Rookies serve notice to veterans on legacy course
ASPEN-On a classic venue where pro racing’s roots run deep, fresh faces served notice to the veterans during the first stop of the World Pro Ski Tour’s 2024 season, January 13 and 14.
WPST rookie University of Denver freshman Christian Soevik walked away with the biggest paycheck of the weekend, winning Saturday’s “super slalom” over Filip Forejtek and finishing as the runner-up Sunday to Buck Hill’s Michael Ankeny. Norwegian Soevik took home $14,000 in prize money over the two days of racing.
Mielzynski and Rask
The first women’s race of the weekend saw 2023 tour champion, four-time Olympian Erin Mielzynski of Canada, hold off 23-year-old Vail resident Kaitlyn Harsch in a thrilling big final. The next day, Sara Rask of Sweden, who skis for DU, scored a first-ever pro tour victory over Mielzynski as snow started to fall heavily on Aspen Mountain.
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“It was great to have a different group of racers on the podium for the second day,” said Jon Franklin, CEO of the pro tour. Remarking on the cross-section of American and European athletes who turned out for the season’s first event, Franklin said, “We’ve got racers here from all over the world…truly living up to the ‘world’ in the World Pro Ski Tour.”
A one-hour recap of the Aspen WPST races will air on Fox Sports on Sunday, Jan. 21, at 5 p.m. EST.
Soevik
For 22-year-old Soevik, the race win on a blustery Saturday “kinda changes my life. Now I get to pay my rent for a while, like a year now.” To earn his first win, Soevik upset 2023 tour winner Simon Breitfuss Kammerlander in the quarterfinals before knocking off Ankeny and, finally, Forejtek.
Three jumps between four and five feet punctuated the Little Nell racecourse. Event Director Barrett Stein designed the jumps and a team of Aspen Mountain cat drivers executed them, building the landings like a big air jump, according to Stein.
“When you watch the athletes landing, there’s no slapping. It’s like a ‘butter landing,’ referring to an expression more familiar to freestyle.
On the first day, competitors waited out several delays due to timing issues caused by high winds; more than one racer said howling winds made it hard to hear the starter.
The men advanced from a round of 32 while the women worked through a field of 16 competitors. Prize money was the same for both genders.
NCAA standout Harsch had her best-ever finish Saturday on the pro tour. Competing abroad for much of December likely helped the former CU Buff in the early season.
“I think I learned a lot in Europe. I’ve been thinking about technique in a very different way and some things with my line as well. But I don’t think I made any major changes,” said Harsch, a second-generation pro racer (her mom, Karen Kendall Harsch, skied collegiately before joining the pro tour in the 1990s).
Throughout the weekend, Erin Mielzynski showed grace under pressure that defined her long career in the World Cup. But her one mistake — straddling a gate during Sunday’s final race against Sara Rask — was costly.
There has been limited time on skis this year for Mielzynski as she is a full-time college student in Calgary. Now 33 years old, she reflected on being in school with 18-year-olds, a situation not unlike the one the veteran found herself in over the weekend.
“They’re awesome and so kind. What’s really great is (during and after the race) all the girls were high-fiving. You bridge those age gaps,” Mielzynski said.
‘The Joker’ Ankeny
Nearly a decade after his NorAm victories, Michael Ankeny revels in the nickname “The Joker,” bestowed upon him by his colleagues.
“I try to make ski racing not so intense,” Ankeny said with a laugh before his win on Sunday when he overcame a first-run deficit to beat Soevik.
Retired from the World Cup in 2018, the same year he joined the pro tour, Ankeny said he enjoys competing as a sideline to his coaching of Buck Hill kids. He will turn 33 years old this week and paraphrased a friend from Mt. Tremblant who said, “When you hear the old man knocking, don’t let him in.”
The youth of the pro tour are impressive, Ankeny said, noting that “D1 skiing should be a pipeline to the World Cup.” He later predicted great things this season for the DU Pioneers.
For Mielzynski, whose ski racing career predated her college life, ski racing is now about giving back differently.
“It’s hard to stand in the start gate sometimes because it was such a long career on the World Cup. But what’s nice is I still get that feeling of power and making speed and rhythm, and for me, that’s what I love the most about skiing. And I get to feel that here,” she said.
