Bryce Bennett on a burgeoning U.S. men's team, starting a podcast and why he's "not freaking out" this World Cup season
The American skier spoke one-on-one with Olympics.com ahead of the downhill race at Beaver Creek. "I just feel so prepared," he said after two productive off-season camps in South America.
Alpine Skiing
"The feeling I have on my skis is different," says Bryce Bennett, the American who finished among the top five in last season's World Cup downhill standings.
"And the feeling that I've come into this season with is different, too."
Two years removed from a season in which he had "no confidence... it was really, really bad," the 6-foot-7 Bennett appears a changed competitor - and will open his 2024-25 FIS World Cup campaign this weekend (6 December) in front of a home crowd at Beaver Creek, Colorado.
Affable and outspoken, Bennett, 32, isn't afraid to tell is like it is. It's a trait that's important to know about the two-time Olympian who, later in his interview with Olympics.com, said: "No American male has ever won a World Cup downhill title. That's the number one goal for me" this season.
The "downhill title" he's referring to stretches across the entirety of the World Cup, beginning in Beaver Creek on the famed, treacherous "Birds of Prey" course - and lasting through to March.
"I have skied fast at every single downhill track," Bennett, a two-time winner at Val Gardena in Italy explained. "I've been in top five, top four. You know... hundies [hundreths of seconds] from podiums. I think I... no, I don't think, I can be competitive at every single downhill. So it's just putting all those pieces together to do that consistently throughout the year."
Bryce Bennett: "I just feel so prepared"
Having been the shock winner at Val Gardena in 2021, Bennett pulled off the same magic a year ago at the Italian course, one he said suits him well but gave him confidence headed into the rest of the World Cup in what he now describes as a "rebuilding year."
"I need to ski free," he told FIS after that win.
It's a mantra he carried through much of last year and still applies to his approach as skiers kick off the penultimate season leading up to the coming Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026. But that aforementioned "different feeling" this year has a story behind it, and one that Bennett says isn't very complicated.
"I just feel so prepared," Bennett said before breaking into a laughter. "Generally I go into the season a little bit panicky, like I'm not quite ready. [But] this season I just feel relaxed, confident and not freaking out about things."
Bennett largely owes that to the three weeks the U.S. Ski Team spent at a camp on the southern tip of Argentina, where the snow can mirror that of the European winters they often face on the World Cup circuit. The team spent another session in the Andes Mountains, in Chile, thereafter.
Focused on isolating "a few technical issues," Bennett said he put in "super intense" training blocs on some "of the steepest, gnarliest downhill turns of my life."
The result? "I feel dialled in," he concluded.
Growing skiing in the U.S. - and a new podcast
Bennett stands out in Alpine skiing - and not just because of his height.
An avid outdoorsman, he spends much of his off-season fishing, mountain biking and adventuring with his wife, Kelley. The two are expecting their first child in March.
In a sport of hats, goggles and similar-looking ski suits, Bennett's inviting personality is one that draws people in.
This week at Beaver Creek, the volunteer corps on the mountain calls out to Bryce by name, wishing him luck as he gets on the chairlift or arrives at the bottom of the hill. ("Ski fast! It's a lot better to watch! one of them told him.) At a volunteer dinner earlier this week, Bennett popped his head in to say hello. "Come on in and have a drink!" one of them shouted to him.
As skiing has maintained a healthy following in Europe, the sport has room to grow in a crowded American sports market. That's part of the reason Bennett is spearheading a new podcast with his U.S. teammates appropriately named, Downhiller No Filter. The first episode is due out later this month.
"We want to help people understand the intricacies of the sport," he explained. "So they have a deeper understanding and appreciation for what's going on in a racer's mind. We're going to try and give people an inside scoop."
Bennett would like to see the growing numbers of Americans who hit the slopes each winter also turn into ski racing fans.
"It's like Formula One," he offered. "If you just turn on a F1 race, you're like, I have no idea what's going on. But you spend some time learning, maybe listen to a couple podcasts and watch the races. That can turn into, 'I'm into this.'"
"It's about building that story."
VAL GARDENA, ITALY: Bryce Bennett of Team United States takes 3rd place during the Audi FIS Alpine Ski World Cup Men's Downhill on December 16, 2023 in Val Gardena, Italy. (Photo by Alexis Boichard/Agence Zoom/Getty Images)
Team USA men: "We're building"
Two stories American fans - and a global audience - have followed closely are those of Lindsey Vonn and Mikaela Shiffrin. Shiffrin is on the cusp of an historic 100th World Cup victory, currently sitting at 99. And Vonn? Vonn is set to ski competitively for the first time in nearly six years. (Shiffrin is currently sidelined after a bad crash last weekend in Vermont.)
"It's crazy," Bennett said of Vonn and Shiffrin. "They're both incredible."
The American men have not delivered as consistently or dominantly as the women. Ryan Cochran-Siegle's silver in the Super-G at Beijing 2022 is the lone men's medal at a Games for Team USA since 2014. No American man has won a medal in the downhill (Bennett's best discipline) since Bode Miller at Vancouver 2010.
"I think on the men's side, it's just been tough," he said of the American team. "At the end of the season last year, the last World Cup downhill of the year in Kvitfjell, Norway, we had six in the top 20. And the last time that happened was something like 2007.
He continued: "So we're building. I feel like we have a lot of good speed and a lot of potential. I just hope that we can all put it together because I think that we have like five or six dudes that could be on the podium every weekend. It's just about building that momentum."
Bennett cites a coaching change in the last couple of years that has brought about a new cohesiveness among the Americans, and - he said - he's well aware of his own role as team leader, often referred to the others in the group as "the dinosaur."
"It's big shoes to fill," he said, referring to a now-retired Steve Nyman, long a stalwart for the U.S. on the international scene.
"It's been a challenge... but I've been recognising the importance of [the role]," he added. "Where I can help all the other guys and build this team culture where everyone's supporting each other, has their each other's backs.
"We're all just hammering and trying to get as fast as we possibly can."