NATESMITH 27 andcounting...

There is no doubt that Nate Smith has dominated slalom skiing for a decade. While the number of times he’s completed 10.25m (41off) is staggering, winning an event requires something more. The best performance has to come at the right moment and most of the time. It is not that easy to perform under pressure, especially when everybody expects you to win. Well, this kind of pressure doesn’t seem to affect the world record holder, who has won 27 pro events in a row. This means that over a one-and-a-half year period, Nate Smith has never NOT win a tournament in which he participated. I don’t have the knowledge of numbers established by the great Andy Mapple, but I do believe that has been a world first.

Well, this kind of pressure doesn’t seem to affect the world record holder, who has won 27 pro events in a row. This means that over a one-and-a-half year period, Nate Smith has never NOT won a tournament in which he participated. I don’t have the numbers established by the great Andy Mapple, but I think that is a world first. The first one to defeat Nate was the Italian Brando Caruso in the Botaski head-to-head semi-finals. Fun fact, the previous skier to beat Nate in a head-to-head (a runoff in this case) was another Italian: Thomas Degasperi, in the 2019 Moomba Masters. Three days later, it was another European, the Brit Freddie Winter, who defeated Nate in a runoff for the win at Monaco Slalom Cup.

Still, Nate Smith reminded everyone he was the World #1 by winning Lacanau Cup by Malibu and Kaiafas Battle back-to-back with scores of 1@9.75m (43off).

Gregoire Desfond

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