The Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club took home several honors Tuesday when U.S. Ski and Snowboard handed out awards at a banquet in Park City, Utah.

Winter Sports Club Head Coach Karl Denney was named U.S. Ski and Snowboard ski jumping and Nordic combined coach of the year, as well as overall development coach of the year.

The overall development coach of the year is chosen from among the top candidates in all sports and is among the highest honors awarded by U.S. Ski and Snowboard.

Three Winter Sports Club skiers won awards: Annika Belshaw was named ski jumping athlete of the year; and Alexa Brabec and Niklas Malacinski were named Nordic combined athletes of the year.

The club was also named ski jumping and Nordic combined club of the year for the eighth time. SSWSC now has won the honor in 2007, 2010, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2024 and 2026. The eight titles are more than any other club in the country.

One-hundredth of a second separated Alpine snowboarder Walker Overstake from realizing his Olympic dreams.

Like many Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club athletes, Overstake, 19, has dreamed of the Olympics since childhood. However, he says missing the Olympics earlier this year was a blessing in disguise and helped reshape his thoughts.

“At first I didn’t know how to take it,” said Overstake. “I had to discover what it meant to snowboard again, away from competing.”

It took Overstake three weeks to realize he was suppressing his emotions. He needed to reset — and do some free-ride snowboarding in France following the announcement.

Love for snowboarding — not winning — became his main driver for the remainder of his season. He was able to tap into a flow-state — a primal focus. One which he would not have been able to find if he had succeeded in making the team.

“I had nothing to lose or gain after the announcement,” he explained. “I had to let go and everything came together.”

Winter Sports Club Head Snowboard Coach Alex Deibold told Overstake he must learn to lose before he’s able to learn to win.

He proceeded to break out on the World Cup stage. He secured his first podium in parallel team giant slalom with Iris Pflum on Jan. 24 in Simonhoehe, Austria, and finished fourth in parallel giant slalom on March 14 in Val St. Come, Canada. In the process of taking fourth, he knocked out three-time Olympic medalist Zan Kosir of Slovenia.

His season was highlighted by three silver medals at the Junior World Championships in Folgaria, Italy in parallel slalom, parallel giant slalom and team parallel slalom March 27-29.

“It’s funny to say, but I am super-grateful for the experience of losing,” Overstake said. “I was able to let my mind heal.”

To be a good Alpine snowboarder, one has to be patient. No one is more patient than Winter Sports Club Alpine Snowboard Coach Thedo Remmelink, according to Overstake.

“Thedo always says the more patient you are, the faster you’ll go,” explained Overstake. “If you’re not patient, you’ll dump your speed.”

His goal is still to make the Olympic Games. But the way in which Overstake will attempt to achieve that goal now looks much different.

“I’m just going to go out and snowboard, and take everything one run at a time,” he said. “Everything will come into place and I’m going to try and live in the moment.”

Four-time Olympian and the most decorated triathlete in U.S. history Hunter Kemper and the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club are hosting a resiliency program titled, “Becoming Your Personal Best” next week.

The panel will take place at 5:30 p.m. Monday, April 13 at Olympian Hall in Steamboat Springs.

Kemper is expected to speak about his journey as an athlete and his stories of resilience. He will also speak on goal setting, meeting personal challenges, growing through failure and developing a positive mindset.

The larger “Becoming Your Personal Best” program is designed to help children, families and communities develop skills to meet life’s challenges through the stories of Olympians and Paralympians.

The third and final Olympian mindset panel hosted by Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club will be held at 6 p.m. April 6 in Olympian Hall at Howelsen Hill.

This panel is titled “End-of-Season Assessment, Resilience and Motivation,” and will discuss how Olympians evaluate seasons, maintain resilience through fatigue and results and reignite motivation for the next competitive cycle, according to a Winter Sports Club news release.

The featured Olympians include snowboarder Justin Reiter, freestyle mogul skier Bobby Aldighieri, freestyle mogul skier Ann Battelle and biathlete Haley Stewart.

