confronted with an additional test when severe snow squalls swept over the
mountain just before the start of Class 3. Caught in the maelstrom was Class
3 racer Toby Chapman (ND). “It was snowing and blowing with ice pellets
stinging my face,” said Chapman. “I could only see two gates ahead, but then
it got worse for the guys after me. It was so bad that they had to ski out of the
course.”
In the interest of fairness, the TD sent the entire class back to the start to
rerun the course. By the time they arrived back at the start, the squall had
disappeared up the valley, leaving a fresh coat of sticky new snow on the
track. Kevin Hendrickson ultimately prevailed among the class the second
time through.
March 25, C/D Giant Slalom
“This was the toughest GS I’ve run all year,” said Class 8 racer Jim Ragan
after the first run of giant slalom. “It’s steep, it was a tight set, and the snow
was really dry and super grippy. Oh yeah, and there were a few holes on the
top that sent you off the line.”
For McAleer, the tougher the conditions, the more confident she is. Bad is
good. But this time around, bad almost became really bad. “I was carrying
so much speed off the flats, it was tough to get high enough coming onto the
steeps,” said McAleer, who bounced off a few berms, sprinkling a few ob-
scenities along the way, but still made it to the finish. A solid second run on a
more forgiving set still gave her the class win, but in the overall for the wom-
en, Class 1 RM racer Jennifer Higgins took the win. After the race, McAleer
was one of the first to congratulate the 26-year-old graduate of Middlebury
College. “She skied great and deserved the win,” said McAleer. Higgins didn’t
have much time to savor the victory, however, as she soon disappeared over
the pass to Colorado State University, where she is enrolled in the College of
Veterinary Medicine.
With Higgins and McAleer first and second among all the women, third was
left for Alexandrescu with Densmore and Kaufman in fourth and fifth, re-
spectively. Andrea Esson, a Canadian ex-national team skier from Ontario,
showed off her technical skills with a win in her Class 6 and a sixth in the
overall women’s race.
Among the Group D men, Pepi Neubauer held the hot hand, easily taming
the difficult course. He was followed by Bill Gooch (RM, Class 8), the long-
time Rocky Mountain coach who has gained notoriety not only through his ski
Erik Klemme
Pepi Neubauer
Tim Hill
JACK BALLARD
SkiRacing.com APRIL 7, 2011 | 58
