Former Big Green Skier AJ Ginnis Makes History on World Cup Circuit

CHAMONIX, France — AJ Ginnis, a member of the Dartmouth Class of 2019, became the first Greek skier to medal in a World Cup event by taking the silver in the slalom on Saturday, Feb. 4, in Chamonix, France.

A slalom specialist, Ginnis had never finished higher than 11th in a World Cup race before this past weekend. When he finished the first run in 23rd place, one would be hard pressed to expect him to finish on the podium. But there was a glimmer of hope.

"That first run was very tight with the top 30 separated by only about 1.6 seconds," Ginnis said. "I knew with another good time I could move up in the standings."

Ginnis was the eighth skier to hit the slopes on the second run, and he posted a time that not only bested the other seven before him, but by a wide margin.

"I had a number of guys coming up to me, telling me that my time would be a top-10 time, a top-five time," Ginnis added. "I knew it was a special run when I saw my time, but I had no idea it would end up as the best time."

As the remainder of the competition attempted to supplant Ginnis' time, each one failed, and only three were even within one second. By the end of the race, Ginnis trailed only Switzerland's Ramon Zenhaeusern in the standings to secure the silver medal.

Born in Athens, Ginnis and his family moved from Greece to Austria when he was 12, then to the United States when he was 15. He enrolled in the Green Mountain Valley School in Vermont and quickly earned a spot on the US Ski Team, for which he skied for seven years (2011-18).

But his road to the podium on the world stage hasn't been an easy one. Six times he has undergone knee surgeries — the first five on his left knee, and the most recent one on his right that kept him from competing for Greece in the 2022 Beijing Olympics. And when the U.S. dismantled its World Cup slalom ski team after the Pyeongcheng Olympics in 2018, he was dropped from the roster.

Ginnis was set to ski for the Dartmouth team in 2018-19, but another knee injury kept him off the slopes that year. He returned the following season and split his time on the Dartmouth team and with his training for international competition. In his one carnival race for the Big Green, he finished third in the slalom at Sugarloaf in 2020. "One race, one podium, something to brag about!" Ginnis said.

After the college season (which coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown), Greece came calling to see if he would be interested in skiing for his native country. The federation didn't have any money to pay for his training, but he found a sponsor (Clif Bar) to help with the costs associated with skiing.

"The U.S. team, credit to them, made me the skier I am today, but unfortunately with all my injuries, I really needed a special treatment," Ginnis told Yahoo! Sports. "With six surgeries, I just needed to look at things differently and skiing for Greece allowed me to do that."

Next up on his docket is the slalom at the World Championships in France. Ginnis is back in Switzerland training for the event that takes place on Saturday, Feb. 19, and has secured a start in the top 30 after starting 45th at the World Cup race last week.

"That earlier start position will help with the snow conditions I face on the first run," Ginnis stated. "I still have work to do in moving up in the rankings, but I'm looking forward to building upon this last race."

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