Scott Snow competes at U.S. Alpine Championships

Avalanches, blizzards, volcanoes … Oh my! — “It’s all part of the journey …” Steve Anderson.

Well the journey got mighty strange this week.

The U.S. Alpine Championships were held in Alyeska, Alaska, the past eight days amidst the weirdest conditions in the history of the event. It all started with the eruption of Mount Redoubt, which closed the airport and forced most of the athletes to divert into Juneau or return to Seattle. Fortunately a small window of time allowed them to get into Anchorage the following day; the volcano continued to erupt all week. Then the snow started, more than 10 feet of new stuff over the past eight days, and still falling.

Monday’s downhill training run was cancelled due to unsafe snow and zero visibility. Tuesday, they ran the full downhill training run under marginal conditions. Wednesday and Thursday were lost to avalanches that wiped out the course and left mounds of snow for the groomers. The Super G was officially scratched from the schedule. Saturday they got off a downhill training run and the race on a debris-shortened course. A brief window of sunshine between the women’s and men’s races softened the course and slowed the track.

Then halfway through the men’s race a very dark cloud blocked the sun in the west — volcanic ash was headed our way. The course quickly frozen under the shade and about 15 of the final 30 racers vaulted into the top 20 on the slick surface, displacing folks who’d led all week. Then the ash started to fall. The final five racers ran on an excruciatingly-slow track and ruined their ski bases. Lifts stopped, everyone headed for cover, the awards ceremony moved indoors.

So after a week of praying for the snowfall to end, we all started to pray for more snow to cover the ash. Prayers were answered and we awoke to eight inches of new snow and another blizzard. Thursday’s slalom was run in the most surreal conditions we’d seen. The snow where groomers had been was mocha colored. The ungroomed powder was white, except where skiers had gone. Each track scribed a black signature on the slope. The organizers succeeded in pulling off both men’s and women’s races, again at the expense of ski bases. The snow continued and the giant slaloms were run on soft, deeply-rutted courses. This was clearly one for the books.

Perspective — it’s pretty hard to get at age 15.  As the youngest competitor in a championship where most of the 70-racer field was already on the U.S. Ski Team, Scott Snow acquitted himself well. Although he didn’t get the results he wanted, he illustrated that he belonged there with solid, middle-of-the-pack, finishes. He was 20th and 21st in the two downhill training runs, and sat in 23rd until the cloud froze the course on race day and he slipped to 38th. He still slightly lowered his points. He fell in the first slalom run, having to hike, but finished in 44th after a solid second run. In Giant Slalom, he battled from a 73rd start position and finished 50th. But what really matters is the many lessons he learned living with and competing against the big guys. You’re right Steve, it’s all about the journey.

FIS Devo Tech Series — On the road again. SARS sent a number of racers to this week’s FIS races in Park City, Utah. That race was not without its own weather issues, as a major storm hit the day before competition. Darn these winter sports. Lindsey Anderson was the only local competitor and she skied well against a strong field, including a ninth place finish in Slalom and sixth in Giant Slalom. She’ll be home for a week before hitting the road again.

Take a hike! — He didn’t have to do it. He was the defending National Champion. He was racing the top guys in the country and stood no chance to catch-up — everyone would have understood if he just skied to the bottom. But when Jimmy Cochran (of the famed Cochran racing family) missed a gate and skidded well down the track, he hiked back up for 24 seconds to earn a second run. The Independence Racing Team policy is to hike whenever they miss a gate, training, racing, NASTAR, Giant Slalom or Slalom. Builds character, legs and the desire to succeed. I caught Jimmy at the start of the second run and shook his hand to thank him for setting the example. He said, “My grandpa (an Olympic medalist) always said that you’ve gotta believe you can make every turn. If you don’t give it a try, you’ll never know what you can do.”

 What he was saying is that knowing one has to hike makes one try to save every turn, no matter how bad. There are lessons lying around all over out there.

USSA Masters National Championships — Only one local athlete attended the Masters championships in Sunday River, Maine. Dennis Wilhelmson’s week wasn’t without its own difficulties, although most were self inflicted. It started with a missed plane, followed by a long period on standby due to spring break, followed by a last minute arrival at the hill, followed by downhill training without course inspection. Ouch!  Seeding at Masters Championships is based upon training run times, so Dennis netted a late start. The good news is that this set him up to win the “move-up” award the following day. He also finished third in Class V. He crashed hard in Giant Slalom, taking out two gates and two cameramen. Ouch again!  In his own words, “I never really recovered from that crash and didn’t do real well in Slalom.” So he’s home licking his wounds until next season. Did somebody say next season?

Any comments, recommendations or contributions to this column may be sent to Shep Snow by e-mail at shep@thesnowschool.com.