Eye on 2010
Spokane’s Will Brandenburg knows where he wants to go and how to get there. As the top ranked junior in slalom racing on the U.S. Ski Team, he’s on the right track.
“I’ve had the number 2010 tacked up on my bedroom wall ever since I heard the Winter Olympics were going to be in Vancouver,” he said. “But I can’t think about the Olympics yet. This year my goal is to be junior world champion.”
Brandenburg, a 2005 graduate of Mead High, was selected for the U.S. Ski Team development squad last summer. Skiing for the Schweitzer Alpine Racing School, he met criteria for selection by ranking among the top three slalom racers worldwide born in 1987.
On the U.S. Ski Team, Brandenburg has tasted victory, rubbed shoulders with superstars and experienced the grind and glamour of ski racing in Europe. The International Ski Federation (FIS) ranks him No. 1 in slalom and No. 2 in giant slalom for skiers age 20 and under.
He had a breakthrough performance Jan. 2 at a NorAm Cup Chevrolet Super Series event in Sunday River, Maine. Brandenburg led a U.S. sweep in giant slalom. He beat the 2005 junior combined world champion by .03 seconds over two runs.
“That win was a huge steppingstone in my career,” he said. “I had strong NorAm performances in Colorado earlier this season – two wins at Winter Park and an 11th at Keystone. And when I won at Sunday River it opened everyone’s eyes.”
Brandenburg flew into Spokane from Europe last week. He was taking it easy for a few days before traveling to Penticton, British Columbia, to compete in a NorAm Cup event at Apex Mountain Resort today. After Apex, he goes to Whitefish, Mont., for a NorAm event at Big Mountain. He races super giant slalom (super G) and downhill at both events.
Then Brandenburg returns to Europe to train for the 2007 FIS Alpine World Junior Championships in Altemark, Austria, March 4-11. He wants the overall title and plans to ski in all four events: downhill, super-G, giant slalom and slalom.
A new gear
After his victory in Maine, Brandenburg went overseas to compete in the Europa Cup. He said moving from NorAm to Europa is like stepping up from Double-A to Triple-A in baseball. The World Cup being The Show. In Europe, he raced a grueling schedule of seven events in three and a half weeks.
“It was a hard trip for me,” he said. “I finished one out of seven races and fell in the others. I’ve found a new gear for my skiing and everything is coming at me quicker. I’m working mentally to maintain that speed. That’s why I’m in Europa Cup. When I start finishing, it’s going to be fast, I know that.”
Brandenburg’s overall FIS ranking on a list that includes World Cup athletes is 100 in slalom and 87 in giant slalom. With two top 100 rankings, a skier can move from the development squad to the B team. But he’s staying put for now.
“Will’s progress this season has been phenomenal,” said Tom Sell, men’s development team head coach for the U.S. Ski Team. “His world rankings have dropped significantly. If we were to select now, he would qualify for the B team, but there are no in-season advancements. We can be pretty sure he will be on the B team next year.”
Members of the B team often become eligible for World Cup starts. Sell says Brandenburg has all the tools to make a World Cup start this season, but at this point in his development, it isn’t a good idea.
“We’re trying to look long term with Will,” he said. “Sometimes you can push a guy too hard too fast. I think he has the potential to be one of the top skiers in the world in a few years. If he makes it, he could be on top for 13 or 14 years, if we do things right.”
Brandenburg says the U.S. Ski Team’s philosophy is to develop skiers based on their individual style. This approach differs from the Austrian team – World Cup dominators he describes as “by the book.” He says the textbook approach makes the Austrians more consistent, but top Americans such as Bode Miller are faster.
“In ski racing, everyone has their own thing they do really great,” he said. “I’m a fluent skier. My strength is arcing a clean ski and flowing through a turn. I’ll never be able to throw my body around and change edges as quick as Bode. But I know I can build on what I do well and be just as fast.”
His speed has allowed Brandenburg to spend a month in Chile training at La Parva, a ski area near Santiago. He’s toured European castles, played pick-up basketball with Miller, touch football with Ted Ligety and shared a chairlift with Austrian legend Hermann Maier. When he got sick in Europe and went to the hospital for an IV, a nurse asked him for his autograph.
That’s something he’ll get used to.