Steamboat Springs – Chris Colpitts was born two years after Phil Mahre retired from the U.S. Ski Team with a gold medal in the 1984 Olympics, but he says Mahre is still pretty competitive for a guy pushing 50.
Mahre, who is attempting to qualify for the U.S. Alpine Championships by next year, started 41st and finished 16th on Thursday in a Rocky Mountain Trophy Series giant slalom won by Colpitts on Mount Werner.
“I think it’s pretty sweet,” said Colpitts, 20, a product of Squaw Valley, Calif., who hopes to race for the University of Colorado next winter. “He’s kicking guys’ (rears) who are half his age. That’s pretty rad.”
Mahre was 21st in the first run and felt he skied better in the second run except for going wide around a gate he couldn’t see until it was too late.
“I was just way off the thing, gave away half a second easily,” Mahre said. “I was out in the middle of the gate instead of on the panel. Oh, well.”
Western State racer Ryan Donovan made a point of wishing Mahre good luck between runs. Donovan, who is from Oregon, raced frequently against Mahre’s son Alex, who is 23.
“Most of the masters out there kind of drive me nuts, but a guy with that kind of ability, it’s pretty cool to see him out there skiing for fun,” Donovan said. “He still loves it.”
Steamboat legend Moose Barrows and Stein Halsnes, who raced the pro circuit with Mahre in the late 1980s, came out to watch him race.
“Look how buff he is, I can’t believe it,” Barrows teased.
“He just doesn’t eat enough,” said Mahre’s wife, Holly.
Mahre finished 3.93 seconds behind the winner.
“I need to be within a second of the leaders really to do myself any good,” Mahre said. “You’ve just got to keep chipping away at it. The first two seconds is easy. It’s the last second that’s tough.”
John Meyer can be reached at 303-954-1616 or jmeyer@denverpost.com.
