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Bode Miller skied to a convincing slalom victory at the Chevy Truck U.S. Alpine Championships at Sugar Bowl Ski Resort to win his first career U.S. slalom title.

Miller, of Franconia, NH, the double Olympic silver medallist, simply skied away from the field by more than two seconds as heavy snow squalls and low visibility made for challenging conditions.

Miller raced to a first run lead of 1.50 seconds and added more time in the second to post a combined two-run time of 1:29.04. Erik Schlopy, of Park City, UT, a five-time U.S. champion, was 2nd at 1:31.80, followed by another five-time U.S. champion Casey Puckett, of Aspen, CO, in 3rd at 1:32.23.

T.J Lanning, of Park City, UT, was 4th at 1:32.43 and the top junior finisher.

"My slalom skiing has been amazing for me," said Miller, who also won the 1998 U.S. giant slalom title. "I'm skiing fast and I've been skiing fast all year."

Like Sarah Schleper, of Vail, CO, who won the women's title earlier in the afternoon, Miller praised the course workers for their efforts to get the track in race-shape after more than a foot of new snow fell overnight.

"It was a lot of fun to ski a tough bumpy course like that and ski it well," he said.

With his first U.S. slalom title trophy now on his mantle, combined with four World Cup victories this season and his Olympic success, Miller hopes to calm the critics who have said he skis recklessly and on the edge.

"A lot of people have given me (a hard time) about not being smart and blowing out all the time the last three years," Miller said. "But you can't change like that... nothing is different, I'm still doing the same stuff. Maybe I'm a little bit better at it or getting a little bit of luck coming my way. But it's been important for me to stick to that. I knew wasn't off target on my approach from the beginning."

Combined with a 6th-place finish in the super G on Friday, Miller also won the U.S. combined title. Lanning took the combined junior title after finishing a surprising 2nd in Friday's super G.

The Chevy Truck U.S. Alpine Championships continue Monday with the women's giant slalom at Squaw Valley Resort. First run is 10 a.m., second at 1 p.m. The men's giant slalom will wrap up the U.S. Championships on Tuesday.

— Courtesy US Ski Team