Former Seawolves skier makes Olympic team

He's still not working as a helicopter pilot, but the Canadian realized a different dream last weekend when he clinched a spot on his country's Winter Olympics skicross team.

Duncan, 27, needed a dramatic finish at the final pre-Olympic World Cup race in Lake Placid, N.Y., to punch his ticket to Vancouver. Needing to finish fifth or higher, he survived a wild final to capture third place, holding off American Daron Rahlves to claim the bronze medal.

Twice a team MVP and twice a Chancellor's List scholar at UAA, Duncan is one of 18 members of Canada's freestyle ski team that will compete on home snow next month in Vancouver. He lives in Golden, British Columbia, still hopes to fly helicopters and considers his decision to ski for UAA one of the smartest in a life defined by academic achievements.

"Moving to Alaska was the best decision I ever made," Duncan wrote on his blog (www.dave-duncan.ca). It sparked his love of aviation, bolstered his love of skiing and helped launch him on the path that is taking him to Vancouver, where skicross will make its Olympic debut.

He'll compete in today's skicross finals at the Winter X Games at Buttermilk Mountain, Colo.

As a slalom and giant slalom skier for UAA, Duncan was steady but not spectacular. He was an NCAA academic All-American but never a skiing All-American, though he registered a number of Top-15 results for the Seawolves. He qualified for the NCAA championships in two of his four seasons before graduating with honors.

"He was a speedskier before he was a college slalom and GS skier," said UAA coach Sparky Anderson. "He's a big guy and very strong and he was a great free skier and he did a ton of heli-skiing."

In fact, Duncan was working for an Alaska heli-ski business in 2007 at the same time his new ski career took off. He qualified for the X Games in January of that year and made enough of an impression on Cam Bailey, now the CEO of Ski Cross Canada, to be invited to a tryout camp for the Canadian national team. Problem was, Duncan had already started working and was committed to his job through the season.

He missed the first tryout camp but attended the second one and was hooked. He moved back to Canada and began training full-time.

Duncan's bronze medal last week in Lake Placid was his second third-place finish in six World Cup races this season. He's part of a strong Canadian team and goes into the Olympics feeling like he's peaking at the right time, even though he surprised some by making the squad.

"Words can't describe it. This is something I've been trying to do since I was a kid," he told reporters after surviving the finals in third place. "I always had dreams of it. Getting out of that semifinal, I was just all smiles. I almost even shed a tear on the ride up. It's awesome, a dream come true."

Find Beth Bragg online at adn.com/contact/bbragg or call 257-4335.