Ford Crowned GS Champion, Steffey Top Junior in Sun Valley

The final day of men’s competition at the 2018 U.S. Alpine Championships in Sun Valley, Idaho, took place on Sunday as the men’s giant slalom was decided. With cloud cover rolling in and out all day, U.S. Ski Team veteran Tommy Ford took his third career GS title ahead of Brian McLaughlin in second and German skier David Ketterer in third. George Steffey was the top junior in fifth.

Thanks to sustained cold temperatures, the hard, grippy racing surface enjoyed over the past few days was once again on tap as the fastest men in the country took on the Greyhawk slope. Incredibly challenging even by World Cup standards, Sun Valley’s GS hill is not only steep, but sustained. In order to find success on such a demanding hill, an athlete’s technique, tactics, and fitness must all be top notch.

“I approached it as I would a World Cup and I gave it my all,” Ford explained. “First run was really solid top to bottom and a blast running that smooth of a course. The second run was slightly chattery at the top of the turn. I saw some people looking how I felt in (yesterday’s) slalom, just going straight and hitting hard and that made it challenging to muster the energy to do a consistent, fast run from top to bottom. I knew I had to go fast because those guys like Brian are coming up.”

McLaughlin made his World Cup debut this season in the Beaver Creek GS. Image Credit: GEPA Pictures/Christian Walgram

It looked like McLaughlin might steal the victory out from under Ford as the veteran approached the finish, but Ford was able to muster the strength necessary to squeeze the last bit of speed out of the final turns of the course, taking the win by 0.36 seconds. Nevertheless for McLaughlin, who is also the reigning NorAm and NCAA GS champion skiing for Dartmouth College, Sunday’s result was a massive step in the right direction as he now has his sights firmly set on the World Cup next season.

“It feels really good,” he said. “I just wanted to come here and charge. It’s the last important race of the year so I just wanted to charge and do well. There were obviously a bunch of little mistakes on this hill, it’s pretty tough, but I was just trying to charge and leave it all out there so I can’t be too upset. I’m going to take a step up next year so I need to keep working hard, keep trying to get better so I can do some damage on the World Cup once I get there.”

Steffey used a strong second run to eke out top junior honors ahead of his teammate Luke Winters who also set the fastest second run time. Although Steffey landed off of the overall podium, the big New Hampshire native was happy to end his big-event season with a solid performance.

“I’m happy with today,” Steffey said. “Bit of a conservative first run but I gave it a little more gas second run and I’m pretty happy at the end of the day. It’s always nice to end with a good result, but as always, I’m as hungry as ever for more. It just gives me a little confidence and it all carries through so for spring series I’ll have a little more confidence and I’ll keep that rolling through the summer and prep period.”

For complete results, click here.

The women will race GS on Monday, March 26, to conclude the 2018 U.S. Alpine Championships.