Complimenting Ankeny for how “he says congratulations to everyone,” Mielzynski said the pro races are “intense in the right way.”
First of three tour stops
Fastest in time trials on Friday, Czech Filip Forejtek, who earned his master’s degree last year from CU-Boulder, said he didn’t expect to qualify in first place.
“I told myself that if I make it to the top four, that’s pretty decent both days. And that’s what I did. I’m satisfied. I’m going to go and try to win the next one.”
The Pro Tour resumes Feb. 15-16 at Bear Valley, CA. The World Championships, scheduled for March 27-30 at Taos Ski Valley, NM, will end the season and are expected to draw a field of competitors who currently race World Cup and FIS events, as was the case in past years.
This weekend’s racers say ‘bring it on’ about the enhanced competition. Ankeny said after he got his feet beneath him and “found the next gear, I knew that I was going to be competitive.
“Every single round, I didn’t know if I was going to win or lose. It just speaks to the talent of skiers that come to these events,” Ankeny added.
A strong local contingent also turned out for the inaugural 2024 World Pro Skiing Tour events, including Tuva Norbye, who lives in Carbondale and coaches part-time for Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club. Norbye thrilled fans with her finals performances on January 13th and 14th after winning the first women’s event here two years ago.
Coach Alex Birkner and athlete Stella Sherlock also represented AVSC, an 18-year-old from Snowmass Village, who is taking a gap year. Sherlock performed solidly in the early round Sunday against Noa Duvillard of France, but eventually, Erin Mielzynski beat her.
While the opening races lacked ski celebrities like Billy Kidd, Jean Claude-Killy, and Spider Sabich, who Bob Beattie enticed into the nascent pro tour more than a half-century ago, casual crowds drawn to watch the head-to-head action unfold on Little Nell exposed the events to greater visibility. Saturday’s unrelenting winds forced a rare all-day closure of the Silver Queen Gondola. This forced skiers and riders onto the chairlift that ran directly over the racecourse venue.
Jon Franklin happily acknowledges the general skiing public’s exposure to dual racing.
“It’s awfully nice to have that big of a crowd in the finish area. We’re sorry they got a delayed start on their ski day. But we certainly appreciate them being able to participate and watch the World Pro Ski Tour,” Franklin said.
A convivial spirit was palpable as the races coincided with Aspen’s winter carnival and the start of the 47th annual Gay Ski Week.
Competitors felt the old spirit of ski racing as they joked about sleeping on air mattresses and couches in pricey Aspen. Ed Rogers, who has been key to the tour’s early life and its resurgence, was fully present throughout the weekend, as was Mike Hundert, Beattie’s right-hand man during the legacy era that was World Pro Skiing.
Hundert said he felt the presence of Beats, who died in 2018. “The wind is blowing him in a bit to observe,” he said. In a more grounded moment, Hundert expressed pleasure at seeing pro skiing return to its Aspen roots and serve as an alternative to World Cup skiing.
“It’s important because that format was created to build ski racing fans. It was created in the way that anyone can understand what’s going on in a ski race. This format showcases ski racing and skiing. And that was kind of Bob’s intention,” he said.
Aspen WPST Results
January 13 Super Slalom
Aspen Mountain
Women
- Erin Mielzynski. CAN, $10,000
- Kaitlyn Harsch, USA, $4,000
- Sara Rask, SWE, $2,500
- Tuva Norbye, NOR, $1,250
Men
- Christian Soevik, NOR, $10,000
- Filip Forejtek, CZE, $4,000
- Michael Ankeny, USA, $2,500
- Florian Szwebel, USA, $1,250
January 14 Super Slalom
Aspen Mountain
Women
- Sara Rask, SWE, $10,000
- Erin Mielzynski, CAN, $4,000
- Tuva Norbye, NOR, $2,500
- Kaitlyn Harsch, USA, $1,250
Men
- Michael Ankeny, USA, $10,000
- Christian Soevik, NOR, $4,000
- Filip Forejtek, CZE, $2,500
- Simon Breitfuss Kammerlander, $1,250
About the Author: Madeleine Osberger
