Herman Maier & Chad Fleischer: GEPA footage
Editor’s Word
Chad Fleischer is a two-time Olympian and four-time World Championships competitor with 5 World Cup top-10 finishes throughout two disciplines. Identified for his fearless type—together with his unforgettable 1995 Kitzbühel crash and bow to the group—he now works as a coach, guardian, and advocate for athlete growth.
The opinions expressed under are his personal, reflecting a private name for the U.S. ski racing group to unite in rebuilding a stronger path for future American downhill and super-G athletes.
An Open Letter to the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Neighborhood
In Assist of U.S. Males’s Downhill and Tremendous-G
Satisfaction in Our Pace Heritage
To the athletes, coaches, service technicians, supporters, followers, and management at U.S. Ski & Snowboard:
Earlier than the rest, let’s acknowledge the extraordinary dedication of our U.S. males’s downhill and super-G athletes. Season after season, they danger the whole lot—chasing hundredths of a second on a few of the world’s most harmful tracks. They do it with coronary heart, integrity, and grit.
Behind each begin gate stands a community of coaches, technicians, and workers who give their time and power to assist these racers carry out at their greatest. Their work deserves not solely our respect but in addition our deep gratitude.
I converse from expertise. Throughout my profession, I represented america in two Olympic Video games—Nagano and Kvitfjell—and 4 World Championships, together with a sixth-place end within the Beaver Creek super-G, my house mountain. I earned 5 World Cup top-10 finishes throughout two disciplines and spent a decade racing the world’s quickest tracks.
Maybe my most well-known second got here in Kitzbühel in 1995, when—with one break up to go—I used to be among the many quickest on the course. I misjudged the prejump on the end bounce, crashed spectacularly, and tore the plates off my skis. Then, as a substitute of disappointment, I stood up, bowed to a roaring Kitzbühel crowd, and walked away. That second captured what I’ve all the time cherished about velocity: braveness, respect, and the highly effective connection between athlete and fan.
These experiences formed not simply my perspective as a racer, but in addition my dedication at this time—as a coach, a guardian, and an advocate—to assist construct the strongest speed-development system on the planet.
We’ve seen flashes of brilliance from U.S. athletes—World Cup podiums, Olympic medals, unforgettable runs. But the last word purpose nonetheless eludes us: no American man has ever lifted the World Cup downhill globe. It’s not for lack of expertise or braveness. It’s about dedication, imaginative and prescient, and constant assist.
That’s the place our biggest alternative lies.
Problem and Alternative
If we wish to see American athletes standing on the highest step in Kitzbühel or Wengen, we should construct a growth mannequin that gives them with a transparent and attainable path. Olympic gold and World Cup victories are achievable—however solely once we make investments strategically and collectively within the subsequent technology of velocity skiers.
Personal initiatives have already confirmed what’s doable. As an example, camps comparable to Marco Sullivan’s American Downhiller and the Copper Mountain velocity initiatives run by AJ Kitt, Johno McBride, and me confirmed that collaboration, creativity, and keenness can produce actual outcomes.
With the assistance of Patrick Riml and Frank Kelble, we launched an “invite-only” camp designed to organize athletes for early NorAm downhills and super-Gs. We constructed the roster by calling coaches, regional administrators, and former teammates—a real grassroots effort that labored.
Athletes like Tristan Lane, Wiley Maple, Tanner Perkins, Stef Fleckenstein, Haley Cutler, Jeremy Nolting, Allison Mollin, and Dominic Shackleton educated aspect by aspect, pushing each other to new ranges. Coaches collaborated throughout golf equipment. Dad and mom volunteered. We operated at pass-through value, charging just for hill area. It was pure dedication and group.
Nonetheless, when management modified, hill area was now not secured, and this system pale. The construction wasn’t the problem—the absence of long-term institutional backing was.
The place We Stand Now
It’s time to be sincere: there is no such thing as a functioning males’s speed-development pipeline in america at this time.
There’s no funded growth staff.No devoted velocity initiatives.No constant NorAm or Europa Cup schedule for downhill or super-G.
Even worse, U.S. athletes are generally denied Europa Cup begins—even when spots go unfilled. In the meantime, hill area at Copper is commonly allotted to international groups whereas American packages keen to pay the identical fee are turned away.
