Two years ago, the National Alpine Championships at Sugarloaf went off without a hitch. The weather and conditions were perfect, mostly sunshine and temperatures near the freezing mark. This year the weather took over and changed the entire schedule. The first two days of training were wiped out by snow, and the first race, scheduled for Friday, was canceled by the highest winds of the winter.

The first championship race was to be the downhill on Saturday, but that could not be run without training and more winds were expected. The solution was to run the slalom Saturday which would start lower on the mountain, eliminating wind as a factor. To complete the scheduled races, the officials had to get creative. They held the super-G Sunday and crammed the downhill training and both races into one busy day Monday.

That move allowed the GS to run Tuesday and Wednesday to wrap up on schedule.

Watching how the officials, coaches and volunteers handle these changes is always amazing. There are at least 300 people involved not counting the 150 athletes. Fortunately, it was possible to set the slalom on Comp Hill, leaving Narrow Gauge ready for the speed events the next day. Having these two trails next to each other is a real advantage and one of the reasons the U.S. team likes to hold the championships at Sugarloaf.

Taking a good look

My focus was on something I had inquired about well before the event. There has been a lot of talk this year about funding changes and part of it revolves around the building of a team training center in Park City, Utah. My goal was to grab Team CEO Bill Marolt to learn what was happening back in Park City.

Earlier in the season, I had learned that the funding had been spread around more, increasing funds for other teams such as Nordic. This has produced some results. Kikkan Randall won a World Cup cross country race this year, and Bill Demong placed third in the season-long World Cup combined competition, both firsts in a long time. CVA grad Emily Cook won a World Cup aerial event and was fourth in the finals.

But the best results came from the alpine team when Lindsey Vonn won the crystal globe symbolic of winning the season long race in downhill and overall. Ted Ligety grabbed the GS title, and although he’s not a member of the U.S. Team, Bode Miller won the super-G and overall crowns. That’s five out of 12 available titles, the best showing ever for the U.S.

I asked Marolt to what he contributed to this unprecedented success, and he answer in a single word, “Conditioning.” He went on to explain how the team brought on sports science specialists to work with the team members in the off-season and to continue working with the athletes through the season. When the new training center is completed, this will be extended to even more athletes improving the depth of the team.

The best showing by a Maine skier was Cumberland Center native Sam Sweetser of Cumberland, who finished eighth in the super-G and fifth in the downhill. Auburn’s Bump Heldman was 13th in the DH, the second best finish for a junior.

I also got to spend some time with Seth Wescott, back home after seven weeks of traveling to various snowboard competitions. An arm injury hurt his starts this year, but he still had some success and is looking forward to next season when everything is completely healed. We agreed that his event, snowboard cross, is one of the more dangerous with four competitors sharing the run at once. We also agreed that skier cross is even scarier because of the use of ski poles. At least snowboarders don’t have to be concerned about being impaled on a ski pole. Look for Seth to come back strong next season as he points toward the 2010 Olympics and another gold medal.

Weather was delightful

There was one major benefit to the weather. Snow conditions were mid winter with the hard dry snow holding up well. That meant even racers with a late start had good conditions with minimal rutting. Evidence of how well the conditions held up was Ben Morse’s performance in the slalom. The 15-year-old from Carrabassett started 66th in the first run and placed 30th. That earned him No. 1 start in the second run. He recorded the ninth fastest time on the second run to finish 17th overall. It was a performance that will get him a lot of attention in the future.

Once again, Sugarloaf and Maine skiers can take pride in a job well done at the National Championships, and we can look forward to their return in the future.

As always I enjoyed being at Sugarloaf for a few days. I don’t know of other ski resorts where you can watch one of Geppetto’s owners, Lloyd Cutler bussing tables or be greeted by Seth Wescott when you enter The Rack. And the morning report on WSKI, the local TV channel that was the origin of RSN, is the most complete I have seen, and I’ve watched these reports all over North America. Before you head for the slopes, you know exactly what lifts will be operating and what trails have been groomed. They did a great job informing the early morning audience of what to expect on the slopes and during the competition.

With the mid winter conditions, Sugarloaf’s goal of skiing into May is certainly within reach. Other areas will stay open while some have already closed. How late each ski areas continues will be determined by the weather and skier turnout. The best advice this time of year is call ahead.

Dave Irons is a freelance writer who lives in Westbrook.