Negomir in Beaver Creek Photo Credit: GEPA

BEAVER CREEK, Colo. – Kyle Negomir is looking at his prospects competing this week on his home hill with fresh eyes. His first World Cup race at Beaver Creek was four years ago, but a lot has happened since then. The 24-year-old Colorado native recently proved to himself – and everyone else – that he has what it takes to compete against the world’s best.

Growing up in the suburbs of Denver and racing with the local Ski and Snowboard Club, Negomir spent four seasons testing his skills in every World Cup discipline. Last weekend in Lake Louise, competing in his first Cup race since March 2020 and wearing bib No. 51, he finally punched into the points. He ended up finishing 23^rd in the super-G.

“I want to be in a place where I’m able to ski comfortably and confidently, ideally in GS, super G and downhill,” Negomir said after starting the Beaver Creek downhill training runs wearing bib No. 75. “I have to break in in one event and then hopefully split out. Down the line, I want to fight for overall globes and be like Alex [Aamodt  Kilde] or Marco [Odermatt], who ski to World Cup podiums in all three events.

I’ve raced in every event and gotten last in pretty much every event. We’re trying to change that. Right now, I like being part of this speed team. With me, Sam [Morse] , Erik [Arvidsson] and River [Radamus] here, we’re a bunch of guys close in age and fighting from the back of the pack together. That’s fun to be a part of.”

Deep course connection

Negomir’s parents, John and Tammy, have volunteered for Beaver Creek’s Talon Crew since he was a child, when he, like Radamus, also helped slip the Birds of Prey course.

“Neither of them were racers; they just love being up here supporting the sport and obviously being able to see me race,” Negomir says of his parents. “When I was with Ski Club Vail, I’d come up here and set B-Net. I was part of the slip crew, fixing gates and stuff. A lot of us who came out of Ski Club had that experience. It’s cool to be around it as a kid and see those guys you idolize in World Cup downhill and then be here [competing] a little way down the road.”

Injury hiatus

The road has not been without obstacles for the Dartmouth student. With Olympic dreams in his head as he launched into his first full World Cup season back in 2020, fate had other plans. A downhill training crash in the season opener in Val d’Isere left him with a broken hand and shoulder and torn ACL and MCL.

“That was going to be my first World Cup speed season. I was skiing really well. I made it one run into the year. It was a long way back from that. It was six, seven months before I could close my fist,” he says. “I got hurt 13 months before the Olympics. It’s what every kid dreams of, going to the Olympics.”

Fighting through the pain, Negomir tried as hard as he could to return to skiing and make the Olympics. With the extent of his recovery from multiple injuries, it wasn’t in the cards.

“I essentially ended up quitting in the middle of the year. I did one training run all year, thinking, let’s see if I can do this. If I can’t, I wasn’t going to keep doing it halfway.”

He ended up stepping away from the sport for a few months, living on his own in Europe. Last summer, he returned ready to charge. He credits the team’s program and the team itself with notching his career-best finish two years after his injuries.

A fresh start

“We had a really productive summer block,” he says. “Right now, we have a great group between our coaching staff, ski servicemen, and teammates. There are a lot of guys with a lot of experience to look up to. It helps to be able to be in that mix, fully able to enjoy it without pain, to enjoy the sport and speed again. I can go work out, play basketball, then race the next morning. I couldn’t imagine doing that a year ago.”

What can he imagine? While 23^rd is his best finish yet, he knows he can do better.

“I’ve been fast in the prep period. You think you’re fast, but it doesn’t really mean anything until you can do it in a race. I had a handful of mistakes in Lake Louise. That was proof to me that if I can clean up mistakes, I can really be in the with the top guys.”

Back of the pack potential

Beaver Creek, the hill where his World Cup dreams began in childhood as he slipped the course for his race heroes, would be the ultimate place to go full circle.

“It always feels good coming to your home race. When I was at Ski Club Vail, I lived in Avon. I’d look across at the hill. This is where my first-ever World Cup was. I slept in my own bed; my mom dropped me off in the morning. It’s pretty special to be able to have that. Not many people get that experience at home. You have incredible conditions, an incredible course and fans who like Americans. Beaver Creek has a reputation for being one of the best surfaces on the World Cup. It’s a nice place to run from the back … if such a thing exists.”