In recent years, Colby Granstrom of Lake Stevens has been making steady progress as a member of the United States ski team.
In 2011, Granstrom’s progress came in a giant leap.
The 21-year-old Granstrom made his debut on the World Cup circuit in Levi, Finland, the previous fall, and he showed well enough that he was given World Cup starts in Kitzbuehel and Schladming, both in Austria, and in Bansko, Bulgaria, early in 2011.
Those were opportunities for the young skier to test his skills against the world’s elite. But the season’s highlight came in early April when Granstrom competed at the U.S. Alpine Championships in Winter Park, Colo. Granstrom finished 11th in the giant slalom, 12th in the super G, and then came back to win the slalom by a margin of 1.33 seconds ahead of Tommy Ford of Bend, Ore., a member of the American A Team.
Granstrom spent most of the season competing in Nor-Am Cup races in this country and in Canada, and he finished ranked second overall.
In the early months of the most recent season, Granstrom had World Cup starts in races at Soelden, Austria, and Beaver Creek, Colo.
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