“The conversation will center on how athletes build trust in their process, adapt when things do not go as planned and develop a competitive identity that withstands pressure,” said the release.

The panel will be moderated by Winter Sports Club Mindset Performance Coach Luke Brosterhous, and is intended to support long-term athlete development. It is free and open to the public.

Maddy Schaffrick saved her best for the last competition of the season.

She not only tied her career-high second place podium finish, she had her highest scoring run of the season at the women’s snowboarding World Cup held in Silvaplana, Switzerland on Saturday.

In the qualification round she scored 84.00 points, placing third and shooting her into the final round. Fellow American Maddie Mastro and Japanese rider Sorana Ohashi led the round scoring 88.50 and 90.00, respectively.

Schaffrick stayed consistent in the final round scoring 78.25 points. Mastro won the competition scoring 85.00 points.

One of Schaffrick’s pupils and fellow Steamboat Springs local Rocke Weinberg placed 12th in qualification and failed to advance to the final round.

Schaffrick’s season was nothing short of inspirational. The 31-year old rider is in the midst of a historic comeback. At age 20, she stepped away from snowboarding. Feeling burned out, she shifted to coaching, first at the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports club, then for the U.S. Ski and Snowboard team.

Through time away, refocusing and family support, Schaffrick found her way back. Her story has showcased perseverance and the importance of taking care of one’s mental health.

Schaffrick secured a podium finish earlier in the season taking second place on Jan. 9 in Aspen, and represented the United States at the 2026 Olympic Games in Milan Cortina — placing 15th.

Annika Belshaw has jumped the farthest distance of any American woman ski jumper.

In the process, she also became the first American women to compete in a Ski Flying World Cup event.

“Ski flying has been a bucket list event for me the past few years,” said Belshaw. “So not only did I get to do something I’ve wanted to do for awhile, but I broke a record held by someone I look up to.”

Belshaw’s top 196 meter jump during the Women’s Flying Hill HS 240 qualification round on March 22 in Vikersund, Norway surpassed trailblazer Lindsey Van and set the high water mark. She also had another 174 meter jump during the March 20 qualification round. She did not advance to the final round on either day.

Both competitions were won by Eirin Maria Kvandal of Norway. She jumped 218 and 223 meters on Saturday; and 231.5 meters on Sunday.

Women’s inclusion

The competition is only the second instance that women have been allowed to compete in ski flying events.

The prior season, 15 of the top women’s ski jumpers were invited to a truncated competition. Belshaw was not included. Her omission stoked her desire.

“After not making it last year, it became a really big goal for me,” said Belshaw. “It was honestly a dream come true.”

The International Ski and Snowboard Federation did not allow women to compete in ski flying prior to last season.

“Ski flying was declared too dangerous for women to compete in,” said Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club Ski Jumping Head Coach Karl Denney. “The last two years have shown that women are more than capable and should be given the credit they are due.”

New heights

Belshaw is setting her sights on expanding the record beyond 200 meters.

“The next benchmark is 200 meters,” said Belshaw. “I know I can get there I just need to spend more time on a ski flying hill.”

Jumping from a ski flying hill is different than ski jumping off a normal or large hill.

“The feeling of ski flying is different. A jumper can easily add 50 to 60 meters to their regular jumps,” explained Denney. “There is so much more time to spread wings and Annika did so well for having almost no experience on a ski flying hill.”

Ski flying capped a memorable season for Belshaw. She had her best overall World Cup season finishing 27th and even placed as high as seventh in an event. In February, she represented the United States in Milan Cortina. She placed 21 in the women’s normal hill and seventh in mixed team jumping events.

“Ski flying was a fantastic way to end the season,” said Belshaw. “It’s motivating me for next season and I hope to get more time on the hill and push myself further.”

