Bormio and Lienz, Christmas time in Europe

We have had great training here at Mission Ridge for the last 2 weeks. Nice, hard, man-made snow on great hills with fantastic cooperation from the ski area. Our kids are prepared to race as they head off to Nor-Ams, Divisional races, West Region FIS races, etc. But it was getting painfully obvious that we needed it to snow soon. On top of that we have been jamming doing double sessions so I had not had a chance to watch the great racing that went on this week in Europe. I finally got that chance today with a day off AND it started dumping. We are expecting up to 2 feet up at The Ridge and I just got my Voelkl Mantras ready to go.
Regardless, the World Cup is going about its business and it was an interesting Christmas week. I was nice to see Bormio and Lienz with snow on the peaks and even in the finish area in Bormio. There is a lot on which to comment and I am sure I will not get to all of it. The speed guys are on a break until Wengen and the men and women’s tech groups are getting ready for Zagreb. The Women’s speed specialists are all finishing up a holiday break and heading back across the pond to get going again in Haus, Austria.
Bormio is nasty. There is no other way to put it. It does not have that visual intimidation that Kitzbuehel gives you when you stand in the start, or at the finish. And it does not have the reverence of either The Hahnenkamm or The Lauberhorn. But what downhill really does? The January giants dominate the race schedule and the mind of every World Cup downhiller, and slalom skier. They are the trophies that everyone wants to hold. But Bormio is also very special. It is one of the most interesting places to visit on the tour. A Roman outpost 2000 or so years ago, it was famous for its baths which still operate today, at the base of the Passo Stelvio. It is a cool place, no doubt. Anyway, it hammers you from top to bottom for 2 solid minutes, or you can take that attitude to hammer the hill. That is what Andrej Jerman did. We call him “Jerry,” and he took it to the Pista Stelvio and to the rest of the field.
Mario Scheiber was close but there was not much to compare it to around him. But if you watch the replay on Universal or if you already saw it, you saw Jerry absolutely attack with confidence and then saw everyone else try to “feel” their way down and look totally different, He tucked where others did not or could not, he kept a higher line in all the critical sections to allow him to tuck where others could not. Frankly, it was one of the better DH runs I have seen in a long time. Maybe since Rahlves’ win in Wengen a few years ago. It was a great run on a great hill.
On the flip side you saw people pay for poor planning or poor execution. Manny O-P and Erik Guay in the same spot. You saw Sulli making errors in many places. He just needs to ski better. He is skiing better than ever in training and needs to execute on race day the way he knows how. Steven needs to bring some discipline into his skiing.
All of that aside, if you want to know what Bormio is like, or how difficult it actually is, watch Ambrosi Hoffmann. He is a Swiss guy, and a professional downhiller. As consistent as it gets and has been forever. He was a World Junior winner back in the day. And he was dominated by this hill. Once it goes bad here, it goes bad for most of the run. There is no place to get the line back, it just keeps coming at you.
In the end, Bormio was a fantastic race and Jerman won and deserved it all. It is also a great training race for the upcoming races. The two-minutes and thirty on the track at Wengen and the hair-raising run at Kitzbuehel. The next month has the best 2 downhill races on the tour and the greatest tradition of them all. It will also tell who makes our Olympic Team in both DH and SG. Right now, DH is led by Miller, then Sullivan and then Weibrecht, Nyman, Fisher and Macartney are battling. In Super-G you have Ligety, Miller and then it will be a battle. Wengen will favor Sulli to make his presence felt, Nyman should be able to do well there. Mac needs to overcome his demons there and his recent back problems in Bormio. Fish, Nyman and Weibrecht all had their struggles in Wengen last season. In Kitzbuehel, the ball is decidedly in Fisher’s court. He is coming off a huge performance there last season and can definitely do it again. He is a big, strong, fearless guy with excellent gliding skills. It will be fun to watch the USA boys jockey for those 4 Olympic slots.
THE GIRLS
The GS in Lienz was ok but not really that fun to watch. I thought the sets were disjointed and unimaginative. Maybe lacking a feel for the hill? It meanders but never seems to have enough speed. I don’t know, I have watched this race on TV a number of times now and it just seems like a weird, a rhythmical GS.
On the other hand, we saw a lot of action from the girls during the race. Some points I would like to make:
Denise Karbon is not recovered from her meniscus surgery. She usually charges on the hill, putting all of herself into it. She was on her heels the whole way. That is a confidence thing and coming off recent surgery, who can blame her? And Tessa Worley, my pick for a win, looked like she could not grip on the ice there on her right footed turns. Starting with the delay at the 10th turn, she struggled on all the right footers. Maybe she hit a rock? Maybe her service guy failed? Maybe she is not good on right footers and Lienz is heavy to the right foot? I don’t know but she could not buy a turn on run 1 going right to left. Julia hooked her arm and had no answer for that. I know it is bad fortune, but a racer needs to have that in her background. To have dealt with it before and gotten it done.
To more positive things. Kati Hoelzl, who I totally disrespected by not mentioning her this week took it to the hill and field. I have to say that I did not say anything about her because I was sick of being disappointed. I think she is a great GS skier and she nailed it this week. Her switches were stronger and her initiations cleaner than all the other girls in the race except maybe Zettel and Moelgg. But she was far more consistent than Zettel and consistent enough to be better than Manu. I also need to give Megan a big hooray for her 20th place as well as her big cheer for Sarah when she crossed the line on run 2. Megan was in the leader box for a number of girls and when Schlep took the lead away from her, and she spontaneously and genuinely whooped it up for Schlep. And that is what it is all about. Do your best, beat all the people you can, but when you get beat be bigger than the situation and be the one. Knowing you did your best and someone else did better is good. Just work harder and come back next time and be the one on top.
More props to Anemone Marmotton(FRA) coming from 55 to 21 and then using it as a spring board for the slalom. Also to Taina Barioz (FRA) for her podium. Watch those French girls in the tech events as we move forward. They have great chemistry within their team and they all ski well.
In the slalom, I thought again that the hill was a little unnatural but also that it was very physically demanding. I think fitness played huge role in the outcome. Making slalom turns for a minute on ice is a tough gig. And Marlies Schild crushed everyone. She looked better, skied better and seemed unfazed by the length of the course. Seth McCadam of the USA set run 1 and it looked to run well. I liked the double hair-pin on the first major corner in the hill. It’s a “tough spot to get around,” he had told me and hoped that wasn’t going to be “too weird,” as he mocked my previous blog.
Marlies Schild: Is she Benni’s girlfriend or what? Do you have to sign them together to sponsorships? She is even starting to ski like him in Slalom. She crushed everyone and showed her potential dominance in slalom if she stays healthy. We’ll see in Zagreb next week but I think she sent a message this week.
Sandrine Aubert: The Deux Alpes girl was very good but not near in Schild’s world. It shows where everyone else was to end up behind her.
Katrin Zettel: In a mistake filled weekend, she proved that is she is more consistent, she can compete for a win in every slalom and GS for the rest of the year.
Lindsey Vonn: Exhausted. We can blame it on the hand injury but really, this is not about her crash in the GS. It is about Schild, and maybe Schleper.
Sarah Schleper: A great weekend for Sarah after a great weekend in Are. We can only hope for more. As long as she can stay focused on the solid switch and her initiation being clean, she will continue this show. When she can be more consistent she will fight for wins again. Look how close she was to the podium this weekend with a lot of mistakes!
Anemone Marmotton: What can you say? A follow up to the surprise GS finish. I saw her first hand in Loveland at NorAms last month. She is a solid skier. I think she will bust into the 30 in slalom this year and stay there for a while.
Nastasia Noens(FRA): Another French girl kicking ass in slalom and moving up in huge chunks. She started 42 and ended up in the teens…I saw her ski in Loveland as well and thought she would be heard from soon.
Tessa Worley: Ok, French girl after French girl. I do not know what to say except that Tessa is a fantastic GS skier who seems to be making her move in slalom too. If their rankings come into order by Whistler, watch out for more than one medal out of these girls. I am very interested to watch this as I think their chemistry within their team is strong.
Brigitte Acton (CAN): I know she was not happy with her second run, one look at her expression in the finish will tell you that, but when you get some points when maybe you did not ski so well….well you just take them and move on.
Congratulations to all the winners, podiums and big movers. Have a great New Year’s and we’ll catch up in Zagreb!

