Dane Spencer (born December 24, 1977) is a former World Cup

alpine ski racer Alpine skiing, or downhill skiing, is the pastime of sliding down snow-covered slopes on skis with fixed-heel bindings, unlike other types of skiing (cross-country, Telemark, or ski jumping), which use skis with free-heel bindings. Whether for ...

and current assistant coach with the

U.S. Ski Team The U.S. Ski Team, operating under the auspices of U.S. Ski & Snowboard, develops and supports men's and women's athletes in the sports of alpine skiing, freestyle skiing, cross-country, ski jumping, and Nordic combined. Since 1974 the team and ...

. At the World Cup level, he specialized in the

giant slalom Giant slalom (GS) is an alpine skiing and alpine snowboarding discipline. It involves skiing between sets of poles ("gates") spaced at a greater distance from each other than in slalom but less than in Super-G. Giant slalom and slalom make up t ...

Career

Born in Boise,

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...

, Spencer grew up skiing and racing at

Bogus Basin Bogus Basin Mountain Recreation Area is a ski area in Boise County, Idaho, north-northeast of the city of Boise. Bogus is operated by the Bogus Basin Recreation Association, a non-profit organization, on private and leased land in the Boise Nat ...

. He made the

at age 16, and debuted in World Cup competition at age 18 in a giant slalom in

Park City Park City may refer to: a city in Utah. Places * National Park City, London, England, UK; see parks and open spaces in London in the United States * Park City, Illinois * Park City, Kansas * Park City, Kentucky * Park City, Montana * Park City, ...

. He attended the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of Colorado Denver, and the University of Co ...

Boulder In geology, a boulder (or rarely bowlder) is a rock fragment with size greater than in diameter. Smaller pieces are called cobbles and pebbles. While a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive. In c ...

and was a member of the

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

U.S. Olympic team and finished 16th in the giant slalom, held in Park City. His best finish in international competition was 7th in the GS at the 2005 World Championships in Bormio,

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

Injury in 2006

Battling injuries during the 2006 season, he narrowly missed the Olympic team in

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

, and was back in North America in February to tune up for the remainder of the World Cup season in Europe with several events on the Nor-Am Cup circuit. After a pair of

Super G Super giant slalom, or super-G, is a racing discipline of alpine skiing. Along with the faster downhill, it is regarded as a "speed" event, in contrast to the technical events giant slalom and slalom. It debuted as an official World Cup event ...

races at Apex in

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, he raced in two

downhill Downhill may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Downhill'' (1927 film), a British film by Alfred Hitchcock * ''Downhill'' (2014 film), a British comedy directed by James Rouse * ''Downhill'' (2016 film), a Chilean thriller directed by Patrici ...

events at The Big Mountain (now

Whitefish Mountain Resort Whitefish Mountain Resort is a ski resort in the western United States, located at Big Mountain in northwestern Montana. It is west of Glacier National Park in the Flathead National Forest, from the town of Whitefish, west of Columbia Fa ...

) near Whitefish,

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...

. During the second race on February 14, 2006, Spencer crashed after the "Launch Pad" jump and incurred serious injuries.Ski Racing.com
- Dane Spencer stable with head, neck and pelvis injuries after NorAm crash - 2006-02-15 He fractured his neck and pelvis, had massive internal bleeding, and spent nearly a week in an induced coma;
New York Times
' - Broken Neck Can’t Keep Skier Off Slopes - 2007-01-02Denver Post.com
- Bad break, steel spirit: Dane Spencer battles back - 2007-11-25 - accessed 2012-01-27 he recovered but spent most of 2006 recuperating. The same ''Ursa Major'' race course had ended the comeback attempt of Bill Johnson five years earlier, after a violent crash at the "Corkscrew" section left the 1984 Olympic champion significantly impaired by a head injury in 2001. Despite the severe injuries and near paralysis, Spencer progressed well during the summer of 2006 and was placed on the "A" team for the 2007 World Cup season, but did not race again until the following season.

After racing

Following the injury, Spencer did not regain his previous form and struggled for results. He started only a handful of World Cup events and retired from racing following the 2010 season at age 32. Spencer became a coach with the U.S. Ski Team that summer and assisted with the Europa Cup and World Cup teams during the

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

season. He was named an assistant coach for the U.S. men's World Cup team for the

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

season, under men's head coach Forest Carey.

Top finishes

* World Championships - 7th place -

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

* World Cup - 10th place - giant slalom - 05-Jan-

Olympics The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

- 16th place - giant slalom -

FIS-ski.com
- 2002 Winter Olympics - giant slalom - results - 2002-02-21 *U.S. National Championships - 2nd place - giant slalom - 1998, 2005

World Cup top twenty finishes

2007 U.S. Ski Team - Men's "A" Team

* Ted Ligety - (22;

Park City, Utah Park City is a city in Utah, United States. The vast majority is in Summit County, and it extends into Wasatch County. It is considered to be part of the Wasatch Back. The city is southeast of downtown Salt Lake City and from Salt Lake City' ...

) * Bode Miller - (28; Bretton Woods, New Hampshire) * Bryon Friedman - (26;

) *

Scott Macartney Scott Macartney (born January 19, 1978) is a retired American World Cup alpine ski racer. He concentrated in the speed events of downhill and super-G. Biography Born in Seattle, Washington, Macartney was raised in suburban Redmond, where his p ...

- (28;

Redmond, Washington Redmond is a city in King County, Washington, United States, located east of Seattle. The population was 73,256 at the 2020 census, up from 54,144 in 2010. Redmond is best known as the home of Microsoft and Nintendo of America. With an an ...

) * Steve Nyman - (24;

Orem, Utah Orem is a city in Utah County, Utah, United States, in the northern part of the state. It is adjacent to Provo, Lindon, and Vineyard and is approximately south of Salt Lake City. Orem is one of the principal cities of the Provo-Orem, Utah Me ...

) *

Erik Schlopy Erik Schlopy (born August 21, 1972) is former World Cup alpine ski racer from the United States. Born in Buffalo, New York and raised in Hamburg, New York, he competed in three Olympics: 1994, 2002, and 2006. At the 1994 Olympics in Lillehamme ...

- (34;

) * Dane Spencer - (28; Boise, Idaho)

References

External links

*
Dane Spencer
World Cup standings at the International Ski Federation * *
Zimbio.com
- photos - Winter Games NZ - Dane Spencer - 2009-08-27 {{DEFAULTSORT:Spencer, Dane American male alpine skiers Alpine skiers at the 2002 Winter Olympics Olympic alpine skiers of the United States Sportspeople from Boise, Idaho 1977 births Living people