Schlopy Wins Again on Olympic Hill

Park City, UT, March 31, 2001–The Chevy Truck Super Series season came to an end Saturday as local standout Erik Schlopy (Park City, UT) won a slalom on the ’02 Olympic hill at Deer Valley Resort.

It was the second win in two days for Schlopy on the Know You Don’t course, which will host the men’s and women’s slalom events at the ’02 Winter Olympic Games.

Schlopy, who won Friday’s slalom, was victorious with a two-run combined time of1:38.35. Tom Rothrock (Cashmere, WA) followed in 1:40.36 and Casey Puckett (Aspen, CO) was third with a time of 1:40.56. Schlopy won $1,500 for the victory,while Rothrock walked away with $1,000 and Puckett took $500 for his third place finish.

For the second straight day, Schlopy annihilated the field and won by a margin of 2.01 seconds. Friday, he won by 2.36seconds over Rothrock. It’s been a solid finish to the season as Schlopy won his second straight national slalom titleWednesday at the Chevy Truck U.S. Alpine Championships at Big Mountain, Montana.

“You set goals that are reasonable and make sense,” said Schlopy, who feels he surpassed all of his season goals. “For me,my goals are more in preparation and getting better as a skier. That’s my whole philosophy. Last year I was skiing well, butI just didn’t have the consistency. I don’t think I had the emotional resiliency and strength that I do now. That’s what’sreally making the difference.”

With the win, Schlopy wrapped up the Super Series slalom title as he won all four slaloms of the season, which included apair of races at Loveland, Colo. back in November.

“I think Erik is doing a fantastic job,” said U.S. coach Jesse Hunt. “He knows how to ski this hill now, he’s been on it a fewtimes in training and now in racing. I think he feels like he’s pretty confident and comfortable on this hill and he’s doing agreat job from what I can tell.”

The overall Super Series title and $10,000 that goes along with it was awarded to Thomas Vonn (Newburgh, NY) afterFriday’s slalom. Primarily a speed skier, Vonn entered the Deer Valley races leading the standings. Only CanadianJean-Phillipe Roy and Schlopy could catch him, but Roy didn’t finish his first run Friday and Vonn finished 16th, giving himenough points to put him out of reach of Schlopy.

“I was trying to get my slalom going because I knew it would come down to these races,” said Vonn.

Vonn, who has only skied a handful of slaloms in the past three years, was disqualified after missing a gate Saturday.

The Know You Don’t course has proven to be extremely challenging as 11 racers did not finish their first run and two morewere disqualified. Just 18 racers took a second run and only 12 finished that. Friday, 20 of 33 starters posted an officialfirst run time. The course features many attributes that test the all-around skills of the competitors.

“It’s (the course) got everything,” said Schlopy. “It’s flat on top, nice rollover in the middle, it’s gets steeper, rolls overagain and it’s just real challenging. It’s right up there with the best courses. The beauty of this course is that you can’tcompare it (to others). It’s not like anything else out there. It has it’s own personality and that’s what’s exciting about it.”

“Some of the other guys, they saw the difficulties of the hill and now we’re gonna come back with some motivation and getsome work done,” said Hunt. “The hill is steep and when it’s as steep as it is here with a good, hard surface, it definitelymakes it tough. It was nice and hard today and the guys got a chance to see what it’s all about.”

Hunt said the Team will train Sunday on the Olympic giant slalom hill at Park City Mountain Resort and then do somephysical testing before a well-deserved break. Schlopy is planning on taking a three-week surf vacation in Fiji.

CHEVY TRUCK SUPER SERIES FINALS
Deer Valley Resort
Park City, Utah
March 31, 2001

Men’s Slalom

1. Erik Schlopy, Park City, Utah, 1:38.35
2. Tom Rothrock, Cashmerre, Wash., 1:40.36
3. Casey Puckett, Aspen, Colo., 1:40.56
4. Josh Nolting, Boulder, Colo., 1:43.50
5. Martin Kroisleitner, Austria, 1:43.96
6. Jernej Bukovec, Slovenia, 1:44.31
7. Teddy Berglund, Steamboat Springs, Colo., 1:44.36
8. John Rusten, Federal Way, Wash., 1:44.69
9. Josh Transue, Hunter, NY, 1:45.57
10. Steven Nyman, Provo, Utah, 1:47.99

Final Men’s Overall Super Series Standings

1. Thomas Vonn, Newburgh, NY, 155
2. Erik Schlopy, Park City, Utah, 148
3. Ryan Oughtred, Canada, 138
4. Jean-Phillipe Roy, Canada, 123
5. Mike Giannelli, Canada, 113