Independent American skier Alex Leever ready for WC season debut

By Published On: December 10th, 2021Comments Off on Independent American skier Alex Leever ready for WC season debut

If you ask Team America’s Alex Leever if he ever thought he would make it this far in his career, you might be surprised by the answer. 

According to Leever, if your deepest passion is still alive, prospering, and growing, why would you stop? For the 26-year-old, it’s a self-reflection that continues to drive his determination to excel at the top of the sport and chase yet another year of improving to the best of his ability.

In this Olympic season, the independent skier from Vail, Colo., generated his own guaranteed World Cup slalom start leading up to the Games — and that’s reason enough to keep going. He’ll make his World Cup season debut in Val d’Isere this weekend.

As a junior racer, Leever was always considered “competitive.” He was ranked as one of the top in his age during his high school years with Ski & Snowboard Club Vail. After falling short of U.S. Ski Team criteria, Leever went on to ski five successful years for the University of Denver while earning a bachelor’s degree in business, a master’s degree in quantitative analytical finance, and numerous NCAA podiums. An entrepreneur at heart and with business goals set on the back burner, Leever wasn’t quite ready to hang the skis up. He knew there was more to be accomplished, and certainly there was — namely a top-30 World Cup finish at the world’s premier slalom race in Schladming, Austria in 2021 as well as a possible, if not likely, Olympic debut in 2022.  

Alex Leever (USA) skis to a career-first top-30 in Schladming. Photo: GEPA pictures

To get to this point, Leever has relied on the steady hand of his coach for the last 12 years, Peter Lange, who knows something about playing the long game. Lange has encouraged patience and has helped Leever overcome what he considers “physical limitations and a slower progression than his peers.”

Lange joined Leever’s side when he was 14 years old. From the beginning, the veteran coach instilled a process-oriented mindset, throwing result-focused goals out the window. Together, Lange and Leever cultivated an environment that deemphasized qualifying for “whatever comes next,” focusing more on the love of sport and long-term goals. 

“He hates result-oriented thinking, he thinks it’s really detrimental to just growing as an athlete and as a person, and a lot of that has really rubbed off on me,” Leever shared of Lange’s mindset. “I don’t think I was ever really too worried about winning a race to qualify for what’s next. Obviously those thoughts ran through my head as they do for everyone, but the biggest thing is I just love the sport and competing.”

After college, Leever continued to progress at the NorAm and Europa Cup level. Last season at the age of 25, Leever started his season strong in Colorado where he finished third in the 2020 U.S. National Championship, just tenths off national-team competitors Luke Winters, Ben Ritchie, and Jett Seymour. As a slalom-focused skier, Leever gave his season a kickstart in mid-January, finishing 11th in a Europa Cup, which awarded him a spot in his first World Cup in Flachau. The weekend after, he scored his first points, finishing 24th in Schladming, crashing through the finish in spectacular fashion. 

At the end of last season, Leever spent time reflecting on the gap between himself, a top 100-ranked slalom skier, and those who are the best in the world. It was simple, according to Leever: He had the technical ability and talent to ski at that level, but lacked the consistency. 

“I realized that the best guys aren’t doing anything crazy special or different, and that really invigorated me and made me want to continue chasing this dream,” said Leever. “I don’t think there are these massive leaps and bounds I need to take to bring my skiing to the next level.”

So, it was to the drawing board. Together, Leever and Lange evaluated every technical aspect through rigorous video sessions on how he could gain speed and consistency in his skiing. They identified strength in the Austrian ski team entering and exiting combinations, a place where Leever could lose up to a second throughout an entire course. The result was Lange setting courses with six hairpins and eight flushes. At the same time, Lange partnered with his friends from around the globe to share training time and lane space with racers from several leading international teams. The ultimate goal was to expose Leever to more foreign course sets, conditions and training environments — and to be comfortable with anything. 

“When I scored in Schladming last year, I was on ice, which I’m comfortable on, the course set was something I felt comfortable in, and all those things aligned where I was able to break in there,” Leever said. “But if I look at Chamonix for example, where the conditions weren’t as good, I wasn’t as comfortable, I was more like 45th. I think just trying to get more comfortable in more situations, that’s the big difference in the top guys.” 

Physically, it’s all about his back. In 2019-20, Leever cut his season short after two herniated discs and concussion. He has since struggled with persistent back pain, so much that by March of his last season he was no longer skiing at 100%. After numerous doctor referrals, recommendations, and imaging, Leever passed on a 50-50 surgical outcome to fix his back and chose chiropractic treatment, physical therapy, and an unconventional strength program. 

“When the back is irritated it shuts on the nerve and then the nerve won’t really let him fire the muscles around his left hip,” said Lange. “Then, when he does, he’s bracing skeletally and is out of a position to move or pressure the ski. In my mind, the number one priority is managing his back.”

Leever spent four months putting time into strengthening his hips and glutes to take stress off his back. He was advised to not put any unneeded weight on his back, which meant forgoing traditional Olympic lifts, including squats, and replacing his entire strength and conditioning program with eccentric movements. The change in his conditioning program brought nerves, anxiety, and even doubt. But Leever felt strong and motivated with a coach to help facilitate a program that valued rest, recovery, and quality training on snow. 

What’s next?

“I really didn’t ever think I would make it this far, so it’s really all gravy from here,” Leever laughed. 

After his top-30 World Cup finish, Leever qualified for the world championships in Cortina. He continued along the Europa Cup circuit before returning home to Colorado for U.S. nationals in Aspen, competing for “pure fun” despite agonizing back pain at the time. 

For Leever, it wasn’t much of a surprise when U.S. Ski Team Alpine Director Jesse Hunt called to inform him he wouldn’t be named to the national team for 2021-22. At 26-years old, Leever recognizes the tough criteria to make the team as a newcomer, but his disappointment was quickly mitigated by another call informing him of a locked-in World Cup start. 

“Jesse said I would have a World Cup start in slalom for the first two-thirds of the year, essentially until the Olympics they would guarantee me a spot,” said Leever. “It’s awesome. I have a great program going on now. Peter has been my coach for years, and it makes it a lot easier to plan and take some anxiety off.”

For Lange, it was always something he knew Leever could achieve. In his eyes, all ski racers have a little bit of talent and luck. When it comes to Leever, what keeps him progressing is his continuous application in the process, taking control of his training environment to improve, and acting as a real professional while fighting some of the real challenges of life. 

“Your aspirations should not validate all the work you put in all year,” said Lange. “What validates all the effort is you want to do it, no matter what the outcome is. Alex does this because he wants to do it.”

Leever will make his first of seven guaranteed World Cup starts this season in Val d’Isere on Sunday.

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About the Author: Karina Schwartznau

Born and raised in Bonney Lake, Washington, Karina grew up ski racing for Crystal Mountain and PNSA. She competed for 14 years across the world until settling in Salt Lake City, where she attended the University of Utah and achieved degrees in Marketing and Entrepreneurship. She currently resides in Steamboat Springs, Colorado.