DEER VALLEY — Members of the U.S. Ski Team took all six medals in two days of slalom racing in the Chevy Truck Super Series. Not a single Austrian skier medaled.

Of course, there was only one Austrian skier, and he was there representing a Nevada school.

But it was a point Bill Egan, head coach of the U.S. men's team, wanted to make when he joked about the U.S. sweep.

"Oh boy, did we beat 'em," he laughed.

The point being, he continued, "we're a better team, but we've got work ahead of us if we hope to beat the Austrians here in 2002."

Unquestionably, the best skiers in the world right now are the Austrians. They dominated the World Cup circuit. But, with the World Cup over, the Austrians are home now preparing for summer training.

For the second day in a row at Deer Valley, Park City's Erik Schlopy won. And, for the second day, he proved why he's America's best slalom racer.

So, how would he stack up with the Austrians?

"As well as Erik is skiing right now, if the Austrians were here," said his teammate and third-place winner, Casey Puckett, "he'd still be in first."

Schlopy is, indeed, skiing well. He beat the field on Friday by nearly four seconds and on Saturday by two seconds. But he did something else on Saturday, which he considers far more important than winning.

"I proved something," he said as he leaned on his ski poles and grabbed quick breaths in the finish area. "I was disappointed with my first run. I felt I lost a lot of time on the bottom. Knowing I won't be able to do that in the Olympics, I went back up and punched it the whole way down on the second run.

"I know now I can do it. That's what it's going to take to win."

Schlopy's time was 1:39.35. Second was another ski-team member, Tom Rothrock, with a 1:40.36 and third was Puckett with a 1:40.58.

Martin Kroisleitner of Austria, skiing for Sierra Nevada College, was fifth.

This was the one and only time the Olympic slalom course will be tested before the 2002 Games. A World Cup event scheduled last year was canceled because of the lack of snow.

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The feeling of the racers who skied in this event is that the course will be difficult and challenging. Of the 31 skiers entered in Saturday's final, only 12 were able to finish two runs.

Racers described it as being somewhat flat on top, which allows the racers time to get speed and rhythm, then it falls off into a very steep pitch, then halfway down it gets even steeper.

"To win, a skier is going to have to be on his skis, be extremely confident and be able to put down some great turns," Puckett said. "It'll take everything they've got."

This was the last race of the 2000-01 season for most of the U.S. team — Schlopy included. "I think what's even better about all this is that this was my last race and I was able to end on a great note. Now I can look to 2002."

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