Jack Gower produced another performance that belied his low start number as he finished 24th in the opening Nor Am GS in Loveland from a start of 46. With a new coaching set up this season, Gower is based in North America at the moment. ... Despite the Nor Am races not counting for Olympic Qualification by the British Ski and Snowboard qualifying criteria issued by the BOA, Gower made his best FIS points scoring result from a Nor Am race in this race. Gower is now regularly scoring in the twenties for Giant Slalom, further enhancing his credentials.
The race was won by Austrian World Cup star Philip Schoerghofer who said after the race: “It was a very tight race after the first run, so I had to push hard and risk 100 percent. It was not bad - the second run -and I'm lucky to win.” Italy's Luca De Aliprandini finished second while Canada's Tyler Werry produced the fastest second run time (having started just behind Gower on the first run) and battled his way from bib 47 to ultimately finish third.
In an interesting development, these races were free to enter for the racers due to a sponsorship agreement between local companies and the organisers, this was the second year that this arrangement has been in place. With Bode Miller forerunning the first run, this also attracted a good crowd to the event.
Full results