U.S. Alpine team loaded with locals for the 2021-22 season

Last winter, Ryan Cochran-Siegle became the first U.S, man to podium in four years. (U.S. Ski and Snowboard)

Veterans Mikaela Shiffrin, Paula Moltzan, Nina O’Brien, and Ryan Cochran-Siegle were all named to the U.S. Ski and Snowboard’s Alpine team for the 2021-22 season. The athletes were among a host of other skiers with New England ties who were nominated for the A, B, C, and developmental teams. 

World Cup champ Shiffrin, 26, and O’Brien, 23, both trained at Burke Mountain Academy, while Moltzan, 27, was only the fifth University of Vermont female to win the NCAA slalom title, and the first freshman to accomplish the task since 1986.

The 29-year-old Cochran-Siegle, who had somewhat of a breakout season in 2020-21, is the son of 1972 Olympic slalom gold medalist Barbara Ann Cochran. He, of course, trained at Cochran’s Ski Area in Vermont. 

Among those named to the ‘B’ Team was Alice Merryweather, a native of Hingham, Mass., who trained with the Attitash Race Team. Merryweather, 25, suffered a broken tibia and fibula during downhill training in Saas Fee, Switzerland in September.

Jimmy Krupka, 23, and Ben Richie, 21, both from Waitsfield, Vt., and both products of the Green Mountain Valley School, were also named to the ‘B’ team, as was Sam Morse, 25, of Carrabassett Valley Academy. 

Nineteen-year-old Zoe Zimmerman, of Gilford, N.H. (BMA), was named to the ‘C’ Team. Zimmerman raced for the Gunstock Ski Club, until she was nine years old, before moving on to Waterville Valley Academy. She is currently a senior at BMA. 

Ava Sunshine Jemison, 19, and Jay Poulter, 18, were both named to the team for the first time in their careers. Sunshine Jemision, a native of Colorado, is a BMA product, while Poulter, a native of Bondville, Vt., joins the team from Stratton Mountain School. 

According to the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Team, “A, B, and C team athletes are fully travel-funded once again this season, and the organization has also made significant headway in our efforts to decrease travel costs at the development team level, where members will be responsible for no more than $10,000 in travel and training costs with their team.” 

Related: Local athletes named to 2021-22 U.S. Freestyle Ski Team