STORY BY KAREN BOSSICK
PHOTOS BY NILS RIBI AND KAREN BOSSICK
Hig Roberts’ four dogs will be so proud.
The Steamboat Springs racer, who turned 27 a week ago, claimed the national title in men’s slalom Saturday at the Toyota U.S. Alpine Championships being held on Sun Valley’s Bald Mountain.
And, according to Roberts, he owes much of the glory to his dogs.
“They put me through four different workouts,” he said, his race bib splashed with blood from a bloody nose he incurred when he smashed into the second gate. “One of my dogs Eddy, for instance, is a Corgi/German shepherd mix. And he puts me through the Eddy Sprint where I chase him up the hill. Even though he has short legs, he’s fast—if I beat him, it’s a good day.”
Roberts took an unlikely path to the big time, qualifying for the U.S. Ski Team in 2015 after graduating summa cum laude from Middlebury College where he learned to race on blue ice.
He won the national title in men’s giant slalom on a foggy day at the 2017 U.S. Alpine Championships at Sugarloaf. It was a bittersweet victory as he had lost his brother several months earlier when Murphy Roberts—also a skier—died in a hiking accident in Utah caused by a diabetic seizure.
Roberts has been nicknamed “Pocket Bode” because coaches saw him as a pint-sized scrappy version of Bode Miller.
And that tenaciousness paid off Saturday on a sun-soaked Sun Valley afternoon as he led a pack of 69 competitors after the first run, and then put together a stellar second run as second-place racer David Chodounsky missed a gate near the top on Hemingway.
“The win was unexpected but it came together and it feels great,” he said. “I like tough courses and that’s what this one was.”
Mark Engel, who’s been battling back pain and a stress fracture, finished second, and AJ Ginnis took third, crossing the finish line with one ski up in the air and his upper body hovering just above the ground.
“I’ve never made a slalom podium so I’m excited,” said Engel, a University of Utah alum who took 31st in slalom at the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang. “I love the hill—it’s challenging but not too complicated. And I’m excited to medal with my teammate AJ.”
He paused, angling to see if he could keep his race bib as a memento.
“You can get it on Monday after the races are over,” Alan Hogg told him.
“But I have to go to Park City that day,” said Engel, who’s headed to the World Pro ski Tour in Sunday River, Maine.
The women’s race was a little anticlimactic compared with the 2016 U.S. Alpine Championships held in Sun Valley when the Slalom Queen Mikaela Shiffrin took everyone’s breath away with the short swift order she made of the course.
Shiffrin, who won her second straight overall World Cup title two weeks ago, was a no show at this year’s national championships after taking part in the World Cup finals in Are, Sweden this past week. But the lack of big name stars like Shiffrin and Resi Steigler gave the 73 young women competing in the slalom the hope that maybe—just maybe—they could be crowned the nation’s best slalom racer.
“Looking through my camera lens I could see the emotion in their eyes,” said Sun Valley photographer Nils Ribi, who has been taking pictures this week for the U.S. Ski Team. “They are just so excited to be here.”
One of those excited to be here is Foreste Peterson, a Dartmouth College student majoring in environmental science.
Her aunt Jeri Howland—the identical twin of Foreste’s mother Barbara Peterson—ran six miles to the race course on Warm Springs from her home in Elkhorn, fearful she would miss it because of having to exercise caution with a little ice on the path.
She made it in time for the race and she, her sister and Muffy Ritz watched as Foreste skied to a top 10 finish.
“Getting to watch her out here is like a dream come true,” said Howland. “I’m so proud of her. She didn’t finish the race when she was out here two years ago so she’s really come along way.”
“I’ve matured a lot,” said Peterson, 24. “And I’m so glad to be back. This is one of my favorite hills because it’s really steep. And the weather is just awesome, the snow is awesome.”
When it was all said and done, Nina O’Brien ended up on top for the second day in a row after having won Friday's Women's Super G. Amelia Smart, a Canadian from Vancouver, B.C., studying computer science at the University of Denver, took second. And U.S. Ski Team member Lila Lapanja claimed third.
Cheering them on were hundreds of spectators at the bottom of Greyhawk.
“I love the crowd,” said Mary Hogg. “I love how the whole community comes out for this.”
TODAY’S ACTION
The Alpine Championships continues today—Sunday, March 25—with two Men’s Giant Slalom races beginning at 9:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. on the Warm Springs side of the mountain. It will be followed by an awards ceremony at 1:30 p.m.
TO LIVESTREAM TODAY'S ACTION CLICK HERE AT 9:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.
A free family-friendly kid’s version of the Hahnenkamm will be held at 3:30 p.m. on Dollar Mountain, with registration at 3 p.m. And a free Big Air exhibition featuring some of North America’s top aerial specialists will be held at 5 p.m. on Dollar Mountain.
The Women’s Giant Slalom runs are scheduled to take place at 9:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. Monday, followed by an awards ceremony at 1:30 p.m. on Warm Springs Plaza.
NBCSN will play a recap of Saturday's Women's Alpine races at 9:30 tonight.
RACE RESULTS
MEN’S SLALOM
1-Hig Roberts 1:37.87
2-Mark Engel 1:38.22
3-AJ Ginnis 1:38.45
WOMEN’S SLALOM
1-Nina O’Brien 1:37.16
2-Amelia Smart 1:37.20
3-Lila Lapanja 1:37.85