Tommy Ford spent much of the past summer at home in Bend, nursing a sore ankle and shoulder.

But the injuries did not come from racing on some steep slope in Europe for the U.S. Alpine Ski Team.

No, the ankle injury, a bone bruise, was incurred during a skateboarding session at the Redmond Skatepark in July after a miscommunication with another skater resulted in an awkward landing. The shoulder injury, a partial dislocation, occurred just a couple of weeks later on the Oregon Coast, where Ford was surfing with friends.

So, were the U.S. Ski Team coaches upset with Ford for getting himself banged up away from ski training or racing?

“Yeah, a little bit,” the 22-year-old Ford said with a smile, back home in Bend last week before leaving for training camp in Colorado. “But they know we do other stuff and we gotta have some fun. They were like, ‘Well, get better. See you in a few months.’”

What was to be a summer spent training on the mountain slopes of New Zealand turned into a summer of rehabilitation in Bend.

The stay at home was the longest in the past several years for Ford, who is in his fifth year on the U.S. Ski Team. He spent that time undergoing physical therapy, but also mountain biking, hiking and rock climbing.

He admitted the injuries set him back a bit, but they also provided some rejuvenation.

“They kind of cleared me out and let me start fresh,” Ford said. “I learned more about my body and how to build strength more properly. I’ll be stronger, for sure. All the best racers have their own way of doing it, and I’m learning my way of doing it right now.”

Ford rejoined the U.S. team for training camp in the Andes Mountains of Chile in September, but on one training run he broke his right thumb after striking it on the bottom of a gate. He underwent surgery on the thumb, which doctors repaired with a plate and six screws.

The young skier insisted that his injuries — the thumb, ankle and shoulder — were not factors in his first World Cup race this season on Oct. 23 in Solden, Austria, where he skied out of the course about halfway down his first run and did not finish.

“I skied well, but it was strange,” Ford recounted. “I hit a hole weird and just kept bouncing. My (ski) edges might have been a little too sharp. They kept gripping but not letting (the ski) come down. But that does happen.”

He raced with a small piece of plastic on the outside of his right glove to protect his thumb.

Ford left Bend earlier this week for 20 days of training at the U.S. Ski Team’s new training site in Copper, Colo. After that, he plans to return to Bend for a few days before his next World Cup race, a super-G event in Lake Louise, Alberta, on Nov. 27.

A graduate of Bend’s Summit High School, Ford has lived in Bend for most of his life and grew up racing with the Mt. Bachelor Sports Education Foundation. His parents, Mark and Mary Ellen Ford, are both former ski racers and coaches. Mark Ford raced for the U.S. Ski Team in the late 1960s and early ’70s.

Tommy, who always seemed destined for stardom in giant slalom, posted some strong results in super-G last season. He finished 11th in a World Cup super-G in Hinterstoder, Austria, this past February, and he was 18th in the giant slalom at the same World Cup event.

Ford went on to claim three titles at the U.S. Alpine Championships — the super-G, giant slalom and combined — bringing his total to six national titles in the past two years.

Ford called super-G the “most natural” form of skiing.

“It’s bigger turns on terrain that flows well,” he said. “GS is just a nice rhythm.”

Ford finished 26th in the giant slalom at the Vancouver Winter Olympics in February 2010, but the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, are far from his mind. For now, he has a full World Cup season ahead of him.

“I’m not thinking about it at all right now,” Ford said of Sochi. “It’s two years away, and you’ve got to focus on what you’re doing right now. It all depends on that season (2013-14) anyway, to qualify for the Olympics.

“It’s hard to follow (World Cup skiing) in the U.S. The culture isn’t set here. They’re trying to sell our sport every four years.”

Ford is no longer the youngest skier on the U.S. men’s team, but he continues to learn from veterans such as World Cup champions Bode Miller, 34, and Ted Ligety, 27.

“There are more skiers my age,” Ford said. “A few years back it was just me and the older guys — it was kind of weird. We all train together, eat dinner together. Age is thrown out the window. You learn from everyone, and how they approach each course, each gate. They all have a different way of approaching it. I’m learning to search out what I need on my own.”

So, could we be seeing Ford on a World Cup podium as early as this season?

“It just depends if I get in the right mindset,” he said. “I’ve got the skills to do it.”

Ford’s World Cup career

Tommy Ford has been racing at the highest level of alpine skiing, the World Cup, since 2009. Here are his placings in World Cup races that he completed (*world championships):

Date Location Discipline Position

March 13, 2011 Kvitfjell, Norway Super-G 49

March 12, 2011 Kvitfjell, Norway Downhill 52

March 11, 2011 Kvitfjell, Norway Downhill 53

Feb. 9, 2011 Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany* Super-G 14

Feb. 6, 2011 Hinterstoder, Austria Giant slalom 18

Feb. 5, 2011 Hinterstoder, Austria Super-G 11

April 12, 2010 Beaver Creek, Colo. Super-G 49

Jan. 29, 2010 Kranjska Gora, Slovenia Giant slalom 21

Dec. 20, 2009 Alta Badia, Italy Giant slalom 24