Ritchie Grabs Fourth Top 15 of the Season
On Sunday’s slalom in Hafjell, Norway - the final regular season World Cup slalom of the year, Stifel U.S. Ski Team athlete Ben Ritchie scored 14th place, his fourth top 15 of the season.
“Today was a lot of fun,” said Ritchie. “I always enjoy skiing and racing in new places and this stop did not disappoint.”
It was a sunny day in Hafjell with a very strong surface for the slalom men. It proved to be a great opportunity for any skier to notch a strong race - even out of the top 30 start list. Ritchie who now solidly sits in the top 30 ran with bib 22 and skied very strong. Ritchie landed in 11th on the first run. A solid position for run two. Teammate Jett Seymour also had a strong run on the first go around that slid him into 19th place.
On the second run there were some tricky spots on the slalom course that ended up being 'make or break' for moving up. Seymour, running first for the U.S. men was skiing in the green until he caught up at the bottom - a mistake that would cost him majorly. Seymour would end his World Cup slalom season in 27th place.
“Today was solid. It was nice to end the season with a good first run and I was glad to push the second run even with the mistakes,” said Seymour. “This season was good overall, but the consistency was missing a bit. I definitely made some big improvements in my skiing just need to dial it in every day.”
Next up was Ritchie. In order to move up on this run he had to be flawless while also pushing hard. Ritchie was skiing very strong - poised for the leaderboard until he made a small mistake that moved him down a few spots. But still a solid say in 14th place.
“My skiing today was nothing special. Just solid skiing both runs and that was enough for a top 15. It was good to get back in the mix after two DNFs,” said Ritchie.
The winner of the race was Swiss skier Loic Meillard in second was Norwegian Atle Lie McGrath with Brazil’s Lucas Pinheiro Braathen in third.
Ritchie will be the lone qualifier to the Stifel Sun Valley Finals for the U.S. men in slalom with the ranking of 18th. This will be his first trip to finals after a season of bests. Four top 15 finishes and two top 10s put Ritchie in a very solid position for both Sun Valley and next season.
RESULTS
men's slalom
