Slalom specialist Luke Winters wins surprise super-G title at U.S. Alpine Championships in Vail
Ryan Sederquist/Vail Daily
Luke Winters might need to think about doing some speed next season. The U.S. Ski Team’s World Cup slalom specialist pulled out a surprise super-G title on Sunday in Vail, gunning from bib 19 to win his fifth national title in 55.25 seconds.
“I had zero expectations coming into this race,” said Winters, who last wore super-G skis at the 2024 national championships in Sun Valley, Idaho. The 27-year-old said he hasn’t trained the discipline in five years.
“But you never really lose the touch in skiing if you have it from a young age and I just went as straight as I possibly could, got low in my tuck and tried to win,” he said. “You always try to win once you push out of the gate.”
Winters was in 21st at the first interval but found a way to gain 0.03 seconds on Isaiah Nelson and Jack Smith, who tied for second. Nelson was impressed — but not shocked — by Winters’ performance.
“I’ve been believing in him for years,” the Minnesota product stated. “I’ve been saying he’s going to be a speed skier.”
Nelson also put on a show for the Golden Peak crowd gathered to watch the first of three days of racing after Saturday’s postponement. The seven-year U.S. Ski Team veteran was a sliver away from straddling the penultimate gate, but managed to save the silver medal.
“Right as I was about to go into the air, I saw that I was going way too straight, so I kind of jumped off one leg. I was pretty happy to get both my feet on the right side of the gate and extremely stoked not to be on my side coming through the finish,” Nelson said. “I came through the finish fired up just because I didn’t crash, and then to be fast was also a treat.”
While the women had pristine, firm conditions, by the time the men started at 11 a.m., things had softened considerably. The slush claimed the first starter, Ski and Snowboard Club Vail alumnus Kyle Negomir, one of the pre-race favorites.
“We heard that it was really good and you could push on it,” Negomir said before accepting the blame for his DNF. “But also we’ve been doing this long enough, you should know how to expect that.”
As far as SSCV’s other World Cup alumni go, River Radamus tied for eighth and Bridger Gile placed 15th. Julian Arthur led the way for the current crop of local skiers, placing 13th in the 61-member field.
“It was alright. A couple mistakes, but overall, pretty good,” Arthur said. “I think the top of ‘Afterthought’ was the most important. It was just a little peely snow and getting late there, you lose speed. It’s all about miles per hour.”
The 20-year-old slalom specialist will head to Middlebury next fall and is looking forward to reduced travel on the NCAA carnival circuit.
“I was kind of ready for something new and that team is just so solid right now,” Arthur said before adding that he was thrilled to compete on home snow on Sunday. “Such a privilege. The course crews are working so hard for us and it’s so nice. Hopefully the weather stays good, it gets a little colder and the tech will be perfect.”
Arthur’s U21 teammates, William Erickson, Stewie Bruce and Alex Krupka placed 18th, 21st and 22nd, respectively. Bruce came into the series with some momentum after winning the FIS slalom race at Beaver Creek on Monday.
“It definitely helped bring confidence here,” the 19-year-old said. “Needed more direction on a couple parts (today) but still managed to put down some solid skiing with the snow being a little slushy.”
Like Arthur, Bruce is eager for the tech events on Monday and Tuesday. While Bruce sees himself as a GS skier, his slalom points are better.
“I’m entering both with confidence and just excited to see where good skiing can put me,” he said.
Even though his season didn’t end the way he wanted it to, Negomir left with a smile.
“I think this weekend is really important to try and make an impact on the sport and sort of be that role model that I was able to grow up watching,” he said. “I appreciate everyone for coming out. This is a cool event and it’s special to be racing at home.”
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