Friday, October 30, 2009

The Life...It's not all Wengen and Kitzbuhel.


Wow, 5 days since the last blog. I am addicted.
First, I want to thank PSIA-NW and specifically Kirsten Huotte for the opportunity to speak to your group. It is a passionate and knowledgeable group. Thanks for the hospitality and great venues. Also thanks to Gonzaga University, Mt. Hood Community College and Seattle Pacific University for allowing PSIA-NW to host at your campuses and in such well-equipped facilities.
But really, what am I writing about today? It is Friday, I feel like I need to get something up before the weekend. What to write? I got an email from Ted Ligety the other day briefly outlining the schedule for the Men's World Cup Tech group and then a more detailed one from WC Tech Coach, Peter Korfiatis. It got me thinking. We got to go to all of these beautiful places when I was with the team and all of my neighbors at home are always amazed by the "glamour" of the job. Mammoth, New Zealand, Portillo, La Parva, Vail/Beaver Creek, Wengen, Kitzbuhel, Schladming, St. Anton, Alta Badia...you get the idea. All the big resorts, all the time. Well, I will give you a brief look into the other side.

The WC Tech group was in Europe from October 15th. Saas-Fee for training, then drive to Soelden, race on the 25th, pack up and drive to Haus, Austria (about 3 hours). Train 2 days there, pack up again and drive to Patsch (about 10 minutes outside Innsbruck). Some conditioning work, some recovery work, press conferences and some socializing for 3 days. Most people don't know but Innsbruck is a great city with a lot to do. And excellent Thai food! 2 restaurants, owned by the same people. Thai-Li and Thai-Li Ba. Thai-Li is a tiny restaurant in the Alt Stadt and Ba is a large open glass room in the Galleria. About 2 blocks outside the Alt Stadt. Anyway, great food and good relaxation.
Then pack up again and hit the road to NE Germany. Wittenburg indoor ski dome (they will host a Europa Cup SL in November). This is about a 9 hour drive through flat, grey and often foggy Germany, fun. Train 3 days of SL there, which can be trying...very flat and somewhat boring after a while. Then hop a plane up to Taernaby, Sweden and train for 4 days in the dark, northern Sweden wilderness. Then drive to Levi and the heart of Lapland. The self-described "North Pole." No fun task as the roads are all snow covered and ice rutted, it is always dark, reindeer and moose all around and almost constantly dark this time of year. It can be a stressful, long drive. Then arrive in Levi, free ski on the race hill and let it rip on the "Levi Black" piste.
Pack up and fly home. Which means a flight out of Kittala, to Helsinki, Munich, Atlanta (Delta hub) and finally to Seattle for Peter. Pete will finally see his bride of 5 months after a month on the road in Europe;totally spent and jet lagged upon getting home. He will enjoy this time like none other but not for long. Soon it will be off to Colorado for a little tune up and Beaver Creek World Cup and back to Europe!

Sounds fun, doesn't it? And I can tell you from long experience, this is all done out of love of the sport, a sense of loyalty to the athletes and a strong patriotic feeling. There is not much money in it for a US Ski Team coach. The American ski coach in Europe can be a celebrity,if the boys perform. But an exhausted one.

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Soelden Men: "The Good,The Bad and The Ugly."


Since I started this thread with the girls on Saturday night, I will follow it up with the same format for the guys.
First a little summary. From what I saw, I liked the course setting at Soelden. Speed control for the men was pretty good except the usual trap of letting them go a little too soon coming off the pitch. There is always a temptation to straighten out the set thinking you are off the pitch when setting. And, with the long flat stretch to the finish you want the athletes to have speed to carry through the very flat finish line. The big mistake is that the course setter often lets the set go and does not keep it straight enough or does not give enough room. And, as usual, the hill at Soelden showed her teeth causing a lot of mistakes throughout the field. Even the best had problems. The second run was characterized by dark, flat light, bumpy terrain after almost 200 attempts on the hill and some broken through turns with some bally snow. Now on to the GBU.

