Telluride got an early start at alpine ski competitions, hosting the USCSA (U.S. Collegiate Ski Association) Slalom races Saturday and Sunday on Competition Hill.
The slalom event is the first of a series and welcomed 100 collegiate skiers from schools throughout the Rocky Mountain Region.

As host, the Telluride Ski and Snowboard Club clinched a few spots for their top alpine skiers — Victor Major, Morgan Pihl, Max Bregman and Mia McLaughlin. Pitted against college athletes, the TSSC skiers, though the youngest competitors as J2 skiers, scored solid results.

On Saturday, Major finished in the top ten in a field of 60 collegiate skiers from schools like University of Colorado Boulder, Colorado Mountain College, Colorado College, Fort Lewis College, Denver University, The Air Force Academy and Colorado School of Mines.

While CU dominated at the top of the standings with all three podium spots and seven of the top 10 skiers on Saturday, Major managed an eighth-place finish overall with a combined time — each skier raced two runs — of 1:15.37. Winner Michael Holmberg of CU clocked 1:11.72.

TSSC’s Morgan Pihl finished 20th, the second J2 skier behind Major, with a time of 1:21.12. Max Bregman was 28th, 1:29.82. For the women, CU was also dominant in a field of 45 skiers. TSSC’s Mia McLaughlin finished in the middle of the pack, 23rd, with a time of 1:20.51.

On Sunday, the slalom course offered its gates for a second day of racing. CU’s Eric Poore won the men’s race with a combined time of 1:13.84. Major was absent for day two, but teammates repeated the previous day’s results with consistent, solid runs. Pihl picked up a 23rd-place finish, 1:21.88, Bregman was 37th, 1:28.36 and McLaughlin, in the women’s event, finished 17th, 1:33.30, as CU’s Hilary Peterson pulled out a second consecutive win with a time of 1:19.09.

The USCSA event was originally scheduled as a Giant slalom race on Milk Run but, come race time, Milk Run was still in need of further snow-blowing and grooming.
“Milk run was just not ready,” Justin Chandler, TSSC executive director, said. “We have to make sure we have enough snow to last until March.”

The appeal for more snow seems suspect since January yielded a record snowfall, but alpine courses aren’t powder runs and require significant amounts of man-made snow.
“Man-made snow sticks more, and is more concentrated and much wetter,” Chandler explained. “People have a little misconception about natural snow. Natural snow storms really don’t affect what we have to do to make snow on [Milk] Run, we’re actually more dependent on cold weather and blowing snow.”

Since cold temperatures came a little late this season, the grooming department had to play catch-up when it came to preparing Milk Run for the season’s races, but thanks to recent frosty freezes the course is ready for this weekend’s races.

“We’re right where we need to be — we just pulled the guns and now it takes some expert cat driving to get [the snow] pushed out and groomed correctly,” Chandler said. “This stuff happens all the times. Skiing is an outdoor sport so you have to adapt to the circumstances.”

The mountain’s snowmaking and grooming staff worked hard to get Milk Run ready for last weekend but didn’t have enough time in terms of the long-term outlook.
“If we had pulled the guns to get [Milk Run] groomed for the college race, there wouldn’t have been enough snow for the March races,” Chandler said. “No races are more important, but a January race can be rescheduled versus canceling a race in March.”

With the USCSA race series, Telluride swapped the originally scheduled GS with Loveland for last weekend’s slalom event. This weekend, Milk Run hosts two GS races — the Smartwool Ski Cup. Traditionally, the first event of the Telluride season, TSSC and other ski clubs from the Rocky Mountain division will carve around the gates on Milk Run on Saturday and Sunday. On Feb. 21-24, Telluride will host the Surefoot Ski Cup, an FIS level race series, featuring some of the nation’s up-and-coming alpine ski racers.