Tommy Ford Wins NorAm GS at Copper

COPPER, CO (Dec. 1, 2015) – U.S. Ski Team veteran Tommy Ford (Bend, OR) was victorious in the opening NorAm giant slalom race of the season at Copper Mountain, CO on Monday. A race in which several anticipated starters in the upcoming Beaver Creek World Cup took part, Ford leapt from 14th position after the morning’s run, 1.19 seconds behind Germany's Fritz Dopfer’s leading time, to best the field by 0.33 seconds en route to his sixth NorAm victory and his first since 2011. Dopfer, ranked fifth in the world in GS, managed to hang on to a second-place finish and Austrian Roland Leitinger rounded out the podium in third.

“Pretty good gettin’ a win!” exclaimed Ford. “I just ended up being more powerful that run. It was pretty dang good snow, just like, groovin’. A bump here or there, but pretty good all around.”

Ford was the only racer to crack the top 10, but Brian McLaughlin (Topsfield, MA) of Dartmouth College and the N-UNI team was an impressive 15th, moving up from the 46th start position. Kieffer Christianson (Anchorage, AK) also landed the top 20, taking 17th.