Peter Lange
Ski Racing Media asked Patrick Riml, USSS Alpine director, to provide his perspective on the strengths and challenges of U.S. alpine skiing. After a stint with the Austrian Federation, On March 23rd Riml returned to work at USSS. And although he has considerable experience with his job, he is reporting to new leadership. Consequently, he has been concentrating his efforts on the overall health of U.S. alpine. Ski Racing Media asked Riml to provide updates on what he believes are the strengths of the U.S. as well as the areas he believes need attention. Ski Racing Media requested he provide responses specifically for three categories, National Team, development, and grassroots. The following are his comments.
National Team Evaluation
Strengths:
- Historically, we’ve had strong men’s and women’s speed teams and this year is no exception. Both teams combine veteran athletes who have had success with a strong group of younger, less experienced skiers. Both teams have a great culture in which the older athletes help to guide the younger athletes through their journey. It is an inclusive and mentorship-focused environment. We’re also starting to see this within the tech teams. They’re on track to develop into very good programs.
- Our coaching staff is fantastic. It is no longer siloed into small pods and instead, we are all working together, focusing on the pipeline from development to World Cup with the goal to achieve team success.
Things to work on:
- We’re working on having everybody train together as one team as often as possible. In the winter, we are split into tech and speed. Then it is tough to foster a challenging and competitive atmosphere. So, this year, we had all the men train together at Mammoth Mountain. We included athletes from both speed and tech and every level from development to the World Cup. The initiative created a productive, healthy and competitive environment. The younger athletes pushed the veterans, and the more experienced skiers mentored the young. In brief, we are seeing results.
- We’re becoming more professional in how we approach things. We develop plans and follow through. In addition, every athlete and staff member knows the goal for the week, the day and the training session. If we define a great plan and implement that plan every day, our athletes will find success. It’s a regimented process. These athletes aren’t focused on the end goal, but they’re executing their game plan and achieving results.
Riml’s view of U.S. development
Strengths:
- We have many young juniors that are showing enormous potential. When you look at last season’s NorAm results, the Canadians dominated the standings. However, the top Canadians were all seniors, and our juniors nipped at their heels. Also, behind those athletes, we have domestic athletes skiing at very high levels and are just entering the pipeline. We have a very solid future ahead of us.
- There is a very experienced and dedicated staff at both the men’s and women’s development level. It’s a hard-working group and we have high-level support, including great techs and medical services.
Things to work on:
- We are focused on making all of our athletes technically and tactically sound. They won’t get to the top if they don’t have those skills. There are no shortcuts and we’re making sure that we’re only moving athletes up to the next level when they acquire the needed tools. For some, spending an additional year in the development pipeline may give them the opportunity to get to the World Cup and the Olympics. We need to make sure we do not rush the process.
Riml comments on current Grassroots
Strengths:
- This country has outstanding clubs and academies, as well as amazing resort partners who offer exceptional training opportunities. There are so many more opportunities than there were 20 years ago. These programs are creating fun, challenging and inspiring environments that are full of variety to keep athletes interested and loving the sport.
Things to work on:
- Burnout is a real concern in many sports and industries. With that reality in mind, we are focused on curbing burnout in our sport. We want to consistently provide a positive environment and make the sport fun for the athletes.
- We are also working to build a larger community of alpine ski racers. Everybody is welcome. We know it is an expensive sport, but we are working to create more opportunities to get more people and kids on snow. We are doing all we can to showcase the beauty of skiing and foster a love for the sport.
