[T]he last thought that went through Abi Jewett’s mind before she began to speed down 1,200 vertical feet in less than a minute, was a technical one.
“I was thinking about staying connected from turn to turn so I could be really aggressive,” Jewett said. “On this snow you really can’t back off.”
With that thought, the 18-year-old Ripton native set off on her debut race on the International Ski Federation (FIS) women’s World Cup circuit.
As Jewett carved her way down Superstar, the trail at Killington Ski Resort, which for the third consecutive year had been transformed into a giant slalom race course, the crowd of 18,500 began to roar and the chiming of cowbells rose to a decibel that drowned out the amplified announcer’s voice.
Jewett crossed the finish line almost six seconds behind Norwegian racer Ragnhild Mowinckel’s pace setting 53.71 second mark in the first of two giant slalom runs—meaning Jewett did not make the time cut to qualify for a second run.
But by crossing that finish line Jewett could now say she was a World Cup skier and she also became the first Vermonter to race a World Cup event at Killington.
After her race, Jewett said she wouldn’t have wanted to make her World Cup debut anywhere else, for her but also for her friends and family that have supported her throughout her young career.
“It’s been so special I can’t describe it,” Jewett said. “It’s just made me a little more comfortable being at home and back in Vermont.”
Jewett’s World Cup debut—also making her the first Vermonter to race this circuit at Killington—capped an event which was as much a celebration of Vermont’s alpine skiing history as it was a race.
Before the skiers began racing, youth ski club representatives from across the state paraded through the proceedings holding flags for each competing racer’s nationality, and the announcer boomed out that “this is the future of American ski racing.”
The ski clubs represented included—among others—the Mount Mansfield Ski Club, Green Mountain Valley School Ski Club, the Killington Ski Club, and Woodstock Ski Runners.
Even the winners’ hardware is unique to Vermont. As in the past two years, the trophies were crafted by Vermont-based glassmaker Simon Pearce.
“It’s not just a Killington event. It’s really a Vermont event and an East event,” Killington’s president and general manager, Mike Solimano said.
Willem Jewett, Abi Jewett’s father and a former state representative, said ski racing is “Vermont’s sport” and that having an event of this size at Killington is important for the state and for skiing.
This race marked the third consecutive year the World Cup race has been held in the Green Mountains, and though this is the end of the current contract with Killington to host the race, there are aspirations to make it a more permanent fixture on the World Cup circuit and Killington’s event calendar.
Solimano said he hopes it becomes more of a perennial event, but that it will require discussions with both FIS and U.S. Ski & Snowboard, the national governing body for Olympic skiing and snowboarding.
“With all the crowds that are here in little old Vermont,” Willem Jewett said, “I think they are shaped up to have this for the foreseeable future, which is just great for the state.”
Tiger Shaw, the president of U.S. Ski & Snowboard, said the FIS is taking notice of the record crowds and the enthusiasm at Killington and that he has been looking at adding an additional northeast race to the circuit.
“People from all over New England care about ski racing and to have them come here and make this probably the most heavily attended race on the women’s tour all year long is extraordinary,” Shaw, who was born in Morrisville, said.
In 2017, 34,000 people attended the World Cup at Killington—18,000 on Saturday and 16,000 on Sunday.
This year, 40,000 people attended the event with 33,500 crowded into the finish area for the two day race—18,500 on Saturday and 15,000 on Sunday—and 5,500 enjoying the pre-race festivities on Friday.
These numbers have made Killington one of the most well attended women’s World Cup circuit races in the world. Only a few mountains in Austria manage to produce comparable crowds.
In Vermont and throughout the northeast, fans of ski racing have been cheering on Mikaela Shiffrin since she entered the tour in 2012.
The fan favorite and Burke Mountain Academy alum landed on the podium at Killington in 2016 with a first place slalom finish and captured a first place slalom and a second place giant slalom in 2017.
On Saturday, sixty racers before Abi Jewett left the start gate, Shiffrin raced down the course in 54.38 seconds, but quickly slipped out of a podium position with strong performances from Mowinckel, Italy’s Federica Brignone, and Austria’s Stephanie Brunner.
The second run resulted in each of the top racers, including Shiffrin, holding the first place position, but losing it quickly to the next skier barreling down the mountain.
The eventual winner of the giant slalom discipline—one that requires precise technical skiing but also speed generation—was Brignone, with Mowinckel placing second, and Brunner claiming the last podium position.
Shiffrin was left in fourth place, a mere 0.21 seconds behind Brunner.
On Sunday, the very technical slalom discipline got underway and Shiffrin quickly cemented a strong lead with a dominant first run of 52.39 seconds, opening up a lead of 0.29 of a second on her closest competitor.
During the second run, Shiffrin built on her lead, winning her 34th slalom victory and third straight at Killington.
Shiffrin won by over half a second. Slovakian Petra Vlhova took second and Sweden’s Frida Hansdotter was third.
With this win, Shiffrin needs just one more victory to tie the World Cup women’s slalom record held by Marlies Schild of Austria.
On Saturday, Shiffrin gave Jewett and the other team members feedback on the course and Jewett said it was extremely helpful to hear advice from the world’s top racer.
Even though Jewett was only able to charge down the course once on this occasion she said she was happy with her run, but that she’s only going to get better.
“I can definitely ski faster than that,” Jewett said. “I was definitely pretty nervous and I didn’t ski as aggressively or as well as I can, but I know I can only build on that.”
