Every year in early November the U.S. Ski Team heads to Copper Mountain in Summit County, Colorado for early season training. November really marks the start of competition season for the Alpine team, as the snow starts to fly and World Cups comes near. It is also kicked off by the U.S. Ski Team’s uniform reveal and this is the first year that Spyder was able to host the reveal for the team.
“We started designing this year’s USST uniforms last summer and have been working hard the last several months getting them produced, patched and delivered to the athletes in time for their competition seasons. It’s great to see how stoked the athletes were when they first tried on all the gear during the reveal.” - Drew Roberts, Spyder Team Manager
The big reveal kicked off at the base of Copper Mountain with a room full of custom labeled gear for the outstanding athletes. The excitement level was high as athletes started flowing in to sift through the gear.
"The first time you make the ski team it's a big deal. You get your jacket and it has all the patches and all of the sudden you look super legit with all the sponsors, and you really feel like you're on the team. We live, train, and compete in this gear all year long, so we put it through the ringer. We live in this stuff so it's important that it works well." - Travis Ganong, Downhill
"I like that the men and women have coordinating colors this year, so we really look like one team." - Alice Merryweather, Downhill & Super-G
"I feel like i could do anything in this flight suit, like even go to space or something" - Jacqueline Wiles, Downhill & Super-G
U.S. Ski Team athlete Laurenne Ross is no stranger to wet winters growing up in Bend and was very excited to see the continued use of GORE-TEX in the uniforms.
"I'm pretty stoked on the Gore-Tex. It's gonna save me sitting long hours on the chair in the freezing mist." - Laurenne Ross, Downhill & Super-G
Tomorrow, the uniforms will be going global as the World Cup Slalom teams leave for Levi, Finland to kickoff their seasons. We can't wait to see what the athletes will achieve this year!