The Good:
Great job by Cuche, Ligety and Janka. Proving that they are prepared to make an assault on the GS globe and GS gold in Vancouver. And that they can tough it out in not great conditions to have strong runs.
Ligety's success validates training this summer with less time on snow. It also gives him confidence in his knee and rehabilitation program.
JP ROY! Great job following through on first run success and getting into the top 10.
Robbie Dixon: Great job from that start number and maybe a stepping stone to more?
Both JP and Robbie's success today validate the Canadian preparation period.
Leif Kristian Haugen (NOR): Fantastic performance coming out of Denver University and the NorAm circuit. Awesome!
Kjietl Jansrud (NOR); Once again the winner of run 2 in Soelden. I am sure there is more to come.
Ondrej Bank (CZE): Welcome back to the 2nd run after missing almost 2 whole years with a severe knee injury. VERY IMPRESSIVE!
Tommy Ford (USA): The 20 year old from Bend, Oregon in his first World Cup getting to 32 falling just short of qualification. Qualifying in Soelden from over bib 50 is statistically the toughest in the world. Good job, and make that leap in Beaver Creek!
Switzerland: 1st, 3rd and when you can qualify Zurbriggen in GS, you are doing well.
In general I thought it was a pretty strong showing for the field. With a month to prepare for the next GS in Beaver Creek, the competition will be much deeper.


THE BAD:
Like the ladies yesterday, 3.25 margin of qualification is way too high. Soelden averages 2.56 over the last 8 years.
Not qualifying:Christoph Gruber (AUT), Markus Larsson (SWE), Tim Jitloff (USA). You guys should qualify every time. Even with mistakes, one pole, whatever.
Austria: 5th, 13, 14,18, 25, 27. The long-term decline of their GS skiing is starting to show. Long-time quality GS guys looked horrible.
Thomas Fanara (FRA): You are known for attack, you did not.
Stefan Goergl: See Austria above.

THE UGLY:
Almost the entire field for not picking up the point at which you could let things go coming off the pitch. Almost every guy in the race did not control the ski and keep elevation long enough coming onto the flat. Go download the splits and you will be amazed by the amount of time being given away on the bottom.

To every guy in the field who blew the little turn just above the finish. 6 turns above to be exact. It is there every year. Sometimes a delay, sometimes not but there is always a little ripple cross-rut there from the traverse from the ice box after they start building the finish area and a lot of you chiseled away time there. Pay attention.

Manny Moelgg (ITA): How could you do that after Manu did the same thing the day before? The St. Vigilio/Kronplatz fans are not happy this weekend!

Aksel Lund Svindal (NOR): I am speculating here and no one has reported anything yet. But watch the video. Aksel goes inside and down with his hip skiing right to left and then goes to switch to his left foot and skis out. He immediately lifts his left leg off the snow and does not put it down. Then on stopping, he reaches for his left knee. I am not saying I know anything but that is a classic move to rupture something in your knee. Not always ACL but meniscus, etc. Again, I do not know but watch the tape. Aksel knows if something is wrong. And that would be ugly if what I thought I saw actually happened. I sure hope not!

So that wraps it up for Soelden! We saw a lot, and it will all change by the time they get to Aspen and Beaver Creek. Next is Men and Women SL in Levi, Finland. I will start blogging on that one as soon as it makes sense.
Alpine Race Consulting just finished 2 speaking engagements this weekend for PSIA-NW. Thanks for your hospitality and reception. It was a lot of fun. See you all on the hill this winter!

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Soelden: Men's draw, A Look at the Women's Race

First, let's look at the men's draw for tomorrow. It will make a difference too. With the temps the girls had (high of +13c in the finish)this afternoon, they beat it up pretty badly. And with similar if not warmer temps forecast for tomorrow, that number means something. Great draws for Cuche, Raich and Ligety. For me, 3 is always the best place. With a long start interval for the first 7 there is plenty of time to get Ted some info if necessary. And he is early enough to get a good track. Bad for Grange and Janka. The hill could break by 6 or 7 and really put pressure on them. Hirscher and Baumann drew early in the next 7 and Kostelic and Schoerghofer drew late. Not sure it matters much in the 8-15 group UNLESS it suddenly breaks somewhere in there. Great news for JP Roy, Tim Jitoff and Frank Bourque who run 24,25 and 28 respectively. And even better news for Jake Zamansky starting 30. Had he not moved up into the 30, he would have had to fight out of the mid 40s. I think Kucera in 31 will be a big mover. Robbie Dixon is a tough kid and will have a good chance from 36. And Warner Nickerson and Tommy Ford are starting much earlier than expected in 47 and 52. They just need to be tough as nails and stuff it down the hill. Just hope it doesn't go to hell too soon! Let's go boys!

NOW THE GOOD STUFF! THE GIRLS' RACE...I was going to go on a tirade about the poor skiing and how the hill dominated the race. How the girls were not prepared in any way to compete on that hill as it was. BUT, I will back off that comment and soften it a little with a little Clint Eastwood. " The Good, The Bad and The Ugly."

