Bryce Bennett towers above his fellow downhill racers standing six-foot-seven inches tall, whereas his lengthy legs allow him to brilliantly take in huge and assorted terrain whereas rifling down mountainsides.The 14-year U.S. Ski Staff veteran from Truckee, California, attributes a lot of his ski racing model and success to years of freeskiing, capable of react in a heartbeat, instinctively navigating no matter is thrown at him. “Rising up in Palisades, it was sort of what you probably did. There have been so many days the place it was like ‘no likelihood for coaching’ which we embraced closely, simply snowboarding powder on a regular basis,” Bennett tells POWDER, after a race in Val Gardena, Italy. “We loved it, and it developed totally different abilities that quite a lot of these different guys do not have. However I don’t know if it helped my technical means very a lot.“My whole life was about who might hit the most important cliff, leap off the stupidest stuff, in order that half is pure to me, the large jumps and air. However the place I get the sensation is from BMX racing, which I did for eight, 9 years, rising as much as an honest, excessive degree. It’s that feeling of with the ability to work the terrain and use it. It will get me pace the place folks don’t assume you’ll be able to.“I want that I skied extra like that after I go residence, however it’s tougher to inspire now, so I’ve been discovering totally different avenues to take pleasure in winter,” he stated.
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Understandably so. Because the 33-year-old skier focuses on making his third Olympic Winter Video games, these different avenues embrace an inspiring new distraction. With spouse Kelley, Bryce is a proud father to nine-month-old daughter Kate.“It’s been tremendous enjoyable, totally different, and fairly the expertise—plenty of FaceTiming,” Bennett says, about being a brand new father. “It is generally powerful with the time distinction, however Kelley and the child are coming over right here quickly for the winter, in order that will likely be good.”And whereas fun-filled powder days might not stoke Bennett’s fireplace in the identical trend as his earlier days roaming northern California’s terrain, he stays extremely motivated to thrive on the fast-approaching Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Video games. “The Olympics are so cool as a result of you’ll be able to carry a particular mindset that I believe is difficult to attain each weekend, however with all of its vitality and mystique, it provides one thing extra to your psychological arsenal, and to harness that’s particular,” Bennett says.The 2-time Olympian plans to embrace the broader social components and universality that the 5 rings symbolize.“This facet of the Olympic Video games is particular, bringing all the finest winter athletes from totally different disciplines collectively. And it occurs simply each 4 years, so I like embracing that,” Bennett says.“I like buying and selling pins too and assembly so many different folks from totally different sports activities and international locations, in order that’s actually cool. I believe generally this will get neglected by us athletes and media. “The expertise is one thing to have fun – clearly, everybody needs to win, however there’s a a lot deeper that means to all of it.”Maintain studying for extra about Bennett’s bid for Olympic glory.The 2026 POWDER Photograph Annual is right here! Search for a print copy on a newsstand close to you, or click on right here to have a duplicate shipped on to your entrance door.
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Battling Bormio’s Stelvio on the Olympic Stage
Bennett is pumped to as soon as once more problem Bormio’s vaunted Stelvio piste, an unrelenting and notoriously bumpy, knee-rattling and shadow-filled two-mile curler coaster trip that leaves well-conditioned athletes gasping for breath. Racers exceed speeds effectively over 80 miles per hour on the traditional Italian course nestled in Italy’s Valtellina area, accelerating straight out of the beginning home.“It’s in your face proper out of the beginning, you’re going very quick, in a short time, most likely as much as 90 miles per hour, ten seconds into it,” Bennett informs. “Proper out of the gate is a chance to place the hammer down and take a little bit extra danger. For these prepared, you’ll be able to acquire a number of tenths there.” Bennett’s finest lead to Bormio got here in December 2018, having completed fourth in a downhill race. He seems to be forward with Italian ardour to February’s Olympic races on the acquainted piste.”To have an Olympic downhill on a traditional World Cup monitor is simply particular, so cool, and I’m unsure if that has ever occurred earlier than,” Bennett says, his assumption right, discounting Robert Redford’s gold medal run within the fictitious 1969 movie traditional Downhill Racer.The world’s premier males’s pace skiers are accustomed to competing at typically harmful and bodily demanding races in Bormio, in late December. Nonetheless, with the lads’s Olympic pace races being contested in early February, considerably extra daylight is anticipated to light up the shadowy course, probably leading to a extra forgiving snow floor, enhanced visibility, and a much less turbulent descent. “I’m excited to ski this within the solar,” Bennett stated. “It should most likely nonetheless be bumpy and icy, however no less than with a little bit bit of sunshine, will probably be enjoyable. However one hundred pc, it’s going to be cloudy on Olympic race day, after which we’ll have flat mild as at all times,” he provides, with an enormous snort. “I simply desire a run that I’m pleased with.”
Photograph: Sean M&interval; Haffey/Getty Photos
Rounding into Olympic Type
Bennett’s outcomes throughout 4 Olympic races, equally divided between PyeongChang 2018 and Beijing 2022, have been strong, but removed from spectacular. Twice he has completed seventeenth, together with an 18th and nineteenth. Given his Olympic expertise and constructive angle, the large Californian is envisioning his third Olympics to be a attraction.Earlier than Bennett and his opponents ski into the intense lights of the Olympic Video games, they’ll first encounter the January classics: the grueling Lauberhorn downhill in Wengen, Switzerland, adopted by the historic Hahnenkamm in Kitzbuhel, Austria. The veteran skier shared his mindset to attain pace throughout all necessary European races.“I’ve simply acquired to construct. It’s not like simply placing my whole focus into one downhill run. It is each weekend. Simply attempt to execute, get some momentum rolling, and switch the mind off a little bit bit. I simply want to seek out some pace and circulation, and we’ll be all proper.”Bennett’s monitor file in Italy—his biggest success being in Val Gardena, versus Bormio—contains two profession World Cup downhill victories, in 2021 and 2023. Six of his eight World Cup top-five finishes have been on Italian snow. Maybe it’s the mouth-watering delicacies or welcoming vibes, however there appears to be one thing particular within the Italian alpine air that invigorates Bryce and his U.S. teammates.“It’s Italy. We prefer it right here and really feel fairly snug right here,” he notes.
American downhill racers have risen to the event on the greatest occasions, thriving beneath stress when everyone seems to be watching. Brash Invoice Johnson backed up his daring predictions by changing into the primary American to win Olympic downhill gold at Sarajevo 1984, whereas Tommy Moe upset the favored Norwegians at Lillehammer 1994, additionally putting downhill gold.
The Milan-Cortina 2026 males’s Olympic downhill is scheduled for February seventh, 2026, on the primary full day of Olympic competitors. It might appear inconceivable, however maybe Bryce will discover it inside him to hold on the American custom and grow to be the third U.S. males’s downhiller to descend, in opposition to all odds, to Olympic glory.“Having the chance to place all of it collectively on race day in Bormio is one thing particular, a singular and psychological problem that the Olympics present,” Bennett says. “You’d be the person in case you received that factor. I’m completely succesful there.”
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