Few skiers can match Olivia Giaccio’s work ethic, attention to detail and dedication. It’s those traits that have led the 25-year-old to new heights this ski season.

The season concluded Feb. 28 in Japan, where Giaccio took the top spot in moguls and second in dual moguls. Her 490 world cup points gave her the overall moguls Crystal Globe and title as World Cup champion.

“It’s surreal and I am still processing it,” said Giaccio. “It’s incredible to know that the work I have put in has led me to this moment.”

From injury to triumph

The 2024-2025 season ended differently.

During a dual moguls race in February 2025, the Connecticut native slipped. Her upper body contorted and hurtled into a mogul. She caromed off and slid down the hill. The tremendous impact snapped her collarbone.

But she looks at the injury as a blessing in disguise.

“It gave me five months off snow,” said Giaccio. “I was able to step away and heal my collarbone, and my chronic knee pain, and refocus.”

Injuries come with moguls skiing. But time off allowed her to focus on consistency.

“I let my ability to put one foot in front of the other dictate the recovery process,” said Giaccio. “That not only allowed me to heal properly, but refocus on the direction I want to head toward.”

Her former coach at the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club agrees.

“She is what happens when talent meets outstanding work ethic,” said Bobby Aldighieri. “She worked harder than anyone and her focus and drive were illuminated this season. Her success has everything to do with her mental training.”

Aldighieri supported Giaccio throughout the season.

“I am always trying to see her affect,” said Aldighieri. “Then try to bolster her so she can go into every competition as focused as possible. Much of moguls skiing success comes from how you deal with the mental versus emotional aspect of the sport.”

The duo even have a 17-page long document which dives into everything from mental and physical training to goals and achievements.

“Her attention to detail is second to none,” said Aldighieri.

Immediate success

Giaccio opened the season taking third on Dec. 5 in Ruka, Finland. The following day she grabbed second. That started a streak of five moguls competitions where she podiumed.

She stood on the podium in six of seven combined dual moguls and moguls races. She placed fourth in the only race in which she did not reach the podium, the Jan. 10 dual moguls race in Val Saint-Come, Canada.

Giaccio had trailed Australian Jakara Anthony throughout the season in total points. But her win and second place in Japan catapulted her into the top spot.

Her season did have its challenges.

Giaccio went into the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics as a top medal contender, However, a few challenging runs landed her ninth in moguls and sixth in dual moguls.

“It was a learning experience,” said Giaccio. “While I did not come away with a medal as I hoped, I still am happy with my skiing this season.”

Aldighieri explained that her rebound from the Olympics to her win in Japan is a testament to her drive.

“Very few athletes can come off the Olympics, push negativity to the side and ski the way she did,” said Aldighieri. “Her mental fortitude was on full display.”

Aldighieri competed at the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France. He fully expects Giaccio’s skiing to ascend to new heights in the four years leading up to the 2030 Winter Olympics in the French Alps.

“We have not seen her best,” he said. “The work I know she is capable of putting in between now and 2030 is immense.”

For Giaccio, she plans to ski one competition at a time.

“I know I haven’t reached my peak,” she said. “I am excited to see the heights my skiing can go to.”

As snow thaws and springtime buds sprout, a historic United States Nordic combined season has come to a close.

Alexa Brabec starred throughout the World Cup season. The Steamboat Springs athlete, 21, opened the season claiming third place on Dec. 5 in Trondheim, Norway. She finished the season with a second-place overall finish in the World Cup standings. She podiumed in eight of 14 races this season.

“It’s amazing to look back at the way this season has gone,” said Brabec. “If you would have told me this before, I wouldn’t have believed it.”

She won her first career race on Jan. 30, in Seefeld, Austria. Brabec’s win was the first victory for a U.S. Nordic athlete since 2020.

“Alexa’s success was unprecedented,” said Nordic Combined USA Spokeswoman Stephanie Wilson. “But it’s impactful beyond one person. Her success is something that will reverberate far beyond medals and podiums.”

