Industry News
Mikaela Shiffrin is back on snow after the longest break she can remember in her professional skiing career. The 20/21 training season has officially begun for U.S. Ski and Snowboard team members with the first training camp of the year. Held at Copper Mountain, CO, the team followed social distancing protocols while experiencing better-than-expected conditions.
Shiffrin took a month away from the competitive World Cup circuit following the death of her father in February. She spent time grieving with her family in their home in Edwards, CO before attempting to return to ski racing in March. She hoped to participate in one last FIS Ski World Cup event before the end of the season. Shiffrin was slated to race in Åre, Sweden, which is where Shiffrin first won a World Cup event in 2012 at the age of 17. Unfortunately, the race in Åre was canceled due to the coronavirus.
Two-time Olympic gold medalist Shiffrin made the most of her time off the snow. She is settling into her role as CEO of her brand, as well as participating in her foundation Kindness Wins, and giving charitably to those facing food insecurity as a result of the pandemic. Shiffrin also kept up her lively presence on social media, posting videos of herself singing, dancing, and of course, working hard in her home gym.
In early June, Shiffrin was able to click into her skis again, after the longest period of time she’s spent off snow in her professional career. The training camp took place at Copper Mountain, CO, with a lot of safety measures put in place, including policies to promote social distancing. Shiffrin focused her training on fundamentals of both slalom and giant slalom and was able to work on her skills both on softer conditions as well as hardpack caused by spring freeze-thaw cycles.
“I wasn’t sure how it [skiing] was going to feel after such a long time and with everything going on in the world, but I am so thankful to have had the opportunity to spend some time training on snow. I really can’t thank Copper, the U.S. Ski Team, and my team enough for working together to create great training conditions that led to a really productive camp.”
– Mikaela Shiffrin
