By Steve Sherlock,Sports Editor

CARRABASSETT VALLEY – The crowd groaned when Bode Miller appeared to lose control.

Miller’s skis slipped out from under him, and he landed on his left hip as he approached a gate after clearing the headwall Tuesday in the first run of the men’s giant slalom. Renowned for his all-or-nothing charging style, the 2005 World Cup champion appeared to be left with nothing for the second consecutive day at the U.S. Alpine Championships.

Few skiers, though, have Miller’s uncanny ability to skirt the fine line between perfection and disaster.

“That’s just Bode,” said Olympic teammate James Cochran. “He’s so fast. Bode is in his own world when he wants to be. You could tell that he was very confident.”

Miller somehow regained control after the near-catastrophe and finished a mere four-hundredths of a second behind Cochran after the first run. Miller then nailed his second trip down the Narrow Gauge course at Sugarloaf/USA to easily capture the U.S. giant slalom championship.

Miller’s winning combined time (2:08.15) was more than a second faster than runner-up Cochran.

“I didn’t take as much risk, because the course was bumpier,” Miller said of his polished second run. “The first run it was absolutely perfect. Then (starting) 29th on the second run, it was a little bit chewed up. But I didn’t make any big errors.

“You’re still taking risks. I was still pushing the limits, but it’s easier to manage that kind of risk than the risk I was taking on the first run when the the course is totally buff.”

Chip Knight, a two-time Olympian from Stowe, Vt., completed the podium by winning the bronze medal. Olympic combined gold medalist Ted Ligety finished fourth, while Colby graduate Warner Nickerson made a strong bid to join the U.S. ski team by placing fifth in the field of 98 competitors.

Tuesday’s championship is Miller’s eighth career national title, and the second of these games at the mountain where he learned how to race. On Saturday, Miller captured the downhill crown.

After Cochran set the standard as the first skier down, Miller, starting second, posted a quicker intermediate time. But he found trouble as he crossed the headwall at the top of the home stretch.

“Coming off the headwall, it’s total ice,” Miller said. “And then it gets into some sugary stuff. I came in a little too direct and, still, I thought I was fine. But when I went on my hip, my skis just broke away.”

His speed prevented him from making an immediate recovery. As he slid down the hill, Miller said he nearly missed a gate. He eventually got back on his skis, but admitted that the mishap had “killed a lot of speed.” But because of how perfect he had attacked the upper portion of the course, Miller still nearly matched Cochran’s time.

No one could touch Miller on his second trip down Narrow Gauge.

“I just got beat by a great skier,” said Cochran, who earned his third silver medal in two days.

Cochran, of Keene, N.H., who comes from a family of skiers (his father and three aunts were Olympians, while his grandfather was a former Olympic ski coach), was 12th in the slalom at the 2006 Olympics.

“He’s one of those guys, if he gets it figured out with his head, he’s going to be a threat,” Miller said. “He can really be a guy who is untouchable. He just doesn’t seem to be able to put it together in World Cup as often as he should.”

Nickerson, a 2005 graduate of Colby, was the only skier to come within a second of Miller’s time on the second run. He finished the championships with two top-10 finishes.

“This is a step in the right direction, but it will take a little more than that to make the U.S. team,” Nickerson said.

The difficult conditions wiped out more than a third of the field as 35 skiers either fell or missed a gate on the first run.

Miller, who has hinted at retirement, was coy about his future plans. If Tuesday’s race turns out to be his final race for the U.S. Ski team, the reason will be more to do with his motivation than his ailing right knee. Miller said Tuesday that the knee would not prevent him from racing next year.

What may serve as motivation are the young guns who were on display this past week at Sugarloaf.

“We have a team right now that makes it worthwhile to really race against,” Miller said. “We have five or six guys here who can score right in the top group in World Cup. That makes it exciting.”