Ritchie Top 25 in Kitzbühel Slalom

On the final day of racing in Kitzbühel, Austria Stifel U.S. Ski Team athlete Ben Ritchie was the lone U.S. finisher in 21st place. 

“I am not that happy with today. It was raining and in between soft and salt conditions,” said Ritchie. “I don’t know if I was 100% prepared, but I am happy to walk away with some points and it helps the journey to Sun Valley in March.” 

It was a day riddled with rain which made for a challenging day of slalom racing—quite the opposite from the downhill day just 24 hours earlier. The snow was hard with a touch of soft snow from the rain on top giving the track some bite. Despite the rain the Austrian fans came out in full force lining each side of the fencing - all awaiting the fate of their favorite slalom skiers. 

Ritchie, now in the top 30 for slalom, started the day for the U.S. men and skied solidly. He would make it into the top 30 for a second run with a nice second-run start position. Teammate Jett Seymour did not qualify for a second run and Luke Winters did not finish. 

On the second run Ritchie was pushing hard to find the right line on the variable conditions and just fell short of the leaderboard chair. In the end Ritchie snagged a few more slalom points that put him in better position for the next races. The men’s slalom team will now head straight to Schladming, Austria for the classic night slalom on Wednesday. 

“I need to figure some things out for Wednesday but I like that hill and I am looking forward to it,” said Ritchie. 

After a dramatic second run that brought down the final top two skiers the winner of the day was Frenchman Clement Noel, second place was Italian Alex Vinatzer with Brazil’s Lucas Pinheiro Braathen in third place. 

RESULTS
men's slalom