The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Joins World Cup racing circuit
Crested Butte alpine ski racing product David Chodounsky believes he is skiing as good as he ever has in his career and is jumping full on into the World Cup race circuit this winter.
Mind you, it’s a career that includes winning the collegiate national slalom title as a sophomore. He then went on to captain the Dartmouth ski team the year they won the Division I National title, complete with a trip to the White House to meet the President.
From there he earned a spot on the 2009 U.S. Ski Team B-team and was one spot away from being named to the 2010 U.S. Olympic squad.
After losing his spot on the 2010-2011 team, Chodounsky stayed focused and continued training, culminating in a self-supported trip to race in New Zealand last August.
It was there that he had one of the top results of his career, in a slalom race winning among giants.
‘‘The Canadians were there, the Norwegians were there and I won by quite a bit,’‘ says Chodounsky.
Due, in part, to his results in New Zealand, the U.S. Ski Team asked David to join them in Europe in October for training. Chodounsky showed up for the technical camp to find just he and Bode Miller would be running gates and analyzing video with six U.S. Ski Team coaches.
‘‘It was amazing skiing [Miller’s] track,’‘ says Chodounsky. ‘‘Training with him and being able to compare runs. It was the perfect camp for me to get back into the season and get rolling.’‘
Chodounsky carried his momentum from his success in New Zealand and his training in Europe into his first NorAm race in Loveland last weekend.
With World Cup races scheduled for Colorado in early December, the Loveland race attracts the top racers from around the globe to prepare for the upcoming World Cup events.
With such a stout field, the opportunity was laid out on a platter for Chodounsky to further climb the world slalom ranking. He jumped at the chance, placing first and third, including beating current U.S. Ski Team members and Austrian slalom superstar Marcel Hirscher, who is ranked eighth in the world.
‘‘It was stiff competition for sure,’‘ says Chodounsky. ‘‘The snow was great, nice and hard, and I made the most of it.’‘
Due to his results in New Zealand and Loveland, Chodounsky is now ranked 31st in slalom in the world.
‘‘I just took care of business in those two races,’‘ says Chodounsky. ‘‘Those opportunities where there’s such a strong field don’t happen all the time and I capitalized on both.’‘
Furthermore, Chodounsky met the criteria for the 2011-2012 U.S. Ski Team. With that ticket punched, he can now focus on racing the World Cup the rest of the year.
While he already has four World Cup races under his belt, he’s in a much better position to score points this year, as his 31st-place ranking will get him a start bib around 34 or 35 rather than the mid-50s.
‘‘When you start there you only have to move up a couple of spots on your first run to reach top 30 and qualify for the second slalom run,’‘ explains Chodounsky. ‘‘The second run is where you place and score World Cup points.’‘
Chodounsky kicks off his World Cup season on December 12 in Val d’Isere, France. From there he could have seven more World Cup races this season alone.
The only problem right now is finances. With little to no U.S. Ski Team support, he has to pay for his travels through this year.
‘‘I have to cover my expenses, which is a bummer,’‘ says Chodounsky. ‘‘It’s not easy. It’s draining me.’‘
To keep up with his World Cup season and even offer financial support, check out davidchodounsky.com.
‘‘I definitely feel like I’m skiing the best I ever have and I hope to take my confidence into France and pull off a good race there,’‘ says Chodounsky.