Christmas racing in Europe...Bormio and Lienz

Before I start in on the upcoming races in Bormio, Italy and Lienz, Austria; there is some news to catch up on. The canceled ladies’ downhill in Val d’Isere has been rescheduled for Haus, Austria on January 8th. Haus is just up the valley from Schladiming in the Ennstal in the Steiermark region. As well, the World Alpine Rockfest took place in Paganella, Italy on the 22nd of December and was won by Cyprien Richard of France. He took home a cash prize of 100,000 Euro! About 144k US right now. The race was run at the mid-station level at Paganella Ski in Andalo, Italy; in the Trentino region high above the Adige Valley. The ski area has been the official European training center of the US Ski Team for four seasons. It is about a 30 minute drive from downtown Trento and you can look down on Lago di Garda on one side and into Trento on the other. It is a truly amazing view from the top. Anyway, the Rockfest was headlined by the rock group Placebo and the whole thing was organized and promoted by former US Ski Team Head Men’s Coach, Phil McNichol and his company, Top Out Sports. I am sure there were many partners in the Trentino Region. The World Alpine Rockfest will air on Eurosport and Rai Sport starting on the 26th. I think it is a great marriage of our sport and rock music and I hope that there are more occasions to build parties like this in the future. I would think that ski areas near major cities in the USA would be interested in something like that. Especially on the East coast so it would be easier to attract European skiers to the contest. Hunter Mountain, Hidden Valley/Great Gorge, NJ, Elk Mountain, Pa. all come to mind quickly. A lot of New Hampshire areas are close to Boston. It seems like a no brainer to go out and get this done in the states and promote the sport through mixed media and rock-star level promotion tools. Let’s get on it and get it done!
Now, I would like to talk about the upcoming races. Bormio, Italy is tucked up in the northern most area of Lombardia Region north of Milano. It sits at the bottom of Passo Stelvio and just below the ski area and town of Santa Caterina, the home of former World Cup star Deborah Campagnoni. Just over the pass to the north is Livigno, a tax free zone on the way to Switzerland and the home of Italian slalom star, Giorgio Rocca. The northern Lombardia region is known for bresaola, a dried beef product that is often served with shaved parmesan cheese, arugula and olive oil. It is a treat for sure. Bormio is also the home of the digestive liqueur, Braulio. Braulio is definitely an acquired taste and I would suggest splurging for the more expensive and longer aged version if you are so inclined to try it! The US boys arrived in Bormio today after spending Christmas Eve with their Canadian cousins the night before. I am assuming they were in Innsbruck if the Canadians were around and Innsbruck is a beautiful sight on Christmas. Kristkindlmarkt in the Altstadt is one thing worth seeing once in your life. The city is so alive during the holidays.
Anyway, back to the race. Bormio is well regarded as the toughest physical test on the tour. It runs about 2 minutes but is a leg burner the whole way. It is “bumpy as hell” as a number of American boys have said. And if it is a low-snow year, even bumpier. Steven Nyman once told me it was like being on a vibration plate for 2 minutes in a tuck but needing to turn and jump too. The constant bouncing just wears the athletes out. There is a traverse in the middle of the race that crosses a face above Bormio 2000. It just rattles and bounces all the way across. And it is a tough place to keep elevation that you need to run down the pitch into the San Pietro jump. By the time you reach this spot around the GS start, you are already burning. Your legs are so full of lactate you are ready to shut down. But you land the jump and tuck straight down the pitch into a compression that really tests your fitness. Not done yet, you hit the final pitch crossing huge rolls while completing giant turns across the entire width of the trail. Then there is one more small jump and through the finish. The boys are usually totally exhausted and I have personally seen the boys “stump out” half-way down the final pitch. The legs feel like dead stumps and just stop working. I took lactates one time in Bormio and some of the boys were pulling 14 to 16 mmol in the finish area. That is a huge amount of work.
The Bormio race is a tough one because the North Americans and Scandinavians don’t get to go home for Christmas and the Central Europeans need to leave on the 26th for training to begin on the 27th. It disrupts the holidays for everyone. But the FIS claims their largest TV audiences on this race and I believe it. The NBA does it, NHL too. It must be worth it.
Christoph Innerhofer won here last year for a home Italy win. Kroell was 2nd, Walchhofer 3rd, Miller 4th, followed by Cuche and Guay. Miller won here the year before, Walchhofer had double wins the year before that and Rahlves won the year before that as we approached the Torino games. Marco has had limited success here with his best being 11th last season and 12th the year before that. Steven has had limited success at Bormio having only scored twice, which really makes me wonder. Because he is an excellent technical skier and is among the most fit athletes on tour. It should make for a great combination on this hill. Aside from Miller and Rahlves, there has not been a lot of success in Bormio on the regular World Cup stop in December. And I think that should change. I think it is a great course for both Fisher and Weibrecht, Macartney should do well here too. All of them have the skills to compete at Bormio and they all work very hard on their fitness. I look for a much improved story from them this season. And Sulli has gotten so much better with his GS skills I would think he could step up toward the podium.
The Canadians have not fared all too well here either. Jan Hudec had a podium here a few years ago, before his latest injury. Erik Guay was 6th last year. Manny has never done well here but he is on a bit of a roll and his fitness has improved (so I am told) so I think he could make a top 10. Robbie Dixon got man-handled by this hill in the Super-G at finals a couple years ago so I wonder about his mental preparation for this go around.
The Favorites:
Walchhofer-He is for sure one of the favorites. He is big and strong and fit. He doubled here in the 2007 season. Back to back wins on this track is tough. It’s hard to go out of the gate that many times in one week here.
Cuche- Didier seems to hate the track in Bormio. He is always complaining about it so I doubt much better than a 5th place can be expected. He has talked himself out of it. Besides, it is the site of his famous and crushing choke at the World Cup Finals when he lost the Super-G globe on the last day of the year. I watched it unfold from the roof top at San Pietro. He skied horribly to finish 16th, no points and no globe.
Kroell- I think Klaus could get it done here. I have to think about that a little more. After 26th last week I bet he’s not happy.
Innerhofer- I think repeating a win here is about as difficult a repeat there can be on this circuit. It is a hard one to get up for as I mentioned before but an Italian boy might be able to do it. Although “Inner” is from San Candido/Innichen which is just about as far mentally as you can be from Bormio. Maybe his teammate Werner Heel can get it done?
Miller- I just don’t think Bode’s ankle is going to feel good on the ice and bumps in Bormio. It will be tough for him to out his best down even in sections in training to really test his line. I also have to question the wisdom in taking part in the Alpine Rockfest. With an injury that is forcing days off due to pain, to choose to race in a “party race,” albeit for a lot of money, seems kind of nuts. In the old days of Bode management I think this one would have sent McNichol and Hunt right off the deep-end.
Svindal- I don’t know, but I think that Aksel has not done well. I seem to remember a 6th but not much else. I am a big fan of Aksel and I think he can conquer any hill. And I cannot figure out why he disappears here? Maybe he would rather be home for Christmas too?
So, I have pretty much run out of people to bet on. But since I have made a habit of it, I will go with Innerhofer for the win, Klaus Kroell 2nd and Walchhofer 3rd. Wow, that is a painful podium for me to predict. I hope the Amercian boys can break that up!

The ladies in Lienz
I have never been there but Seth Macadam tells me it is a far better option than the races in Semmering. I am sure if anyone in Semmering reads this blog that he is now not very welcome there. But I guess that logistically Semmering is very difficult on site. I will also say this, Semmering is a very small town only 90km or so from Vienna in farthest northeastern Steiermark. But that is another story, Lienz is in ost-tirol, barely connected to Tirol proper and just east of Italy’s sudtirol area. The other very important fact about Lienz is that it is the home-town of Pepi Stiegler, father of our own Resi Stiegler. Anyway, it sounds to me like the USA girls would much rather be in Lienz so that is good news. Beyond that, Lienz is a very old city with a lot of historical noteworthiness and worth a little study time if you have it.
The hill there has always intrigued me on TV, as I have never been there. I have driven through the town many times on my way to Kranjska Gora from Italy but never been to the ski area. But it seems like an interesting hill with some tactical challenges with corners and some big breakovers. The recent history there is interesting too. We have seen a win there from Denise Karbon, which is not a big surprise. A podium from Julia as well as one from Nicole Gius. The last slalom was won there by Chiara Costazza. Niki Hosp has 5 podiums there in the last 6 races there including one win but she is done for the season. Paerson and Marlies Schild each won there in the 2006 races. Hosp and Paerson won in the 2004 season.
So I do not have much to say about the hill but Seth Macadam is setting the first run of slalom. That should help all of our girls, especially Mrs. Vonn. She has not had a ton of success here but I have seen her improve immensely in the tech events since the last Lienz World Cup. I think she knocks down another top 10 in GS and a podium in slalom. Julia will continue to work herself up the ranks and will get herself in the top 10 in GS. The two really big moves I think could happen are with Schleper and McJames. Sarah started skiing very well at the NorAm at Loveland and started to find the top of her turn again. Making much cleaner initiations and creating a shape higher on the hill to move out with gravity helping. Anyway, she won the second run of GS in Are and I think she keeps it rolling in Lienz in GS and then turns that over to slalom. McJames broke through here in the December 2007 race with 17th place starting 42. She must feel good on this hill so she will let it fly and get herself back where she belongs, in the top 15.
The Canadians have had little luck here over the years but I do think you can look for some slalom success out of Brigitte and Anna. Pretty sure they will compete hard. And with Anna coming off her first top 10, I think she will be able to roll to another one in Lienz. She was in the second run here in the 2008 season starting 56.
The dark horses are the fun part in this race. I think some of the French girls will kill it. Sandrine Aubert, Claire Dautherives and Anne-Sophie Barthet all have had break-out moments in Lienz in slalom and Claire and Anne-Sophie skied very well on the ice in Loveland and in Aspen. Tessa Worley had a break out race in GS here in December 2007. I also think you can see something out of the Swedes, Maria Pietilae-Holmner for sure and maybe even from Jessica Lindell-Vikarby on her comeback run. The last dark horse is Frederica Brignone. Third in Aspen and 4th in Are. Is she really a dark horse? She went from the 30s to 15th on the WCSL in GS in 2 races.
With the historical favorites out (Hosp and Karbon) I look to Poutiainen to keep the favorite spot. She has shown she is on top of her game and I don’t see much changing except I think Tessa will make her presence felt. Tina Maze also has a podium here and it is not far from Slovenia so there might be some home crowd feel.
Zettel did very well here finishing 5th here in slalom when she was 20 years old. I could also see Kirchgasser getting in there. Zahrobska, of course can compete, as can the Riesch sisters. Coming off of stellar performances in Are. Don’t count out Marlies Schild, coming off injury but skiing solidly every week.
So here we go:
GS Podium: Tessa Worley backs it up with another win. I am going with Brignone in second and Zettel in 3rd. Maze will get edged out by Zettel. Maria Pietilae-Holmner in 5th. I think Vonn, Julia and Megan all in the top 15 and Schleper with a solid finish between 15 and 20. I will say that if you promised me 3 top 15s and a top 20 before most World Cup races, I would take it. Considering there was always one guy gunning for the win.
SL Podium: Ugh, this one is difficult. But I think we will see a Schild win. Then Maria Riesch and followed by Lindsey Vonn. I think it is a little too flat for the little girls. And I do see top 10 for Anna Goodman and for Barthet and Aubert. As well as one for Zahrobska. I think it will be a very competitive race as long as Seth keeps thing normal on run one and doesn’t set something too weird.
MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!

