U.S. Ski Team tech squad trades skis for surfboards, temporarily

Surf’s up for Radamus, U.S. teammates, as Mancuso plays host to racers on the tropical paradise of Tavarua

‘Super Mom’ Julia Mancuso stoked to welcome racers to Fiji and Palisades Tahoe

River Radamus is honing his surfing skills while catching some of the legendary waves off the coast of the Fijian island of Tavarua. And he has Julia Mancuso to thank for it.

It is a fun-filled escape for the 24-year-old U.S. racer nestled between training camps in New Zealand and Portillo, Chile, ahead of the coming season.

“This place has been melting my brain – I’ve surfed the best waves of my life here,” Radamus tells Ski Racing Media about his mini-vacation on Tavarua. “The island is beautiful and everyone has been so warm and welcoming.

“I wanted to get away to clear my head and set my intentions for the season to come.

“I seriously can’t thank Julia, Dylan, and Tavarua Island Resort enough and I owe them all a huge debt,” Radamus says.

Far removed from her days circling the globe chasing World Cup victories and Olympic medals, Mancuso, along with her husband Dylan, are busier than ever caring for her two young sons, Sonny, 3, and Brody, 1, and now for River and the youthful U.S. Ski Team tech racers as well.

“River asked for tips and on where to go and that he would trade doing dishes for waves, and now they are all coming to stay,” Mancuso casually informs, referring to the U.S. giant slalom specialist. “He’s ripping it up,” she says, praising Radamus.

The more, the merrier

Mancuso also appears to be having a blast – frequently sharing her family adventures on Instagram – frolicking with the kids in the surf and sand of the heart-shaped island, which is a short boat trip from the Fiji mainland.

The four-time Olympic medalist who grew up skiing in Squaw Valley, California, is thrilled to show off the tropical paradise she and her family call home for part of the year. Radamus is the first to marvel at and play in the sparkling blue waters of Fiji’s coast. The slalom crew – Luke Winters, Jeff Seymour, Ben Ritchie and Isaiah Nelson – will soon follow in River’s wake.

While her husband Dylan frequently hosts surfing camps on the storybook waves of the tropical paradise, Julia is proud of her unofficial first foray into surfing camps.

“Somehow, I have all the men’s U.S. Ski Team coming to stay with us here in Tavi – haha, my first camp,” Mancuso jokes.

“My teammates and I joke that every skier secretly wants to be a surfer,” Radamus says. “Luke (Winters) is probably the best of us, but it seems like everyone on our team has been getting into it.”

The magic of Tavarua and its myriad benefits

Tavarua is a 29-acre feast for the eyes, attracting surfers worldwide to challenge its seven famed surf breaks, most notably Cloud Break. The island faces south by southwest into the South Pacific, perfectly positioned to catch all swells coming up from the Southern Ocean. A stunning coral reef surrounds it.

Radamus believes that the invigorating pleasures of the tropical island and its enticing, clear blue waters are the perfect remedies ahead of his sixth season on the World Cup tour. The Vail, Colorado racer finds parallels between surfing and ski racing.

“The power transfer and connection from rider to board to wave is strikingly similar to how good a GS turn feels to me,” says Radamus. “As with GS, it is very much a dance to feel the surface beneath me and understand the subtle movements needed to maximize speed and power through a turn.

“Unlike GS, it does not come instinctively to me, although it’s incredibly fun to learn and be a novice in a new skill.”

Radamus is coming off a 2021-22 campaign in which he tallied 147 points in GS, finishing 15^th in the discipline standings. The Vail, Colorado native notched a pair of sixth place finishes at the Soelden opener and on the classic Alta Badia ‘Gran Risa’ race hill. He finished fourth in the Beijing Olympic GS and narrowly missed a medal with teammates in the mixed team parallel event.

From sea to snow, onwards to Palisades Tahoe

Mancuso looks forward to, once again, unofficially, hosting Radamus and the world’s best men’s tech skiers at Olympic Valley, California. This season the World Cup returns to Palisades Tahoe, formerly Squaw Valley, her hometown resort. A men’s GS is scheduled for Feb 25, followed by a slalom on the 26th.

The seven-time World Cup winner, who retired in January 2018, highlighted the stern test of the Red Dog slope. And with much respect to her other sporting paradise, racers will accelerate to higher speeds on the Palisades Tahoe piste than those achieved on the swells of Tavarua.

“It’s kind of one of those hills that has everything – it’s pretty flat and rolly at the top, then there’s an extreme side hill and a pretty steep section going into a really open, nice consistent pitch into the finish,” Mancuso says about Red Dog.

“It’s ‘cool’ to ski in California and the race hill is awesome, so I am excited for a good show,” she says. “I have taken a couple of years off from the ski scene, raising kids and working behind the scenes on growing my new brand Shred Dog, but I hope to be there to show people around and enjoy the races.”

Whether in the water and waves or on the snow and steeps, Radamus is calculated and appears more than ready for the challenge ahead.

“Sometimes I get so caught up in the skiing and the process that I lose sight of the ‘why,’ Radamus reveals. “This has been a great opportunity to refocus my goals so that I come into next season more driven and ready to perform.”

Follow Brian on Twitter – @Brian_Pinelli