This isn’t about blame—it’s about urgency. The info is obvious:
U.S. male velocity athletes are underfunded and under-supported.
They obtain fewer coaching and race alternatives than their European friends.
Athletes with sturdy velocity profiles are neglected.
Present insurance policies lack transparency, consistency, and a deep understanding of velocity growth.
Consequently, we aren’t at a crossroads—we’re at a precipice. And the longer we wait, the extra information, expertise, and momentum we lose.
Constructing the Path Ahead
Fixing this doesn’t require reinventing the game—it requires honesty, unity, and decisive motion.
Embrace Downhill in Junior Improvement Standards.
Make downhill a part of U16 and U18 championships.
Prepare and race velocity earlier so athletes and coaches develop the mandatory mindset and abilities.
Create Pace-Particular Standards for Nationwide Improvement.
Set up separate alternatives for downhill and super-G.
Cease linking development solely to GS and SL factors, which present no correlation to high velocity outcomes.
Make Pace Coaching Yr-Spherical.
Racing in winter isn’t coaching—it’s testing. Actual progress occurs in spring, summer season, and fall.
Alternatives exist already proper right here at house: Mammoth Mountain in Could and Copper Mountain in November are two world-class venues the place constant coaching can thrive.
Promote Collaboration, Not Competitors, Amongst Golf equipment and Areas.
After I skied for Ski Membership Vail, we held a five-day downhill camp over Christmas and New Yr’s for athletes as younger as ten. Packages like which have disappeared. They should return.
Membership-versus-club and region-versus-region competitors for entry is counterproductive. As a substitute, we must always keep in mind that we’re one nation with one purpose—to create nice ski racers collectively.
Why Pace Issues
Pace snowboarding is greater than a self-discipline—it’s a mindset that defines the braveness and character of alpine racing. Moreover, it connects each technology of racers who dream of flying down the Streif (Kitzbühel) or the Lauberhorn (Wengen). But, when the event pipeline weakens, that dream turns into much less attainable.
If we wish younger racers to think about themselves competing in Kitzbühel or Wengen, they should have actual alternatives to coach and race velocity at house. Mammoth and Copper might be the inspiration for this progress, however provided that we, as a group, prioritize it.
Rebalancing the System
We should hearken to those that have lived this self-discipline—the coaches and athletes who perceive the distinction between technical snowboarding and the distinctive mindset required for downhill.
The trail ahead contains:
Funding a devoted males’s velocity growth staff.
Committing to the Europa Cup circuit full-time.
Increasing the NorAm calendar to incorporate constant, high quality velocity excursions.
Supporting year-round initiatives: Mammoth in spring, South America in late summer season, Copper in early winter.
Recognizing that trendy elite skiers specialize earlier, and our system should cease penalizing that.
Valuing the downhill mentality—a mindset outlined by braveness, focus, and calculated danger—that can not be measured by FIS tech factors.
This mindset is uncommon, and it have to be nurtured. Bull riders perceive bulls; downhillers perceive velocity. It’s not conceitedness—it’s id.
A Name for Management and Steadiness
This isn’t about velocity versus tech—it’s about restoring steadiness and equity.
We’d like management keen to make data-driven selections, have interaction consultants, and allocate assets with transparency. We should rebuild pathways that serve the total spectrum of alpine racing—not only one aspect of it.
If that may’t occur inside the system, we, the ski racing group, should construct it collectively. Collaboration is feasible—and it’s needed. This impacts all of us: women and men, velocity and tech, athletes and coaches.
I can’t converse for ladies’s velocity growth, but when the identical gaps exist, then the identical ardour for change should apply. In each camp I’ve run, women and men have educated collectively, pushing one another on the identical course, chasing the identical dream.
Perception and Motion
I nonetheless imagine—within the athletes, within the coaches, within the service techs, and within the coronary heart of this sport. But perception alone isn’t sufficient anymore. It have to be matched by motion and shared accountability.
To my fellow teammates, coaches, and supporters: let’s demand a greater system and rebuild the inspiration for future stars.
Collectively, we are able to be sure that the legacy of American velocity snowboarding doesn’t fade—it thrives once more.
With respect and dedication,Chad Fleischer
Word: Overview the information Fleischer offered to know his evaluation higher. Click on right here to obtain his 4 tab spreadsheets.
