SUN VALLEY, ID (March 22, 2016) – Day one of the Nature Valley U.S. Alpine Championships kicked off with a bang, with Brennan Rubie (Salt Lake City, UT – U.S. Ski Team) taking the big win in alpine combined for his first national title.
A well-rounded super G, giant slalom and slalom skier, Rubie was solid against the strong field - finishing second in the super G and third in the slalom to boost him 1.46 seconds ahead of Kieffer Christianson (Anchorage, AK – U.S. Ski Team) in second place. Hig Roberts (Steamboat Springs, CO – U.S. Ski Team) fought from 12th in the super G to win the slalom race by almost a half second, launching him to third place.
Fastest junior of the day went to River Radamus (Edwards, CO – U.S. Ski Team), who finished seventh overall.
River Radamus was the fastest junior, followed by Drew Duffy (Warren, VT – U.S. Ski Team) in second and (not pictured) Kipling Weisel (San Francisco, CA – U.S. Ski Team).
It was a beautiful, bluebird day, but the course sets were tight and tough, as 21 skiers failed to finish the super G, including regular World Cup stars Steven Nyman (Sundance, UT – U.S. Ski Team) and Tim Jitloff (Reno, NV – U.S. Ski Team). “The course sets were really difficult,” said Roberts, who was skiing his first super G in years. “You had to bring the right tactics, but also be aggressive in the super G.”
Great Britain’s Jack Gower won the super G portion of the combined - with the super G counting as a FIS race, but not a national championship - but declined to race the slalom. Rubie was positioned in second after the super G, allowing the well-rounded skier to push into first place after the second run.
Brennan Rubie skis to a win in the alpine combined national championships. (USSA)
"I'm incomprehensibly stoked that things went my way today," said Rubie. "Slalom isn't usually my forte, but I've been having a ton of fun skiing it recently, so I just tried to channel that feeling in order to overcome some of the pressure on the second run."
A member of the U.S. Ski Team for five years, Rubie has been regularly top three finisher on the NorAm circuit and frequenting the Europa Cup top 15. With a few World Cup starts under his belt, he raced giant slalom at World Championships in Vail/Beaver Creek last season. While he has finished top three in previous U.S. Alpine Championships, this was his first win.
Kieffer Christianson takes second in the alpine combined. (USSA)
HIGHLIGHTS
- Brennan Rubie won the men’s alpine combined.
- It was the first time a standalone alpine combined race has been held at the U.S. Alpine Championships.
- Kieffer Christianson was second and Hig Roberts third.
- Next up, the women race alpine combined Wednesday.
QUOTES
Brennan Rubie
I'm incomprehensibly stoked that things went my way today. We had some weather roll in overnight, so things were delayed in getting set up, and then it was a course that no one had run before, so we didn't know what to expect. There were a lot of DNFs, partly due to it being a new course and partly due to the variable snow conditions. I was lucky that I wasn't running first so there was time to get a good report and adapt best I could.
Slalom isn't usually my forte, but I've been having a ton of fun skiing it recently, so I just tried to channel that feeling in order to overcome some of the pressure on the second run.
Hig Roberts
The course sets were really difficult. You had to bring the right tactics but also be aggressive in the super G. It was my first super g in years, so I just hung in there and fought to make it in the slalom. The slalom had a solid rut in it but it was perfect for slalom specialists to go for it. Dope. Bluebird day.
RESULTS
Men’s alpine combined
