The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
“It was one of those moments where you have to take a second to soak it all in and appreciate how special the experience is”
[ by Than Acuff ]Aksel Lindenmeyr grew up racing 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 to attend and ski with the Apex2100 International Ski Academy graduating in 2023 but remaining overseas to train and race.
He was named to the U.S. Junior Ski Team last year to compete at the Junior World Championships in Italy and was named again this year to compete in the FIS Junior Alpine World Championships in Norway March 5-12.
After a season that Lindenmeyr admits had its ups and downs, he certainly had a huge “up” last week as he finished fifth in the Super-G and stood on the podium in second place with teammate Jevin Palmquist in the team combined event.
Despite the rollercoaster season heading in, he certainly felt on top of his game on the biggest stage for all Junior Alpine ski racers ages 16-21.
“I felt really good both mentally and physically going into the races,” says Lindenmeyr.
Lindenmeyr qualified for the World Juniors last year placing seventh in the Super-G as his top result from his inaugural experience. This time, he came in a little more focused.
“Having competed at World Juniors the year before definitely helped,” says Lindenmeyr. “I knew what to expect, which made it easier to stay level-headed and focused without getting distracted by everything going on around the event.”
He and everyone else there racing was thrown for a loop when the opening downhill training runs, and the downhill race were cancelled due to conditions.
“That was disappointing because I felt really confident on the downhill track and with how I was skiing,” says Lindenmeyr. “I decided not to dwell on it, I shifted my focus to the Super-G and made sure I stayed prepared for that race.”
That mindset paved the way for Lindenmeyr to improve on his result a year ago as he finished in fifth place the second time around.
“I was really happy with my result, and overall, I felt like I put together a strong run,” says Lindenmeyr. “When I crossed the finish line and saw 5th place, I was honestly a little surprised. About halfway down I made a mistake that I thought cost me some time, at which point I decided I needed to go as direct as I could on the bottom of the course, which helped me keep my speed up through the rest of the course.”
Lindenmeyr then competed in the team combined racing in the Super-G with teammate Palmquist in the slalom and the combined times of their runs put them in second place, just .17 of a second behind the first-place French team.
“Stepping onto the podium was an incredible feeling,” says Lindenmeyr. “When I realized we had made the podium, I was extremely excited. It was one of those moments where you have to take a second to soak it all in and appreciate how special the experience is.”
Lindenmeyr returns to Colorado to compete in the Nor-Am (North American) finals at the end of March in Aspen and will then race at U.S. Nationals in Vail immediately after that.