The Italy Swing, Val Gardena and Alta Badia

A fun weekend of racing in Val Gardena and Alta Badia

By now, the athletes from the USA and Canada as well as our Scandinavian brothers and sisters are well on their way home after the long pull that starts with training camp in Colorado or elsewhere in mid-November. Or for some the whole thing started in mid-October in Soelden prior to the World Cup opener in Soelden. Most of our USA boys went to Europe in October, trained for Soelden, stayed over there and trained in different venues. Then they headed north and started their prep camps for Levi, raced Levi and flew home. They probably got home for about a week and then went back to Colorado around the 24th, trained and raced Beaver Creek. Then headed back to Europe to hit some Europa Cup races and the World Cup in Val d’Isere and in Val Gardena/Alta Badia. If you are a 4 –event guy you have been charging the whole time, without that little break at home.
At any rate, the Scandinavians and the North Americans generally all get to the Movenpick in Hallbergmoos, GER. Just off the airport there. They checked in and then hit Il Mistero for a pizza or maybe even the Weihenstephen Brewery in Freising if they got in early enough. Sometimes it is just a meal at the hotel and off to bed. Either way it is usually a relaxing time with some friends you don’t always get to hang out with off the hill. And everyone is usually pretty fired up to get home for the holidays.
There are 2 races over Christmas break. The men race downhill in Bormio starting on the 27th and the girls have tech starts in Lienz on December 28 and 29. The American guys usually take a few days off, find some training somewhere and then head to Bormio and have their Christmas there at the Hotel Alu. Everyone tries to make it the best they can and it further bonds this group of people together.
As I have mentioned before, I love these two venues for many well-documented reasons.
Val Gardena Super-G
The blind rolls and air under the skis on those blind spots makes inspection and experience extremely important on this hill. The SG knocked out a bunch of good skiers because there were a lot of gates that were not visible from above. That is not an unusual phenomenon on this hill at all. It was surprising that Jerman and some others had troubles with some blind spots. Bode did a nice job planning for the area in which Jerman crashed and skied through that section very cleanly. And I think there are very few options except to play it that way. I guess you can take the risk and run it a little more direct but you have to be very sure of what you want to do. In addition to that you need to have a trusting relationship with the coach in that spot to give you the right information and for him to know your plan. And then you need to execute your plan. But as it was last season, the SG race was won and lost exiting Ciaslat and holding a high line there. Then able to carry that speed through the little zig-zag in the Nucia and then on the flattish and narrow schuss area. Svindal and Janka were the fastest in that speed trap and 1 and 3 in the bottom split. They got it done exit Ciaslat. Nice job by both of those guys and Patrick Staudacher on the podium. A solid day for Bode and Andrew Weibrecht. Robbie Dixon opened his weekend hot and it got hotter. Also very impressed with Benni Raich in the top 10 again. But this time on more of a downhiller’s track. Big surprises from Andrej Krizaj(SLO), Peter Zahrobsky (CZE) and Dominik Paris (ITA) getting in the points.
VAL GARDENA DH
Very entertaining and I have to say I called it. Manny Osborne-Paradis nailed it. I called him for the win because I thought he should have won it last year and just blew a spot or two and got himself in trouble. But it shows you what guys on that tour know. That Manny is a great glider and he is an under-rated skier. And most importantly he is a tough competitor. I would not doubt one bit if he makes the home crowd smile in Whistler come February. Watch out for him in Wengen, another famous course where he has been close. Mario Scheiber backed up a podium in SG with another podium. I am not surprised that Ambrosi Hoffmann hit the podium here. He is a true downhiller and a big guy. Robbie Dixon backed up his top 10 in SG with another one, a big weekend for him. Hans Olsson likely needs a psychologist to deal with race day. He should do better. I am very happy with Marco in 12th while I am sure he is not. But one step at a time and he will come around by Wengen. Nyman and Fish in the top 20 and then Mac in 23rd on yet another comeback.
ALTA BADIA GS
In watching the first run of the Alta Badia GS, I was struck immediately by the number of turns on the hill. The tempo was very quick and uncomfortable looking. The best GS skiers in the world were in a defensive mode. I immediately thought when I saw Blardone go first, “this one is in his wheelhouse.” Steep, injected, aggressive and cold snow with tight turn shape spells Max and Simo. You can bet on it. I was there once before for a finish like that a few years ago. It was a similar set up. 26 meters the whole way, speed slightly down. He has intensity every time out but especially in Alta Badia. So when I looked it up after the fact, Hoeflehner(AUT) set 54 turns and Sepp Brunner (SUI) went one better to 55. I do not know what drove them there but the hill ran 1:18 plus Which is about 3-5 seconds longer than most of the runs in the past 8 seasons. More turns on the hill with swing makes that hill tough, and even tougher to beat Blardone. In the past 8 races there, the rang of distance was 26 meters on the pitches and opened to 30 down on the flat. When I set there I did something in that range and most sets I have seen have done that. I am thinking these started at 25-26 and just stayed there.
Max and Simoncelli are all about ski direction. They get the skis pointed to where they want to go very early on the hill no matter what the cost. When you slide the entry like they do you can pay in speed. But when the hill is as steep and relentless as the Gran Risa, you can still win. As long as you bring the massive intensity. Watch him in the start, he looks insanely fired up. But if you get a course set around minimum turns it becomes a more arcable all the way down and then favors the Ligety, Svindal and Raichs of the world. I have to wonder why Hoefi went that way with his set. Was it to favor Hirscher? I think if he examines his team he is better off with a little more room and let the slalom guys who ski GS figure out how to do it. And Brunner likely just copied it and added tried to shorten distances here and there. He is a tough course setter to read. I have kept a “book “on setters over the years and he is the least likely to do the same thing. That can be positive in that no one can nail him down from a scouting point of view. But it is also negative in that his own athletes cannot assume anything going into a race. And I will tell you that I have done some camps with Sepp over the years and I don’t think he has much rhythm in his setting. It translates into no fun for the athletes.
Regardless, Blardone and Simoncelli got course sets they could deal with and brought their usual heat to the race and it worked out. Ted was off his game from the gate. Maybe feeling rushed the whole way. That’s what it looked like to me. And as Ted would likely say, he was “pussy-footing” his way down the hill. Benni blew the race in one turn on the first run below the second corner. Janka over-skied the whole thing on run 1. Likely intimidated a little by the set but also all the blind corners, etc. It takes some getting used to.
AMERICANS:
Ted was mediocre but it is cool to see him skiing rather poorly for him and still finish high in the ranking. 7th is not all bad.
Bode was as expected. Too much attack and not enough tactical adjustment. Hammering direct into corners simply does not work there. The corners are sharp and there are constantly changing fall-away turns and terrain all the way. Too much, way too hard, not enough give in the line.
Jitloff: I cannot believe I am actually addressing this run. He was .89 out at the second split with nothing but flats and rolls to go. He pulled a stupid J3 move and who knows what he actually did? It wasn’t like he even put his head down tucking into the finish. It was totally ridiculous. I do not know what else to say. Look ahead? What? I am at a loss.
Tommy Ford! Congratulations T Ford! Now go get yourself some more points at Adelboden. It’s an even better hill for you. GO beat that thing and qualify yourself for the Olympics.

CANADIANS:
Dixon was just as bad as Jitloff, really. Well maybe not that dumb. But seriously questionable tactics. The rest of them are in a world of hurt. No points in GS and I don’t see any coming unless Dixon skis smarter.
GERNERAL STATEMENTS:
Alta Badia is a tough one. It does not get any easier. Adelboden is just as tough although with different challenges. The only easy GS they have left is the Olympic GS in Whistler. But the pressure of the Olympics is challenge enough for most. There has been a lot of chatter about injuries and why there might be so many this year. I think the answer to that is simple. There are a lot of guys pushing harder to try to step up and make their team. There are only 4 skiers in each discipline at the Olympics. No matter where you are from. It makes for a lot of risk.
I do want to compliment Ondrej Bank (CZE) again for putting himself deep in the points. It has been a good comeback year for him. And to Jansrud for another top 10. To Alexander Ploner (ITA) who seemingly has been on and off the Italian team 6 times in 8 years, for his 6th place. Ploner is from St. Vigilo, the same as the Moelggs, just 20 minutes drive from the finish area of the Gran Risa. And last to Leif Haugen AGAIN! For beating down the door of an Olympic slot straight out of Denver University. Great job Leif, keep it up!
ALTA BADIA SLALOM
At -18 degrees Celsius, the injected surface tends to stiffen more than normal. It did not look overly slick but at first glance I would say some skis had an issue of grip. As in not enough grip, especially on the steeper top section. Ted looked like he lacked the grip to hold to the tempo set by Ante Kostelic (CRO), as did Mario Matt. Kostelic set his usual statement making course. Doing things that are unconventional for whatever reason. He constantly wants to make a statement with his sets. He claims it is to keep things interesting. I guess it does, but he thinks little tricks are going to throw the best guys in the world off their games. Like into hairpins and off-set delays. But this does nothing to these guys. It is just annoying. An into-hairpin is just the same as a single open turn, just with a double gate to hit. The off-set delays are nothing more than the delay turned up-side down. It doesn’t actually accomplish anything. But all of that said, the worst thing he set was the 4-gate flush over a major knoll. I just don’t get it. Why turn a race into a tactical game? It is not, it is a test of skills and should test all skiing skills, not just hinge a run on a decision of when and where to slow down.
All the World Cup course setters are chosen in the fall based on how many athletes a country has ranked in the top 30. It gives you more chances to be drawn the more athletes you have ranked. You cannot be assigned to set in your own country so all of your chances come out of the hat so to speak. But I do have to express my dismay over this situation. I think that if your athlete falls out of the WCSL ranking OR pulls from the race, you should lose your right to set. It gives the setter very little motivation to set something competitive and more motivation to “make statements.” There needs to be some kind of adjustment to the course setting assignments based on rank.
And by contrast, Dusan Grasic (CAN) set an excellent course. Testing different skills on the appropriate point on the hill as well as testing tactical adjustments with rhythm changes. He even some long, swinging turns in the middle over the knoll. And then had the guys charging to the finish and looking good on the hill. It made for an exciting second run.
Reini Herbst made his mark again. He is tough to beat in his specialty. Manny Pranger made his presence felt again. Next time you get a chance to watch Pranger in the start gate it is a treat, very entertaining. I hope they can catch him at inspection some time on the live feed when he is visualizing. Anyway, a great show on the second run by the best slalom skiers in the world. Manny Moelgg completed a great weekend just 20 minutes from his home in St. Vigilio. As well, a big congrats to some guys we have not seen in the points for a while: Akira Sasaki, Naoki Yuasa and Kentaro Minagawa, team Japan got it done with 3 in the points. The Russian Aleksandr Hiroshilov with a top 30 in a regular slalom! And to the Canadians, Mike Janyk and Brad Spence. Excellent job, boys.
And last, but certainly not least, to Jimmy Cochran. That’s a nice way to get on the plane home and celebrate Christmas. World Cup top 10 finishes are hard to come by and I am sure Jim is at home analyzing it to see how he could have gotten onto the podium. But those are the ones you have in the bank to build on.

Alta Badia GS, My Favorite!

