The last time many Vermonters saw Mikaela Shiffrin, the Alpine ski racer was standing atop Killington’s Superstar trail, seemingly a minute away from scoring an unprecedented 100th World Cup win.

Then, figuratively and literally, she went downhill fast.

The Burke Mountain Academy graduate had snagged the lead in the first of two giant-slalom runs on Nov. 30, 2024, only to follow up by slipping, somersaulting and slamming into a fence 12 seconds from the finish line.

Some 20,000 spectators went silent as the two-time Olympic gold medalist was rushed away on a rescue sled. They and 2 million national television viewers wouldn’t learn more until the skier took to Instagram at dusk from the nearby Rutland Regional Medical Center.

“I am so sorry to scare everybody,” Shiffrin said in a selfie video as she revealed an abdominal wound with a playful “ay, ay, ay.”

Fourteen months later, the 30-year-old is again on the rise in advance of next month’s Winter Olympics in Italy. Commentators point to her opening five-race winning streak this World Cup season. People with closer ties add that just returning to competition was a feat in itself.

“She’s been the best in the world for a long time, but given everything that has happened, to stay there is one of her most impressive accomplishments,” says Willy Booker, head of Shiffrin’s alma mater in the Northeast Kingdom.

Shiffrin graduated from the grade 8-12 ski school in 2013, the same year she became the youngest U.S. woman (at 17) to win a slalom world championship. Moving on to the Olympics, she scored slalom gold in 2014 and giant slalom gold and Alpine combined silver in 2018. A year later, she became the first skier to claim World Cup victories in all six disciplines — slalom, giant slalom, parallel slalom, alpine combined, super-G and downhill.

Booker, a onetime competitor himself, was at Killington on the 2024 Thanksgiving weekend when Shiffrin rocketed through the first of two runs of the giant slalom — a race down and around a series of gates — sparking the crowd to buzz about a potential new peak: a never-before-seen 100th World Cup win.

“It was amazing, building towards this crescendo,” Booker recalls of the anticipation.

Come the second round, NBC sportscasters spoke of especially icy course conditions just before Shiffrin launched from the start at 50 mph.

“She’s nervous, she’s a little bit stiff, and why would you not be?” commentator Picabo Street said on air. “But she’s forward, she’s leaning into it.” 

That’s when Shiffrin slipped, struck two gates, lost a ski, slammed into a fence and went scarily still — all in five seconds.

Mikaela Shiffrin crashes during the second run of the Killington World Cup giant slalom on Nov. 30, 2024. Photo by Robert F. Bukaty/Associated Press

“Nobody knew how bad it was,” Booker remembers of the sudden hush.

Medics transported Shiffrin about 15 miles west to Rutland Regional Medical Center, where hospital spokespeople maintained patient confidentiality even as the athlete and her crew set up cameras in the emergency room.

Shiffrin posted on social media that night, then appeared on NBC from Killington the next day.

“We’re just not totally sure how I got punctured,” she told viewers of the stab wound that missed perforating her colon by millimeters. “Very lucky to not have worse injuries.”

But Shiffrin added that it hurt to breathe, let alone move — similar to how she felt after the accidental death of her 65-year-old father in 2020 and her failure to medal after three falls in the 2022 Olympics.

After Killington, some would sit out the rest of the season, especially with the concluding world championships less than 10 weeks away. But Shiffrin was determined to return, even after fluid buildup and infection-signaling fever and chills forced her into surgery two weeks later.

Developing a step-by-step rehabilitation plan, the skier focused first on simply standing, then walking, then easy exercises and, after four weeks, stepping into ski boots and snow.

Two months after her crash, Shiffrin raced the World Cup slalom in Courchevel, France, on Jan. 30, 2025, finishing a seemingly confidence-building 10th. But she continued to struggle off the course, seeing occasional flashes of imagined stumbles and spills.

A therapist viewed the visions as signs of post-traumatic stress disorder before sharing words from the late children’s television star Mister Rogers: “What’s mentionable is manageable.” And so Shiffrin expanded her recovery efforts from body to mind.

