Mancuso wins record 15th national title; Vonn skis off course, says she’ll have knees examined

Julia Mancuso sliced through the slushy spring snow at the Nature Valley U.S. Alpine Championships on Saturday (March 31) to win the Giant Slalom, her record 15th national title (she won Super G on Friday).

Hear what Mancuso had to say, how teen sensation Mikaela Shiffrin performed and when to see this on TV. Read more.

Meanwhile, overall World Cup champion Lindsey Vonn skied off the course in the first run, then shared the news that she would be having an MRI performed on both of her knees on Monday. Vonn, who said she did not want to discuss her knee issues during the season, told the Denver Post it might just be minor meniscus damage. Vonn also discussed what happened during that ill-fated first run with Skiing Magazine.

PREVIOUSLY

• Mikaela Shiffrin followed up a strong first year on the World Cup tour on Wednesday (March 28) with a successful defense of her title in slalom.
• In the Men’s Slalom on Thursday (March 29), Tommy Ford of Oregon topped the podium.

The event concludes Sunday with the Men’s Giant Slalom, featuring Ted Ligety, who just missed defending his GS title this season.

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Mikaela Shiffrin defends her slalom title during U.S. Alpine Championships at Winter Park

The U.S. Alpine Championships are being held this week at Winter Park (US Ski Team)

Mikaela Shiffrin followed up a strong first year on the World Cup tour with a successful defense of her title in slalom at the U.S. Alpine Championships in Winter Park.

How good was Shiffrin? The native of nearby Eagle-Vail had a two-run time on Wednesday (March 28) that topped second-place Hailey Duke of Idaho by more than a second.  Read more at the Denver Post and U.S. Ski Team website.

In the Men’s Slalom on Thursday (March 29), Tommy Ford of Oregon topped the podium. Find out the other top finishers and what racer retired in the Denver Post.

Competition continues on Friday with Men’s and Women’s Super G. On Saturday, the biggest names in American women’s skiing will hit the slopes when Shiffrin competes in the giant slalom against  reigning World Cup overall champion Lindsey Vonn of Vail and Julia Mancuso, who finished fourth overall on the tour this season.

The event concludes Sunday with the Men’s Giant Slalom, featuring Ted Ligety, who just missed defending his GS title this season.

Swany Gloves is dedicated to bringing you the best of outdoor adventure. Like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter.

‘Snowkiting’ video takes a viewer flying, wins HD camera from Swany Gloves for its creator

Congratulations to Jon McCabe,  the latest winner in our Swany Outdoor Adventures Video Contest. His winning video finds Jon doing something no contest winner has ever done: Snowkiting.

Since he’s a monthly winner, Jon will receive a Tachyon OPS HD camera to make his next video. This great camera offers superb resolution, time-lapse photography, a powerful battery and simple one-button operation. Learn more about Tachyon.

In his own words: “I am originally from West Virginia and started skiing between my Dad’s legs at Snowshoe Mountain when I was 3 years old.  After high school I moved to Boulder (Colo.) and went to school at the University of Colorado, where I joined the freestyle ski team.

“After a trip to Maui I saw the potential of kites and bought a small one to play around with in Colorado.  I learned about this sport called snowkiting that was starting in Breckenridge, which uses kites to pull people up mountains, across lakes and doesn’t create any negative effects to our environment.  I was sold when I found out  a ski lift could fit in my backpack!  I can now be found traveling to backcountry locations all over the World in search of the perfect conditions. The video was shot just south of Jackson Hole in the Hobacks as well as the Manti National Forest of of Skyline Drive in Utah.

“Once you get the kite dialed in then you can go up mountains while harnessing the wind and all kinds of possibilities exist from there.  (Visit Jon’s website to learn more.)”

Have a video that you’d like to enter? Just upload it to the likes of YouTube or Vimeo, then send us the URL at swanygloves@gmail.com. That’s all there is to it! Complete rules here.

• The season’s first winner, Cameron Little, captured a powder day at Apex Mountain Resort. Watch
• Dan Malone tore it up at Vail. Watch
• A. J. Scolaro and friends rode the rails at Mount Snow, Vt. Watch
• Benton Inscoe had a blast skiing Wolf Creek in Colorado after a powder dump. Watch.
• Nate Smilanic went flying on his snowboard at Winter Park. Watch.
• Leroy Maarhuis hit it hard in the powder at Whitewater in British Columbia. Watch.
• Brian Hopper and his friends tore it up at Whistler. Watch.

Take a look at last season’s winners in the  Swany Outdoor Adventure Video Contest, ranging from the aerial acrobatics of Bobby Brown to daring mountain rescues.

Swany Gloves is dedicated to bringing you the best of outdoor adventure. Like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter.

Swany-sponsored athletes are winners

We know that Swany makes the best gloves out there: warm, durable, stylish.

Swany-sponsored athlete Cassandra Sharp topped the podium at Northstar.

But it’s not just our gloves we brag about. Swany sponsors an array of athletes in North America (and Europe), including the awesome backcountry skier Dave Treadway.

