Nordbotten grabs back-to-back NorAm slalom wins

Jonathan Nordbotten racing at Loveland (GEPA/Andreas Pranter)

GEORGETOWN, Colo. — Norwegian skier Jonathan Nordbotten, who finished 26th in the Levi World Cup and who also competes for the University of Vermont on the NCAA circuit, landed back-to-back victories in the opening slalom races of the NorAm season at Loveland Ski Area on Monday (Nov. 25) and Tuesday (Nov. 26).

On two fairly direct sets during Monday’s race, Nordbotten bested runner-up Mike Janyk of Canada by less than one-tenth of a second. The U.S. Ski Team’s Will Brandenburg finished third.

“The course first run was high speed and quick tempo which is something I’m good at. It was good to lead with half a second,” said Nordbotten. “Coming into the second run, I skied a little bit safe. It was tough light, quick course, a lot of combinations, so I wasn’t too aggressive.”

On Tuesday, Nordbotten maintained his dominance over a hard-charging Janyk who lost the first run lead and dropped to third while testing out a new pair of skis. The U.S. Ski Team’s David Chodounsky bested his fourth place result from Monday and finished second.

“I like the turns, I always have, so I liked the first run and it was a little more fun,” said Chodounsky. “Good snow — great training —a lot of great skiers: being able to podium and hold your own here and get some good runs under your belt helps a lot on the World Cup.”

Nordbotten, who flew to Colorado early and trained for nine days at Loveland on the trail alongside the race hill, said the trip was a better decision than if he had tried to train in Europe where conditions ultimately proved less than desirable for other athletes.

“Now I’m set for next year with six (points), and I can’t start any better than that without doing well in World Cups. It was cool to race Levi and then come back here and meet a lot of the guys who raced that, like the Italians and the Austrians. It’s always good to win the first NorAms because you know you’re skiing well because the field is so deep and everyone is fighting to get those sixes.”

Former collegiate skier Tim Kelley who is hopeful in fighting his way back to the World Cup finished twice inside the top 10 with a sixth place result on Monday and a ninth on Tuesday, finishing as the third ranked American each day.

Despite Janyk’s second and third place finishes and a smattering of top 10 results for his other athletes, Canadian head men’s technical coach Max Carca still believes his team is capable of more. Janyk held the lead after the first run, but a costly mistake in the flat just before the finish of the second run cost him the race.

“Today (Janyk) tried a new model of skis, and he skied well,” said Carca. “It’s good info for next race and the World Cup, especially for Zagreb, I think, because this ski pushes a lot.”

Janyk reiterated his coach’s sentiments about ski testing during NorAm races.

“These NorAms are a great opportunity to try different setups. It’s one thing in training, but to have the opportunity under race conditions and the full length of a course, it’s amazing feedback,” he said. “So we made the decision, we’ve been playing with these two pairs of skis, so let’s try them in the race. If it was a World Cup today, I would have chosen my other ones, but it was actually a really great test.”

“I think we have a strong team in slalom, but we need to focus more on the details, the transition, so in these conditions we don’t make these mistakes,” reflected Carca. If you make a mistake on the pitch — ok — but not in the flat on the bottom five gates before the finish.”

Results – Men’s NorAm Slalom at Loveland Ski Area, Colo., Nov. 25, 2013

Results – Men’s NorAm Slalom at Loveland Ski Area, Colo., Nov. 26, 2013