The New York Times-20080127-For Rahlves- No Longer Man Against Mountain

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For Rahlves, No Longer Man Against Mountain

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When Daron Rahlves began competing in skiercross last year, he figured to be one of the fastest men in the field as a former World Cup and Olympic racer. But in the newer racing discipline -- it resembles motocross on skis -- Rahlves was plagued by poor starts and wipeouts in the first five events, and he looked like a rookie with a lot to learn.

Perhaps his fortune will change Sunday in the skiercross final at the Winter X Games at Buttermilk Mountain.

By getting out of the start gate slowly, Rahlves has found himself back in the pack. He has often collided with competitors and crashed while trying to pass four to six of them on a downhill course filled with bumps, jumps, berms and rollers. That is what happened during the X Games final last year. Rahlves tried to pass on an upper part of the course. He ran over a competitor's skis, lost his balance, careered sideways off a jump, crashed and lost a ski.

It was not a situation that Rahlves, 34, one of the most accomplished World Cup downhill racers in American skiing history, would have imagined for his postretirement career.

I really thought I was going to come in and not have as tough a time as I did last year, said Rahlves, who had 28 Alpine World Cup podium appearances in downhill and super-G, including 12 victories. He retired after the 2006 season.

In 2007 Rahlves began competing in skiercross for fun and to satisfy competitive urges.

Several competitors are former members of national ski teams, including some Olympians. But not one has credentials that compare with those of Rahlves, who became the first American to win the prestigious Hahnenkamm downhill in Kitzbuhel, Austria, in 2003.

Still, his speed did not help him prevail when it came to his new discipline, in part because Rahlves lacked a winning strategy.

Last year he struggled to get on the podium because he was in a hurry, said Zach Crist, a former World Cup downhiller, who has won gold, silver and bronze medals in skiercross at the X Games. He felt like, I'm the best skier here. And he was. But he wasn't the best tactical skier there in terms of skiercross.

Rahlves appears to be sorting things out. In December, he finished second at a King of the Mountain tour stop in Telluride, Colo. It was his first time on a skiercross podium.

He's now realizing that he can't ski the optimal line in the place that he wants to ski it all the time, Crist said. He's got to share and try and adjust to what other skiers are doing in front of him.

After last season, Rahlves was also determined to improve his starts. He built a start mound in his backyard in Truckee, Calif., complete with the gate used at the X Games. But his training was slowed in July after he and his wife, Michelle, had twins (a boy, Dreyson, and girl, Miley), and by a broken arm he sustained in a motocross accident.

Family is the first priority, he said. It used to be all day on the hill. Now it's a couple hours here and there.

Still, with a year of experience and an improved start, Rahlves could become a dominant skiercross racer. With his speed, he would be an early medal favorite when skiercross makes its Olympic debut at the 2010 Games in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Since its debut at the X Games 11 years ago, skiercross has grown steadily and become a World Cup discipline sanctioned by the International Ski Federation.

When asked if he would try to compete for the United States at the next Winter Olympic Games, Rahlves would not commit. One major sticking point could be the travel. If, as in downhill skiing, qualifying requires a heavy World Cup schedule with events in Europe, then he is not likely to participate.

I'm excited to be in the mix now and see how it goes this year and next year, Rahlves said. I'm not 100 percent sure I'm going to the 2010 Olympics in skiercross. But the opportunity's there, and it's pretty interesting right now.

Rahlves competed at the Olympics in 1998, 2002 and 2006 in the downhill and in the super-G. In 2006, he finished 10th in the downhill.

That was the biggest hurtful moment of my career, he said. I put my whole life, my whole career into downhill ski racing, and that's what I wanted the most.

An Olympic gold medal in skiercross would not wash away those feelings, he said. Rahlves would compete at the Olympics only if he believed he had a chance to win. He retired from World Cup racing rather than continue with diminishing skills.

I didn't want to be dragging on, be one of those washed-out guys, he said.

So far Rahlves has not been a serious contender in skiercross.

Reggie Crist, Zach's older brother, competed in downhill at the 1992 Olympics. He has considered coming out of retirement to race in skiercross in 2010. But like Rahlves, he is weighing whether to put in the required work.

It's not that easy, Reggie Crist said. You don't just show up and win.

Notes

Lindsey Jacobellis held off the Swiss rider Tanja Frieden by .73 seconds and won her fourth snowboarder X gold medal Saturday on the course where she had crashed a year ago. (AP)

[Illustration]PHOTO: Reggie Crist, left, and Daron Rahlves, an accomplished downhiller, at the start of a run Friday in the X Games skiercross competition. (PHOTOGRAPH BY NATHAN BILOW/ASSOCIATED PRESS)