THE GOOD: Sarah Schleper qualified and then finished 23rd. Good for her and I hope it springboards her to more good stuff.
Tanja Poutiainen, Kathrin Zettel and Denise Karbon. I am sure it felt horrible all the way down but you guys hung in there and put it in the finish and ended up on the steps! Great job and great toughness!
Lindsey Vonn: For someone to switch ski and boot companies just months before this race and record her best ever Soelden finish, fantastic. Great job and take the points, go home, and go win in Levi!
It is early in the year and there is a long way to go. And a month to the next GS. Go home and train and get ready for the real season!

THE BAD: Michaela Kirchgasser on run 2. I love Michaela Kirchgasser as a skier. I think she is great. But to run it out 2 or even 3 gates too soon coming into the flat? Questionable tactics and decision making. I know that the course set was likely too straight through there, but at this level you cannot afford to sacrifice WC points or even a podium for that kind of risk.
Maria Riesch: C'mon Man! Really?
The podium girls on the 2nd run. I know you toughed it out but those were some bad runs under pressure.

THE UGLY:
4.52 seconds to qualification in the top 30? That is the definition of ugly.
To the FIS: Is it smart to hold women's competitions on a hill like this with questionable preparation? Is there a reason to have a bally surface. Kuegeln? Not really. Is it smart to lose star athletes(Niki Hosp) to that decision? I would much rather see the men on an easier hill this early in the season too.
Manu Moelgg: I am a big fan of you, Manu. But that was ugly on run 2.
Julia: We have been lead to believe that she has rededicated herself to training and the pursuit of gold and crystal. I don't see it. That looked physically weak today. I hope it gets better, Juju! We need you!

I know this sounds scathing, but it is written with care and with love of everyone in the sport. Get it together girls! You have 1 month before the next GS!

Friday, October 23, 2009

Soelden:The Luck of the Draw!


The women's draw is done in Soelden. Some were lucky and some not so lucky. Count among the lucky ones as Manu Moelgg (ITA) and Elizabeth Goergl (AUT). Not lucky, Zettel(AUT) and Hoelzl(GER). Lucky: Michaela Kirchgasser(AUT) drawing 8 and Maria Pietilae-Holmner(SWE) 9. Not lucky: Viktoria Rebensburg(GER) and Andrea Fischbacher(AUT) drawing 14 and 15. Julia Mancuso starts 18 as expected.
And great news for the girls sitting outside the top 30 who were staring down late starts if left to FIS points. Gen Simard (CAN) could have started in the mid 40s if left to FIS points. Due to 4 top 30 withdrawals, she snuck into the top 30 and starts 27. Even more lucky were Marie-Michele Gagnon and Megan McJames. Both were tied for 36th on the start list and Megan was staring down a start in the 50s or 60s.
Now, due to the withdrawal of 6 athletes ranked above them, they tied for 30. By FIS points, Gagnon gets 30 and McJames 31. Great news for both of them and an opportunity stares both North Americans in the face. They can move deep into the top 30 on the first run and make a good charge at the top 10 on run 2. Start numbers of 37 for Resi is as expected but 39 and 45 for Sarah and Jess are better then expected earlier in the week. Good luck girls!

The course set is also done. Set by Anders Paerson and only 42 turns. I have been involved in many course sets at Soelden and 42 is reasonable but pretty open. Only 3 over minimum turns. There are 3 delays making for 45 gates. This is a very standard type set at Soelden and favors those who can make bigger, cleaner turns.

I hope everyone out there is fired up! Only a few hours lie between us and the first race of the new World Cup season!

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Soelden: Men's preview. Aksel, Ted, Didier and then?


Soelden is always an interesting race. This is my first time not there in 8 years! It feels strange, empty. But exciting nonetheless. As a coach, you have had a full preparation period. You've done your coaching. You picked the best GS skis. You have watched hours of video. You left no stone unturned in your quest for greatness. Now, here it is. You find out how good your program has been. Will there be validation of your program? Or is there a lot more work to do before Beaver Creek?
3 days away and all the teams stream into Soelden. A tiny resort town at the end of a steep Tirolean valley. The Oetztal winds south from the autobahn toward Italy and ends here. By Friday night there will be thousands of people partying in the street and flowing in one large mass from bar to bar. Drive through town on Friday or Saturday night? It can't be done. All of these revelers welcoming the new race season will end up at the glacier on Sunday morning to see the ski stars. No doubt disappointed that Miller, Albrecht and Palander will not race. They are simply not ready or recovered enough to race so soon. Marcus Sandell will not be there either. And of course, 2005 Champion and ultimate Austrian ski star Hermann Maier announced his retirement this month. If you look it up, you'll see that 4 of the last 5 winners (Miller twice) at Soelden will not race.

