Dartmouth skier strikes gold at Alyeska

"Oh my God, I can't even explain it right now," said Chodounsky, captain of the Dartmouth ski team and an NCAA slalom champion. "I'm so happy. I've been working so hard for something like this and finally got the race I was looking for this year."

World Cup overall champion Lindsey Vonn won the women's slalom, edging Sarah Schleper and Julia Mancuso.

Chodounsky won his first national title in challenging conditions.

Six inches of snow fell overnight, covering a layer of ash spewed by Mount Redoubt. The ash reached Mount Alyeska just after the men's downhill races Saturday as winners were mounting the podium to accept medals.

Then seven more inches of snow fell before and during the competition.

Cochran led after the men's first run in 51.28 seconds, ahead of Tim Jitloff (51.44), Cody Marshall, (51.51) and Chodounsky (51.52).

"I knew I could make it up," Chodounsky said. "The second run, I was really in focus."

Cochran was the reigning champ and had taken two additional slalom titles at Alyeska in previous championships before Chodounsky snapped his streak.

"I'm not too happy about that," Cochran said, smiling. "That's a real bummer. I was feeling good after the first run, but oh, well, that's slalom. Anything can happen."

On the women's side, the race came down to the three veterans.

Mancuso had plenty of reasons for falling behind -- she's recovering from the flu and her flight into Anchorage didn't arrive until 7 a.m. Saturday -- as Vonn edged her by .31 seconds for the title.

"It was cool to be duking it out with your friends, that's what makes U.S. championships so much fun," Vonn said. "Julia and I were tied going into the second run, then Sarah has a super impressive run to move up -- it was pretty exciting."

Especially for Schleper, who's back racing after taking time off for knee surgery and a baby.

"Just to get back on the podium is cool," said the four-time national champion.

Schleper had the fastest second run and nearly caught Vonn for the title. Schleper said she could feel herself holding back on her second run and had to tell herself to go hard in the soft snow.

"These conditions are very rare," she said. "Most of the year we're skiing on ice. It's kind of a different technique to ski on the softer snow. You have to be really soft in the legs and just absorb the terrain in between the gates."

The women's giant slalom is scheduled today, with the men's GS scheduled Tuesday.

Women's slalom

1) Lindsey Vonn 1:43.17 (51.0-52.17); 2) Sarah Schleper 1:43.27 (51.57-51.7); 3) Julia Mancuso 1:43.48 (51.0-52.48); 4) Megan McJames 1:44.41 (51.51-52.9); 5) Hailey Duke 1:44.85 (51.48-53.37); 6) Laurenne Ross 1:45.05 (52.83-52.22); 7) Kaylin Richardson 1:45.08 (52.01-53.70); 8) Julia Ford 1:46.08 (52.62-53.46); 9) Devin Delaney 1:47.25 (53.58-53.67); 10) Stacey Cook 1:47.82 (53.4-54.42); 11) Alexandra Parker 1:47.83 (54.04-53.79); 12) Vanessa Berther 1:48.73 (55.14-53.59); 13) Annie Rendall 1:48.73 (54.87-53.86); 14) Angel Collinson 1:48.88 (54.33-54.55); 15) Chelsea Marshall 1:49.32 (54.63-54.69).

Men's slalom

1) David Chodounsky, 1:40.60 (51.52-49.08); 2) Jimmy Cochran 1:40.98 (51.28-49.70); 3) Cody Marshall 1:41.51 (51.51-50.00); 4) Tim Jitloff 1:41.58 (51.44-50.14); 5) Nolan Kasper 1:41.68 (51.96-49.72); 6) Tommy Ford 1:42.49 (52.39-50.10); 7) Warner Nickerson 1:42.72 (52.23-50.49); 8) Andrew Wagner 1:42.78 (52.45-50.33); 9) Grant Jampolsky 1:42.84 (52.60-50.24); 10) Colby Granstrom 1:42.96 (52.97-49.99); 11) Chris Frank 1:43.21 (53.23-49.98); 12) Sean Higgins 1:43.82 (53.47-50.35); 13) Thomas Biesemeyer 1:43.86 (53.39-50.47); 14) Maximilian Hammer 1:43.88 (53.77-50.11); 15) Max Lamb 1:44.58 (54.54-50.04).