Back In Bozeman, Crosscut Staff Cheers on U.S. Skiers Racing in Milano Cortina

A handful of Para Nordic skiing fans gathered on March 10 at Bourbon, a barbecue restaurant and bar in Bozeman, Montana, that prides itself on serving drinks and comfort food with “Montana hospitality.” 

The group crowded around a large TV screen inside Bourbon to watch as standing skier Dani Aravich and sit skiers Michael Kneeland and Nicole Zaino competed at the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games. There was no way these fans were going to miss a chance to come together to cheer on the three athletes in their biggest competition. 

U.S. Paralympics Nordic Skiing is based in Bozeman, and Aravich, Kneeland and Zaino live there year-round. They train in the offseason at Crosscut Mountain Sports Center in Bozeman. They practice on the center’s 700 meters of pavement that’s available for roller skiing, and they work on their shooting for biathlon at the facility’s large shooting range. 

Considering their close connection to Crosscut, it only made sense that Crosscut’s staff would hold a watch party to show their support for the U.S. skiers as they competed on the world’s largest stage in Italy. 

“The vibes were high. We were clapping. We were hooting and hollering,” said Laurie Stahle, Crosscut’s senior director of communications who attended the watch party. “Even if you’ve seen it 100 times, to watch it again with a group of people and you see someone giving an all-out effort is really incredible. It just gives you kind of goosebumps to see athletes that you’ve talked to, that you’ve seen train here and seen compete here just giving that kind of effort is really cool to witness. And people were really excited about it.” 

This is Aravich’s third time competing at the Paralympics after previously qualifying as a sprinter at the 2020 Tokyo Summer Games and as a standing skier at the 2022 Beijing Winter Paralympics. Kneeland and Zaino are both making their Paralympic debuts in Italy. 

Aravich and Kneeland have a particularly close relationship with Crosscut, which boasts more than 45 kilometers of trails for skiing — including nine designated sit ski courses that range from 900 meters to 2.5 kilometers. 

Aravich serves on Crosscut’s board of directors. Kneeland, who was added to Team USA only a few weeks before the start of Milano Cortina after receiving a special exception from the International Ski and Snowboard Federation and the International Biathlon Union, used to be involved in Crosscut’s youth biathlon program. 

Zaino, meanwhile, made Bozeman her home and Crosscut her regular training facility after moving to Montana a few years ago to pursue her dreams of making the Winter Paralympics as a sit skier. 

Depending on the season, the three Paralympians regularly run into Crosscut’s staff on snow, on pavement, at a local gym and around town. 

“We have so much pride seeing three Crosscut athletes competing at the Paralympics in Italy. I mean, it’s just so cool to see,” Stahle said. “We know them as people, and so we feel just really happy for them as people. And then, organizationally, we feel a lot of pride that we have a place that they train and that they can improve and they can reach their highest potential at. 

“So, I would say it’s a lot of pride as well as just pure joy on the part of the person-to-person connection we have with those folks.” 

Because of the eight-hour time difference between Bozeman and Val di Fiemme, Italy, where the Nordic skiing events during the Winter Paralympics are being held, the fans watched a replay from earlier in the day of the athletes competing in the cross-country skiing sprint race. Aravich finished sixth in the women’s standing event; Zaino advanced to the semifinals of the women’s sit skiing event, and Kneeland placed 32nd on the men’s side. 

“It was very exciting. There was a group of people who know these athletes, who’ve seen them on the trails, who were there and who were very excited,” Stahle said. 

In addition to sharing the experience with together, the Crosscut fans also shared the joy with diners who just happened to be at the restaurant. 

“(They) got their curiosity peaked about, ‘What are these people cheering about? What are they watching?’ Stahle said. “And so, we were able to have conversations with folks in the community as well.” 

Stahle said residents of Bozeman, located in the Rocky Mountains in southern Montana, are much more familiar with cross-country skiing and the biathlon than other parts of the country. Just a few weeks ago, they cheered as two athletes with local connections competed in the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games — Paul Schommer was a member of the center’s elite biathlon team, and Novie McCabe took part in several collegiate races that Crosscut hosted when she was competing for the University of Utah. 

Stahle said Crosscut’s relationship with the U.S. Para team has increased the profile of U.S. Paralympics Nordic Skiing within the local cross-country skiing and biathlon communities, but many in town are unaware that so many elite Para athletes regularly train at Crosscut. 

“I think a lot of people just don’t realize that Montana’s very own Olympic or Paralympic team, there’s only one, and it’s U.S. Para Nordic,” she said. “So, that was great to be able to share that enthusiasm and information with the community as well.” 

For those already close with the U.S. team, the connection at the watch party was palpable. 

“We’re really proud that they call Crosscut home and that we get to see them out on the trails training,” Stahle said. “I mean it’s just so gratifying to see athletes that you’ve skied with or seen skiing or on the range on the big screen, competing in the most iconic place you can compete in sport, in the Paralympics. That’s why we wanted to have the watch party and invite the community to learn more about the team as well.” 

Alex Abrams has written about Olympic and Paralympic sports for more than 15 years, including as a reporter for major newspapers in Florida, Arkansas and Oklahoma. He is a freelance contributor to USParaNordic.org on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc.