By Sean HigginsPublished On: April 23rd, 2018Comments Off on Olympian Nolan Kasper Announces Retirement
After a national team career that stretches back to the 2008 season and three Olympic appearances in Vancouver 2010, Sochi 2014, and PyeongChang 2018, 29-year-old U.S. Ski Team veteran Nolan Kasper announced his retirement from ski racing via Instagram Monday afternoon.
“Today is the day when something I’ve been doing for the past 23 years ends,” he shared. “It’s been an amazing run, filled with some amazing highs, while also containing some pretty low lows. I’ve [sic] very proud of what I’ve accomplished over the years, including getting back from injuries time and time again.”
Over the course of his career with the national team, Kasper endured numerous setbacks due to injury. After a white-hot start to his career that saw him climb the World Cup podium with a second place in the slalom in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, in 2011, Kasper rarely enjoyed a full season without some sort of setback. Most recently, Kasper managed to come back from nearly three years away from the sport this season to score points in his first World Cup back in Wengen, Switzerland, and qualify for his third Olympic team.
Kasper also won a bronze medal in the 2009 World Junior Championship slalom in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, won the 2010 NorAm slalom title, and was the overall winner of this year’s World Pro Ski Tour after taking wins in two of the three events this season in Waterville Valley, New Hampshire, and Sunday River, Maine.
A Lake Tahoe native and University of Vermont graduate, Higgins was a member of the Catamounts' 2012 NCAA title winning squad and earned first team All-American honors in 2013. Prior to coming to Ski Racing Media, he coached U14s for the Squaw Valley Ski Team.