Hudec wins first GS title

It was just a matter of time.

Laying down some of the best runs of his season, Banff’s Jan Hudec finally reached the top of the podium in the men’s giant slalom at the National Alpine Championships at Nakiska, Tuesday (March 29).

Hudec’s two runs were three hundredths of a second faster than Canadian national team member Brad Spence. Jeffrey Frisch was third. Hudec’s gold medal run (2:12.94) is partnered with three bronze medals in other diciplines, and proved to be the first of his long career.

“That’s shocking. I’ve been around for so long I honestly thought I had won one. But I guess it’s hard to win when you’re injured,” Hudec said.

The Banff native has battled back from multiple knee injuries, back problems and a broken hand. He was happy to hold on in the giant slalom.

“I knew I had a bit to play with, but I didn’t want to just go easy, so I went out charging,” said Hudec. “I had a brutally rough run and I was all over the place, getting knocked around. I was just trying to survive. It ended up being me on top, but it could have gone either way.”

While Hudec wants to try more slalom racing next season, he wasn’t expecting to medal in the giant slalom.

“I’m pretty excited to get a win in GS. I’m known more as a speed skier, but I finally put two decent GS runs together. Hopefully, I can build on this and start skiing giant slalom in the world cup.”

Spence was defending his GS title, but was comfortable with the silver.

“It’s great to be here and it’s great to have another second place,” said Spence, who was second in the men’s super-combined on Monday. “This year I had just about given up on GS, to be honest. The turns tend to be a little tougher on my knee. I did a few days of giant slalom skiing last week in Europe and I’m definitely happy with how things panned out.”

Frisch wasn’t as pleased with his third-place finish, but wanted to prove he can still ski with the nation’s best.

“I haven’t done a lot of skiing, but this shows that I’ve still got it,” said Frisch, who isn’t a member of the Canadian Alpine Ski Team. “I’m on the way back; I can feel it.”

Bow Valley skier Andy Trow managed to crack the top ten with a time of 2:22.09. Banff’s Cody Pedersen finished 33rd. Paul Stutz pulled himself from the first run.