Brabec’s journey is closely intertwined with the women’s Nordic combined struggle for inclusion as an Olympic sport, Nordic combined potentially being cut from the Olympics altogether and Nordic Combined USA’s fundraising efforts to support the athletes and develop the next generation.

“This sport is bigger than me,” said Brabec. “I’m not only doing this for myself, but the next generation of women who want to compete.”

Brabec’s hallmark has been her incredible motor and sheer will power in both jumping and cross country skiing.

“I don’t know where it comes from,” said Brabec. “Whenever I’m on course, I just don’t want to let myself or the people I represent down.”

Olympic dreams and successes

Nordic combined is the only Olympic sport that does not have gender equality.

Niklas Malacinski, 22, and Ben Loomis, 27, represented the United States at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan Cortina.

Malacinski placed 13th in the Individual Gundersen Large Hill/10 km, 18th in the Individual Gundersen Normal Hill/10 km and seventh in the team sprint with Loomis. He placed 23rd in the World Cup final standings.

Loomis placed 27th in the Individual Gundersen Large Hill/10 km and 17th in the Individual Gundersen Normal Hill/10 km. He was 37th in the World Cup final standings.

“Niklas is a young and emerging athlete,” said Wilson. “He has not even scratched the surface of his potential in our eyes.”

Fight for recognition

Wilson hopes that the successful showings from Brabec, Niklas Malacinski, Tera Geraghty-Moats and Annika Malacinski will hopefully make the International Olympic Committee appreciate that Nordic combined reaches audiences beyond the traditional Nordic powers. Diverse podium representation was one of the factors the IOC said was a goal to get the women into the games.

“The IOC stated they want podium and team success to keep the sport at the Olympics and add women,” explained Wilson. “Brabec, the Malacinskis and Geraghty-Moats have clearly shown that.”

Annika Malacinski and Tera Geraghty-Moats placed 12th and ninth, respectively, in the World Cup standings.

U.S. Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper of Colorado sent a letter to the IOC urging them to add women. Gov. Jared Polis of Colorado followed up with a letter of his own.

The state of Vermont, North American Ski Journalists Association and National Ski Jumping Hall of Fame sent endorsements as well.

Nordic Combined USA and Annika Malacinski have launched a campaign to spread the word through social media and large media outlets. Malacinski has become the face of women’s Nordic combined. Her social media posts made 25 million impressions in a 60-day span.

“Her social media savvy has really done so much to further the cause,” said Wilson.

Overall, women’s Nordic combined generated stories in 8,000 publications and over 10 billion impressions.

Nordic Combined USA even hired a public relations agency that made strides by getting articles published in national publications like USA Today, the Washington Post and Reuters.

“It’s really been an all-out effort for a volunteer-led organization,” said Wilson. “We’ve had to find a balance to make our efforts sustainable.”

Fundraising and athlete support have been a large focus for the organization. The United States teams historically have lagged behind teams like Norway, Austria and Finland.

“The Olympics goes a long way towards athlete support,” said Wilson. “It brings so many more eyes to the sport than the World Cup or the World Championship.”

Fundraising ensures the future of the organization and the sport in the U.S., according to Wilson.

The IOC is expected to make a decision on the sport’s future during its executive session in June.

“We’re holding our breath,” said Wilson. “We’re proud of the work we’ve done, but the fight’s not over.”

Stepping away

Brabec’s attention is turning to her other passion now that the season is over — canyoneering.

She and roommate Annika Belshaw — who competed at the Olympics in ski jumping — are excited to step away and take time for themselves before the upcoming season.

“I’m sad that it’s over,” Brabec explained. “But also so ready to take this time away and center myself. While I love the sport, there’s more to me than the sport.”

Noah Elliott pocketed his second Paralympic gold medal, and his fourth medal since 2018, Friday as the U.S. Paralympic team captured two podium spots in the men’s Lower Limb-1 banked slalom in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy.

