In American sports, ski racing is low on the totem pole. Way below pro hoops, NCAA playoffs — all the rage as action gets underway tonight — even hockey. Despite minimal coverage in the states, American skiers Bode Miller and Lindsey Vonn put on quite a show this winter, each clinching the World Cup combined title with the most points in all five alpine events.

Luckily, in Telluride, ski fans are able to catch live local ski races, including today’s Colorado Junior Ski Cup Championship, which runs through Sunday on Milk Run. The four-day race is the final local alpine event this season. The FIS race features J1 and J2 skiers (15-18) from across the country for giant slalom races on Thursday and Friday, slalom on Saturday and Sunday.

“We have entries coming from the West and the central regions and two from the East,” said Mike Bowman, TSSC’s alpine program director. “There should be 200 plus athletes, and it’s our last race here this season.”

TSSC racers include Mia McLaughlin, Maddie Crowell, Morgan Pihl, Mitch Erwin, Max Bregman and Victor Major. The series finale will declare the winner of the Colorado Cup, and for many racers a conclusion to the competitive season. Earlier events in the series decided qualifiers to the J1 and J2 National Championships, which took place last week.

Major, 15, competed at the J2 National Championship in Aspen. For Major, a first year J2, the entry was awarded as a development spot rather than on points from season contests.

“He didn’t qualify through his skiing results, but he belonged at the race,” said Bowman, who accompanied Major to Aspen. “He went there and proved that he belonged.”

The competition took place on Aspen’s World Cup Hill, the same venue as a women’s World Cup downhill race in November. With a full week of races, Major posted strong, consistent results, especially as a younger, first year J2 competitor.

“He was 31st in the downhill, and boy that was a tight race,” Bowman said. “He was in the top 10 for first-year J2s.”

Major’s best showing was in super G where he placed 15th overall, and second among first-year J2s. He finished 28th in slalom and 39th in giant slalom.

“He struggled a bit there,” Bowman said of the giant slalom. “That was a tough race but he finished.”

Major wasn’t the only TSSC skier tearing it up at season-ending contest. In Vail, Kulani Aplin and Josephine Bush participated in the J3 (13 and 14 year olds) Junior Olympics.
“Kulani did incredibly well in the downhill training days — finishing fourth,” Bowman said. “She ended up falling in the downhill, which was really disappointing for her.”

Bush, 14, finished 12th in the downhill, 24th in the giant slalom and 27th in super G. Aplin, 14, finished 28th in giant slalom and suffered another fall in the super G.
However, the competition ended favorably for both skiers.

“The slalom was a real bright spot for both of them,” Bowman said. “There was a 12th-place finish for Kulani, and 16th for Josephine.”

The alpine program’s young guns also saw some action last weekend. The J5 finale in Sunlight featured giant slalom and slalom races for kids 10 and under. TSSC had 14 kids competing such as Madison Stevens, Lyons Brown, Max Dwight, Chandler Bennett, Anna Fake, Hayden Foote, Jack and Will Plantz, Ebba Green, Coco Pryor and Griffin and Taggart Mueller.

TSSC J4 skiers are preparing for their season finale. Three skiers, Hayden Fake, Mikaela Balkind and Kyle Koenig, qualified to the J4 Junior Olympics in Winter Park where they will compete this weekend in Super G, giant slalom and slalom.

For this weekend’s local race, TSSC still needs volunteers. Volunteering involves making the course, moving the gates and doing lots of laps on Lift 7. However, a volunteer shift pays with two full day ski passes, one for volunteering and one for your personal ski use. For more information, contact Bowman at 728-6163 ext. 12.