MILLER, MAIER, PALANDER, SANDELL, ALBRECHT, NEUREUTHER WILL NOT START

Bode Miller will not start. He decided too late to join the US Ski Team and is simply not ready. A great move by Bode and the staff to not start him here. He has 5 top 5 finishes here inlcuding 2 wins and a 2nd place. But he has never really enjoyed this race. The hill is brutal. It is often bumpy and dark and really does not have a great rhythm to it. It is also very early. By all accounts, Bode has been great within the team environment. Like the pre-Torino Bode. Helpful, hard working and positive. In short, a good leader and teammate. Great news for all involved!
Maier, we know, has retired. Kalle Palander continues to struggle with his tibia fracture issues and still has pain. One Finnish coach said, "This is not good, really not good." His teammate, Marcus Sandell, one of the best young GS skiers in the world, also will not start. Marcus suffered an awful crash in training and had a kidney removed. I heard from Marcus the other day and he is talking about racing in Alta Badia.
Felix Neureuther is not a GS star but he is a slalom star and a German star. FIS World Cup TV ratings run through Germany. And the Germans stream over the passes into Tirol to see this race. The absence of Felix on the start list could have an impact on attendance and will have an impact on TV ratings.
And Dani Albreacht, still recovering from his crash in Kitzbuhel last season. He will be back, but I hear he will try to start with slalom. Hopefully in Levi next month.

THE FAVORITES:

Aksel Lund Svindal (NOR): He will win. He has trained a lot of days this year. He has great history on this hill. He won here in 2007. He is very versatile and consistently fast. His coach is setting run 2. I am heavily in his camp for the win this weekend.

Didier Cuche (SUI): Totally impressed with his GS the last 3 years. He has made changes in his skiing and his approach to GS. He was 2nd last year.

Benni Raich (AUT): While Benni has been consistent at Soelden (5th, 4th, 4th, 4th). Never better than 4th, not worse than 5th when he finished cleanly. I think that's where he ends up again. I don't think Benni wants to risk on that hill and I think he struggles with certain sections of the hill. Specifically the top of the first pitch to the entry of the main pitch.

Max Blardone (ITA): 2nd place in 2004. Nothing since then. And I don't think he will do much this year at Soelden either.

THE DARK HORSES:

Kjietl Jansrud (NOR): Watch out for this guy. He is historically good on courses set by both course setters. He won the 2nd run in Soelden last year. Now in the top 15 so he has a good start number. He is a big, strong, fearless guy. He will put it on the line. His coach sets run 2 which also helps him.

Carlo Janka (SUI): A lot of GS success recently. He is a very strong, consistent and quiet skier. Historically good on steep hills. Fast on courses set by the 2 setters and was 2nd on the 2nd run here last season.

Philipp Shoerghofer (AUT): Had a great race in Soelden last year. He was one of the best Austrians in GS all season long. Very consistent. He has moved into the top 15 so he will have a decent start number. He could send a wake up call.

Romed Baumann (AUT): Great young skier. Very clean and consistent. Skis within himself. He has done well at Soelden before. As with Schoerghofer, he has moved into the top 15 so he will have a good number. The only down-side with him for this weekend is he seems to warm into the season some years. The Austrian staff are really talking him up recently.

Thomas Fanara (FRA): I love to watch this guy attack a GS hill. He is small and very aggressive. He is like Blardone without the notoriety. He has been injured a lot in his career and that is really what holds him back. But, with Chastan setting run 1, watch for Thomas to attack with confidence and make a big move. In fact, I think all the French guys will take a lot of confidence into run 1 with David doing the setting.

THE AMERICANS:

Ted Ligety: Ted is recovering from a knee injury suffered at the US Alpine Championships DH in Alyeska last season. He missed a large portion of the preparation period. He has skied less than many going into the early race. I think this will hurt him a little in Soelden but not too much. According to World Cup Tech coach, Pete Korfiatis, "Ted is good, he is skiing fast when he wants to." After spending 5 years with Ted, I would say that is an assessment that makes me smile. That usually means Ted is confident. Per Lundstam, of USSA Sport Science says, "Ted is about 2kg heavier than this time last year, but seems as explosive." These are all good things. Ted has good history on this hill. His first big breakthrough was here in 2005, coming from start number 64 to finish 8th. He won the first run here in 2007 and finished 2nd. He was 3rd here last year. He will be in the mix again. He IS the best technical skier on the World Cup in GS.

