboarding.

Competing: Feb. 8, Feb. 12

Results: Finished 21st in the parallel giant slalom, lost in the first round of the boardercross.

Alex Ferreira made it three for three this season with a win in the X Games Aspen superpipe on Sunday night, enjoying redemption after a disappointing 2023 contest when he took two hard falls, finished last out of eight competitors and heard critics suggest that maybe it was time to retire.

“It����ap the most unbelievable feeling I’ve ever felt,” the Aspen-born skier said in the finish area. “This is the sweetest redemption I’ve ever tasted. I fell both runs really hard last year. I didn’t even know if I was going to continue to compete after that. And to come back, wow, what can you say. I’m out of words I’m so happy.”

New Zealand’s Nico Porteous, who sat out X Games last year after winning it twice the two years prior, took silver in the men’s halfpipe skiing final with a creative new program at Buttermilk Ski Area.

Oregon’s Hunter Hess won the bronze medal, his first at X Games.

Read the .

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Specialty: Halfpipe

Age: 27

The Aspen native is looking to build upon his debut at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games where he scored a silver medal in the halfpipe. He has tallied six medals (two golds, two silvers and two bronzes) in the superpipe at the X Games and three golds at the Dew Tour (2017-18, ‘20). His father, Marcelo, was a professional soccer player in Argentina.

Competing: Feb. 17 and 19

The Centennial State will have 23 athletes, by their recognized hometowns, according to the United State Olympic and Paralympic Committee. It is tied for the second biggest contingent with Minnesota and behind only California (29).

Alpine skier Mikaela Shiffrin, of Edwards, is the most decorated among the Colorado crew, having won two gold medals (slalom in 2014 and giant slalom in 2018) and a silver (combined in 2018). The two golds are tied for the most all-time among American Alpine racers.

Vail-born skeleton racer Katie Uhlaender will be competing in her fifth Olympic Games, tied for the most on the Americans with Lindsey Jacobelis, John Shuster and Shaun White.

Silverthorne’s Red Gerard returns for his second Olympic Games. In 2018, he became the youngest winter Olympian to win a gold medal at the age of 17, after capturing the slopestyle title in snowboarding. Goaltender Nicole Hensley, of Littleton, will again mind the net as the U.S. women’s hockey team looks to defend its gold. Aspen native Alex Ferriera won silver in the freestyle ski halfpipe in 2018. Alex Deibold won bronze in the snowboard cross in 2014.

Nordic combined racer Taylor Fletcher, of Steamboat Springs, is competing in his fourth straight Olympics, while Aaron Blunck, of Crested Butte, is going to his third. Other Coloradans returning for their second Games, include Taylor Gold (2014), Mick Dierdorff (2018), Alex Deibold (2014), Hagen Kearney (2018), Jasper Good (2018) and Joanne Reid (2018).

Here’s a look at the list of Colorado athletes, including ones not officially listed by the USOC:

Alpine skiing

• Nina O’Brien, Denver
• River Radamus, Edwards
• Mikaela Shiffrin, Edwards

Biathlon

• Joanne Reid, Grand Junction

Bobsled

• Sylvia Hoffman, Colorado Springs

Cross country skiing

• Hailey Swirbul, Aspen

Figure skating

• Mariah Bell, Monument
• Brandon Frazier, Colorado Springs

Freestyle skiing

• Aaron Blunck, Crested Butte
• Alex Ferreira, Aspen
• Hanna Faulhaber, Basalt
• Birk Irving, Winter Park
• Kai Owens, Vail
• Dylan Walczyk, Blue River

Hockey

• Nicole Hensley, Littleton
• Nick Shore, Denver

Nordic combined

• Taylor Fletcher, Steamboat Springs
• Jasper Good, Steamboat Springs

Skeleton

• Katie Uhlaender, Breckenridge

Snowboarding

• Chris Corning, Silverthorne
• Alex Deibold, Boulder
• Mick Dierdorff, Steamboat Springs
• Lucas Foster, Telluride

• Stacy Gaskill, Golden
• Red Gerard, Silverthorne
• Taylor Gold, Steamboat Springs
• Zoe Kalapos, Vail
• Hagen Kearney, Norwood
• Cody Winters, Steamboat Springs

Grand Prix will host halfpipe skiers and snowboarders from Dec. 9-11. The event will be followed by Dew Tour, which takes place from Dec. 16-19 and features halfpipe and slopestyle competitions as well as men’s and women’s snowboard adaptive competitions and a nighttime street-style jam session.

