SOELDEN, Austria – Good skiing is not the standard Erik Read is setting for himself this season.
Coming off the start of a new FIS Alpine Ski World Cup season, the two-time Olympian from Canmore finished 33rd in giant slalom (GS) at a time of 1:07.24 – barely missing out from qualifying for the second run.
With much on the line this year for the 33-year-old World Championship bronze medallist, Read let out a burst of emotion as he crossed over the finish line and saw that he didn’t qualify to go again later in the day.
“Good skiing isn’t enough,” said Read. “I have to bring that extra hunger, that extra aggression and find out how to do it where I’m punching in again. I definitely think there were a bunch of positives from this last race, but at the end of the day, the goal is to get back into the top-30, so there’s work to be done.”
There were some big changes for the technical specialist in the off-season, namely being cut from the Canadian national team for underperforming. It resulted in things being more challenging and expensive for the athlete, joining a private ski team in the World Racing Academy, and getting undesirable starting slots to begin the season.
On Sunday (Oct. 27) in Soelden, Austria, Read kicked off the season with starting bib No. 46 – a GS starting position he hasn’t seen in the World Cup since 2016. The further back a start position is the greater chance of the snowy course deteriorating and temperatures warming up and making things slower.
Soelden is a notorious hill for becoming more challenging as the day goes on, said Read, adding the conditions on the course were decent until about halfway down, where it became rutted and springy.
“Maybe in the past, if my start position was in the 20s or wherever I was, it would have been totally enough, but considering where I am having to start right now at the moment it wasn’t on that given day.”
What the Banff Alpine Racer alum has taken away from Soelden, which was Read’s 170th World Cup start, is that he has to “push and take risks” to achieve his goals this season. The World Cup returns Nov. 16-17 in Levi, Finland, with slalom races – Read’s strongest discipline.
“I can’t ski down nicely and expect to be where I want to be,” said Read.
Norwegian skiers swept the podium in Soelden, with Alexander Steen Olsen claiming gold (2:09.50), followed by Henrik Kristoffersen (2:10.15) and Atle Lie McGrath (2:10.16).
A surprising DNF was from top-ranked skier Marco Odermatt of Switzerland, who lost control and did not finish the first run.
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