So I have given you a run down on the Gardena and VDI races, and I am anticipating the DH at Gardena tomorrow. But I can’t wait for the Alta Badia GS. It is the best GS on tour (sorry Adelboden) although I might say Adelboden is the best when we get there. But Badia is unique, and I will tell you why.
First of all, you can ski from Gardena to Badia which is fantastic. You go up on a lift and ski down a pass to Corvara, then up a lift and down, etc., until you get to La Villa (Italian), Stern(German) and La Ila (Ladin) and you see a big yellow egg gondola going up. That is the hill. It is cool.
So here’s the story.
In 2002, I was in my first season with the USST and we were in St. Vigilio for a Europa Cup, about 20 minutes away from La Ila. We concluded our race and packed our stuff. We had decided on our starters in Alta Badia. Our NorAm winner in GS, Jesse Marshall, could decide to race if he wanted, on his earned quota spot. We convinced him to stay on the Europa Cup telling him to build more experience and work through the lower levels. So their plan was to go to Krompachy, Slovakia and the EC team was coming from Obereggen, near Bolzano. So in order to hook up with the EC group, the boys would all come to the World Cup hotel in La Ila and we were carrying radios to communicate easily, and wait for a pick up. As we drove up the valley, I saw to my left a large peak, sticking up almost on its own from the valley floor. Fully tree covered and in a pyramidal point, with a gondola going straight up the middle. Under the lift, a trail wound its way down, fenced in orange. I saw it and was shocked. For the first time I was there, the Gran Risa; beautiful and regal, in charge of the peak. As I drove by the hill on the way to the hotel , the radio crackled. It was Marshall. He said, “Can I change my mind? I want to race that hill, so bad.” Unfortunately, he could not change his decision, but it gives you an idea of the awe and motivation that the Gran Risa inspires, even from the road. I have never been anywhere for GS where It gives you that feeling, down below, just by looking at it.
I can go off on Badia for hours. The Hotel Dolomiti where the Pescolderunggs will do anything for you. Or to La Ila, to the beer and party tent in the finish area. They love having us here, they always have. But it is that way through the whole region. And they see themselves as Ladin. Not Italian, or Sudtiroler, or Austrian or even as a villager. They are Ladin, end of story and it is a wonderful place.
When you get off the top of the the Piz La Ila gondola, you can look straight back almost to the Val di Fassa. Little hills and valleys with lifts all the way back. When my son was 7, he and Shannon skied all the way back until they looked down on the Val di Fassa, then all the way back to La Ila. It took them all day. The granite peaks are breathtaking, to say the least. There is simply no place better. Then you slide off the plateau down to the start. Here you see the immaculately injected surface. Wall to wall and almost always perfect. It is 448 meters of exhilarating GS. The start is out to the left for 3 turns and a 90 degree to the right, then off a 50 degree pitch for 6 rhythm turns and bends about 70 degrees to the left onto a road, the 2 turns and 90 degrees to the right. Then about 6 turns on a moderate pitch to a 70 degree to the right for a delay and 1 turn and 70 degrees back to the left with about a 50 degree drop off. Then about 13 turns on a long pitch which eventually flattens as the trail bends to the left 30 degrees and flattens to the finish for about 15 turns. A brutal and exciting test the whole way. It’slike a road rally but on skis and down-hill, far more fun. There is absolutely nothing to match it in World Cup GS, except possibly Adelboden. When you get into the finish area, you look straight up and the podium is attached to a crane hanging above the finish and the bottom of the boxes says,” The platform at Alta Badia, hard to reach.” And add to that the air-show by the Italy Air Force as they rip through the tight alpine valley, it just closes the deal. It is great here.
For the real World Cup GS skier, your senses heighten here and it begins at the free ski. You are totally immersed now. There is no bull left in the schedule. It is all reality from here on out. Your morning excites you because you are Alta Badia, there is no better. You can describe it as you like but you know you have arrived at the big time.
Ted Ligety drew number 2 today and I have been waiting for him to win this one for a couple of years. I am going to call it again for him. It is the perfect hill for him. Blardone is historically strong here as is Simoncelli, Hirscher and Janka will be great here. As will Benni Raich. Watch also for Jansrud who is on a roll and I would think that Marc Berthod should re-introduce himself as a top-end competitor. Leif Haugen, who is now in the 30, should continue his assault on the rankings. Last, watch for Ondrej Bank(CZE) who’s first time in the second run was at Alta Badia. He might get in there again and has been skiing well.
CANADIANS:
Frank Bourque has a solid history on this hill but he hurt himself in Gardena in the SG and will not race. Other than that, I think the only chance they have at a second run here is Robbie Dixon. Sorry folks but with JP and Frank out, there is not much there. They might want to think of moving Dustin Cook up to the show in January after he has been dusting the field at NorAms in December.
AMERICANS:
Ted starts 2 and I will pick him to win. Love him on this hill. Jit starts 26 and needs to keep his head about him and ski within himself while pushing hard enough to get it done. I am not sure he has made it down this hill cleanly yet? Jake Zamansky starts 29 and he has a chance here. It is one of those hills where experience is extremely important and Jake broke through last year finishing 24th. Bode will do fine and move into the top 15 or so if he makes it down. And that frenzied pace we are so used to from him will not work in Alta Badia. I do not know when he is going to figure that out but it has to happen. It is just too steep and narrow to slam dead straight down the hill and make it clean. He might prove me wrong, he also might end up in the fence.
I am going to call out Tommy Ford. I know he probably feels awful about missing his start in Val d’Isere but it is time to grow up and pull it together. You are on the big tour Tommy, figure out your program and put away the childish stuff. It is time, you are good and you are talented. Get it together and focus on why you are there. This is no BS, it is win or not win. “DO or do not, there is no try” as Yoda once said.


My podium:
GS: Ligety, Janka, Svindal
SL: Lizeroux, Herbst, Hargin and I think Ted backs up the GS win with a top 5 and announces his return to world class slalom skiing.

Race Day tomorrow!

The boys and girls are deep in sleep tonight as I write this, awaiting race starts tomorrow. The women are on a Super Combi, and what amounts to another training run on the Downhill for most. And the men are onto Super G tomorrow, a dreaded break in the program of Downhill. This is an issue the athletes constantly bring up as inherently unfair and even unsafe in the scheduling. Breaking up the downhill training routine with a Super- G. One issue that is often described by many of the top speed guys is that is ruins the rhythm of the week. They would much rather be racing downhill tomorrow, or have the week start one day later so the downhill could still be on Saturday after 2 training runs and then have SG on Sunday after the main event, so to speak. The other thing they mention is that they are used to certain gate placements on blind knolls, etc. and it can get confusing. In fact, they often say that it is not the Super -G race that bothers them, it is switching back to downhill on the day after. Increasing the speed back up to 80 MPH or so and then being a little unsure about which direction to go when approaching a blind roll. And Groeden has an unbelievable number of jumps and blind bumps and rolls. I think we were told last year that there are 26 actual jumps on the way down the Saslong; that you actually leave the ground for a noticeable amount of time at 26 different spots on the hill. Add to that all the rough bumps and high speeds, tough light and shadows and you have a great spectacle of sport. Nothing is like it, anywhere in any sport. 80 miles per hour, jumping 26 different times? Going in and out of shadows and going as fast as you can handle. It sounds cool to me. It cannot be explained and TV dulls it down too much to really appreciate it. You need to look for all the little compressions and bumps and jerky little rollers all the way down this hill. Unlike Kitzbuhel and Beaver Creek, it is not at all visually intimidating. The Saslong is more of a puzzle…a piece by piece run that requires you to have a tactical plan and put that plan together with execution on race day. That is why I think you see very disjointed training run times and splits. With guys all over the map during training runs. They are playing sections to see how they can figure out entry to Ciaslat, or double the Camel, or where do you aim when you land the Spinel Jump near the top. How much direction do you need exiting the Ciaslat to make it work to the bottom.
So looking at splits, I see the guys with interesting splits. I will doubt someone who is slow all the way down and wins the last split, ending up 5th on the run, is going to win. It will be someone who is fast in sections and does not push through the finish. That is why I am not super high on the winners from today. While I like Cuche, Svindal and Heel in general, I just don’t think they are going to be that fast. I think they are great downhillers, but with Olsson winning all the way down and pulling 33rd at the bottom split, he becomes a podium favorite. But I do not think he will win. He is likely playing it cool, and I think he will have some nerves come Saturday. So I look for him to be in the mix, maybe 3rd. I think Walchhofer is tough to beat on this hill, a 3 peat never happens but I am thinking about calling for it, at least just to jinx him! And the rest? Watch out for Staudacher(ITA) who is at home and has been skiing well this season. Klaus Kroell (AUT)is a standard top performer here, as is Ambrosi Hoffmann (SUI). But watch out for Old Man Jaerbyn (SWE). He is just about 60 years old now and still out there fighting. Really, he just turned 40 in April and is still in the top 10 occasionally. He cannot always train effectively but he keeps going. Make sure you watch him on the Saslong. He loves this course and can be a factor here. But I am going out on a limb here by predicting another big North American day at possibly our favorite stop on tour. Bode, Marco, Nyman, Fish and Weibrecht will all be in the top 15. I think Mac will shake his funk and get in the 30. Our friend Worm Transue will get his first points and it will be a big party. Because Manny Osborne-Paradis is going to win this race. And if he does, watch out Wolkenstein, and everyone should just close their eyes and walk away, it will be ugly. I think Robbie will be in the points and Guay will challenge for a top 10 too. I just think it sets up great for all the North Americans. We might feel the ripples from the party all the way over here.
SG Podium: Heel, Cuche, Defago
DH Podium: Manny O-P, Bode, Walchhofer and Olsson will tie for 3rd! How’s that for a call!? If this one comes true on Saturday, someone has to give me some credit.
In Val d’Isere I am inclined to just wrap this one up for Lindsey Vonn in the DH. She was taking it easy out of the start and then cruised at the bottom, winning all the turning splits. That tells me she is confident and ready to go. No doubt, she wins another cow. Ingrid Jacquemod made herself felt today and she Tweeted that she was ready to go. I am a little worried about Maria Riesch at this race as her splits have been all over the place. And the training video I was sent on-line looks like she just isn’t skiing very well. Her pressure not well distributed and often miss-timing entries into blind turns. Maybe the Combined will give her the opportunity to figure things out. I am still hanging tough on my prediction for Julia to bust out and I do think that Leanne Smith will get it done. I am very high on Stacey Cook, as you all know. I think her skiing skills are remarkable and she just needs to figure out how to channel the talent into speed. But I think she has it with an excellent training run today, I am ready to say she will get herself into the top 10 again.
The Super Combi is tomorrow. It will provide another training run for the downhillers in the guise of a race. Maybe even forcing Stacey or Leanne to run some slalom to finish off the race and get their FIS point back-ups out of it. But there are only 2 real leaders in this discipline right now. Mrs. Vonn and Maria Riesch. They are the 2 best downhillers in the world and among the top 5 slalom skiers in the world. It’s tough to beat that combination. They need to give it away for someone else to win.
Combi Podium: Vonn, Riesch, Goergl
I honestly can’t see the Super G shaping up. So this is a total guess and maybe a little sentiment for her to win at home, so here it goes. Ingrid Jacquemod wins! Vonn second and Fabienne Suter will finish 3rd.
Have a great weekend everyone watching these races on classic hills. It should be excellent action and don’t turn off that TV until the last person goes…both places have a history of the light improving a little in the early afternoon. It could be the difference between scoring and not scoring, or 11th and 10th or 3rd and 4th…Keep a keen eye on that sunlight late in the runs. Right around number 50…

