David Ketterer Seeks NorAm Cup Title

BOULDER — University of Colorado freshman skier and 2017 NCAA individual slalom and giant slalom champion David Ketterer is off to Mont Saint Anne Ski Resort in Quebec, Canada to compete in the NorAm Cup Finals, March 17-20.

Ketterer will be looking to wrap up the slalom cup championship this weekend. He enters the finals holding a 156-point lead over second place, which is held by Canada's Phil Brown. Ketterer has already won three slalom cup races this winter.

"I am leading by about 150 points, so there is a theoretical chance for still getting caught," Ketterer said. "I am very confident to bring it home though."

The schedule for the finals opens on Friday and Saturday with the running of two giant slalom races. The slalom races then take place on Sunday and Monday.

Ketterer currently sits in 37th place in the GS standings for the NorAm Cup with 30 points. He enters the finals hot, having won the giant slalom races at both the RMISA and NCAA Championships; his first two victories in the event this year.

Just last week he became the fifth skier in NCAA history (and the third Buff) to sweep the GS and slalom individual titles at the NCAA Championships. He has enjoyed his first season in America skiing with the Buffs on the collegiate circuit in addition to his international experience gained this winter from the NorAm Cup and his very first World Cup competition in Austria back in late January.

"It is for sure my best season so far," he said. "The World Cups have been a great, but also humbling experience. The two NCAA titles still feel a little unreal, it was very important for me to do well at NCAA's after this good season."

And quite a season it has been. Ketterer won seven races in all on the collegiate circuit, tying the school record for most alpine victories in a single season. Only two other CU alpine skiers had won seven races in a year; John Skajem was the first two do so and actually recorded the feat in consecutive seasons in 1986 and 1987, while Lucie Zikova also did so in 2006.

Of Ketterer's seven wins, five were in slalom events. That set a new school record for the men's program for the most slalom victories and matched the overall record (men and women), as Zikova won five slalom races in her 2006 season that included an NCAA individual title in the event. Skajem, like Ketterer, swept the GS and slalom titles at NCAA's in 1987; in 1986 he also won the slalom national championship.

"I really like the people and the atmosphere at the college races," Ketterer said when asked about his first-year on the collegiate circuit and the team dynamic that you don't get in international skiing.

As for the future after this weekend, Ketterer is excited about what could come.

"I will have a busy summer with a lot of skiing with the German National Team," said Ketterer, who is from Bad Durrheim, Germany. "I will have to work hard to be able to compete against the best of the world."

He hopes all his hard work will lead to great success, both with the Buffs and individually, as he has aspirations of skiing in the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in PyeongChang, South Korea.

"Our big goal for next year is to bring home the NCAA title," Ketterer said. "I will probably do more World Cups, qualifying for Olympic Games would just be unreal."

To follow Ketterer's progress at the NorAm Cup Finals, visit www.fis-ski.com.

About the NorAm Cup
The NorAm tour is the premier level of ski racing in North America and the elite development pathway to European competitions and the World Cup. Event title winners and runner-ups earn World Cup start positions for the following season. The NorAm also serves as the primary selection series for the Junior World Championships.

Past NorAm Cup Champions include Canada's Erik Read (2016), who just wrapped up his junior season with the Denver Pioneer ski team and finished third in the slalom and fifth in the giant slalom at the 2017 NCAA Skiing Championships.

Michael Ankeny and Colby Granstrom, both from the U.S., won it in 2015 and 2014, respectively.

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