The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
“My goal is to ski how I know I am able to”
By Than Acuff
For the second year in a row, Aksel Lindenmeyr is one of eight male junior U.S. alpine ski racers on the Stifel U.S. Ski Team competing on the biggest stage at the FIS Alpine Junior World Ski Championships, this year in Narvik, Norway March 5-15.
Lindenmeyr raced successfully for the Crested Butte Mountain Sports Team including top 10 results at the Rocky Mountain Division Championships, aka the Prater Cup, as a u14 and u16 racer. He then decided to take his training and racing overseas moving to Tignes, France five years ago to attend and ski with the Apex2100 International Ski Academy. Lindenmeyr graduated in May of 2023 but remained there to continue his ski racing career and a frantic travel schedule on the race circuit competing in FIS races, Nor-Am Cup races as well as the Europa Cup series.
This year Lindenmeyr admits his season has been a bit of a rollercoaster but feels ready for his return.
“I have had my ups and downs,” says Lindenmeyr. “My race season started off really well, then I hit a rough patch where I had to figure some things out mentally as well as with my skiing.”
Some of that comes from how it started off last summer that had him prepared for the upcoming race season and he’s noticed an improvement in his efforts throughout the season.
“I would say I have definitely made improvements from last year,” says Lindenmeyr. “This summer I spent a month working out at the U.S. Ski Team facility in Park City working with their trainers. I feel that I got much stronger this summer because of that, and I have felt it in my skiing that it was beneficial.”
Lindenmeyr believes he has climbed back out of the rough patch he mentioned and is heading into his second World Championships experience feeling strong.
“I feel good going into them as I don’t think I have fully shown my best skiing yet this year,” says Lindenmeyr. “I just had a good block of training in Vermont and now I have more preparation with some Europa-Cups in Norway, leading into WJC. I am honored to be a member of a select few athletes representing the U.S., and I feel I am equally as prepared as last year.”
Heading into big race week, Lindenmeyr is ranked 20th-24th in the world among his junior peers in Super G, Giant Slalom and Downhill. And while he cracked top 10 with a seventh-place finish last year in the Super G, his expectations are more personal performance based which could result in quality finishes as well.
“I am getting excited to see how I can perform amongst my peers,” says Lindenmeyr. “Last year was a good indicator that I have what it takes to be amongst the top skiers my age. My goal is to ski how I know I am able to. Obviously, I would love to pick up some great results and feel that can happen if I just ski for myself.”
Following the World Championships, Lindenmeyr heads to Aspen for Nor-Am (North American) finals at the end of March and will then race at U.S. Nationals in Vail immediately after that.