Val Gardena and Vald'Isere

THE SASLONG- VAL GARDENA
As we awoke on the west coast today to a blanket of new snow, the boys and girls of the World Cup Speed tours were finishing up training run 1 at their respective venues. In Val Gardena, Italy the men took their first try at the famed Pista Saslong. Situated deep in the middle of the Dolomites, high up a deep valley, Val Gardena goes by 3 names. 1 Itailan, 1 German and 1 Ladin. The finish area is below the overhanging road in the village of Wolkenstein or Selva Val Gardena as it is known in Italian. It is dark at the bottom this time of year and with a large jump (tunnel jump) there can be difficulty. This is one of my favorite places, in one of my favorite regions. From the great food, to nice hotels, beautiful peaks and wonderful people, this area of the Dolomites brings back wonderful memories of my time on the World Cup. The Downhill track is a classic with a long history of famous Downhillers as winners. Back that up with the tech events just over the pass in Alta Badia and it lines up as one of the best weeks on the tour. And with all the villages all lit up for Christmas, it is even more attractive than normal. I have to give a big thank you to Babs and the Hotel Alpino Plan for hosting us all of these years. It’s like being home for all the boys and the staff!
The Saslong starts right at the top of the Gondola that climbs up from deep in the valley. At the top, the Restaurant Ciampinoi sits where the athletes and coaches can walk up to the closed upstairs to enjoy a beautiful spread of local foods between warm-up and inspection and then again while awaiting the start. The view from up here is just amazing. You can see peaks in a 360 degree panorama. You can see skiing in all directions. The famed Sellaronda is at home here too. From here you can ski seemingly to anywhere from everywhere. You can ski to Pozza di Fassa, Alta Badia, Alpe di Siusi, even Cortina by using a system of lifts and slopes that range over the entire region. It would be a fantastic day of skiing and eating…and more. Anyway, back to the race hill.
Before we start on this, I want to say that the start seems to be awkward here. A number of athletes have caught edges and pole tips over the years. It is just slightly side-hill into the direction of travel and when the light is flat it is hard to see the snow. There is so much terrain on the way down the Saslong; in and out of shadows, over rolls and into compressions. The Saslong starts right off the top of the ski area and immediately drops down a pitch into the Spinel Jump and a roundhouse turn to the left. This turn is crucial because it is all of your speed -carry for a long, flattish, right-foot, side-hill traverse to the Moro jump which lands and adds a compression right away. There are an amazing number of compressions on the way down the Saslong. It’s like it is meant to be, downhill that is, a ski through the woods from the top of the ski area to the bottom, as fast as you possibly can. You need to stay on the ground here and work the terrain. This is where Erik Fisher made his splash last season. Starting late in the race, a first place split came over the radios, all the coaches standing with me lower down in the Ciaslat snapped to attention. Then you pass the Super-G start and the action starts. Off the Mauern jump and a little bit of swing down the Mauern pitch and charge directly into the Camel Jump. The Camel can be a very high-speed, long jump of up to 90 meters. Stop and think about that for a moment. If it does go out to 90 meters, that is one football field long from goal line to goal line, in shadows, going about 80 miles per hour. After the Camel, you pass the Jagerhaus Restaurant on skier’s right with its screaming fans who have hiked up and jumbo screen monitor. Just below there, you have a long turn to the right and then back to the left. When you turn back to the left, it is entry-Ciaslat. The famous left-right-left section of constant jumps and compressions as you turn. The rolls are the size of VW bugs and they just keep coming at you. Two on the left foot where you need to land in your apex, between the two rolls, then complete the turn before you take off of the second one, then land on your right foot and hit a smaller roll that just kicks you to the right a little bit, but relax and let it take you where you need to go because it will put you right on line for the 4 rolls in the left footer exiting Ciaslat. Stick with that foot and keep turning as you land. There is a double in there from 1 to 2 if you can time it right and come out on the highest line you can because the left- foot fall-away pulls you hard and you need to get back to the right foot to pull the next three turns and stay on line through the Nucia. You need to come out ahead in the Nucia as there is a little slapper jump there into the Schuss as you head toward the Tunnel Jump and the finish. The Nucia section does not get a lot of attention by TV coverage or a lot of respect from the athletes but a number of skiers lost podium chances here last season. The Tunnel Jump is built up and flies very nicely into the landing area and into the finish area, about 2 minutes after you left the start. The Saslong is a Downhiller’s downhill and a lot of fun. The boys love skiing this one and you should enjoy watching it. A lot of tucking, big air and a ton of terrain, fantastic!
Look for the big, classic DH guys to do well here. Walchhofer is a double winner here. Bode was second last year and Manny Osborne-Paradis was 3rd. Last year at Val Gardena was one of the most memorable for me on the World Cup. Bode was 2nd, Marco was 4th, Fish 7th, Nyman 9th, Lanning 10th, Mac 15th and Andrew 28th. We were ecstatic and I am sure the boys will feel a lot of momentum going in there again this season. Add to it with our buddies to the north finishing (Manny 3rd, Guay 5th, Robbie 13th, Johnny 22nd). 7 of the 10 guys on the podium at the flower ceremony that day in the finish area were North Americans. And we were all staying at the Hotel Alpino Plan. There was a lot of good feeling in the hotel that afternoon!
Predictions? I am going to hold off for a day before going there. I will add them in a comment or maybe do a short entry.

LA DAILLE- VAL D’ISERE
The Downhill at La Daille is also a Downhiller’s Downhill. Characterized by large sweeping turns, smooth take-offs and occasionally very high speeds. The top half of the race is in wide-open, above the tree line bowls and drainages. The athletes get up to high speed very quickly ff the starts and start to bend through the race track that is defined only by b-net and the gates at this altitude, high above the tree line. As the race enters the tree-line it starts to swing more back and forth but in very large sweeping turns. Then as you head down into the GS hill, the speed really picks up and so does the tempo of the course. When mistakes happen, it tends to be down in this area. Some quicker turns where it can be hard to keep up. Then a bend to the right into a side-hill schuss and very high speed. As the race hill bends to the left toward the finish, there is a little bump that pushes you out to the right and you need to fight a right-foot fall-away as you make your way back to the left and into the finish area. The girls will need to keep their focus here as things can come at you quickly and the push to the right is often underestimated. I saw Marco Sullivan put it in the fence here years ago as he was attempting to record his first ever top 10 World Cup finish.
Similarly to the guys’ race, I would look for the classic DH skiers to dominate in Val d’Isere. Some of the girls who maybe did not execute in Lake Louise could feel more comfortable here as the hill has a little more natural flow. I would look for the French girls to rise to the occasion at home. Ingrid Jacquemod, Marie Marchand-Arvier and Marion Rolland will lead the charge for them. Watch out for some charge out of some Austria too. I think this is a good hill for Maria Holaus and also for Lizz Goergl. For the Swiss I think Fabienne Suter and Nadia Styger are most likely to excel. The Italian girl Nadia Fanchini makes a return and she is very fast on this type of hill. If she can keep it out of the red room she could build into it by race day. And of course, Maria Riesch is a favorite every week and is built for this hill.
CANADIANS:
The Canadians have two really good gliders in Kelly Vanderbeek and Emily Brydon. Both could excel here. Britt Janyk is likely their best technical skier on the speed side and can do well anywhere. I would not be surprised at all to see Emily on the podium again and the other two in the top 15.
AMERICANS:
The entire squad could do well in Val d’Isere. With Mrs. Vonn already owning a cow for a win here in Val d’Isere a few years ago, she has to be the favorite. Chelsea Marshall and Leanne Smith ski well enough and are excellent gliders, they can get it done here. Stacey Cook scored her first World Cup point on European soil herein 2005 and needs to draw on that positive experience and get it done this week. She is capable of getting into the top 15 with good execution every week. She also did very well on the other side of the valley at World Championships last year, finishing 9th in the downhill. And watch out, Alice McKennis IS a real Downhiller, and this track is built for her. She just needs to go to school on the video this week during training to make an excellent plan and then go out and execute on race-day. Keely Kelleher is also there. Keely has excellent turning skills and can glide but she needs to learn this hill a bit too. And last, I am predicting a return to prominence for Julia Mancuso. Julia had a win and a 2nd place in 2006 on this same track and I think she will start to climb back to the top this week.
Downhill podium: Vonn, Rolland, Mancuso. Bet you didn’t see that coming…
I will include a little look at the SG and Combi in Val d’Isere along with the men’s Super-G prediction.
These are some big races coming up with good money on the line along with other cool prizes along with permanent recognition next to pioneers of the sport as the winner of a classic.

Val d'Isere and Aare, and Jackson Hole...

