Winter Park, CO – Tommy Ford took slalom gold by .01 seconds to open men’s racing at the Nature Valley U.S. Alpine Championships on Thursday for the seventh national ski racing title of his career. Norwegian Leif Kristian Haugen earned silver with Michael Ankeny of Deephaven, Minn., a member of the Buck Hill Ski Team taking bronze after first run leader Jimmy Cochran hooked a tip during the sun soaked final run of his ski racing career.

Ford, of Bend, Ore. and an alumnus of the Mt. Bachelor Ski Education Foundation, won the 2010 U.S. slalom title but was second last season. He also owns two combined titles, two giant slalom crowns and a super G title.

“I’ve been training some slalom up in Quebec when we had some spring break time before coming here and it’s been getting better and better. I added some old-school turns the second run but skied well on the bottom. It’s always fun to win, I skied well and it was fun to ski some good slalom,” said Ford, adding, “U.S. Championships have always been good to me. I ski well in these types of conditions. The weather is great, it’s like spring break. I’m looking forward to skiing super G tomorrow and then some giant slalom, but I’m also looking forward to being done for the season.”

“I’m good friends with the guys that beat me and I’m really surprised that it was that close of a race because the conditions were so variable,” said Ankeny, who finished fourth in the U.S. Champs slalom last season. “The snow held up great the first run and then the sun came out and it got a little sloppy in the second run. There were some holes and a pretty big groove, but Winter Park did a good job keeping the course together.”

The mishap by Cochran, of Keene, N.H., closed out a nine-year career with the U.S. Ski Team. A member of the famous “Skiing Cochran’s” family, Cochran was on both the 2006 and 2010 U.S. Olympic Teams, raced in three World Championships and captured four U.S. titles. His grandfather Mickey was U.S. head coach in 1974, his dad Bobby and three aunts were Olympians and cousins Ryan Cochran-Siegle and Robby Kelley, both of Starksboro, Vt., are current members of the U.S. Ski Team.

“I’d like to do that one again,” Cochran said of his final run, “but that’s ski racing.

“As for my career I had a great time, really fortunate, I feel like I have been living a charmed life the past eight years I’ve been doing this,” he added. “I met a lot of great people and traveled to a lot of great places. This isn’t a bad place to end it, nice day, nice people and a nice hill. I think I did my first race as a ski team member on that hill right over there so it’s a good place to do the last one too – full circle.”

Cochran plans to return to school and spend time working at Cochran’s, the family owned ski area in Vermont, in addition to the family maple syrup business, Slopeside Syrup.

“I’m excited to head home, maybe go back to school and spend a lot of time at the ski area,” Cochran said. “It’s been a lot of fun working there over the years and seeing so many young skiers grow up racing at Cochran’s. It’s also been really cool working on Slopeside Syrup with my family. The sugar bush is definitely a lot of work, but it’s rewarding work and I appreciate that.”

Robert Cone, of Killington, Vt., was the top junior finisher on Thursday, followed by Cochran-Siegle and Bryce Bennett of the Squaw Valley, Calif. Ski Team.

“It’s been a long season, but a pretty good one,” Cone said. “It was cool to go to the Junior World Championships and then come here and know that I can compete with some of the fastest guys out there.”

The Nature Valley U.S.Alpine Championships continue today with men’s and women’s super G at Winter Park.

OFFICIAL RESULTS RESULTS
2012 Nature Valley U.S. Alpine Championships
Winter Park, CO – Mar. 29, 2012
Men’s Slalom