Alpine nationals: Sullivan readies for Arctic test

Newly crowned downhill national champ Marco Sullivan will race Saturday’s super G and the giant slalom next week before taking on what’s arguably the biggest challenge he’ll face on his first-ever trip to Alaska.
ALYESKA RESORT, Alaska — Newly crowned downhill national champ Marco Sullivan will race Saturday’s super G and the giant slalom next week before taking on what’s arguably the biggest challenge he’ll face on his first-ever trip to Alaska.
    The Arctic Man Ski and Sno-Go Classic, billed as “the ultimate adrenaline rush” on the event’s Web site, is slated for April 11-15 near Summit Lake, and Sullivan is sticking around to participate along with U.S. teammate — and defending Arctic Man champ — Scott Macartney.
    “I had to stick around and give him some competition because he won by like 12 seconds last year. We’re both going this year,” Sullivan said.
    The Arctic Man blends downhill skiing and snowmobiling in a grueling endurance test. The skier begins at a summit elevation of 5,800 feet and skis 1,700 vertical feet in less than two miles before hooking up with a snowmobile-driving teammate. The snowmobiler meets the skier — on the go — with a tow rope and pulls the skier more than two miles uphill, at a top speed of around 80 mph. The skier then separates and drops another 1,200 feet to the finish line. Macartney teamed with Tyson Johnson to win last year’s event in 4 minutes, 14 seconds.
    Sullivan may be addicted to speed, but he took it a little slower on Thursday night when he went heli-skiing in the Alaska backcountry. He said the experience put him in a good state of mind for Friday’s downhill.  
    “I’d never been heli-skiing before, and it’s had such a good thing for the soul, you know? Just being out here in these mountains, in Alaska,” he said. “I’ve never been to Alaska, and I’m just having so much fun up here and I think that showed in the course. I was able to relax and just realized I had nothing to lose and just charged it.”
    Sullivan, who endured a spate of injuries this season on the World Cup and struggled down the stretch, said he felt rejuvenated coming to Alaska for what amounts to a season finale at nationals. But he added that he’s already looking forward to next season’s World Cup campaign because he won Friday’s downhill on a test pair of skis from his sponsor, Nordica.
    “They have three different models up here and that’s what makes it satisfying to win on these skis because new skis typically aren’t that fast,” he said. “So I’ve beat a lot of guys who are on their race skis. Obviously, [the skis] are working well, makes we look forward to next year, that’s for sure.”