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Lundstam Gets Back To His Ski Racing Roots

By Ski Racing
April, 28 2022
Per Lundstam and Steven Nyman
U.S. Ski & Snowboard Director of Alpine Sports Science, Per Lundstam, with veteran downhiller Steven Nyman in the Xfinity Birds of Prey finish area at Beaver Creek, Colo. (U.S. Ski Team)

U.S. Ski & Snowboard Director of Alpine Sports Science, Per Lundstam, worked as the U.S. Alpine Ski Team's head strength coach from 1994 to 2010, before taking on an exciting new opportunity with Red Bull as Director of Performance. Lucky for the U.S. Ski Team, Lundstam returned to the team last fall after an 11-year stint with Red Bull. 

Ski Racing's Edie Thys Morgan recently caught up with Lundstam to discuss his background, work with Red Bull and the U.S. Ski Team, vision for the alpine program, and beyond. 

Lundstam grew up in Sweden as a ski racer, with the dream of racing in the World Cup. At the time, in the late 80s, the Swedish team was very competitive, and Lundstam’s personality seemed more suited to helping his competitors rather than crushing them. His mother, in fact, saw his coaching talent before he did, but as his competitors leaned on him more and more for training guidance, Lundstam also saw the writing on the wall. He quit racing at age 24 and quickly transitioned into a position as conditioning coach for the Swedish national team, a position he held from 1990-94. From there, Lundstam moved across the pond to start working with the US Ski Team in 1994. 

What followed was a time of unparalleled success on the US Ski Team, from a range of athletes across both genders and all disciplines. This included the rise of superstars like Bode Miller, Lindsey Vonn, Julia Mancuso, Ted Ligety and Daron Rahlves, as well as an army of athletes with medals and World Cup success, all supported by a cohesive staff. The success fed on itself. “We had incredible athletes that showed everybody the way and broke down all those paradigms that we were behind the Europeans,” says Lundstam. “You get this momentum and then the biggest piece of all is belief.” 

Lundstam is positively fired up about connecting the clubs, academies, colleges, regions, and High Performance Centers (HPCs) from across the nation with the national team. If that sounds like a big undertaking, that's because it is. But, if anyone can do it, it's Lundstam. As the article says, 

Lundstam is fascinated by how a group of people get to that place and believes much of it lies in creating a cohesive system where all stakeholders feel valued and invested. That is what he hopes to build on now, not only at the elite level, but throughout the American ski racing community, encompassing clubs, academies, colleges, regions, High Performance Centers (HPCs) and the national team. 

Central to this is a shared understanding of the absolute codependence between the elite system and the development system. Says Lundstam: “Without a healthy development system we are nothing at the elite level; and without us moving forward and breaking down every barrier, [developing athletes] don’t have a path either. We need each other and need to be integrated and understand how we work together at a higher level.” 

Lundstam and his team have already started physical testing at the USANA Center of Excellence in Park City, Utah, and the testing he's implementing at the elite level is something he hopes will translate to U.S. clubs, academies, colleges, regions, and High Performance Centers (HPCs). "By sharing testing, establishing concrete pathways and even involving clubs, academies, and colleges in the research, the goal is to create more of a national systematic feel than just an elite feel," as Thys Morgan writes. 

Read the full article at SkiRacing.com.