From Keystone to St. Moritz: U.S. Ski Cross Junior Development in Action

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What Is the Holeshot Cross Tour?

The Holeshot Cross Tour is a competition series built to bridge the gap between grassroots ski cross and the World Cup level. For athletes working their way up through the sport, it’s one of the most important competitive opportunities in the country.

Here’s what makes it different: Holeshot Tour events are sanctioned as

both U.S. Ski & Snowboard and FIS competitions, meaning they follow FIS rules and formats — the same rules used at the World Cup level. Athletes 16 and older (born 2009 or later for ski cross) compete together in an open-class format, so they aren’t racing a watered-down version of the sport. They’re racing the real thing.

The series also serves a national identification purpose: it brings together ski cross athletes from programs across the country to find out who the top athletes are and where the pipeline stands.

What Happened at Keystone?

Last week’s NorAm Ski Cross at Keystone, Colorado (February 25–26) was exactly this kind of event in action.  Athletes from Carrabassett Valley Academy, Alyeska Ski Club, Team Summit Colorado, and programs across North America raced a full-sized, FIS-sanctioned course — real banks, real jumps, real head-to-head competition.

The results spoke for themselves.

Women

🥉 Day 1: Morgan Shute — 3rd place

🥉 Day 2: Morgan Shute — 3rd place

Men

🥇 Day 1: Jack Mitchell ·  🥉 Jamie Herring

🥈 Day 2: Jack Mitchell ·  🥉 Walker Robinson

Back-to-back podiums for Morgan Shute. Multiple top-three finishes across both days for Mitchell, Herring, and Robinson. These are athletes competing on a full NorAm field and finishing on the podium. That matters.

The U.S. Junior World Championship Team

The Holeshot Cross Tour and events like Keystone are also how we identify which junior athletes (16 - 20 year old) are ready to represent the United States on the international stage. We’re proud to announce the U.S. team heading to the FIS Junior World Ski Cross Championships in St. Moritz, Switzerland, March 18–21, 2026.

Ten athletes — five men, five women — selected in coordination with U.S. Ski & Snowboard, representing programs from Alaska to Vermont to Utah.

Men’s Team

Walker Robinson — Team Summit Colorado / U.S. Ski Cross Europa Cup Team

Jamison Hering — Carrabassett Valley Academy

Aidan Butler — Carrabassett Valley Academy

Sullivan Butler — Carrabassett Valley Academy

Reuben Jeffers — Alyeska Ski Club

Women’s Team

Morgan Shute — Carrabassett Valley Academy / U.S. Ski Cross Europa Cup Team

Elya Loge — Team Palisades Tahoe

Cayenne Wilson — Park City Ski and Snowboard / U.S. Ski Cross Europa Cup Team

Brook Lentfer — Alyeska Ski Club

Audrey Moody — Team Snowbird / Team Palisades Tahoe

Coaching Staff

Rodney Robinson - Max Wittwer - Michael Phelan - Jason Jeffers 

Morgan Shute comes in as the defending Bronze Medalist from the 2025 Junior World Championships. She’s been on this stage before. The athletes around her are about to experience it for the first time — racing against the best junior ski cross athletes in the world from countries like Canada, Germany, and Switzerland that have been building their pipelines for decades.

That’s the point of Junior Worlds. You find out where you stand. You bring that standard home.

“Competing at Junior Worlds is a defining moment for these athletes,” said Rodney Robinson, President of U.S. Ski Cross. “We have an experienced group led by Morgan Shute, Bronze Medalist from the 2025 Jr. World Championships. We look forward to watching this group compete and represent Team USA.”

Why the Pipeline Matters

Ski cross was invented in the United States. It made its Olympic debut at Vancouver 2010. We helped build this sport.

Building a strong junior pipeline — through series like the Holeshot Cross Tour, through full NorAm competition opportunities, through international experience at Junior Worlds — is how we get back to the front of the pack at the World Cup and Olympic level. It doesn’t happen overnight. It happens one race at a time, with the right infrastructure behind it.

This year we created the Holeshot JR Tour for ages 13 - 15 year old. They competed on the same track as the Holeshot athletes on the Friday after NorAm Races. 

What you saw at Keystone last week is that infrastructure working. What you’ll see in St. Moritz is the next step.

Follow results from St. Moritz on skicross.org and our social channels. To support these athletes, make a tax-deductible donation at JR World Championships.

The future of U.S. ski cross is racing. Come watch.

U.S. Ski Cross is dedicated to inspiring, educating, and growing the sport of ski cross across the United States — from grassroots competition through elite FIS and World Cup levels.

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