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WATERSKI MagazineIt's a streak that seems to have everyone's attention except the man who owns it, and it's a rivalry that exists more in the eyes of observers than with it's participants.
For the past eight years, Chuck Forrest has maintained a death grip on the Men 3 national slalom title. He is the only person ever to win that many championships in succession, and with two more he would finish an amazing 10-year sweep of the Men 3 division at Nationals. There have been a number of challengers to his throne, but none of them have been a threat to Forrest's streak like Dr. Mike Morgan.
Morgan, a frequent competitor on the U.S. Pro Tour, entered Forrest's division last year and swiped the national record, but he couldn't wrest the national championship from Forrest. The rivalry started developing the minute Morgan entered his first tournament as a Men 3 skier, even though the two didn't even see each other until the 1998 Southern Regionals.
“I knew there would be a rivalry, and I seriously considered all the repercussions of the event before moving into Men 3,” Morgan says.
At Nationals, Morgan posted four buoys at 39.5-off, a score that would normally pay off with a trip to the top step of the awards podium. But Morgan had to settle for a spot below Forrest's shoulder when Forrest smoked 39.5 and, for good measure, took two more at 41. The four-buoy margin of victory was the largest in his eight championships. This year, Morgan (36) and Forrest (43) go at it again in Bakersfield, California.
