Despite the lack of familiarity with pushing the speedometer, McAleer took a
narrow lead into the slalom and then sealed the win among the women with the
fastest run of the day in slalom. In fact, her time brought her from fifth overall
(among all the women and Group D men, 60 and older) to third overall, behind
only Class 8 ace Victor Roy (IM), and perennial masters champion Pepi Neu-
bauer (EA) in Class 9.
Alexandrescu was second among the women while taking the Class 2 win;
Densmore was a few tenths back for third, easily winning her Class 5.
March 23, A/B Super Combined
The younger men took up the super combined race while the C/Ds explored a
few more inches of new snow in the upper snowfields. Matt Savage (FW, Class
1) started what would become a sweep of all but one run with a resounding
win. Kevin “Trunks” Hendrickson (RM, Class 3) rode a fast SG to second in the
A/B Group as the ageless Tim Hill (PN, Class 5) showed he is no longer just a
technical skier with the third fastest time in the A/Bs.
March 24, Super G (all groups) The day dawned clear for the super G on Rosie’s Run. As the race hill started
off with some benign gliding sections on the top and then plunged over a steep
precipice, it was fast and technical. McAleer was a bundle of nerves at the
start. “I just like to be by myself before the start, listen to music, and take care
of my skis,” she said. “I’m least comfortable with super G so I have to focus on
getting myself into the frame of mind where I want to go faster at every point
on the course. I love that 15 minutes before the start when the adrenaline is
pounding.”
McAleer hit the gas pedal and didn’t back off, finishing with the fastest time
among the women and second among the Group D men. Only Victor Roy was
able to avoid the ignominious fate of “getting girled.” Alexandrescu once again
was second among all the women, with Densmore and Kaufman stacked up in
third and fourth.
Among the Group D men, Neubauer trailed Roy in second, followed by Jim
Ragan (ND, Class 8) and Tom Kronthaler (IM, Class 8). Other notable performances were turned in by the Class 10 winner, Lee Kaufman (RM, father of
Jennifer), who came back to ski racing after a serious illness in January; and
John Droege. Despite being the only racer in class 13 (85 to 89), Droege attacked the difficult course, tucking at every opportunity.
The super G course offered plenty of challenge, but the A/B Groups were
Dana Alexandrescu
Lisa Densmore
JACK BALLARD
Nancy Auseklis SkiRacing.com APRIL 7, 2011 | 57
