2012-13 Nature Valley NASTAR Pacesetter & Ambassadors

Three time World Cup GS Champion, Olympic Champion and NASTAR National Pacesetter Ted Ligety will be in Snowmass for Nature Valley NASTAR National Championships to meet and race with ski racing fans. “NASTAR introduced me to ski racing at a young age, fostering my continued love for the sport,” said Ligety, founder and president of Shred Optics, a line of cutting-edge goggles, sunglasses and helmets. “I remember getting the competitive juices flowing by challenging my friends on the NASTAR course.”

BIOGRAPHY
Skiing always comes first for 2006 Olympic gold medalist and three-time World Cup giant slalom champion Ted Ligety. Whether it's dropping cliffs in his speed suit on a cancelation day, taking the snowmobiles into the Utah backcountry or laying down some of the most incredible angles in all of ski racing, "Shred" is constantly pushing and evolving the sport.

Ligety may have come up short of a fourth Audi FIS Alpine World Cup giant slalom title, but that isn't a good representation of his 2012 season. He racked up 513 GS points for the most of his career, moved back into the top 15 for slalom and finished ninth in the overall standings. He also defended his wins at Soelden, Austria and Beaver Creek, plus ripped back his Kranjska Gora, Slovenia title.

But here's the kicker. Ligety was winning by unheard of margins. His Kranjska Gora victory was by a staggering 1.61 seconds, a butt-kicking that hasn't happened in giant slalom since 2002 when Swiss Didier Cuche won Adelboden by 1.15 seconds.

And he's even faster on the new giant slalom skis. This year he won the opening GS race of the season at Soelden by 2.75 seconds, the largest margin of victory in 30 years of GS racing on the World Cup.

TED SAYS
You can’t expect to win the globe when you go out two times during the season, especially not when somebody like (Marcel) Hirscher is skiing as well as he has and consistently as he has.
It’s somewhat frustrating, but not that bad. I still scored the more points than I ever have in a season for GS. I think you would be hard pressed to find somebody with the same consistency I have had over the years so I am happy with that.

FIRST TRACKS
Ligety was on skis at two and began racing at 11, working his way from the Park City farm team on up to the Park City Ski Team. Although he played other sports as he went into high school, he says, “Skiing really was my only passion.” U.S. coaches watched and waited as he worked up through the junior ranks, and when he collected slalom silver at the 2004 Junior World Championships, and then 23rd in a World Cup slalom, he clinched a place on the ’05 U.S. Ski Team.

OFF THE SNOW
Ligety is the mastermind behind Shred, a company he started with friend Carlo Salmini following the 2006 Olympics. Originally started with goggles, Shred now makes helmets, sunglasses and outerwear, but more importantly pushes the style envelop with ski racing. Aside from the biz, Ligety digs tennis, formula one racing, water skiing, ripping around the Utah backcountry and playing badminton in his backyard court.