PARK CITY — Alex Shaffer has been pretty quiet the past few years — not by choice, but circumstances. She's been injured.
Two years ago, it was the left knee. Last year, it was back surgery. She was looking at a skiing career that was ready to blossom when, suddenly, the stem broke. She became a name in the media book, but not on the race rosters.
That changed last month when she as named to represent the United States in the women's giant slalom. The race will be Friday at Park City.
She had worked, trained and healed, and was now ready to represent her country — not as a recognized favorite, but as challenger. A skier that is capable of the very thing the U.S. women's team needs right now — an "Olympic run."
The women have, to this point, fallen way short of their objective. In fact, the women's team is teetering on the possibility of leaving these Games medal-less.
Shaffer is probably better known locally than many of her teammates. In 1990, she moved to Utah from Colorado to ski and be educated at the Rowmark Academy of Salt Lake City. Seven years ago, she was named to the U.S. Ski Team.
It was, at the time, the fulfillment of her dream. And, for a time she lived it. She became one of the rising young stars. In 1998, in Nagano, she fell in the giant slalom, but was fifth in the slalom portion of the combined and ninth overall.
Then came the injuries.
"I'm in excellent shape right now," she said from her Park City home. "(My back) doesn't bother me to ski. It's a day-to-day thing, though, and I'll have to live with it all of my life . . . which I'm willing to do to be able to ski," she said very matter-of-factly.
It doesn't bother her, either, that she's not listed among the favorites or that the Olympics are not going well for her teammates.
"I race my own race. Yes, they are my teammates. How they ski doesn't hinder my plans at all. I know they tried," she said. "The fact I'm not a favorite doesn't take away from my goals. I'm 10 months out of surgery, so I have yet to put any limitations on my ability.
"I'm going at this like any other race. Nothing has changed for me."
She will go into Friday's race with some Olympic experience. Nagano was, for her, a training education. And, she continued, she left those games much more savvy than when she arrived.
"I know the important aspects of being at the Olympics. There's so much to do, but you need to allot time," she said, which is why she attended opening ceremonies and then jumped on a plane for Europe to race. She arrived home on Monday.
While in Europe, she skied in a couple of Europa Cup races and got what she wanted — ski time rather than down time.
What she doesn't plan on doing is holding back and playing it cautiously. Several of her teammate have and paid for it with disappointing results.
She is, she quickly pointed out, "a survivor. After what I've been through the past couple of years, it's made me mentally tough. I'd rather go for it and crash than take it easy."
One thing that will help is she will have plenty of encouragement. The Park City skier has lots of friends and family members who'll step out their front doors, take a short walk up the hill and cheer her on.
E-MAIL: grass@desnews.com