Tim Jitloff: 20th last year for his first WC points. Much better start position in the mid 20s. Men's Head Tech coach, Rudi Soulard says, "Jit, really good." Which seems short but Rudi keeps it simple, which I like. I see Jit getting the job done and scoring double digit points. Somewhere similar to last season's opener.

Jake Zamansky: The Z-Man! He finally broke through last season and had a very impressive race in Sestriere last season. Jake will need to make a move out of the
40s to move in and get a 2nd run. Soelden has not been kind to Jake over the years. He will need to outperform his history in Soelden and shake the ghosts of past failures on this hill.

Tommy Ford: TFord is entered in his first big race. All the USST coaches are talking him up. He has been fast in training against Ted. He was also fast against the Italian heavy hitters last week in Saas-Fee. Being fast against Ted in training is not always a good measure. Remember what Korfiatis said in the comment above. TFord is a great young skier, awesome competitor and a great kid. I am sure he will do his absolute best. The numbers are against him starting that late in the race (60s?). Soelden rarely allows a qualifer from that far back. The hill tends to break down by that time on Sunday. If anyone can get it done, TFord can! Ted did it in '05.

Warner Nickerson: Warner won the spot in a time trial shootout with Dane Spencer. Warner will also need to battle out of a high 50s start position to get a 2nd run. I don't think Warner has much of a shot on this hill. Maybe somewhere like Beaver Creek, he could. I have had to endure watching a lot of late starters over the years in Soelden and it is rarely pretty. I remember one year watching 5 consecutive skiers crash in the same spot and see them piled up like cord-wood next to the fence. It can be brutal!

THE CANADIANS:

Roy, Bourque, Dixon, Kucera

JP Roy always seems to get something done here. He will start in the mid 20s and have a shot to move up. Frank Bourque is coming back from injury so I have a hard time seeing the comeback starting here. Robbie Dixon did a fantastic job on the World Cup last year and is a tough kid. He could hang in there to get it done. And in Kucera they have a real World Cup GS skier who needs to re-establish himself in the top 30 and then the top 15. Johnny is the reigning DH World Champion and that confidence will help him. I think he is the one guy who makes a big move out of the later starters.

Good luck to everyone! It will be fun!

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Soelden: Women's Preview


Look on the calendar and it is 3 days away. What is going on in Soelden? What are the teams doing? How are they acting? What is happening with hill prep? And who are the girls to watch?
Soelden: The weather is iffy and all the coaches and athletes know it. The FIS is acutely aware of their situation. The forecast is for a cool night tonight and very cold tomorrow night. That is the good news. The bad news is that there is a slight warming trend into the weekend. With barely freezing temperatures at night and warm and sunny during the day. Will the hill break down? Probably. But FIS will try to get a preemptive strike against mother nature by trying to freeze the piste as hard as they can!
FIS will inject the hill, possibly twice to take advantage of the cold night on Thursday. They have already done it once and will likely do it again so there is water in the hill and near the surface on Thursday. If is gets warm on Friday, they will cancel the free ski on the race hill to try to preserve the surface. If this weather forecast holds true, the hill will break down in the afternoon of the women's race and likely re-freeze for Sunday. Leaving a very bumpy, icy surface in the morning on Sunday and a broken down, rutted, bumpy and dark 2nd run for the boys.
The athletes are tapering their training down, making some last minute ski selections if necessary, going to press conferences. Some are trying on new uniforms. The coaches are scrambling around getting boots and skis measured, suits plombed and figuring out how to get the athletes to the bib draw on time through the crazy traffic in Soelden. 20,000 fans on a glacier with only 1 way in and out? Tough traffic.
MY 7 FAVORITES:
Katrin Zettel(AUT): I think she is the favorite. She has great start position and a good draw will nail it down. She has steadily improved since October 2005. She was 5th that year, 3rd in 2007 and won last year. Same course setters as last year, which will help her cause.
Tanja Poutiainen (FIN): Very solid skier with good history on the hill and with the course setters. Top 5 in 4 of the last 5 races in Soelden. The down-side? If she wins the first run, she will not win the race. Not a great leader going into run 2. I also think she misses her former coach, Michael Bont.
Andrea Fischbacher (AUT): 3rd last year. 5th in 2005. She is not that consistent but when she is confident she can let it rip.
Tina Maze (SLO): 2 wins on this hill. Very up and down from year to year. From all reports out of Slovenia, she is on her game so look for a big show from her. A lot of time on snow this summer but only in Europe on glaciers? Good for Soelden, maybe not so good later in the year?
Niki Hosp (AUT): Part of the famous 3-way tie in October, 2002 with Maze and Flemmen. It was her rookie year on the World Cup and I think she can regain that form. A lot of Men's team coaches were switched to the Women's side in Austria this year and I think it has helped her skiing. From all reports she is healthy again. Start number will hurt.
Denise Karbon (ITA): My favorite female GS skier with Lara Gut out of the field. I think that when Denise is on, she will win. She can get on a roll and keep it going like no other. She is traditionally strong on men's hills, as Soelden is. And if they get the surface very hard, it is even more in her favor. My pick to win.
Viktoria Rebensburg (GER): Young up and comer and I think a dark horse to win this race. I think she has a real chance of making a big splash this season in GS.

