The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Ranked third in slalom this season
by Than Acuff
Locally raised alpine ski racer and current member of the U.S. Ski Team David Chodounsky is having an exemplary season on the World Cup racing circuit. Chodounsky was fresh off a career-best fourth-place slalom result in Val d’Isere two weeks ago and kept the momentum flowing to post a top 10 finish in slalom at Madonna di Campiglio, Italy last week. It was his fourth career World Cup top 10 result. He now sits third in the overall World Cup slalom standings this season.
Chodounsky is coming off of a somewhat disappointing race season last year. While he finished the season in the top 25 and qualified for the World Championships, he knew he was capable of more.
“I would say last season was mediocre,” says Chodounsky. “I was skiing well but I was disappointed that the results just never came in.”
Ski team members spend the summer months racing and training in the southern hemisphere and Chodounsky used the time to scale back on racing and focus more on training and his equipment.
“I got in some good training and got my equipment dialed in,” says Chodounsky. “If you’re confident in your set-up then you can push and attack and look for more speed.”
So far that seems to be the case for Chodounsky in both his Giant Slalom (GS) and Slalom races. Chodounsky opened the 2015-2016 racing season with a 16th-place finish as a World Cup GS race at Beaver Creek.
“I didn’t have huge expectations going into that race so it was a good result,” says Chodounsky. “Knowing I had speed in GS boosts my confidence in slalom.”
Unfortunately, the start of the slalom race season was interrupted by Mother Nature as a lack of snow forced the cancellation of the opening race in Levi, Finland.
“It was a weird fall, a lot of waiting,” says Chodounsky.
As a result, the season did not officially kick off until the slalom in Val d’Isere on December 13. It couldn’t have been a better start venue for Chodounsky as he has seen success at Val d’Isere over the years, posting his previous top career result there two years ago when he placed seventh.
“It’s a tough course, it’s steep and the snow is pretty hard and that combination works for me,” says Chodounsky.
He admits that nerves were running rampant when he slid into the starting gate for his first slalom race of the season and those nerves played out as he struggled to stay balanced on his skis. Nevertheless, he finished the first run in 11th and then stomped his second run, taking over first place temporarily.
“I got to stand in the leaders box for a while, which was pretty cool,” says Chodounsky.
He eventually got bumped off the podium but still hung on to finish in fourth, the best result of his World Cup career so far.
Nine days later, Chodounsky was back in the slalom start gate at Madonna di Campiglio, Italy staring down at a course that was disintegrating with each run.
Chodounsky, wearing bib 20, tackled the steep 59-gate first run, finishing 14th. He was well on his way to another solid result in the second run when one mistake knocked him off balance.
“I had a pretty good mistake,” admits Chodounsky. “I hit a rut and had to throw my skis around to make the next gate and lost some speed.”
The course took its toll on several other skiers as well and Chodounsky’s effort was enough to earn him a ninth-place finish.
Two top 10 results in two races now have Chodounsky sitting in third place in the slalom standings this season and 18th in the overall standings, and he has his sights set on the next goal.
“Hopefully I can get into the top 15,” says Chodounsky. “If I get one more really good race or a couple of top 10s, that will do it.”
If he cracks top 15, he gets tossed into a bib draw for each race, which means he could start as high as eighth in a race.
Chodounsky also finds himself in a mentoring role on the U.S. ski team as a lot of up and coming slalom racers are cutting their teeth on the World Cup circuit this season.
“Experience is really big, so if I can give a little advice it helps,” says Chodounsky. “I share that experience a little bit but some of the knowledge I still reserve for myself.”
Chodounsky spent the holiday season on the East Coast to “relax and recharge” and then heads back to Europe this week. The World Cup schedule was set for him to return to another favorite course in Zagreb, Croatia but due to no snow, the race has been moved to Santa Caterina, Italy on January 6. He follows that up with a World Cup slalom race in Adelboden, Switzerland on January 10. Chodounsky looks to continue his streak when he steps back into the starting gate.
“I’m in a good place and I’ve never felt the way I am feeling now in the start gate,” says Chodounsky. “I’m just comfortable going as fast as I can and know I can be in that top group.”
