Calgary, Alta. (December 4, 2016) – It was huge day for Canada’s Erik Read in the Val d’Isère giant slalom, stunning the crowd with his head-turning result. The 2015-16 Nor-Am Cup overall winner posted a 24th-place finish after the first run, positioning Read in the start order for a great second run. Read did not disappoint, throwing down the third fastest run to make up 15 spots and finish today’s race in 9th-place. Going from bib 52, Read executed his game plan perfectly, landing him into the top ten. He put down the third-fastest second run time. Read’s only top-30 result in giant slalom was in the 2015 Alpine Ski World Championships in Beaver Creek Colorado, where he finished 28th.  This is Read’s first ever finish in giant slalom on the Audi FIS World Cup tour. 

“I’m really happy with today’s result!” said Read. “It was definitely a good choice to run the super-G Friday and get familiar with the hill. That second run today was just like the first in that you really had to let it go and keep the skis running. They opened up the set and made it turnier. I pushed out of the gate with the confidence of a fresh bib number and really went for it. I thought I skied well at the top but I even surprised myself with that finish!”

Read is also simultaneously completing a degree at the University of Denver. In yesterday’s super-G, Read showed moments of brilliance, pitting this 25-year-old as one-to-watch on this year’s World Cup circuit. 

It wasn’t a great day for Canada’s other tech athletes who had tough first runs with Toronto’s Phil Brown and Calgary’s Trevor Philp failing to qualify for second runs and Quebec’s Dustin Cook DNFing the first run. 

Today’s podium had France’s Mathieu Faivre sitting in number one, pushing Marcel Hirscher from Austria into second after his first-place first run. Rounding out the podium was France’s Alexis Pintaurault. 

Canadian Val d'Isére Results

9 – Erik Read

DNQ – Trevor Philp

DNQ – Phil Brown

DNF1 – Dustin Cook

Full results here. 

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