CARRABASSETT VALLEY – A week’s worth of world-class racing concluded at Sugarloaf today as David Chodounsky of Crested Butte, Colo., claimed his third national slalom title in the final event of the 2015 Nature Valley U.S. Alpine Championships—Chodounsky placed fifth in the giant slalom earlier in the week.
AJ Ginnis, no stranger to the resort’s famous Narrow Gauge, trailed Chodounsky by .25 seconds to take home a silver medal while Tim Kelly, clenched third with a time of 1:44.77.
Kelley held a more than a half second lead over Chodounsky after the morning’s first run, which earned them the 29th and 30th start positions for the second run.
A challenging course set and firm snow conditions culled nearly half of the field following the first run.
Coming through the finish with a marginal lead over Ginnis in the second run, Chodounsky watched in anticipation for the one person that could bump him from the top spot—front runner after the first run, Tim Kelley. Kelley encountered some trouble on the final pitch, causing him to scrub speed and lose the lead, unable to recover.
Local brothers, Ben and Sam Morse finished in 10th and 14th positions respectively with two-run combined times of 1:49.51 and 1:51.02.
The U.S. Alpine Championships give up-and-coming athletes, like Ginnis who is a member of the D-team, a chance to face off against A-Team stars in a hopes of moving up in the ranks.
The Narrow Gauge trail will once again host the country’s best alpine ski racers when Sugarloaf hosts the US Alpine Championships in March 2017; the resort previously hosted the US Alpine Championships in 1996, 1997, 2006, and 2008
For a complete recap of the 2015 Nature Valley U.S. Alpine Championships, please visit www.sugarloaf.com/usalpine.