Obviously, I gave the jinx to Janka this week. I am like the cover of Sports Illustrated so far this year. Anyone I feel confident will win, does not. I am currently in Jackson, Wyoming at a regional FIS race. It is a different level of racing but it is a lot of fun. Being back in the States and working at this level is rejuvenating. The kids are all enthusiastic and putting in the highest effort on the hill, no one is used to being coddled by the system. They are stacked into condos or hotel rooms to reduce cost. They get out on the hill early and stay out until the end of the day in most cases. They carry clothes for each other and cheer each other on at the start. It is a true moment in sport. For the most part, they want to do as well as they can, and they want their friends to do well too. Some kids become mini-stars within their peer groups for big move-ups or huge results. It is a very happy thing to behold. Even when pressed with something that might be controversial like a brutally tight and tough course set, the course setter takes some heat but with a bit of kindness rolled into it. We have all been there; we have all set something that we thought would run better and caused a large percentage of DNFs. In this case it was Tyler Palmer. I think I had heard of him before. Like from the poster on my wall as a kid racing in Vermont. He was a World Cup winner. He won slalom in St. Moritz in January, 1971 along with one in Sestriere in December of 1971. He caught a ton of light-hearted crap from everyone all day as the kids struggled with his 1968-era set. He himself said, “I saw Killy run this exact course in 1968, and he crashed too!” Anyway, it has been a fun 3 days getting back to the roots here in Jackson and we have 1 more to go. Great to be here!
But on the serious side, what did we see this weekend? The Val d’Isere hill on the Face de Bellevarde is supremely difficult and relentless. And when you see course workers beating on the surface with rakes and shovels, it cannot be good news on that difficult of a hill. This week, it once again earned the nickname Val de Misere. When I watched the races this afternoon I was struck once again with the difficulty. The difficulty to set a good course where the athletes can ski their best, and the inability for them to execute a plan with any success. Even the guys on the podium could not have been happy with the performance. With regard to the outcome I am sure they picked up the check, but I doubt they were internally happy with their performance. It’s possible that they are only happy to be out of there and on to Val Gardena and Alta Badia. I was pretty much an Austrian party in France this week. Taking advantage of others’ greater mistakes, the Austrians won all 3 races. Raich, Walchhofer and Hirscher all came with wins. A win is a win but I think it is un-cool when wins happen by default or attrition. Big weekends nonetheless from Hirscher, Raich and Baumann. A great job from Ted in the Super-G just to hang in the race, let alone podium in Super-G. That should show everyone that you never give up in a ski race. Rumor has it that he has a new pair of slalom skis that are working very well and we should be expecting resurgence from Ted in his breakthrough discipline. It’s funny how the misfortune of one can help another, figure that one out on your own.
Some other quick observations on the week in Val d’Isere. The Swiss, after handing it to everyone all season were pretty well crushed in France. Cuche hurt his ribs in a free ski crash on the Super-G hill. He raced the SG but pulled out of the GS. Berthod was their only guy in the GS finish area after 2 runs. Jitloff got his first points of the season. Zamansky scored again. And to Leif Haugen, who scored in his 3rd consecutive GS on 3 VERY different hills, “Right on man! College skiers all over the USA are on the bandwagon.” If you think the Face does not favor GS guys in the SG and slalom guys in the GS look at the result. How many GS points has Lizeroux scored in GS in his career? How many wins has Marcel Hirscher in GS? How many World Cup wins does he have, period? Look it up! Hop and switch Blardone brings the heat every time on that hill. Markus Larsson in the top 10? In SG you have Ligety on the podium, Raich 5th, Scheiber, Svindal, Gorza, Miller, Cuche, Hirscher!, de Tessieres, Baumann…All capable if not absolute GS skiers. What else happened? Miller and Cuche did not start due to injury. Miller with a chronic ankle problem that is exacerbated by the tough, steep, bumpy hill. And Tommy Ford just missed his start. Too much time in the restaurant at the top and miss-timed it. It happens. Not often but it does. I would like to remind him that Ted slept through an entire race day in Korea and came out and won the next day. So Tommy should expect big things in Alta Badia!
I talked to Pete Korfiatis today and he said he had to set about 22-23 meters all the way down that GS hill. I have to say that is not GS. Sliding and hitting just makes the whole sport look bad on TV and makes the athletes feel bad about their experience. I love the challenging hills on the World Cup in all the disciplines, but after being on this hill a few times I think it feels forced. I don’t like it and I don’t think I ever will. Move back to La Daille!
THE LADIES IN AARE.
The French girls swept the wins in Aare and I have to say I am a bit surprised in one way, but not in another. I expected the Swedes to make more of a push at home in the dark in Northern Sweden in December. The very grippy snow and the dark usually favors them. But I am not surprised at the French right now. The girls were all at the NorAms I attended last month in Colorado and I was very impressed with their chemistry within the group. You can tell by just watching them in the lodge or at the start. Very happy, relaxed and calm. They all seemed genuinely happy to be there at a Continental Cup and to be there with each other. I am also a big fan of Tessa Worley. She is a fantastic GS skier and will get more wins as her career moves on. I have been touting her all year and she came through this week. Just like what she brings to the hill as a skier and in her attitude. Good focus on the hill, an easy demeanor and good skiing. Look for more from her. Tina Maze continues to impress and make it look pretty easy. Brignone backed up Aspen with another good result! Validating a result with another is something we all hope for. It was great to see Sarah Schleper finish 8th in a World Cup. But even more importantly she won the second run. That momentum cannot be replaced. Her confidence should be skyrocketing! Further congrats to Chemmy Alcott making a statement in 11th for the Great Britain program! Mark Tilston should be happy. And to Ingrid Jacquemod for continuing to score in GS! And to Jessica Lindell-Vikarby for scoring again in her return after being injured.
The slalom was won by Sandrine Aubert. The girl from Les 2 Alpes was about a month late on my call from Levi. So I gave up on calling her for the win and she wins…I guess that is just the way it is. The Riesch girls crushed it onto the podium. The first time for them together! And I need to make a comment about tall girls in slalom again. Aare is a relatively tame hill with cold, grippy, slow snow. So the bigger girls, if they ski mistake –free, can win or equal their best. Weight helps with the friction in the snow but also the ability to block the gate high off the snow creates less resistance. Zettel got 4th and she is small, but she is seriously a better technician than most girls. A big shout-out to Anna Goodman of Canada with her first top 10! After 2 wins in Loveland at the NorAms, that should really boost her confidence as we move on. And to Hailey Duke, back in the second run! Boise’s own can build on that!

Racing on the Face de Bellevarde, not nice.

Val d’Isere hosted this same race series last season on the Face de Bellevarde and again hosted on the Face in February for the World Alpine Ski Championships. There is one name that appeared at the top of the list in both GS races and the Super-G in the December races. The name is Janka, Carlo Janka. After the can he opened on everyone in Beaver Creek last week, I will go out on a limb to say he will continue to own the World Cup and open up his overall lead; which is already 105 points as of today. He could conceivably win all 3 races in Val d’Isere and add another 300 points onto his total.
Add to it that the hill on the Face de Bellevarde favors the type of skier Janka is. He can do it all. The SG there favors guys who can ski GS at the World Cup level. The top 4 at the World Cup SG last December was: Janka, Kucera, Ligety, Raich. All of them have very strong career GS resumes. And the World Championship SG was won by Cuche, with Ligety on his way to a podium finish before he took that power –slide all the way down the pitch. The GS on the Face allows the slalom/GS hybrid type guy to shine, or at least someone with solid slalom skills. The World Championship GS went like this: Janka, Raich, Ligety, Hirscher, Blardone. Everyone in that group is a skilled slalom skier except Max, who loves steep GS races to match his intensity and hop and slide style. The December GS saw Janka win and Blardone in second, Gauthier deTessieres(FRA) in 3rd with a charging 2nd run to move up to 3rd. Aksel was 4th and we know he has all the skills. And the Super Combi was Raich, Grange and Hirscher. The World Champs Super Combi went to Aksel with Julien Lizeroux second and Natko Zrncic-Dim(CRO). We saw “Nacho” display his skills again in Beaver Creek. He did the same thing in Wengen last year. But these were all DH combined races. I just don’t see him pulling it off on a GS-like Super-G like the Face de Bellevarde.
Your Super-G course setter is Hans Flatscher(SUI), the Combi Setters are Andy Evers(AUT) for SG and Reto Schlaeppi(SUI) for the slalom portion and Peter Korfiatis(USA) for GS run 1 and Christian Leitner(FIN) for the 2nd run of GS. They all have their own interests and all but Pete are very experienced World Cup course setters. They will be dictated to by the severity of the hill and difficulty of making minimum turns for GS and Super-G. Reto will have some freedom to move around the hill and set something in the normal ranges. The GS at 450 meters of vertical with no flat sections presents the most problems. First of all, I measured with my watch a couple of times while there in February and got 440 meters. Even that small difference in vertical gets you down to 48 turns from 50 turns which makes a huge difference when you are trying to squeeze in turns. That would allow you to spread each turn out 1 meter all the way down. Anyway, the FIS measured as they did and it is possible that my watch is off. So to get 50 turns, there needs to be a clear strategy and Peter will have a couple of days to plan it out. Pete has only had 1 other World Cup set. It was the GS in Sestriere which is a very fun hill to set on with no problem making the minimum turns. The only real way to get it stretched out to close to normal (and here I am talking 24-25 meters) is to try to meander around the hill as much as they will let you and eliminate the delays. Last year we saw sets as small as 19 meters in some places on this hill. It is relentless and steep. It has not one flat area to make up gate count. Look for very tight (18-20m) out of the start and gradually relaxing the distances as the set continues to the main pitch. And even there you need to keep your head because it is very steep and probably icy there too. It will be a lot of work to get the gate count up to minimum and have the race have any flow at all. It will be a chore. If Pete does a good job, look for Herr Leitner to match it or move it over. Christian has a ton of experience and might reset the whole thing. Also, Finland is missing the great Kalle Palander and Marcus Sandell has not expressed that he will race in Val d’Isere. So it is possible that Leitner will be without an athlete in the second run. There is certainly no guarantee that Jukka Leino will qualify. If that is the case, who knows what Leitner will do? The slalom portion of the SG Combi is not an exceptionally difficult task for the course setter. I set the slalom for the Super Combi at World Championships last year and made minimum turns with a few to spare. The hill is very wide and still steep but with a few big rolls. So there is a flat spot on which to traverse out from the start to the middle of the trail and then edge back to skier’s right, then back to the left a little. Hans Pieren, FIS Technical Race Director, will try to keep the setter to the right to stay out of the potential GS track. And to have the gates closer to the TV platforms. But you can do what you want in order to make a nice set and a good race, within reason. Reto should have some leeway. If you work the hill, there should be little problem making minimum turns. And I have said many times in the past; if the hill is difficult enough, don’t set anything tricky. Just let the hill and the athletes shine!
CANADIANS
The Canadians start L-P Helie, Ryan Semple, Robbie Dixon, Mike Janyk and Manny Osborne-Paradis in the Combi. It is pretty obvious that they start Robbie and Manny to get them an extra shot at the Super-G hill. Mike is almost strictly a slalom skier these days and will likely leave himself too much time to make up after the SG portion of the day in the Super Combi. I can get behind Louis-Pierre for some points but that is about it in the Combi race. The GS boys are all good enough to get it done on this hill. The loss of Johnny K definitely will be felt this week in all events.
AMERICANS
Starting just 3 boys in the Combi (Ligety, Miller and Weibrecht), it looks as though some tactical and budget oriented decision making went on this week. Obviously, Ligety has a chance to win the Combi with good success last year in Super G on this hill. Miller can win any race at any time. And Andrew has been on fire of late so it is clear to me why these guys are in the SC. Ligety, Miller and Weibrecht have the best developed GS skills of the group starting the SG so they are the ones who can score here in that discipline. And Ligety is the current GS World Championship Bronze Medalist on this hill.
Super Combi Podium:
Janka, Ligety, Raich. Some good dark-horses: Hirscher, Zurbriggen, Kostelic, Viletta(SUI)
As we look toward the SG, I still think Janka should win. Watch for Cuche to pull it together and challenge. But I still think the GS guys will do well in this Super-G. Any time Ted and Benni have been presented with a Super-G like this, they have done well or at least been in the hunt. Ted was 3rd in December last season and was in the game for a podium when he crashed. He was also in there in the SG in Lenzerheide which is similar. Benni has been in the top 5 in this Super-G and had a great finish in Lake Louise.
I think we could see Janka, Cuche, Raich for the Super-G podium.
And the GS? Janka again, followed by Blardone and Ligety. I think Aksel could be in the conversation but if his leg is still at all bothersome, this hill will bring that out. And the GS is the third race in 3 days. Sorry Bode fans, I just cannot reconcile my image of Bode’s movement patterns and attitude with this hill. I watched him live twice in GS last year on the hill and he will find it hard to get past the first interval timer without a major mistake.
I think it is entirely possible for Janka to sweep these 3 races for 6 wins in a row. The biggest foe for him is probably the Face de Bellevarde itself. It is a relentless, steep, icy face that requires the course setters to keep the boys turning the whole way. One bobble and it can be over. But he is the most likely to win in each situation.
Before you go, please read this. I have stood on the Face de Bellevarde and watched the best in the world look humbled, angered and even confused. The hill is simply difficult to the point of being unfair. The GS has to be set 4-8 meters shorter distance per gate than the most difficult World Cup GS races in order to fit in the minimum number of turns on the hill. Add to that what they did to the hill with the incredibly slick ice, and the recipe is for awful skiing. To put a product on TV that simply looks like it is, difficult. It is so far out of the ordinary that ski manufacturers all made new (slightly shorter) models to try to grab the advantage at World Championships. In my humble opinion, I would much rather see these races take place at the old venue in La Daille.
Good luck to all!

Lindsey and The Lake

Even with an awful weekend in Aspen, Lindsey Vonn still leads the overall World Cup standings. And the rest of the girls should feel relieved they are still so close. Maria Riesch is not far behind but Zettel is already 169 points out. She is in the lead because she is by far the best Downhiller in the world and is also the best Super-g skier; even if she handed the race to Lizz Goergl in Lake Louise. Lindsey had that race won and mysteriously lost over .5 seconds on the bottom flat. And they are on the same ski brand.
Looking back at the DH races at the Lake, Lindsey was obviously the heavy favorite. She won by large margins of victory in the past and it just kept coming. The 2 wins in Lake Louise make it 8 for her just at this venue. The combination of sweeping turns, cold snow and long glide sections make it the perfect hill for her. She consistently executes the fall-away section as well or better than anyone, every time. And then keeps her head about her in the very fast Gunbarrel and even more importantly, exiting Gunbarrel. There is a camera switch there so it is difficult to see on TV sometimes. But the trail bends to the left at almost 90 degrees at that point and there is usually a little against the grain turn there and if the girls fall asleep, thinking it’s over, then they can chisel that one and begin dumping speed the rest of the way. I believe this is what happened when Lindsey lost the Super-G. She had a large lead with good speed and no mistakes coming into Gunbarrel. But there is a little bounce in her right leg in that corner, and with the very cold snow temps and sharp crystals, the friction can slow you down quickly.
As I mentioned earlier in the week, Downhill 1 was a big day for the North American contingent. The girls stacked themselves in the points. And many of them expressed sentiment that they were very happy to have another crack at it on the following day. And some of them certainly took advantage. Brydon backed it up with another podium, Britt Janyk locked down another top 10, Alice McKennis followed up her first-ever points with her first top 10. Cookie moved up to 11th, solidifying herself in the top 30 on the WCSL. Julia was 12th, and don’t get me wrong, I think Julia is still a great ski racer, but she needs these small victories to build her confidence as the calendar steams on toward Whistler. Kelly Vanderbeek was 13th and Larisa Yurkiw finished 16th for the Canadians. Leanne Smith was 23rd and Chelsea Marshall was 25th. The American girls scored 186 World Cup points on this day. That is a huge number and has to help morale as the girls bounce back from the Aspen troubles and head to Europe.
The Super-G was an interesting race. Fishnet showed how difficult it can run. If you were not sound technically there, you killed speed or just did not make it. It looked as though the FIS injected that section to save it from falling apart. No one likes that change in snow, but it happens a lot and the teams know it in advance and the girls all see it at inspection. Nonetheless, it increased the degree of difficulty. Congrats to Larisa Yukiw again for scoring in SG and to Shona Rubens. It was a nice, solid and professional run out of Britt Janyk. This week is the best she skied in years. She was in the front of the boots, driving the skis and looked physically strong in every turn. Aside from a sloppy jump at the bottom, so was Kelly Vanderbeek. My only problem with watching her is that I keep waiting for her edge to grab and slap her to the ground. She just constantly looks like she lacks control over the front of her skis. And my last mention is to Keely Kelleher. 20th place in the Super-G for her personal best World Cup finish! Congratulations Keels and build some momentum!

General comments and observations on the women’s races.
There was far too much hanging on to the turn from the entire field. Finish the turn earlier and get on to the new one, all of you! The more you hang on, the later you switch. The later you switch, the harsher the pressure. The harsher the pressure, the more you slide or grind. And, when you switch too late, you lose snow contact and we all know that is slow.
What terrain are you looking at? Almost everyone was getting bounced around like crazy, especially in the SG. Everyone needs to inspect terrain better and look for it when you are approaching it. And I am not talking about jumps and big breaks. I am talking about small rolls, ripples and bumps. These are the ones that knock you out of your tuck or just bounce your skis around.
I am amazed that the FIS allows 2 DH races at the same venue at the World Cup level. I understand it after a cancellation has happened but to do it at the opener just puts the entire field behind because you know that Lindsey Vonn is going to win if she executes. If I were a nation with a big voice like Switzerland or Austria, I would be screaming about this schedule.
Last, I want to give a big hand to Sarah Schleper. She had a tough go at Aspen, basically holding on and skiing tentatively. She blamed only herself. She went to Loveland to the NorAm on the injection and skied inconsistently on day 1 but acknowledged that she needed to get pressure on the ski higher in the turn and get off sooner. She did that on the second slalom day and got herself a podium and a nice 6.80 result losing by just .08. Good luck in Are!

Beaver Creek Review or Carlo Janka is really good.

I am a working ski coach; I also offer my services to ski teams and clubs to help train their staff. I will work with anyone who is interested to help bring their staff up to speed and all working together. So when I write this blog for entertainment purposes and to call attention to my business, it can be time consuming. After skiing with my group all day today at Mission Ridge, I sat down to catch the replay on Universal Sports. The past weekend told us a lot of what we already knew, but also gave us some fun surprises.
BIRDS OF PREY DH BEAVER CREEK
First of all, I want to gloat. Look it over, I don’t have the time but I called a lot of the podiums and the back to front moves. I also told you that Bode would start his ascent up the DH rankings. He was 4th, I think that qualifies. In watching the race I did not see much surprising and the Americans did well if not spectacular. I have to say, I was a little concerned with Nyman’s performance. I thought he would do better, because I thought he would execute more cleanly. I am more concerned, however, with Mac and his mental state. I am a huge fan but I think he occasionally fights demons and he needs to overcome them. You can see it right away when he skis; he goes from athletic to static and stiff.
Janka…I saw it coming and I see it coming like a storm. A strong, steady, consistent storm. He will be here for a long time and there will be difficulty dealing with him.
SUPER COMBI
Barely worth comment, Janka wins…Without Albrecht and Berthod, their 2 best combi guys…the Swiss are still the best at this discipline. Are we or anyone else going to embrace this discipline? Or are the Swiss just better all-around skiers? Are they training specifically for the Super-Combi? Are they selecting 4 event skiers to begin with? Or are they actually making more time in the preparation period to train 4 events. Not necessarily using more days on snow, but spreading their available days among 4 events more effectively and understanding that GS and Slalom training helps a skier in speed events , AND vice-versa.
GIANT SLALOM
The things we knew that came true:
Carlo Janka is going to be tough all season long. Ted Ligety gets 4th place more than anyone in GS, especially at Beaver Creek. He is well acquainted with the “wooden spoon.” Both guys ski GS extremely well and understand inspection and line. They both use the correct movement patterns which allow them great consistency and versatility. They love clean turns and their “feel.” And they never panic or push too hard or risk too much. They have great confidence in their abilities and ski within themselves. They will both challenge in Whistler.
Max Blardone and Davide Simoncelli had to risk too much to keep up on that kind of hill and it made them pay by the end of the day. This does not bode well for them in Whistler.
Kjietl Jansrud is a strong guy and a strong GS skier. He is also big, so hills like this favor him. Watch him through the season and see where he ends up going into Whistler. Watch him carefully on easier hills.
The Downhillers showed their stuff in Beaver Creek and it was obvious that they had an advantage. There is very little chance that Jeffrey Frisch(CAN) would qualify on any other hill in the World Cup. I would expect to be put in his place in Alta Badia if they choose to start him there. The same goes for Adrian Theaux. This also made Hirscher(AUT) finish back in the points. He simply does not have a light enough touch to be versatile on the longer turns, flatter hill and grippier snow.
Things we learned:
Benni Raich still has not corrected his seemingly over-canted, bouncing left foot. It cannot feel good and I can only guess that he does not want to mess with his set-up from week to week and will just deal with it as it is. It has been going on in varying degrees for 8 years.
JB Grange(FRA) hurt himself and it does not look good. The knee injury that happens without a crash is a fairly common injury. He looked fine the whole way, he did bounce once or twice and his knee did “jiggle” a few times. I watched in very slowly and it was tough to tell where it happened. But he definitely reached for his knee and did not take his second run. Hopefully he just bruised it on a gate or on his other boot or something like that. Look for news on this soon.
Ondrej Bank(CZE) is a good skier. And looking at his splits, the Elan ski ran on the flat pretty well at the Beav. It has not always been the case and was often a source of criticism of their GS skis in the past.
Leif Haugen(NOR) has now qualified in 2 consecutive GS races on 2 very different hills. I think his style will actually be better in Alta Badia and Adelboden. I would look at him as a Norwegian Olympic starter come February. And this is straight out of Denver University!
AMERICAN TROUBLE
What happened on the first run to the USA boys in the corner by the second tree-island? I stood there for every Beaver Creek GS held since the race moved away from Park City and it is a very important section. On the first run it is not a place worth risking. It can only hurt you as one little bobble severely hurts your “carry” of speed across the Screech Owl road. Bode made a bobble here and as he always does, he starting risking more after a mistake until he went out again, for good. This is a pattern in Beaver Creek that is disturbing. Jitloff did the same thing. Too much risk for that turn, it does not make any sense. Tommy Ford I can excuse on this one because I am sure he was too amped up. But at the same time, it is the coach’s job in that corner to make CLEAR what is to be done and executed and get buy-in from his guys. And recognize that T Ford is going to be a little amped up and try to cut some corners. Tommy Ford, Tim Jitloff and obviously Bode have the speed, they do not have to take extra risk. Jake Zamansky stayed within himself and he got a second run. Tommy Ford is faster than Jake Zamansky, of this I am sure.


