There’s a video of Alex Jenson’s second day run at the World Cup selection event held last month in Winter Park, Colorado. You see Jenson attack the right side of the course, cleanly skiing the moguls and landing a pair of aerials. As she crosses the finish line, you see Jenson give a quick fist pump with her right hand. That action is an acknowledgment of what Jenson knew she just accomplished.
“I think I was smiling as soon as I stuck my bottom air,” Jenson, 21 and a Waterville native, said. “I just had to get to the finish and it was mine.”
With a pair of first-place finishes at the selection event in mid-December, Jenson earned a spot in her first World Cup freestyle event, and will compete Friday at Whiteface Mountain in Lake Placid, New York.
First runs will be Friday morning, with the top 16 advancing to the afternoon finals. Jenson traveled to Lake Placid on Tuesday to prepare for the event, a longtime goal in her freestyle skiing career.
“I’m excited, I’m nervous, a little bit of both,” Jenson said. “I’m happy it’s finally here.”
Knowing a World Cup spot was at stake, Jenson focused on staying relaxed. She’d skied runs like Winter Park countless times. Her aeriels, a back full layout with a 360 at the top and a back layout on the bottom jump, were moves she’s completed over and over.
“I knew I had to keep the same mentality, and stay calm and do what I’d done previously,” Jenson said. “All the pieces came together and I was able to complete runs I’m happy with, and I know I can do better.”
Jenson enters this weekend’s World Cup event ranked 35th in the International Ski Federation (FIS) freestyle rankings, the highest ranking of her career to date. To get to this point, Jenson navigated bumps as challenging as the ones she routinely skis. A torn ACL was a setback in 2013, as was a tibial plateau fracture of her left shin in 2015. Healthy last season, Jenson placed eighth in the moguls competition at the national championships in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, last March.
“I’m healthy. My body feel good,” Jenson said.
Jenson’s home is now Park City, Utah, where she trains and attends the University of Utah, where she’s a sophomore majoring in Biology with a minor in Chemistry. Jenson began the season with a training camp in Australia in August, where she competed twice, taking 14th place in moguls at Perisher and seventh in dual moguls at Mt. Buller. There was a training trip to France in November, and British Columbia last month, all with the goal of qualifying for this weekend’s World Cup in mind.
“My main goal is to ski my run. Solid top to bottom,” Jenson said.
The rest of the season, Jenson will compete on the NorAm circuit, with the national championships back at Steamboat Springs in late March. Looming in the not-to-distant future are the Winter Olympics next year in PyeongChang, South Korea.
“The Olympics are a goal for everybody,” Jenson said. “I’ve put myself in position that I could potentially be qualifying for the Olympics. It’s possible if everything goes well.”
Travis Lazarczyk — 861-9242
Twitter: @TLazarczykMTM
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