“A lot of it is trust that with time and practice and exposure, clarity will come back,” the athlete recalled in a recent self-produced video series, “Moving Right Along,” on her YouTube channel.

Shiffrin went on to ski at the February world championships in Saalbach, Austria, placing fifth in the slalom and helping the U.S. team win a combined event. She capped the month a week later in Sestriere, Italy, by finally scoring her 100th World Cup victory.

Since then, Shiffrin has increased her World Cup total to 106. Students and staff at Burke Mountain Academy are set to watch her attempt to add to her medal count at next month’s Olympics.

“There is a huge amount of pride,” Booker says. “They go to the same school as the greatest ski racer of all time.”

One who has little else to prove — yet, in her estimation, still more to gain.

“I’ve been doing this for a while, but I’m still learning new things,” Shiffrin concluded in her video series. “There’s new exciting adventures always just around the corner, and I’m looking forward to seeing what’s next.”

A Pennsylvania man is facing hundreds of charges after “over 100 full or partial sets of human and skeletal remains” were allegedly found in his home and a storage unit in a scene a district attorney described as a “horror movie come to life.” 

Jonathan Gerlach, 34, of Ephrata, Pa., was arrested this week by police who were investigating a string of burglarized graves and mausoleums at the Mount Moriah Cemetery on the outskirts of Philadelphia, according to the Delaware County District Attorney’s Office. 

“Detectives walked into a horror movie come to life… This is an unbelievable scene that no one involved, from myself, to the detectives to the medical examiners that are now trying to piece together what they are looking at — quite literally — none of them have ever seen anything like this before,” District Attorney Tanner Rouse said Thursday. 

“Detectives have recovered an awful lot of bones at this point, and we are still trying to piece together who they are, where they are from and how many we are looking at, and it’s going to be quite some time before we have a final answer,” Rouse added, noting that some of the remains were months-old infants, while others were hundreds of years old.

HUMAN SKULL, OTHER REMAINS FOUND IN BUSHES BY BROOKLYN’S CONEY ISLAND AS INVESTIGATORS WORK TO UNRAVEL MYSTERY

The Delaware County District Attorney’s Office said around 8 p.m. on Tuesday, police were conducting surveillance of Mount Moriah Cemetery “when they observed the suspect’s car with numerous bones and skulls in plain view in the back seat of the vehicle.” 

“Gerlach was then seen exiting the cemetery holding a burlap bag, crowbar and other assorted items. The offender was brought into custody where he admitted to stealing approximately 30 sets of human remains,” it continued. 

“Through investigation it is believed that over 100 full or partial sets of human and skeletal remains have been recovered from Gerlach’s home and storage unit in Ephrata. This investigation remains ongoing,” it added. 

HUMAN REMAINS FOUND NEAR TAYLOR SWIFT’S MANSION IDENTIFIED

Gerlach was charged with more than 450 counts, including 100 counts each of abuse of corpse, theft by unlawful taking and receiving stolen property.

His bail was set at $1 million, with an arraignment hearing scheduled for Jan. 20. 

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“I grieve for those who are upset by this, who are going through this, who are trying to figure out if it is in fact one of their loved ones,” Rouse said. 

Alex Bregman is off the free agent board after leaving Boston to sign a five-year, $175 million contract with the Cubs on Saturday.

Who will now play third base for the 2026 Red Sox?

Boston has had 23-year-old Marcelo Mayer working out at both third base and second base this offseason.

As a rookie last season, Mayer made 28 of his 35 starts at third base. His other seven starts came at second. He was promoted from Triple-A Worcester when Boston placed Bregman on the injured list May 24 with a right quad strain. The left-handed hitter started mostly at third base against right-handed starters when Bregman missed 43 games from May 24-July 11.

The sure-handed Mayer is considered Boston’s long-term shortstop. But chief baseball officer Craig Breslow has committed to keeping Trevor Story as his shortstop this season instead of moving the veteran to second base to open shortstop for Mayer immediately. That leaves Mayer as either Boston’s second baseman or third baseman depending on how the roster shakes out.

