McJames was in the start gate at Snowbird, receiving typical pre-race instructions from coach Judy Ann (J.A.) Chamberlain. The gun sounded. McJames exploded from the chute.

Said Sussman: "J.A. turned back toward me and in unison we both mouthed, 'Holy. . . .' Megan seemed like just another good kid on the farm team until you put a clock on her. From then on, we started watching her more closely."

Now it's the U.S. Ski Team paying close attention to McJames.

The 19-year-old was named the top junior American woman in Alpine ski racing last season, winning the overall, giant slalom and super G titles at the NorÂAm championships. She was fourth in giant slalom at the U.S. Alpine championships, and had 18th- and 23rd-place finishes at the Junior Worlds.

Seeing these results, the U.S. Ski Team elevated McJames from its D squad to the B team - and Ski Racing magazine put her on the cover of its season-opening issue with another Park City product, Erik Schlopy. "Rising Star" was how the magazine described McJames, with editor Don Cameron noting that her junior skier of the year status was "a pretty significant honor, joining Megan with the likes of [Olympians] Lindsey Kildow, Julia Mancuso, Jonna Mendes and Kristina Koznick."

Jesse Hunt, the U.S. Ski Team's Alpine program director, said it is unusual for a racer to make the jump from the D to the B team.

"Occasionally it's done by talented athletes, but it doesn't happen very often. We're excited when we see it," Hunt said. "It wasn't a difficult selection. She was a standout, both attitude-wise and objectively with her performances."

As the daughter of two former ski instructors at Alta Ski Area (dad Scott now does anesthesia research for University of Utah Hospital, and mom Susan has a clothing alteration business), McJames seemed destined to be a skier.

"We were of the generation of parents who had their kids skiing by the age of 2," Susan McJames recalled, although racing did not begin until the family moved to Summit County and Megan and younger brother Kevin joined the Park City Ski Team system. "She's had some really high quality coaching since she was 9."

The pairing suited Megan just fine. "I knew I wanted to be a ski racer when I joined 'Learn to Race' at Park City Mountain Resort," she said. "From my first goal-setting session, I knew I wanted to go somewhere with the sport."

In order to compete at events all winter in far-flung places, McJames and her brother have attended the Park City Winter Sports School, which produced 2006 Olympic gold medalists Ted Ligety and Mancuso. "It is always inspirational to watch people from your town succeed," McJames said. "I hope I can follow in their footsteps."

Ski Team director Hunt thinks the potential is there, citing her physical strength, cleanly carved turns and "good understanding of the fall line, something the true talents have. . . . She's not afraid to attack the fall line. That's hard to teach. But she knows where the speed is."

His goal this year is to give McJames experience in Europa Cup competitions that are a step above NorAm races and just below World Cup. But he also hopes to get her into a couple of World Cups as preparation for a strong performance at next spring's Junior World Championships.

"That will be an important marker for her," Hunt said.

While technically and tactically better than before, McJames attributed her improvement in past seasons to "learning a lot about myself. Not everyone is the same, and as an athlete, you have to figure out the circumstances that you compete best in and control what you can."

Competing in the Olympics has always been a dream, McJames said, but for now she is hesitant to look ahead too much to Vancouver in 2010. "In the next three years, I have many more competitions and goals to meet," she said, citing a desire to expand from being a giant slalom and super G specialist to include downhill and slaloms, too.

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* MIKE GORRELL can be contacted at mikeg@sltrib.com or at 801-257-8734. Send comments to livingeditor@sltrib.com.

Park City skiing sensations Megan McJames and Erik Schlopy appear on the season-opening issue of Ski Racing magazine.