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tskulski@steamboatpilot.com
Standing at the top of All Out at Steamboat Ski Resort on Thursday, Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club alumna Riley Grosdidier turned to her Dartmouth teammates in fear her younger sister, Logan, would beat them all down the mountain.
Riley’s competitive instinct was correct as Logan put down the ninth fastest first run and third fastest second run to take eighth overall on day two of the Murphy Roberts Holiday Classic women’s giant slalom race.
Logan is the youngest of three ski racing girls in the Grosdidier family. Her older sisters, Riley and Tatum, ski for Dartmouth College and the U.S. Ski Team, respectively, leaving Logan with some big shoes to fill.
And while Riley, 21, and Tatum, 20, enjoy the competitive aspect of the sport with their 16 year old sister, there is no greater support system on the mountain. Riley goes as far as referring to Logan as a “legend.”
“She’s such a good skier,” Riley said of Logan. “She started skiing when she was four years old because she just wanted to chase us down the hill. We started racing and she wanted to do what her sisters were doing.”
Learning from example was a huge help in Logan’s progression as a skier and all three Grosdidier sisters managed to show up in a big way for the four-day Holiday Classic which boasted its largest prize purse in history at $40,000 this year.
Winners of the giant slalom races on Wednesday and Thursday as well as the slalom race at Howelsen on Saturday earned $2,000. Friday’s night slalom competition was the highest payout however, granting the winners a $2,500 check.
Each year, the purse attracts the top regional, collegiate and nationally ranked racers from around the U.S. to compete. The event even pulls in athletes from nearly 20 other nations seeking a piece of the prize.
“I’m here to win money obviously,” Tatum said, who later referred to the Holiday Classic as a feel good race. “There’s a lot of good university racers here that come to win some money, so it is definitely competitive. I wouldn’t say it’s at the NorAm level, but it is up there with good college races.”
Tatum flashed her skiing excellence all week, opening the week with third place and fifth place in her giant slalom races. She took sixth to close out the week on Saturday at Howelsen, but the highlight of the competition came Friday night when she managed to race to second place under the lights.
“It gets really competitive with the night slalom…” Logan said. “Everyone is all-out to the finish line. The last run is really entertaining.”
Riley, who just got back on snow two weeks ago with Dartmouth, said these were her first competitive races of the season. Her goal was to get her ski legs back under her and put down competitive runs which she succeeded in on the giant slalom course with 11th and 13th place finishes.
In her first year competing in the Holiday Classic, Logan competed at an incredibly high level. Her eighth place finish on Thursday was not even her best result of the week. Logan closed out the competition on a high note by earning third place in Saturday’s slalom. Her 41.02 second time on the second run was the fastest of all women in the competition.
The Grosdidiers agreed they were all proud of each other’s performances this week and look forward to future races together, as a family.
“It’s nice to see us all do so well, especially on our home hill,” Riley said. “It feels like we are making our coaches proud…”
To reach Tom Skulski, call 970-871-4240, email tskulski@SteamboatPilot.com.
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