Ben Ritchie wins U.S. Alpine Championships slalom title

Ben Ritchie breakout season concluded Tuesday with a slalom national title on the final day of the U.S. Alpine Championships in Vail. The 24-year-old Vermont native posted the fastest first run in the freshly fallen snow and held on through increasingly gnarly conditions to top the 59-skier field with a two-run total time of 1 minute, 34.75 seconds.

“The snow was definitely on the limit, I would say, of being good enough to race,” Ritchie said before comparing the weather to what he experienced in placing seventh at the World Cup Finals a week ago in Sun Valley, Idaho.

“It was very similar where the conditions weren’t great,” he stated. “That’s just life as a skier.”

Team Summit rounded out the podium, with Stanley Buzek (1:34.86) moving up three places for silver and Camden Palmquist (1:35.21) holding on for bronze.

“Made a couple mistakes and I felt like I was holding back a little,” Buzek said of his first run. As snow continued to fall into the early-afternoon, the 57-gate Golden Peak course character was shaped with the new ruts of every passing skier.

“It was rowdy. The snow changed multiple times throughout the course,” Buzek continued. “You just had to be ready for whatever was coming and stay on your toes. My second run, I just decided I was going to go all out and see what I could do. I was super happy about it.”

River Radamus, Monday’s GS national champion, was in third after the opening run but fell to fifth. Fellow former Ski and Snowboard Club Vail athlete Hunter Roach turned out the second fastest final run on the day, moving up nine places to finish 18th. The University of New Hampshire freshman enjoyed having his parents in attendance and bumping into old teammates and coaches, including Ian Lochhead and Will Hadden.

“Coming back here, talking to them again, skiing the hill they grew up teaching (me) on and getting reports from them — it’s pretty nostalgic,” Roach said of Lochhead, who is now the head coach at CU, and Hadden, who has returned to SSCV after a stint with the U.S. Ski Team.

Roach posted a pair of top-10s in his debut Eastern Intercollegiate Ski Association carnival campaign, including a sixth at the NCAA East Regional. Similar to Tuesday’s performance, Roach rallied big time on the Wildcat’s home hill, moving up 12 places to punch his ticket to the NCAA championships.

“I had a little bit of a rough time there,” he said of his 29th-place finish at nationals a couple weeks later. “But (I) have to just be proud of making it and try to get it next year.”

Ritchie called Tuesday’s slalom title a “race for pride.”

“It doesn’t help my rankings, but it’s nice to cap off a great season on the World Cup with being national champion,” he said. The 2021 World Junior slalom champion jumped from 41st in the World Cup slalom standings in 2024 to 17th this year. In addition to his three top-10 World Cup results, Ritchie paired with Ryan Cochran-Siegle to place fourth in the Team Combined at the World Championships in February.

“It went amazing; better than I could have expected,” Ritchie said. “I think for next year, my goal is not to back off and to keep working hard in the off-season and see what’s possible.”

Buzek left impressed with the host Vail venue.

“It’s been awesome,” the Silverthorne resident said. “It’s nice to have it close to home. I was hoping to have a nice Vail blue sky day for the slalom. But it’s ok – I like the snow, too.”

With at least one I-70 closure during his race and snow continuing to fall after, Buzek gave himself a 60% chance of making it over the pass. While he went full-gas in the sketchy slalom conditions, he promised to take a different approach to his commute home.

“I think I’ll make it,” he said. “But it might take a minute.”