“He’s amazing,” said Susan Petersen, executive director of STARS. “We are just so proud of what he has accomplished. He’s an incredible young man that’s doing a lot with his career, and it’s really cool to see.”

Elliott, who lived in Steamboat Springs and worked for STARS from 2019-2021 as an outreach coordinator, added to his medal count this week with his gold in the banked slalom, as well as a silver that he earned March 8 in the snowboard cross.

He also has the two medals from the 2018 Paralympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, where he earned a gold medal in the banked slalom as well as a bronze in boardercross. He returned to the 2022 Paralympics in Beijing, China with hopes of landing back on the podium, but he was hampered by injury.

“This is exactly what we worked so hard for,” Elliott said, in an article posted by the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Association. “I’ve been working this whole time to try to get up on that first podium spot. And to be here, coming into the banked, my strong suit, after being so close to that gold medal in boardercross, I was really excited to be able to hopefully lay down the best run and to see where that put me.”

Athletes competing the 2026 Paralympic banked slalom made their way down a winding course, filled with banked turns and rollers as they raced against the clock hoping to post the fastest time at the Cortina Para Snowboard Park. In the event, each athlete gets two runs with the fastest time counting in the final standings.

Elliott posted the two fastest times in Friday’s event. He took the lead in the first run at 58.96 seconds and then bettered it with his gold-medal winning run of 58.94 seconds on his second effort.

He was followed by Daichi Oguri of Japan who posted a time of 59.02 seconds to earn the silver medal. Fellow American Mike Schultz posted a time of 1:00.05 to capture the bronze.

The American women also shined in the Friday’s event, earning two medals in a combined LL-1/LL-2 division. Kate Delson earned the gold in the class with a time 1:02.99, finishing just ahead of the Netherlands’ Lisa Bunschoten who earned the silver with a time of 1:03.53. Delson’s American teammate, Brenna Huckaby, posted a time of 1:03.98 to win the bronze.

The athletes are grouped into three main functional classes for paralympic snowboarding competitions to ensure fair competition by grouping athletes with similar functionality into classes including LL-1 (athletes with significant impairment in one or both leg), LL-2 (athletes with less severe, lower-limb impairments, when compared to LL-1) and UL (upper limb). Due to the field size, the women’s event featured a class that combined LL-1 and LL-2 athletes at the 2026 Paralympics.

Steamboat Springs ski jumper Jason Colby soared to a bronze medal at the Junior World Ski Jumping Championships in the Normal Hill HS98 Thursday in Lillehammer, Norway.

Austrian Stephan Embacher won gold and Kacper Tomasiak of Poland was second.

Colby, 19, represented the United States at last month’s Olympic Games, as did Embacher and Taskiak, who both medaled in Milan Cortina.

The bronze is Colby’s first individual Junior World Championships medal. Last season he won the mixed team silver and men’s team bronze medals in Lake Placid, New York.

The win marks Embacher’s third Junior World Championship title. He and Sara Takanashi of Japan are the only individuals to have achieved the feat. He is the most decorated athlete in Junior World Ski Jumping Championship history. He has eight medals in total including seven golds.

Tomasiak keeps adding to his trophy case for this season. He won two silver medals and a bronze in Milan Cortina.

The three jumpers were in a class of their own after the first round. The trio were the only athletes to score 140 points or greater distancing themselves from the rest of the field. They all jumped 98 meters.

In the final round, Colby set the bar at 96 meters. Tomasiak followed that with 97 meter jump. However, Embacher put the world on notice with a competition best 98.5 meter jump to end the day. Colby finished with 276 points, Tomasiak with 287.3 points and Embacher with 296.5 points.

Fellow Steamboat ski jumpers Sawyer Graves and Arthur Tirone placed 29th and 45th, respectively.

Colby is expected to compete again Saturday in the men’s team normal hill event and Sunday in the mixed team normal hill.