According to a release from Dew Tour, Olympic snowboarders Shaun White, Julia Marino and Silverthorne local Red Gerard are scheduled to compete in the Winter Dew Tour along with skiers Maggie Voisin, Alex Hall and Alex Ferreira.

Before the resort opens for the winter season Nov. 22, it will host Alpine ski race training in mid-October, including the opening of the U.S. Ski Team Speed Center. University teams, the U.S. men’s and women’s Alpine ski teams, and national teams from Austria, Italy, Germany, France, Switzerland, Norway, Sweden and Slovenia will be at Copper for training.

The high-profile training and Olympic qualifying events play into Copper’s new branding as “the athlete’s mountain.”

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See the photos on .

Locals Gus Kenworthy and Red Gerard finished near the bottom of the ski modified superpipe and snowboard slopestyle, respectively.

View the photos on .

The Dew Tour returns to Breckenridge Dec. 13-16, bringing with it some of the world’s best boarders and skiers.

I’m talking Colorado Olympians Red Gerard, Alex Ferreira, Gus Kenworthy, Arielle Gold and Birk Irving (youth Olympian). There are plenty of great non-Coloradans, too, I guess. (I’m looking at you, Chloe Kim, Danny Davis, Julia Marino, Ben Ferguson, Jamie Anderson and Spencer O’Brien).

Women’s ski and team ski competitions will be held Thursday, Dec. 13. The women’s ski modified superpipe final will take place Friday morning, followed by women’s snowboarding and team snowboarding. Men’s ski will be Saturday. Sunday will host the finals for men’s ski modified superpipe, men’s snowboarding jump and jib, and women’s snowboarding modified superpipe. A full schedule is available at .

The Motet will headline the Saturday night concert, where tickets range $40-$500 at Riverwalk Center in downtown Breckenridge.

The Dew Tour is (as always) free. Dec. 13, 11 a.m.-4 p.m.; Dec. 14-16, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. The concert is Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Riverwalk Center in downtown Breckenridge and tickets range $40-$500 and can be purchased at .

Snowboarding

By The Numbers

9

Number of medals won by Coloradans.

39%

Percentage of Team USA’s medals that were won by Coloradans.

Colorado Olympians who won Olympic medals in PyeongChang

MIKAELA SHIFFRIN

The 22-year-old EagleVail skier was the big winner of the Games for Colorado — she took home gold in the giant slalom and won a silver medal in the alpine combined. Despite her two medals, she was disappointed to miss out on a repeat victory in the slalom, an event in which she was heavily favored. “Every single loss that I’ve ever had, I remember that feeling — ugh — so thoroughly,” Shiffrin said of her disappointment. “It����ap like a piece of my heart breaks off and I can never get it back.”

RED GERARD

The 17-year-old from Silverthorne — fresh off a late night Netflix binge-watching session — won the first gold medal for the U.S. during the PyeongChang Games, putting together an amazing final run in the snowboard slopestyle. Gerard became a huge hit, appearing on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” and having in his honor.

NICOLE HENSLEY

The 23-year-old goaltender was a member of the Team USA’s gold-medal winning hockey team, that defeated Canada to with the first U.S. hockey gold in 20 years. Hensley shut out the Olympic athletes from Russia early in the tournament — and the images on her goalie mask became a talking point. However, the Lakewood native and Green Mountain High School grad did not get the start in the gold medal game.

ALEX FERREIRA

The 23-year-old halfpipe skier from Aspen claimed the silver medal — although it took a massive performance from fellow American David Wise to edge him out for gold. During the event, Alex’s father, Marcelo Ferreira, recruited 50 school children from Seoul to sing and dance for his son in a magical moment in Phoenix Park.

LAUREN GIBBS

In one of the most unlikely Olympic stories, Gibbs was discovered four years ago working out at a Denver gym. A friend told her she’d be good at the bobsled. Turns out Gibbs was great, as she earned a silver medal in the two-person bobsled, along with teammate Elana Meyers Taylor.

KYLE MACK

The 20-year-old first-time Olympian snowboarder from Silverthorne won the silver medal in the Big Air competition — the second medal of the Games for the town of Silverthorne. And he did it be pulling off an incredible front side 1440 one-of-a-kind bloody Dracula grab.

ARIELLE GOLD

It was a comeback story for Arielle Gold, the Steamboat Springs snowboarder, who won a bronze medal in the halfpipe. The 21-year-old Gold — a.k.a. the biggest Broncos fan at the Olympics — nearly quit snowboarding after suffering an injury during practice for the Sochi Games.

