Cody skiier prepares for World Cup finals
AMY J. TRIPE Star-Tribune correspondent | Posted: Sunday, March 16, 2008 12:00 am
Cody native Shane Anderson, who first learned to point skis downhill at the soon-to-reopen Sleeping Giant Ski Area, brought home ski honors last month from the National Telemark Championships in Tamarack, Idaho. He now prepares to represent the U.S. at World Cup Finals this week.
Anderson, a 1997 graduate of Cody High School and past member of the alpine race team, has spent his winter in Steamboat Springs, Colo., training and coaching young alpine and telemark skiers. He humbly admits he "skied pretty well" at the national race where he competed in four separate events: the Classic, Sprint Classic, Telemark Giant Slalom and Dual Pro Slalom. He finished first in every race except the Dual Pro Slalom where he crashed, yet still managed the top spot on the podium.
At the World Cup, held at Sugarbush Resort in Warren, Vermont this week, Anderson again will compete in Classic, Sprint Classic and Telemark Giant Slalom races. Each race includes a jump and skating some distance, except for the Classic race which requires competitors to race downhill through slalom gates, jump a specified distance and then finish with an uphill Nordic event.
"Last time I skied out east it was terrible n rainy and icy," Anderson recalls. "I'm hoping it's better this time. They've been getting a lot of snow lately."
"(Plus,) 40 to 50 of the craziest telemark skiers in the world will be there. It's going to be fun! We'll try to beat those Norwegians!"
Anderson skis as a member of the U.S. Telemark Team, a loose collection of skiers from Colorado, Montana, Idaho, Utah and the East coast. Earlier this winter, Anderson and several team members competed in Europe in a series of races in France, Austria, Slovenia and the Czech Republic.
"Everyone had some of the best results of their careers," he said. "It was pretty cool!"
Anderson skied his personal best in the Czech Republic with 9th and 5th place finishes, and was pleased with his performance in France as well.
"It was so amazing there," he says of skiing in France. "You can ski from village to village. It was like skiing from Wapiti to Cody."
Anderson started telemark skiing in 2000 after alpine skiing and racing for decades. According to his bio on the US Telemark team website, he decided to free his heel "to once again teach me how fun skiing can be."
"I just missed racing a bit and it was fun, a new challenge to learn to race on telemark skis. Plus, it's a good excuse to travel."
Following World Cup Finals, Anderson intends to return to Steamboat for the remainder of the season and then back to Cody where he works at the family business, Anderson Masonry.
"I work hard for my dad so I can telemark one more time!"