Ski and Snowboard Club Vail skier hoping to prove he can compete with national team athletes at US Alpine Championships

Carson Hume is coming home with a little chip on his shoulder.

The 19-year-old Ski and Snowboard Club Vail athlete entered his second gap year hoping to earn a spot on the U.S. Ski Team ‘C’ team. Despite promising NorAm Cup performances and a few stellar showings in Europe this winter, the Frisco native came up short in the objective criteria department. Thus, Hume arrives in Vail extra motivated for this weekend’s U.S. Alpine Championships.

“I’m hoping to really compete here,” he said. “That’s my main goal. Even though I’m not on the U.S. Team, I can beat the U.S. guys. That’s really what I’m here for.”

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Fortunately, Hume’s hottest skiing has come in the last month. On Monday, he was third in the slalom in a FIS race at Beaver Creek. He also posted two giant slalom top-10s in Bardonecchia, Italy on March 5-6 and followed it up with a fourth in a FIS slalom race in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, a few days later. Throughout his third European tour of the season — he competed in Austria and Italy in January and spent a fall training stint there as well — Hume’s eyes were opened by more than the reliably icy surfaces.

“Over there, it’s a different sport,” he said. “Everyone is going at it like their life is on the line. And there’s so many people out there who are so good.”

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In addition to being blown away by the Europeans’ intense, all-consuming approach, Hume’s results also convinced him to consider another gap year next season, even though he thought this year would be his “last shot.”

“It shows me it’s doable,” he said. “At the end of this year, I was like, ‘you know, I actually am really close.’ … This shows me I can do this out here with all these guys that are on the Europa Cup.”

Hume’s performances on the NorAm circuit have been inspiring, too. In Lake Louise, Alberta, on Jan. 29, he rocketed from Bib 57 to finish seventh overall. After posting the second-fastest second run, he finished as the second American, only trailing former SSCV and CU skier Jacob Dilling.

Part of the reason for Hume’s success has been working within a dedicated core group of U21 skiers at SSCV. The men’s team, which includes Youth Olympic Games qualifiers Julian Arthur and Stewart Bruce as well as Alex Krupka — is being coached by Will Hadden, who returned to the club this fall after a stint working as the U.S. men’s NorAm coach.

“It was great for him. He came back, he was really fired up to work with us and I think it’s been great this year,” Hume said of Hadden, whom he said places a “positive pressure” on athletes and knows when to play it straight with them.

“He wants us to succeed and knows we can succeed. We all have the speed and he shows us that,” Hume said. “If we’re doing something wrong, he’s like, ‘dude, you can’t do that. That’s not going to work.’ But that’s the truth, and sometimes you need to hear it.”

Hume also noted that he and his three teammates get along well, hold each other accountable and push one another with a shared “intensity.”

“We’re all shooting for the same goal,” he said. “Honestly, it’s like a small family at the end of the year. We spend tons of time together and I feel like we are all just trying to make each other make it.”

This weekend provides a golden opportunity on Golden Peak to do just that. Ski and Snowboard Club Vail alumnus like River Radamus and Kyle Negomir, favorites in all three events on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, have seemingly paved the way for other locals to climb the ladder. Hume said he’s studied clips of both to see how they skied back when they were his age.

“Maybe I can do what I want to do before they did it,” he said. “That’s kind of the goal: making it happen now. Owning the process and not just waiting for things to happen.”