Camden Palmquist USA Photo Zoom Agency

Portes du Soleil, France, Feb. 2, 2024 — The tech races of the 2024 FIS Alpine Junior World Ski Championships started, with the world’s fastest under-20 ski racers going head-to-head. The women competed in GS at St. Jean d’Aulps in the morning, and the men raced slalom under a pink sky at Morzine, two extraordinary resorts in France’s Portes du Soleil region. 

Men’s Slalom 

It was an exciting night of slalom action under the lights at Pleney Stadium in Morzine, with 145 competitors from 49 nations on the start list. 

Switzerland’s Lenz Haechler was crowned Junior World slalom champion with the win. “I barely had training in slalom because of inflammation on my tibia,” Haechler said after the race. “Today was the first day back in the gates. Of course, this is crazy, and I’ve dreamt of this.” Austria’s Moritz Zudrell took a sliver (+0.39), and Norway’s Hans Grahl-Madsen went home with bronze. (+0.57). 

Click on images to enlarge.

The US men logged three top-10 finishes in the slalom. Stanley Buzek of Colorado’s Team Summit had a banner night. In his Junior Worlds debut, Buzek placed 26th in the first run from a 38th start position, which earned him an early start position for the second run. He won the second run by a hefty 0.65 margin. As the top 30 progressed, Buzek hung onto the leader position—sitting in an oversized red leader’s chair for over 20 racers—before he was displaced from the lead. Ultimately, he landed a US-best 5th place. 

“I didn’t realize what a good run it was when I came down, and the FIS official told me I needed to sit in the [leader] chair. It’s crazy,” Buzek said at the finish.

The moment was made more unnerving because the leader chair was positioned behind a giant screen blocking the live race action. “I couldn’t see the racers coming down,” Buzek said. But he did know his run was solid. “I had a few little mess-ups at the top, but the bottom was great skiing. Obviously, I’m happy with it. 

“I grew up skiing on that soft salted snow, so going into the second run, I told myself, ‘You’ve done this your whole life; this snow is your thing.’ Having that confidence in myself for the second run was key.” The French press dubbed Buzek the “Improbable American.” This Improbable American is one to watch.

Additional US performances

Steamboat’s Cooper Puckett finished 7th, and Camden Palmquist was 8th, giving the US team three top-ten finishes in the slalom. “It was great to have three US guys in the top ten and to see Stanley take advantage so well on the second run,” Puckett said. Justin Bigatel placed 18th, and Jay Poulter was 31st. 

Women’s Giant Slalom 

Portes du Soleil’s St. Jean d’Aulps resort hosted today’s women’s giant slalom race on a course that the FIS named Esserailloux. 

On the podium, Canada’s Britt Richardson took gold; Switzerland’s Stefanie Grob (+0.81) took silver; and Albania’s Lara Colturi landed the bronze (+1.18). 

In her debut Junior World Championships, American Elisabeth Bocock, who grew up skiing at Snowbird and attending Rowmark Academy, took 5th place. “I was nervous about the race because GS is my strongest event, and I wanted to perform well. The course had much faster speeds than I anticipated, so I made some pretty large errors that were costly,” Bocock said. “But I was happy with my result, especially considering that I didn’t qualify for World Juniors last year.” 

Teammate Liv Moritz, who trained with Ski & Snowboard Club Vail and is now on the University of Denver roster, won the second run after finishing 22nd in the first run. Her combined first and second run times put her in 11th overall. “During my first run, I made a mistake that cost me some time, but it was awesome to win the second run,” Moritz said. “The snow has been perfect, as well as the weather on all of our race days. I can’t wait to keep racing this season, which is a huge win.”

Additional US performances

Also, for the US women, Tatum Grosdidier of Steamboat Springs, Colo., finished 14th; Mia Hunt, of Park City, Utah, who also skis for the University of Denver Pioneers, finished 29th. 

###