Friedman 1-for-1 in Titlequest '04

By Paul Robbins, March 20th, 2004

Timing is everything in life, Uncle Tom used to say. Friday's column talked about Bryon Friedman (Park City, Utah) lusting for his first U.S. title as the Chevrolet U.S. Alpine Championships got underway at Alyeska Resort in Alaska. Today, we talk about his triumph.

Friday afternoon (Alaska is four hours behind East Coast time), Friedman went out and pinned the Bowl/Gelende race course at Alyeska and annexed, grabbed, picked up, produced collected, earned - he even won - the men's downhill title. Pre-race favorite Daron Rahlves (Sugar Bowl, Calif.) was third. Friedman won in 1 minute, 38.96 second. Silver medalist Jeremy Transue (Hunter, N.Y.) was timed in 1:40.85. Rahlves took the bronze in 1:40.94. Jonna Mendes (Heavenly, Calif.) won the women's DH championship.

That two-second margin of victory is huge in a sport ruled by hundredths of a second. Friedman was born in Hotlanta and moved to Park City when Dad - a Delta Airlines pilot - transferred to Salt Lake City a decade or so ago. He learned to ski on the comfortable slopes at Park City Mountain Resort, played football and soccer at Park City H.S., and lives on a golf course but hardly gets to play...but now he's knocked down one (more) goal for the season - a U.S. championship. That goes with racing on Kitzbuehel's Hahnenkamm course, getting his first World Cup points (first top-30, first top-20, first top-10 this winter), and staying healthy. (And getting his history degree from Dartmouth College; classes resume March 29 and Friedman's taking what he hopes are his final four classes.)

"It was good. I was pretty aggressive," he said of his victory. He also conceded he sandbagged a bit Thursday in a FIS downhill where he was third behind Rahlves. "This was my goal all week. ...That was a FIS race and I wanted to save it all for today, which is what I did."