With Bregman gone, it’s looking more likely that Mayer will play third base.

The options on the free agent and trade markets are dwindling. The Red Sox could target free agent shortstop Bo Bichette to play second base. Meanwhile, free agent third baseman Eugenio Suárez, who hit 49 homers for the Diamondbacks and Mariners last year, remains available. But the 34-year-old would represent a significant downgrade from Bregman defensively. Suárez finished with minus-six defensive runs saved in 1,347 ⅔ innings at third base last year.

Mayer has the ability to play plus defense at third. He finished with 0 defensive runs saved in 248 ⅔ innings there last year. But the more reps he receives there, the better he should get. Most of his pro career has been spent at shortstop. He played just 48 ⅓ innings at third base in the minors compared to 2,254 innings at shortstop.

“It’s not easy going into an offseason kind of getting reps at every position,” Mayer said at Fenway Fest on Saturday. “I believe that every position requires different traits, different skills, different angles that you need to master. Obviously, I’m doing everything I can taking reps at third and second base and I feel really good at both. So wherever they need me is where I’m going to play. I’m going to do my best out there.”

He added that playing third base is completely different than playing second base.

“Second base, you’re doing everything backwards,” Mayer said. “Third base, you’re pretty much playing shortstop with less range, kind of quicker reflexes. So yeah, I think they’re just different skills that you need to hone in on to be able to be great at that position.”

Mayer spent the final 58 games of the 2025 season on the IL with a wrist injury that required surgery. He expects to be ready to fully participate in workouts once spring training begins.

“I’m pretty much doing full baseball activity, like a normal ramp-up, as I would for a regular season going into spring training,” Mayer said. “So I feel like I’m in a good spot.”

Mayer’s injury history is another concern if he replaces Bregman. It’s fair to question whether the Sox can rely on him to be available for the majority of a 162-game season.

The Red Sox asked him to put on weight this offseason to try to make him more durable. He has had issues staying healthy throughout his career so far, never playing more than 91 games in any season in the minors and majors.

“It was one of the main goals I set for myself going into the offseason,” Mayer said. “I weighed in at like 218 right now, which is by far the heaviest I’ve ever weighed in my life. I feel great, stronger and faster than ever. So I feel like my body’s in a really good spot.”

He’s up from 208 pounds at the end of last season.

“Moving well,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said Saturday at Fenway Fest. “Actually, Trevor was surprised the way he’s moving. Fast. It seems like his offseasons, the last two or three, he’s always rehabbing or trying to catch up. Not this year. I had a conversation with him toward the end of the season and he basically said, ‘I’m ready, I’m ready.’ And we’ll see, we’ll see how it works out. But the kid, he’s a good baserunner, he’s a good defender, he can hit the ball out of the ballpark. Obviously there’s a few things offensively that he needs to improve, but that’s everybody. And I like the player. I like him a lot. I don’t think he’s afraid of this environment. He actually likes it. So just go out there and play in spring training.”

Another question mark is whether Mayer is ready to be an everyday starter who faces both righties and lefties?

Cora typically avoided batting Mayer against lefty starters and relievers last year, like he does with most all his young left-handed hitters. Mayer went 4-for-26 (.154) against southpaws while starting five games against them. He was 13-for-48 (.271) with a .300 on-base percentage, .458 slugging percentage and .758 OPS in 50 plate appearances against lefties for Triple-A Worcester before his promotion.

The Red Sox faced left-handed starters in 28% of games in 2025.

“I think he can play every day,” Breslow said at the GM Meetings in early November. “I certainly wouldn’t want to set limits on what he’s capable of doing. He hasn’t and that’s something we of course need to be mindful of.”

Cora said while discussing Mayer, “Facing lefties in spring training is going to make them better. If we don’t face them, we’ll figure out. … So just try to get them against lefties. Same with Roman (Anthony), same with Wilyer (Abreu), same with Jarren (Duran). That’s something that, like I said, we’ll talk with Bres and see where we’re at.”