But we also sponsor rising stars, including a couple we’ll highlight today.

Cassandra Sharpe: During February at Northstar in California, Cassandra won the ski pipe contest,  in the process also wining $2,000. Nice! Later in the month she placed second in Slopestyle in the Canadian Shield Ski & Snowboard Tour event at Mont Tremblant.

Cameron Keith: Just recently Cameron competed in Toronto at the Mountain Dew Rail Jam. His skiing on day two of the event earned him a third place finish.

Thomas Pool: This skier just competed at the 2012 Sprint US Snowboarding Grand Prix at Mammoth in California. We were excited to hear that Thomas, at his first major event, placed 31st out of 79 competitors. Not bad at a tour stop that featured the likes of Louie Vito. Plus, as the video shows, at the event he completed “my first double cork 12.”

Congratulations to these competitors and ALL the athletes we sponsor who work so hard at their sport. Interested in joining the Swany team? Check us out.

Swany Gloves is dedicated to bringing you the best of outdoor adventure. Like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter.

Vonn just misses reaching 2,000 points in a World Cup season, but still sets season record

Lindsey Vonn may have missed 2,000 points, but she still set a record for Women's World Cup skiing.

The goal for Lindsey Vonn seemed attainable: 12th place or higher in a Giant Slalom and she would break the World Cup record for points in a season. After all, the American had won two GS races this season.

And then … she lost a pole? It’s true, Vonn had a mishap as she bolted from the starting gate Sunday (March 18) on her second run and was forced to ski with just one pole. The 24th-place result was too low to earn points, leaving her short of her goal. Read more.

Before we worry too much about Lindsey: Her 1,980 points this season represents a World Cup record for women and she won season titles in Downhill, Super Combined, Super G and Overall, with a second-place finish in Giant Slalom.

The season-ending overall standings had some familiar names following Vonn, including Julia Mancuso, whose considerable talent is often overshadowed by Vonn. The top finishers:

• Lindsey Vonn: 1,980 points
• Tina Maze: 1,402
• Maria Hoefl-Riesch: 1,227
• Julia Mancuso: 1,020

Read more about Vonn’s final week of World Cup skiing for this season in this story about how the American’s sixth-place finish on Thursday was enough to clinch the season title in Super G.

Swany Gloves is dedicated to bringing you the best of outdoor adventure. Like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter.

Vonn’s course ‘correction’ saves Super G season title ahead of hard-charging Mancuso

Lindsey Vonn struggled at the end of her run but clinched the Super G season title.

It was hardly a typical Lindsey Vonn victory march on Thursday (March 15) in the Super G, but the American’s sixth-place finish was enough to clinch the season title in the discipline. Vonn now has four titles this season: Downhill, Super G, Super Combined, Overall.

The fact is, Vonn had a huge lead near the end of the run, but misread the course and slowed down so much to make the next gate that her lead evaporated (and then some). It could have been disastrous had she not finished, as fellow American Julia Mancuso turned in another strong run for second in the race and wound up second for the season, just 72 points behind Vonn. See who won the race and more in this story.

The flawed finish for Vonn reduces her chances for a 2,000-point season with just a Giant Slalom and Slalom remaining. She now stands at 1,948.

Swany Gloves is dedicated to bringing you the best of outdoor adventure. Like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter.

Vonn wins World Cup downhill in Austria, remains on pace for 2,000 point season

Leave it to Lindsey Vonn to punctuate her spectacular season with a dominant win on Wednesday (March 14) in the final World Cup downhill in Austria.

Vonn’s victory, by nearly one second, was her fifth of the season in the eight downhills contested (she has won 12 events total this season. She had previously secured the season title in the discipline.

Slovenian Tina Maze finished third and remains second to Vonn in the overall points standings, which Vonn clinched. Julia Mancuso finished fifth, which means she finished a strong fifth for the season in downhill. Read about the race.

Vonn now has 53 career World Cup wins (an American record) and has a season total of 1,908 points. That keeps her hopes of a 2,000-point season alive with a Super G on Thursday (March 15).

Swany Gloves is dedicated to bringing you the best of outdoor adventure. Like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter.

Shaun White wins Slopestyle for second gold, Torin Yater-Wallace wins first gold at Winter X Games Tignes

Torin Yater-Wallace won his first X-Games gold in Ski Superpipe on Friday at Winter X Tignes. The 16-year-old from Aspen topped the star-studded field with a massive third run. Watch it on ESPN.

EARLIER FRIDAY: It had been three years since Shaun White won gold at Winter X in snowboard slopestyle, an event in which even the superstar admitted he was behind the times.

Not any more. White had runs of 95 and 97 to not only catch up with the rest of the riders but to easily win his second gold medal in as many days on Friday (March 16) at Winter X Tignes. Watch how he did it at ESPN.

THURSDAY: What did you expect? One day after he was the top qualifier (with jet lag and no practice in the pipe), Shaun White won gold in Superpipe on Thursday (March 15) at Winter X Tignes. Watch video of his winning run.

