Inside Edge: Independence Junior Race Series resumes Friday

Schweitzer will resume night skiing this weekend. All of us hope night skiers/boarders will honor the request for masks in lift lines and not harass the employees for simply doing their jobs. Starting next week, night skiing tickets will be sold on the Schweitzer website. Purchasers can designate which charity they’d like their purchase to support.

World Cup Update — Mikaela Shiffrin took sixth in both giant slaloms in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia this past week, and Nina O'Brien posted her best GS result, capturing 13th both days. What are the odds?

Kitzbuhel week kicked off on Tuesday. The men will hurtle down the babbled Hahnenkamm downhill track in Austria at speeds exceeding 80 mph.

The U.S. Cross Country Team is the real deal — They first gained attention from a strong showing in the last Olympics, combined with a cast of interesting characters. Thing is, they just keep excelling in a sport previously dominated by Europeans.

As reported last week, Jesse Diggins won the Tour de France of skiing, aptly named the Tour de Ski. What we didn’t say was that this event is composed of eight World Cup races in 10 days. A very big deal!

Lost in this news is the newfound depth of the U.S. Squad, especially amongst the women. Kikkan Randall has won Olympic medals. Rosie Brennan battled injuries to nab back-to-back victories, and Hailey Swirbul and Sophie Caldwell Hamilton have landed on the podium this year as well.

Look for big things from the U.S. in the Nordic World Ski Championships next month in Germany.

Independence Junior Race Series — The series resumes this Friday. Teams will assemble at 5:30 p.m. near the clock tower. Look for a pole with your team number.

Potpourri — Any comments, recommendations or contributions to this column may be sent to Shep Snow by email at shep@thesnowschool.com. Negative feedback should be sent to someone else.