SVSEF unveils 2025/26 Gold Team: ready to take on the world stage

In February 2006, the Winter Olympic Games will return to Italy for the first time in 20 years. It was at the 2006 Torino Games that SVSEF skier Chris Cook became the first athlete to achieve the honor of representing Sun Valley at the Olympics as a member of the newly created Cross Country Gold Team.

Since the creation of the Gold Team 20 years ago, SVSEF athletes have achieved success at every level of international competition from World Junior and U23 Championships to the World Cup and through multiple Olympic and Paralympic Games. As SVSEF Cross Country Gold Team skiers have become a fixture on the U.S. National Team, SVSEF youth teams have continued to flourish.

“It’s fitting that since the inception of the Gold Team when SVSEF’s first skier qualified for the 2006 Games in Italy, we now find ourselves poised to see our next generation of SVSEF skiers return to Italy and in turn continue to inspire our youngest skiers,” said Becky Flynn, SVSEF Cross Country Program Director. “The leadership and vision two decades ago to create a developmental pathway to elite level competition in the sport was ambitious and essential, and we’re honored to be celebrating the successes and ongoing potential of this effort as we enter the Gold Team’s twentieth year.”

In the autumn of 2005, then SVSEF Coaches Chris Grover (now Stifel U.S. Cross Country Ski Team program director) and Rick Kapala (now SVSEF Director of Sport Development) envisioned the launch of a new program that would serve to propel cross country athletes to the heights of international ski sport. From its origins in 1972, the SVSEF Cross Country Team had grown to become hugely successful introducing young children to the sport of Nordic skiing and in turn assisting many of those kids to achieve success on the racing trails across the U.S. Additionally, Grover and Kapala recognized that for SVSEF’s promising juniors to graduate to international success, there needed to be continued and specific support as they progressed to the highest levels of ski racing.

An elite senior team, much like what was in place in clubs throughout Norway and Sweden, is what was needed to build that final step in the development ladder. Thanks to the integral support of many donors and sponsors, the Gold Team was formed as an official component of the SVSEF Cross Country Program and immediate success was found through Chris Cook earning a place on the 2006 Olympic Team and Morgan Arritola posting top results at World Junior Championships.

SVSEF athletes have continued to thrive at all levels of international ski racing earning medals at the highest level of sport, and in turn have served to define Sun Valley as one of the premier cross country ski communities in the U.S. and around the world. This sustained excellence confirmed the importance of a complete ecosystem of ski development, from the youngest kids taking their first strides through the best athletes competing on the biggest stages around the world.

“Sport in its best form has always been about combining hard work with aspirational motivation,” said Kapala. “The lessons of cross country ski racing are the same now as always. SVSEF Gold Team members lead the way for the younger skiers in showing what is possible when you combine drive, dedication, and a dream in pursuit of excellence.”

Seven athletes will represent this milestone anniversary for the Gold Team, all in their quest for new heights, for hard-earned and often elusive international and World Cup starts, and ultimately for Olympic and/or Paralympic gold at Milano-Cortina.

Fueled by talent and ambition, the 2025/26 SVSEF Cross Country Gold Team roster is primed to deliver standout performances on the world stage this season and beyond. Jake Adicoff, John Steel Hagenbuch, Peter Wolter, Elijah Weenig, and Sammy Smith are all SVSEF program alumni. Mia Case returns for her second year on the Gold Team and Will Koch joins to round out the roster.

SVSEF GOLD TEAM ATHLETE HIGHLIGHTS

Jake Adicoff: Reigning Para Cross Country VI World Champion, 3x Paralympian, 2022 Beijing Paralympic Gold, 5x Para World Champion, 5th at 2011 SoHo Super JNQ, 

Peter Wolter: 24/25—Guided Jake Adicoff to a gold and silver in Para World Champs; 23/24—2x US National Podium, 10 World Cup Starts, 1 x Top 40 World Cup; 22/23—2 World Cup Starts, Top 3 SuperTour Overall; 21/22—2x NCAA All-America; Boulder Mountain Tour Champion, 3 X Baldy Hill Climb Champion

John Steel Hagenbuch: U.S. Ski Team Member; 2x NCAA Champion; 6x U.S. National Champion; 2x Junior World Champion; 6x First-Team All-American; 2x World Championships Team Member; U23 World Championships Medalist; Boulder Mountain Tour Champion; Baldy Hill Climb Champion

Elijah Weenig: RMISA Runner Up Freestyle MVP; 2x NCAA Qualifier (2023 and 2025); 1st Place (T.O.D) DU Invitational 10k Pursuit; Member of U23 World Championship Team 2024; 3rd American at US Nationals 2024 Skate 20k; 9x JN All-American

Sammy Smith: U.S. Ski Team B Team; World Junior Championships 5th in Classic Sprint; World Cup 14th in Classic Sprint Qualifier in Falun (30th overall b/c of yellow card); World Cup 25th Skate Sprint in Lahti; World Cup 27th Skate Sprint in Tallinn; 2025 Classic Sprint U.S. National Champion

Will Koch: U.S. Ski Team 2022-2025, U.S. National Champion 2024, Bronze Medal at Junior Worlds, Bronze Medal Youth Olympic Games, 7X NCAA All American, 5X JN Champion

Mia Case: Top 25 Senior National results in the Classic Sprint, Top 10 Cable SuperTour Classic Sprint

To learn more about the Gold Team, please visit: https://svsef.org/programs/cross-country/xc-gold/ 

About SVSEF Cross Country Gold Team

Established in 2006 and now entering its 20th year, the Cross Country Gold Team was created and has been primarily funded by the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation. Composed of a group of the nation’s best post-collegiate athletes, the Gold Team trains year round in the mountains of Idaho, training sites across the United States, and venues around the world. Each athlete has his or her own goals for success on the SuperTour, World Cup, and U23 World circuit, and as a team, we push each other every day to universally attain those goals.

About Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation

Since its inception in 1966, the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation has been a longstanding pillar in the community, providing snowsport programs and offering academic assistance to support student-athletes in reaching their highest potential. SVSEF offers an array of programs for athletes ages five and up, from learn-to-ski and ride through FIS and other national and international-level competition. The organization distributes more than $500,000 annually in financial assistance to families, so that anyone who wishes to may participate. For more information, please visit svsef.org.