CARRABASSETT VALLEY – There was a point where Bryon Friedman wasn’t sure if he’d ever race again.

The Park City, Utah, native has been working his way back from a devastating injury in 2005. His second-place finish Sunday in the super-G is proof that he’s making progress.

It was the kind of condition and competition he’s craved all year.

“I think the sentiment has been that Friedman is having a tough time, and I should after being out for three seasons,” Friedman said. “The program I was on in the NorAm’s didn’t really suit my style this season. This is more like it.”

Friedman was injured in a training crash in Chamonix, France, in 2005, breaking his lower right leg and two bones in his left hand. He missed the end of that season and all of 2006 and 2007. He reinjured his leg while trying to comeback last year, putting his future in jeopardy.

“Last year, I refractured my fibula in one of the first races,” said Friedman. “I was really depressed. I thought this may be it. I thought I may be be done with this sport. It took months and months for the fibula to heal.”

He was told by the U.S. Ski Team last year that he needed to attend one of their offseason training camps, but Friedman wasn’t even sure if he’d be healthy enough.

“They were like, ‘If you don’t train at this camp, we’re going to let you go,’ Friedman said. “My fibula heeled two weeks prior to that camp, and I made it to camp.”

Of course, the pressure didn’t stop there. He was then told he had to compete or his season would be done. When he got back into racing, he learned he was expected to produce.

“A few weeks ago, they said, ‘Oh, by the way, you have to be top 60 if you want to race next year,'” he said. “So now, I’m working on that.”

Sunday’s result at Sugarloaf was a significant step in that direction. Friedman recorded two top 10s in the World Cup downhill in 2005 and was a U.S. gold medalist in the downhill combined in 2004.

“My leg feels great,” said Friedman. “My goal at the beginning of the season was to ski without pain. So, it’s pretty incredible, but once you get something, you want something else. I’m sking well, and I’m skiing without pain. Now I want to win some races.”

Fellow racers were cheering him on. Marco Sullivan knows the kind of struggles Friedman has faced. Sullivan, who finished third Sunday, injured his right knee in an accident in 2003 and missed two seasons.

“It’s really cool to see Friedman reaching that point and being back and being confident,” said Sullivan, who will miss the downhill Monday because he’s flying out for training elsewhere. “We were all screaming at him when he went out of the gates. We’re all stoked that he had a good race. He’s been through so much. It’s really, really cool.”

Sign language

The opportunity to get autographs from all the racers has been one of the highlights for young skiers at Sugarloaf. There was an autograph session Saturday night, and all the racers have given time to kids at the finish line. Skiers have been signing helmets, jackets and posters, but World Cup champion Lindsey Vonn may have had the strangest request. She signed a boys’ chest Saturday evening.

“Someone from the academy had a bet that he could get his chest signed,” Vonn said. “So I signed some kid’s chest.”

She can’t ski 55

Leanne Smith broke the 60 mile-per-hour mark on her way down the super-G course Sunday. While most of the female skiers were skiing in the 50s, Smith hit speeds that the men reached in the afternoon. The Conway, N.H., native held the lead briefly before Stacey Cook overtook her. Smith finished second.

“I was pretty happy with my run,” Smith said. “I had a few little problems, but nothing big. I’m really happy with how I skied.”

Smith is on the U.S. Ski Team’s C squad and used her knowledge of Sugarloaf to her advantage.

“I skied a lot here as a kid, because there weren’t any places that would have ski races four or five years ago,” said Smith. “I was here at least three times a winter. I’m comfortable here.”

Having this year’s championships in Maine allowed Smith to enjoy the comforts of home and have her friends and family nearby.

“I was excited to come home and not have to fly anywhere and have my family here,” said Smith, who was the 2007 overall NorAm and super-G champion. “I can kind of chill out. I know I can do well here. So I was pretty happy coming in.”

Wanted: New helmet

Julia Ford didn’t feel quite right the whole trip down her super-G run Sunday. The 17-year old from Plymouth, N.H., complained about her helmet when she reached the finish line.

“It felt like my helmet was going to come off,” Ford said.

Upon inspection after the race, Ford, a member of the U.S. Skiing’s Development Team, discovered that her helmet had a significant crack, leaving her scrambling to get another helmet for future competitions. She finished 19th.