An Incredible Season of Skiing Culminates at the 2024 WPST TAOS World Championships

1 year ago

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SR Staff Report

Photo Credit WPST; Press Release World Pro Ski Tour

After seven races this season, pro athletes gather at Ski TAOS for the World Championships presented by New Mexico True, bringing World Pro Ski Tour rookies and veterans together with World Cup athletes who have spent their regular season on Tour with the FIS. This is a significant development in the resurgence of the World Pro Ski Tour. In the past, World Cup athletes were required to retire before turning “Pro.” Still, the modern era shows sports from all areas – from the fields to the courts to inside the ring – coming around to allow athletes to control their destiny and best capitalize on their profession during their competitive years. This allows the World Pro Ski Tour to bring NCAA athletes together in the start gates with World Cup Champions and Olympic medalists.

WPST Men

Regular season races have seen Christian Soevik, a college freshman on the University of Denver Ski Team, on the podium for two of the four men’s races, winning two. Norwegian Soevik went to the University of Denver (DU) after two solid seasons in the Europa Cup in 2022-23, then won the 2022 Norwegian National Championships in slalom and came in second in GS. He chose DU to join a great ski team while pursuing its excellent academic offerings. Through the course of regular season WPST races, Soevik has faced Tour veterans like David Ketterer (GER) and Michael Ankeny (USA), who each landed a podium win over Soevik, showing that the young Norwegian has more to learn racing the dual format, especially with the influx of World Cup athletes he will encounter in Taos.

That roster will include the 2023 WPST World Champion, Reto Schmidiger (SUI), and River Radamus (USA). Schmidiger took home the men’s World Championships super slalom at Taos while accumulating enough points in the giant slalom to earn an Overall World Championships victory and a hefty $25,000 bonus check to add to his other earnings that weekend.

During the 2023-24 season, Schmidiger has toured with the Suisse ski team, racing World Cup and Europa Cups, scoring two Europa Cup podiums – including one victory. Radamus is coming off of a significant World Cup Season, with his first GS podium at Palisades Tahoe and a top ten finish at Garmisch, with more consistent skiing throughout the season punching him through to earn World Cup points and a 2024 U.S. National GS Title at Sun Valley. How will Schmidiger and Radamus’ experiences compare with Soevik’s and other quick NCAA athletes who raced more dual this season?

WPST Women

On the women’s side, a triple showdown is transpiring between Erin Mielzynski (CAN), Paula Moltzan (USA) and Tricia Mangan (USA). Last season, Mielzynski skied dominantly on the WPST Tour after the 4x Olympian announced her retirement from the World Cup. She brought her consistency during the regular 2023 season right into Taos, where she did not win either World Championships race. Still, she scored highly enough in each to earn an overall World Championship title and a $25,000 check.

Moltzan (2022 World Champion) took the 2023 WPST GS World Championship, while Mangan won the 2023 Super Slalom. Fresh off of her U.S. National GS title, Moltzan returns to the Tour with one World Cup podium and seven top-tens this season. Mangan comes into World Champs with a different angle – skiing exclusively speed events at the World Cup level during the regular season, but landing a 5th place in GS at U.S. Nationals. This might not line up for great success in the duals, but Mangan has proven that she loves the format and puts it all on the line with her risk-reward style.

All these athletes – both men and women – will meet a field of successful racers from the NCAA pool and World Cup. However, they cannot discount the likes of veterans like Ankeny, Breitfuss-Kammerlander and more, who will meet standouts like FIS World Parallel Champion Alex Schmid (GER) and other up-and-coming tech specialists like U.S. National Slalom Champion, Luke Winters (USA), Laurie Taylor (GBR), Tangay Neff (SUI), George Steffy (USA) and more.

On the women’s side, Moltzan, Mangan and Mielzynski meet Sara Rask (SWE), Nora Brand (GER), Denise Dingsleder (AUT) and Elena Exenberger (AUT). The beauty of the World Pro Ski Tour is that the dual format, horse gates, and time differential mix everything up, and it’s a new game for the 2024 TAOS World Championships, presented by New Mexico True.