Tom Wallisch has been the man to beat for much of the season in men’s ski slopestyle. That didn’t stop Bobby Brown, who knows a thing or two about being the “man to beat,” from snagging gold on Thursday. Watch the video at ESPN.

WEDNESDAY: Who needs practice? Jet lag? Forget about it. Shaun White arrived at Winter X Games Tignes on Wednesday (March 14) and went straight to the pipe, where he qualified first for the finals on Thursday (watch it at 1:30 EDT on ESPN2/3). He’s got good company: Louie Vito stands second and other qualifiers include  Iouri Podladtchikov. Watch the video.

The incomparable Kelly Clark won the women’s Superpipe over Elana Hight and a talented field. Meet the rest of the podium and watch the video. Earlier, Canada’s Kaya Turski won her third consecutive Winter X Games Tignes gold medal at Women’s Ski Slopestyle. See who took took silver and bronze and watch video highlights of the event at ESPN.

Check back for continuous updates from the Winter X Games in Europe.

Swany Gloves is dedicated to bringing you the best of outdoor adventure. Like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter.

All Things Lindsey Vonn: From new coach to old rival, World Cup overall titles to photo shoots

A photo of Lindsey in action from her web site.

UPDATE: Great story in the New York Times talks with Lindsey Vonn about her record-breaking 2011-2012 season as well as the personal challenges she faced as she navigated a divorce from husband Thomas Vonn that she described as a “mess.” Read more.

Hickok Award: Vonn was named the monthly winner of this prestigious award. Read more.

Lindsey Vonn is more than the best skier on the women’s World Cup circuit. (This column suggests she’s the best American skier EVER.) She’s a superstar, one of the most visible athletes in the world, with multiple endorsements and magazine cover stories just part of the proof.

Recognizing that, we’ve collected a variety of information about Lindsey all under one roof, you might say, to help current and future fans keep up with Lindsey during and after ski season. Use this as your digital launching pad to learn “All Things Lindsey Vonn.”

Lets start with some of the more “social” ways to catch up:

• Official Lindsey Vonn Website: Get the latest on Lindsey’s schedule, as well as photos, video interviews and more.
• Facebook: Here’s where you (and 416,000 other folks) can find the very latest from Lindsey, from great photos to race results.
• Twitter: For the most part, these are the same posts as Facebook. But if you prefer Twitter, this is the place to be for Lindsey.
• SI Swimsuit Edition: There’s a video featuring photos of Lindsey and her thoughts on appearing as a model in the annual Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition, as well as her photos.
• Italian Sports Week Magazine Photo shoot: This is the latest example of Lindsey as style icon in an impressive shoot from December, 2011.

It’s not all about photo shoots and social media. Lindsey is one of the world’s top competitors and her results reflect that. These are just samples:

• Four Straight Wins: Coming out on top in one race is a challenge for any skier, but earlier this season Lindsey won an epic four straight races. Then she did some Tebowing to celebrate (but she’s not dating Tim Tebow).
• 50 World Cups Wins: When Lindsey won a downhill during February (2012) in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, it made her only the third woman to reach that plateau.
• Super Combined Season Title: The 2011-2012 title came her way after some big wins and then a little weather.
• Fourth Overall Season Title: A Giant Slalom victory on March 9, 2012 was doubly sweet because it meant Lindsey had clinched her fourth Overall season title, more than any American. Plus: she regained the crown from friend and rival Maria Hoefl-Riesch.
• The Quest for 2,000: No woman World Cup skier has ever reached 2,000 points for a season. Lindsey still had a chance for the benchmark with a weekend to go.
• 2,000 Denied: After pulling within 20 points of the landmark score, a freak accident at the starting gate may have deprived Lindsey of the milestone, even though she still set a season record.
• Big Money: Not only did Lindsey Vonn score the most points on the women’s World Cup circuit, he made the most money.

Swany Gloves is dedicated to bringing you the best of outdoor adventure. Like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter.

Death of Canadian Zoricic in ski cross race has ski community grasping for ‘lessons’

Nick Zoricic

The sad news out of Switzerland on Saturday — the death of ski cross competitor Nik Zoricic — has numbed an already saddened Canadian ski team and left the ski community wondering what, if anything, can be done to prevent this from happening again.

On Sunday, his fellow racers held an emotional memorial for Zoricic on the same course where he died. The fatal crash happened on the final jump of a World Cup ski cross race in Grindewald on Saturday when Zoricic lost control and crashed into protective netting. “Nik Zoricic fell heavily just before the finish in the round of eight, crashing directly into the safety netting and thereafter lying motionless,” a spokesman for the FIS said late Saturday.

The news, difficult under any circumstances, was especially difficult for a Canadian Ski Team that had already seen the death of freeskier Sarah Burke in January after a training accident.

The family of Zoricic, in a statement released on Sunday, said “Nik loved what he did. Ski racing was his life and he enjoyed every moment of it.” Even so, a CTV story talked with a variety of insiders who said they hoped there were “lessons” to be learned from this tragedy that would keep it from happening again. Read more.

Swany Gloves is dedicated to bringing you the best of outdoor adventure. Like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter.