Ski Racing - November 21, 2011

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Men

A Team Jimmy Cochran Hometown: Keene, N.H.

Team Years: 9

Club: Cochran’s/Mount Mansfield Ski Club

School: UVM

Equipment: Völkl, Fischer, Marker, Swix

Sponsors: NASTAR

Catch Up: A couple of ankle sur-geries kept him out of serious action last season, but Jimmy Cochran has got nothing if not perseverance. He’s among the older guys on the A Team and is displaying a perspective that comes only from experience. His aim this season is to appreciate all that ski racing means to him and help pull some of his teammates along.

First Person: “I’m 30 years old now, and boy, I’m feeling it. It’s fun to be back. It’s such a great group of guys and it’s an amazing life we lead. I’m going to try to enjoy every minute of it this year — not to live and die by the results so much as to try and ski well.”

Tommy Ford
Hometown: Bend, Ore.
Team Years: 5
Club: Mt Bachelor Sports Educa-
tion Foundation
School: Dartmouth
Equipment: Fischer, Swix, Shred,
Slytech, Booster Strap
Sponsors: Steadman Philippon
Research Institute.
Catch Up: When a man wins six
national championships in two
seasons, as Tommy Ford has, it should put him in the spotlight.
Among those who know racing, he’s been in the spotlight since at
least 2006 when he won four American junior titles, but he’s still
a bit under the radar for the general public. Ford has had some
spectacular moments. He made last season’s World Champion-
ship team only because of a weekend at Hinterstoder where he
placed 11th in super G from the 65th start hole and then posted his
best-ever World Cup GS finish in 18th the next day. Though Ford is
working around some nagging injuries, he’s confident in his abilities
and has a wait-and-see attitude.
First Person: “I got to stay home this summer, which was nice,
because of a bone bruise, but it put me a little behind, so I’ve been
hammering the last month and will continue to hammer.”

Nolan Kasper Hometown: Warren, Vt.

Team Years: 4

Club: Burke Mountain Academy

School: Dartmouth

Equipment: Rossignol, Lange, Uvex, Swix, Booster Strap.

Catch Up: Last season, after producing a rare American Europa Cup title and grabbing his first World Cup podium result, Nolan Kasper had an old injury rear up and bite him. Hip surgery in mid-August meant he missed the summer training camps and didn’t get back on snow until the tail end of October.

We can’t expect too much from him this season, particularly early,
but there wasn’t that much expected from his last season, either,
and he delivered some amazing results considering his rankings
and associated start positions. Those are better this season as he
moved from 56th to 17th on the World Cup’s slalom rankings.
First Person: “I’m feeling pretty good. I still need to heal up a
little more, and have to take it slow because if I just jump in, the
risk of micro tears is high. I’ve got the next four weeks to get ready
for NorAms and the first slalom of the year isn’t until mid-Decem-
ber at Val d’Isere.”

TJ Lanning Hometown: Park City, Utah

Team Years: 10

Club: Park City Ski Team

School: University of Utah/West-minster

Equipment: Head, Giro, Swix, Slytech

Sponsor: DonJoy

Catch Up: In 10 seasons on the U.S. Ski Team, TJ Lanning has made an average of 4. 2 World Cup starts a year. The last was in 2009, and the next won’t be until the 2013 season gets underway. With three crashes in his last three Cup downhill starts, it’s evident that Lanning takes a few too many risks, the last of them resulting in a devastating Lake Louise accident that left him with a fractured neck. Lanning, a Montana man with all the determined ruggedness the state implies, has plans to return to the circuit next season but wants to be certain he’s ready to take it on the only terms he knows, full out. Though physically healed, he’ll ski and train this winter but does not plan to compete.