THE SECOND RUN
That was a very exciting race. A lot of very good skiers going at it hard to make a move to the top. The top 4: Janka, Svindal, Raich and Ligety, were all expected to be in the hunt. I was a little surprised by Cuche but in all honesty, he looked like he lacked energy to me. He lacked his normal snap in his transition. He just looked tired. But at 35 years old and having been at high altitude on a very demanding hill for a week, I do not think it is anything to worry about. He has the right skill set for the Whistler GS.
Jansrud executed a lot of clean turns. Almost as many as Janka and Ted. Ted lost the podium on Red Tail jump, getting a little inside there, getting low and losing speed across the flat to the finish. This flat to the finish line is longer than is looks on TV. And with the very cold snow, any mistake on Red Tail can cost a lot of time.
And last, the Fanara crash was huge! Almost as big as Rahlves’ crash in Adelboden. But this was all pilot error. He came in too direct and was sliding his initiation rather than arcing it. He did not point deep enough with his ski tips into the apex and slammed his shoulder and neck into the panel, this yanked him around to the point where his inside ski hooked up in the snow and high-sided him into the B net. That being said, if you watch this crash carefully, a lot of things went right after the panel contact. First of all, the panel came off. Second, the B net stopped him. Third, the bags were there waiting for him if he did go through the second layer of B Net. A nice job by all involved.
A women’s look back at the weekend in Lake Louise will come tomorrow. See you all then!

Beaver Creek GS Preview

The season is just getting started and already we have a new star on the scene, not that he should have been ignoring his presence. He is the reigning GS World Champion. He has won at every level on which he has raced. His name is Carlo Janka(SUI) and I doubt we can keep him off the podium tomorrow either. GS is his bread and butter, always has been.
The Beaver Creek GS has a few characteristics that need to be covered. It is run on the bottom of the Downhill so it is not injected with water. It is not super-slick. Instead it is grippy, or aggressive as the athletes like to call it. It is very grabby with their extremely sharp skis but hard enough that the skis need to be like razors. The very cold weather they have had recently guarantees the snow will remain hard and grippy and very cold through the race tomorrow.
The hill starts at the top of Russi’s Ride and runs to skier’s right of the first tree-island and traverses across to the skier’s left of the second island. This section can be a bit choppy because the hill has been groomed vertically earlier in the week and there are only 2 DH turns here when there are about 16 GS turns. Through the transition of the 2 DH turns there has been very little pressure on the snow and the groom lines still exist. Add to it that it is a fall-away right foot section and it becomes obvious why it breaks away on the right foot in the GS. Always happens, probably always will in Beaver Creek. Then the track bends around the second island and off Screech Owl. You need to carry your speed across the flat to Golden Eagle by making an excellent turn on the back-side of tree-island 2. You’ve done that, gotten a little light on the jump and tuck turns to Golden Eagle and off you go. Things will start to turn more as you approach Golden Eagle and you head off the pitch for 4 very steep turns down into the Abyss which ordinarily has a hard compression at the bottom with a tough right foot delay in the middle of the fall-away. You nail that cleanly and set up the last pitches and find the fall-line, staying ahead of the rhythm until the finish below Red Tail Jump. There is one more, tricky spot there as you come off the little Red Tail Pitch. It is not difficult but you are tired and if the course set turns a little more or a little deep on the flat, one chiseled turn can dump precious hundredths, or even tenths.
The two course setters are Mateo Guadanini(ITA) and Mauro Pini(SUI). Mateo has been around the World Cup as the Italy GS Coach since the 2005-06 season and has set at least 3 GS runs per year since then but has never set in Beaver Creek. Winners of runs set by Mateo include Bode Miller, Ted Ligety and Max Blardone. Joel Chenal has won twice when Mateo has set and both times in Adelboden, which really does not have much to do with Beaver Creek. Mateo’s tendency is to open races setting 26 meters and opens gradually to 30, even on the steeper, more traditional trails like Adelboden and Kranjska Gora. This is Mauro’s first set on the men’s World Cup.
Beaver Creek is easy to set on because it rolls a lot and is not that steep. It also traverses near the top, giving the setter more room to set gates without taking up any vertical meters. So a course setter can set virtually whatever he wants and still make the minimum number. He can set a lot of delays (we have seen as many as 5) and he can open it up a lot. It is not unusual to see 34 meter turns on the flatter areas. The course setter can play around a lot. He can make it easier on the back of rolls and can play with the terrain. The compression coming off the narrow and dark Golden Eagle pitch can cause some trouble if the setter loses focus or decides to be an SOB. Over the last few years, we have seen the setters open with 26 meters on the start pitch, mostly because they want a clue of gate-count before they open it up. But that is not necessary here. If you wanted to open at 30 and go at 30-32 meters the whole way, you could still make minimum.
There is one more characteristic about the Beaver Creek GS. It is on a Downhill track. This gives advantage to guys who have been on the track all week. It always has, on any GS run on the bottom of Downhills. That is one of the reasons we started running Ted and Dane Spencer and Erik Schlopy in Downhill training or in the Super-G in past seasons. We did it mostly to get them used to the snow and visual changes in the hill. This seriously helps and it happens in Bormio every time, and Sestriere last spring as well. AND it will happen again in Whistler! It is a very similar track, on the bottom of the DH. Add the large turn size and watch out for the DH boys, and Ligety who is one of the best tight-set Super-G skiers in the world. Cuche, Svindal, Ligety, Janka, Raich and Miller all ran the DH and/or Combi. Look for all of them near the top of the result sheet in GS.
Other athletes to watch:
Romed Baumann(AUT): He ran the Super Combi and he makes nice, clean, large turns. Very simple in his approach to skiing. He is disciplined.
Kjietl Jansrud(NOR): A big, strong kid born in 1985. He skis all disciplines and can challenge for a high finish here.
Max Blardone(ITA): Max has done very well here in the past but has to ski with a lot of intensity which is one of his trademarks. Not only does he need to do that but he also needs to be almost mistake-free. His margin for error is smaller because he has not been on the hill and because he is a lot smaller than most of the other contenders.
Davide Simoncelli(ITA):Very similar to Max in that he needs to ski with intensity and be clean at the same time.
Marcel Hirscher(ITA): He won the NorAm GS races in Aspen last week but that was a much different story. Those races were on a steeper hill with shorter gate distances and injected snow. All that being said, he is a tremendous talent. Marcel was born in 1989.
CANADIANS:
JP Roy had the best opener in Soelden for the Canadian boys. He can definitely do damage on this hill and could pop another top 10. The other one who should be able to mark his comeback is Francois Bourque. He needs this race to boost his confidence. The distances on the hill will allow him to carve more effectively. Robbie Dixon starts 34 and can definitely do well on this hill. He meets all the criteria.

MORE AMERICANS:
Tommy Ford: Tommy is a 1989 year of birth athlete out of Bend, Oregon. He has displayed excellent GS skills on all surfaces and all types of hills over the last 2 seasons. He has moved up quickly through the ranks and is ready for his big breakthrough. He will score GS World Cup points in this race.
Tim Jitloff: Jit had a great season last year and his best finish was 5th in Sestriere. That hill has very similar characteristics to Beaver Creek so look for him to make something happen.
Jake Zamansky: Jake got it done here last year and needs to do it again to be able to board the plane to Europe with confidence and head into Alta Badia knowing he can do it again.
Andrew Weibrecht: Horse has been on a roll of late and with an 11th today don’t count anything out. It is a tough task to break-in from his late number but he has been skiing well and confidence goes a long way.
The Beaver Creek GS is often a very fun one to watch because the boys go hard from start to finish and they tend to risk pretty hard, even on run 1. The margin is often small between 1st and 5th and also tight to get in the top 30. Look for the boys coming around the 1st tree-island, where they tend to run the line out a little and try to pull it back in the traverse. Sometimes that low line just pulls them too much, causing some big crashes. If they go a little too straight off of Screech Owl; they can kill all their speed for the flat. And a too-late line around the second island can cause a similar outcome on the flat because they do not have enough hill to get their speed back at that point. Too straight off Golden Eagle also causes trouble for that pitch, often sending the boys off-course. From there down it is hammer time.
The all-important podium prediction: Janka, Ligety, Cuche.

Have fun watching the boys get after it. Then they pack up and head for Val d’Isere! It is hard work to get from Colorado to Val d’Isere. Get back to the hotel, pack up the cars and vans, drive to Denver, wait to check-in with all the other teams, get to the hotel late, stuff down a late dinner, get to bed. Then it’s up early and on the plane through wherever. Could be Toronto, Chicago, Atlanta, DC, Frankfurt, depending on your airline. Then the US boys will land in either Zurich or Munich and make the long drive to Val d’Isere. Last year I drove from Munich to Val d’Isere after this race in a blinding snow storm with a portion of the Autobahn closed. I had to hit the back roads just after Geneva for about 60 kilometers. All the way up the mountain road to Val d’Isere. Arriving there around 11 PM, 10 hours after I left Munich.
And last, congrats to the North American ladies in Lake Louise. Lindsey for her continued dominance of that hill, Emily Brydon in 3rd, Britt Janyk in 8th, Alice McKennis for her first top 10, Stacey in 11th, Julia 12th, Vanderbeek in 13th, Larisa Yurkiw in 16th!, Leanne in 23rd and Chlesea in 25th. That is a big day, girls and a lot of points for both teams! Enjoy.