Chodounsky posting World Cup results

In the thick of it

Crested Butte homegrown alpine slalom ski racer David Chodounsky took the next step in his ski racing career, scoring points on the World Cup circuit in three of his last five races.
Due to his recent success on the World Cup, the U.S. ski team named him to the squad headed to the World Championships in Garmisch, Germany.  
It’s Chodounsky’s second turn on the World Cup circuit. After testing the waters last season, he comes in this year with experience on his side.
“I am definitely getting more comfortable with the World Cup atmosphere,” says Chodounsky. “It’s something you have to get used to. So many people and so much attention is on you. Once you get used to it though, it’s just so cool to realize that you are a part of it.”
He broke the seal officially in Zagreb, Croatia earlier in January, finishing his first run in 22nd place to advance to the second run for the first time in his career.
“We got some good training in before the races so I was ready to go back for some redemption after hooking a tip last year,” explains Chodounsky. “I put down a solid run, ending up 22nd for the run. It was such a cool feeling.”
The next step for Chodounsky: finish the second run to score his first World Cup points. While he admits he was nervous staring down the course knowing he could score points, Chodounsky charged on his second run to move up two spots and finish in 20th place.
“It was so great to cross the finish line and score those first points to get the monkey off my back,” says Chodounsky. “I could feel the energy pumping through my veins.”
Chodounsky suffered a hiccup in his next World Cup race at Adelboden, Switzerland three days later, straddling a gate and failing to advance for a second run but came into his next race in Wengen, Switzerland optimistic.
“I still felt confident going into Wengen,” says Chodounsky. “I knew I had to just stay strong and ski clean to the bottom.”
Chodounsky posted a 25th place finish on his first run to qualify for a second run and with a reverse order start list got to ski early in the field. He flashed the course winning the bottom split to step into the leaders box for a brief time before world champion Mario Matt knocked him out. Chodounsky eventually finished 19th to score World Cup points for the second time in three races and wiping the slate clean from his misstep at Adelboden.
“It felt great,” says Chodounsky. “After Wengen I can completely erase the Adelboden slalom.”
A week later Chodounsky was in Kitzbuhel, Austria for a World Cup slalom race on Sunday, January 23, suffering another hiccup on his first run to miss a third shot at some World Cup points.
He closes the regular season with a slalom race in Schladming, Austria on Tuesday, January 25.
“Schladming is the pinnacle of the World Cup slaloms,” says Chodounsky. “I’ve dreamed about racing that race for a long time and now is my shot. Time to let it rip there.”
Chodounsky followed with a 22nd place finish in Schladming scoring yet more World Cup points.
“Schladming was unbelievable, it’s such a cool venue,” says Chodounsky. “There were so many people, they say like 50,000 or 60,000, even yelling at you warming up in the start.”
Following the race in Schladming, Chodounsky received some incredible news as the U.S. ski team picked him as part of the squad headed to the World Championships.
“They just named the team. I’m in,” said Chodounsky. “I’m so pumped!”
Chodounsky will ski the slalom at the World Championships on February 20 in Garmisch, Germany.  
Meanwhile, he is still covering costs and needs more support from home.
“People have been so great with their support for me,” says Chodounsky. “I think I will need about $5,000 more to get me through the rest of the year. After this year, and hopefully some top 10 World Cup finishes, the financial burden will be a thing of the past.”
There are two ways to help Chodounsky out. There is a foundation set up in Park City, Utah called World Cup Dreams Foundation that you can make a tax deductible donation to and earmark it for David Chodounsky, or you can contribute directly to him on his website, davidchodounsky.com.