World Cup champion returns for Nationals

Heads up to the young guns of the U.S. free-heel circuit — an old champ will be buckling up the boots once again.

Two-time World Cup Telemark champion Reid Sabin is coming out of competitive retirement to race in the U.S. Telemark National Championships this week on Big Mountain. He last raced in a World Cup event in 2003.

Sabin, 38, of Whitefish, said the demands of the World Cup tour, including travel expenses and time away from his family, deterred him from racing on the national and world stage for the past seven seasons. But with this week's event going down on his home mountain, he decided to give racing another go.

"The event is here, that's the main reason I want to participate," Sabin said. "It will be fun. I'm excited to race again and hopefully I do well."

In 2000, Sabin became the first U.S. skier to win the overall World Cup Telemark title. He won again in 2001. At one point in his career, Sabin won 11 of 21 races on the circuit, taking supremacy of a typically European-dominated sport.

Sabin admits he's been training for the upcoming Nationals — and that he's gunning to win.

"It's a ski race, I want to win," he said. "I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to win. But the goal is to just have a good time and be involved again. I feel like I'll be pretty competitive, but the level of competition has been really good. There are a bunch of guys in Steamboat doing really well."

Yet he adds, "If I did win, I'd be extremely happy."

Sabin is a part owner of the Stillwater Nordic Center with his wife Kristen, and Meagan and Tom Healy. Having a groomed skate track out his backdoor has kept him in solid physical shape. He also credits the Thursday Night Telemark League on Big Mountain for keeping him in race mode.

Despite the Nationals being in Whitefish, Sabin doesn't think there will be an advantage to racing on his home hill. If anything, he says, having all of his family and friends there to cheer him on might make him more nervous.

"I don't think (having the race at Big Mountain) makes any difference," he said. "I'll have family there and friends, which is great, but I'll feel a little bit of pressure."

Due to a low snowpack near the village area at the resort, the course has been moved from the Hibernation slope near Chair 2 to Ptarmigan Bowl, which Sabin says he looks forward to racing on.

"We're really happy that we have a place to race," Sabin said. "The mountain is extremely supportive. You don't see that at a lot of places. The same goes for the volunteers. We have an overwhelming amount of support from the (Whitefish) community. We are really grateful for that."