Chris Del Bosco credits less skiing for more ski cross wins
Chris Del Bosco is off to a great start in the 2015-16 ski cross season, with two wins and a bronze in the first three events of the World Cup calendar — and the reason he gives for his early success might surprise you.
The 33-year-old Canadian doesn't attribute his early success to a better diet, sleeping better or training extra hard on the slopes. Instead, he thinks it's a result of spending less time skiing on the mountain and more biking.
"It crosses over really well in terms of getting a [feel for] the speed, reacting and adapting," Del Bosco said Wednesday in a call from Innichen, Italy, where he'll compete in a World Cup race on Saturday. "With skiing I find that when I just jump in and go I do better because I rely more on my natural ability, whereas when I ski a ton it becomes kind of repetitive."
Del Bosco is an American citizen and was a U.S. champion in both downhill mountain biking and alpine skiing in 2005 at the age of 17. Because he has a Canadian father, he was offered a chance to compete for Canada and gladly accepted.
He shifted his focus from alpine to ski cross with great success, winning a world title in 2011 and four Winter X Games medals, including gold in 2010 and 2012 .
After the 2012 season, however, he experienced a lull in his performance. Injuries played a part, but Del Bosco thinks it had a lot to do with not biking enough, and he sought to correct that.
"I sat down with my coach and came up with a plan of what I wanted and what they thought I needed and they let me do what I thought was best," said Del Bosco. "It's a good year to play around, it's not a world championship year, it's not an Olympic year, and so far so good."
Trusting coach
Del Bosco's new coach Stanley Hayer is all for this unorthodox approach to success on the slopes. Del Bosco asked for some time before the season to prepare himself on his own, and Hayer, trusting in the instincts of "Del," as he calls him, gave the OK.
Hayer, a former ski cross racer, used to ride a dirt bike in his spare time when he was competing. The risk factor helped him keep his edge and in the right mind frame. Now he wants the same for his athletes.
"When they're on the ski cross hill, there's constantly something happening," he said from Innichen. "There's a guy crashing here, there's someone cutting you off, there's someone yelling at you. If you don't have that in your summer training, it's something new when you show up on the hill, and it's not good because it takes you a while to get used to it again."
Del Bosco finished fourth at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics and was unable to make the final in 2014 in Sochi, so the 2018 Games in Pyeongchang represent another opportunity to stand on the podium. But with plenty of time until then, the goal for now is just to get through the season as healthy as possible and build confidence moving forward.
"Even in my really good years, I usually pick things up in January to get things rolling and never really had much success in December right at the beginning of the season," he said. "To come in and get three podiums the first three races is huge for me.
"I'm pretty fired up."
Del Bosco won't be alone in Innichen. Teammate Brady Leman is currently ranked second on the World Cup circuit; he and third teammate Dave Duncan have won on the track.
On the women's side, Marielle Thompson, who had her first World Cup podium at Innichen in 2011, is currently ranked second.
