Some of the world’s best skiers are racing this week at the Winter Park and Loveland ski areas in the NOR-AM slalom races.
The international field began racing Tuesday and will continue through today. Competitors from Germany, Sweden, Serbia, Poland, France, Japan, Croatia, Bulgaria and Slovakia as well as the United States are testing their skills in one of the first major competitions of the ski season.
Several members of the U.S. Ski Team are racing in the four-day event. In addition, junior ski racers from the Winter Park Competition Center are also competing.
The NOR-AM slalom competition opened Tuesday on the slopes of Winter Park with Germany’s Susanne Riesch winning first place in the women’s slalom with a combined time after two runs of 1:38.73.
Sterling Grant of the U.S. Ski Team raced to a second-place finish in 1:39.25. Third place went to Canada’s Anna Goodman with 1:30.03.
The men opened their NOR-AM slalom competition at Loveland Valley on Tuesday. Canadian ski racer Trevor While led the field with the winning time after two runs of 1:33.09.
Two U.S. Ski Team skiers earned the other two top spots in Tuesday’s NOR-AM opener. Tim Jitloff took second place with 1:33.57 while Will Brandenburg finished third in 1:33.60.
On Wednesday, women’s slalom racing continued at Winter Park with Anna Goodman of Canada moving into the top spot after winning first place with a combined time after two runs of 1:38.90.
Goodman’s Canadian teammate, Brigitte Acton, was Wednesday’s runner-up with a time of 1:40.59. America’s Kiley Staples placed third with 1:40.61.
The Winter Park Competition Center skiers had trouble on the first day of competition Tuesday, but earned good results in Wednesday’s slalom for women.
Khyla Burrows was the local team’s fastest skier, racing to a 31st place in a time of 1:54.73. Her teammates, Kristina Krone earned 34th place with 1:58.11 while Sarah Williams finished 38th in 2:00.58.
On Thursday, the NOR-AM women’s slalom moved to Loveland Valley where Susanne Riesch of Germany sped to victory in a combined racing time after two runs of 1:39.86.
Riesch was followed by Canadian ski racer Anna Goodman who was the slalom’s runner-up with a time of 1:39.96. Kiley Staples of the U.S. Ski Team earned third place with 1:40.15.
Khyla Burrows was Winter Park’s top finisher Thursday, placing 42nd with a 1:55.12 in the overall results.
Burrows’ teammates were not far behind. Sarah Williams placed 50th place with 1:58.08 while Rylee Burrows finished in 51st place with 1:58.57. Kristina Krone finished in 52nd place with a time of 1:58.60.
The men’s slalom moved to Winter Park on Thursday where Michael Janyk of Canada was victorious with a combined time after two runs of 1:33.88.
Kilian Albrecht of Bulgaria finished in second place with 1:34.59. Third place was taken by Canada’s Brad Spence with 1:34.61.
Winter Park’s Christopher Acosta had excellent slalom races Thursday. He took 27th place with a racing time of 1:43.90.
Also racing in the men’s NOR-AM slalom for Winter Park were Spencer Nelson and Max Lamb.

Will Bublitz
Grand County, Colorado
Thursday, December 4, 2008
www.grandcountynews.com

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