LINDSEY VONN

After one bobble cost her a medal in the super-G, the 33-year-old Vail skier won the bronze medal in what could be her final Olympic downhill race. The medal was some vindication for Vonn, who had been heckled by internet trolls in the lead-up to the Olympics. After her races, Vonn scattered her grandfathers ashes near the downhill course. After the Games, not everyone was convinced Vonn’s Olympic career is over.

After each contest, athlete accolades rained on the pipe builders, a three-man team that includes Copper Mountain snow sculptors Mark Pevny and Jake Ingle. Shaun White, Chloe Kim and David Wise all heralded the super-sized halfpipe that enabled them to win in what turned out to be America’s best gold mine of these Olympics.

“It really allowed the riders to put together a run that maybe they envisioned but haven’t been able to do,” said 33-year-old Pevny of Denver, who spends his winters building and maintaining the pipe at Copper Mountain. “We wanted to give them a platform that was a long enough, wide enough and steep enough pipe for them to be able to make these the best comps ever.”

Pevny, Ingle and their Austrian pipe-cutting partner Alli Zehetner spent more than a month at the Phoenix Park resort in South Korea’s mountainous PyeongChang County, directing a team of 70 Koreans in building the pipe. Zehetner, who built the slopestyle venue for the Sochi Olympics and is in charge of the parks at Austria’s Kitzsteinhorn resort, as well as several World Cup halfpipes, handled the cutting for the snowboard contests. Ingle was in charge of the pipe for the ski contests, captaining the GPS-guided PistenBully snow groomer mounted with the Swiss-made Zaugg pipe groomer known as the “Pipe Monster.” Pevny handled the grooming of the bottom of the pipe.

Their finesse at the controls of the machine was surgical. The slightest mistake — shaving too little, leaving too much on the walls, mulching the snow in the trough or rutting the transitions — could endanger athletes who launch 20-plus feet above the 22-foot walls. A few millimeters of over-vertical or under-vertical on the wall can alter a soaring body’s trajectory with dire consequences.

“Every second, we are thinking about perfection,” Zehetner said. “We know every inch of this halfpipe.”

“Sure, every snowflake was meticulously placed in the right place,” said a laughing Ingle, a Michigan resident who built Copper Mountain’s first halfpipe in the late 1990s and now travels the country building the Grand Prix halfpipes that host the world’s top skiers and snowboarders.

Colorado is the birthplace of the 22-foot Olympic-caliber halfpipe and now boasts one of the world’s highest concentrations of the superpipes at Buttermilk, Snowmass, Copper Mountain, Breckenridge and Vail. The technology for carving Olympic halfpipes came from Colorado. Farmer Doug Waugh crafted the first-ever pipe-carving machine in 1991, tweaking his farm machinery to create an arced arm of spinning augers and shovels that attached to a snowcat.  called his machine the Pipe Dragon, and it was used to carve halfpipes at the Nagano Games in 1998 and the Salt Lake City Olympics in 2002.

Zehetner is quick to say his team played only a role in the successes in the PyeongChang Olympic pipe. There were many other contributors, including good weather and athletes, ready to send it.

“The whole package needs to be when everything works together — to the athletes feeling it����ap their day when they get up in the morning and also the weather is a big part,” said the 41-year-old Zehetner. “We can influence one little part of it. Only when all these components come together, then it is an outcome like this.”

The trio made the pipe longer after Olympic test-event competitions last year. Athletes at those events asked them for extra space, so they added another 100 feet or so. It’s also steeper than most pipes, with a pitch of 18.3 degrees, compared with Copper’s pipe at 17.25 degrees and Mammoth’s at 18 degrees.

“This was, hands down, the very best pipe we have ever had built for us,” said U.S. Freeskiing halfpipe coach Ben Verge, whose athletes David Wise, Alex Ferreria and Brita Sigourney earned medals.

On most pipes, the highest-flying athletes quickly run out of room and can squeeze in only four hits. The Olympic pipe enabled five, even six hits.

“Since our guys are always working for more amplitude, the length is really nice to have for them,” said U.S. pipe coach Andy Woods.

Pevny, Ingle and Zehetner felt the pressure for perfection after the halfpipe debacle in Sochi four years ago, where a poorly maintained pipe did not enable high-level riding. That was not the case this time around.

“We were watching these guys build, build and build to this moment. So it was cool to see them have something where they could progress even more,” said Ingle, a snowboarder and a graduate of a ski area management program who was an intern at Copper Mountain in the late 1990s when he started building the resort����ap first halfpipe. “It����ap just cool to showcase the sport on the biggest stage possible and let the athletes do the runs they set out to do and push the sport.”