Copper Mountain – Recalling the bonehead stunt he pulled at Beaver Creek in December 2003 that cost him two years of regret and rehab, Marco Sullivan cackles self-consciously.
He understands the humor of the tale, even if the joke was on him – and the consequences were anything but funny.
Finishing a World Cup downhill training run at a velocity faster than the speed limit on nearby Interstate 70, Sullivan decided to throw a trick coming off the final jump just above the finish area.
This being downhill racing and not a freestyle competition, the error of his air was a serious mistake.
The trick went fine, but the landing was a disaster.
Sullivan blew out his right knee and was lost for the season. A year later he reinjured the same anterior cruciate ligament in preseason training, probably because it was still in a weakened condition.
The spontaneous hotdog move on the Birds of Prey ultimately cost him two years of competition, giving him plenty of time to wish he hadn’t done it.
“It was a split-second decision,” said Sullivan, who figures to play it straight this week when he returns to Beaver Creek for World Cup races. “I made a mistake, crashed going really fast, and my knee exploded.”
What was he thinking, grabbing his skis underneath him in a move better left to freestylers and “big air” showoffs?
“If you have the opportunity to ski with us and train with us, we fool around and throw in stuff, just kind of spice it up,” said Sullivan, 25.
“I was going a little faster than I expected, got twisted up and it didn’t work. I had missed the gate above (the jump), so I straight- lined into it. Hence I was going probably 80 mph instead of 60 mph.
“I landed (but) I was a little off balance and caught my edge. That’s when I crashed.”
Sullivan knew what people were saying. What was he thinking that day, anyway?
“I was in the hospital, I was the one who had to pay the consequences,” Sullivan said. “I didn’t really care what other people thought. It was, ‘Bad decision,’ bottom line.”
Rehabilitating in his hometown of Squaw Valley, Calif., Sullivan pursued his comeback as another Tahoe-area racer, Daron Rahlves, emerged as one of the top downhillers in the world.
He struggled with frustration as fellow Squaw Valley Ski Club member Julia Mancuso won two medals at the 2005 world championships in Bormio, Italy.
“Basically that split-second decision at Beaver Creek has cost me a lot, but at the same time it’s for a reason, I think,” Sullivan said.
“I kind of led a normal life for a couple of years. I worked as a snowcat driver, tuning skis, and just realized how much I really loved ski racing.”
John McBride of Snowmass, who coaches the U.S. men in downhill and super-G, said Sullivan’s hard lesson made him appreciate how fortunate he was to be a ski racer.
“He maybe made some poor judgment and injured himself, kicked himself for a year over that,” McBride said. “He started coming back from that and injured himself again. All of a sudden, the world comes crashing down on you. You start thinking, ‘Maybe I’m not going to be a ski racer again.’
“He said, ‘I’m going to take control of the situation, ski racing is my passion, I’m lucky enough to be able to do it, I’m going to do everything I can to get healthy.”‘
In the past, Sullivan never had a problem generating speed and he didn’t fear it, even though he had a propensity for winding up in the safety netting.
Now, like many downhillers coming off severe injuries, he has to rebuild his confidence and overcome fears he never felt before.
Training here earlier this month, he noticed a difference even when he was riding lifts.
“I’d see someone catching an edge, looking like they were going to crash, I’m like, ‘Oh, no! Oh!”‘ Sullivan said.
“Before, I would be like, ‘Oh, yeah, that was a sweet crash.’ Now I’m like, ‘Don’t crash!’ Being out for two years, that’s going to be my biggest challenge, finding the mind-set to really go fast.”
Men’s World Cup
At Beaver Creek’s Birds of Prey
Tuesday-Wednesday: Downhill training, 11 a.m.
Thursday: Super-G, 11 a.m.
Friday: Downhill, 11 a.m.
Saturday: Giant slalom, 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.
Sunday: Slalom, 10 a.m. and 12:45 p.m.
John Meyer can be reached at 303-820-1616 or jmeyer@denverpost.com.