THE AMERICANS:
Lindsey Vonn: Great all around skier. Very professional. Hard working. I cannot say enough positive about Lindsey's approach to the sport and to her professional life. Her GS has improved a great deal in the last year and a half but I think the podium is asking a lot of her in GS. 7th-10th place is my guess, and I think she should be happy with that with the late ski company switch. Remember what comes with that. Every time she looked down, put her skis on, picked up her skis, walked into the ski room for HER ENTIRE LIFE, the skis said Rossignol. Now they say Head. New service man. Should it matter? No. But sometimes it does. It will be interesting to watch.

Julia Mancuso: She definitely lost her way after the magical 2006 season.
She was 2nd in the Soelden GS in 2007. The word on the street is that she is "rededicated." We'll see, but I wouldn't bet on her. Not this early in the season with only one top 5 on this hill in her career. Start number will not help.
Sarah Schleper: I hope Sarah can find her old form. She was out for a while and has now had a year to get back into the fold and get moving up the WCSL. She is 44 on the WCSL and 41 on the FIS list. Tough move from there to the top 30 if the course starts to break up.
Resi Steigler: Resi stands in 37th on the FIS list. It means she only needs to move up 7 spots to get a 2nd run. She has been out of World Cup GS for a long time and Soelden is a potentially rude welcome back. I think this is a race for Resi to get her feel back and be used to starting World Cup GS again. She can do it, but it is a stretch.
Megan McJames: Megan is an excellent young skier. Tons of talent and a technically solid skier. She really has great potential in GS. The main obstacle in Soelden is her start number. While she holds 36 on the WCSL, this is a double bummer. First of all, skiers outside the 30 are seeded by FIS points. Her FIS rank is 63. To add a little insult to that, 31-35 ranked on the WCSL are protected to starting right after 45 if ranked worse than 45 on the FIS list. This is a problem in that she did not score enough WC points to get into the 30 AND did not get good FIS point scores at Europa Cup and NorAm Cup to start earlier on the FIS list. Or, she did not get the opportunity to do so? Regardless, Megan has a tall order to get into the 30. Hopefully she finishes 29 or 30, gets a clean 2nd run and can reproduce her 14th place from last year. She is certainly a good enough skier to do it.
Jess Kelley: Healthy? Starting 55 or so? Tall order for Jess. She will need to toughen up and get it done. Simple as that.

THE CANADIANS:
Sorry, not this week. Not starting any girls in the top 30 is bad news in Soelden. Christina Lustenberger at 32 is the best number. But Marie-Michelle Gagnon at 38 is their best shot at scoring points. She is their best skier and only 20 years old.

Other skiers to look for: Kathrin Hoelzl (GER), Michaela Kirchgasser (AUT) and Tessa Worley (FRA). All 3 of these girls are very strong competitors and have the mental toughness to compete on a tough hill like Soelden.

Alpine Race Consulting will be presenting at Mt. Hood Community College and Seattle Pacific University this weekend at the PSIA-NW Fall Seminars. Men's preview tomorrow!

Monday, October 19, 2009

Course Setters for Soelden, what does it mean for the race?

Every day there seems to be something new to blog about the upcoming FIS World Cup season opener in Soelden, Austria.
As I wrote about on Friday, the hill at Soelden is a unique hill. It is in the middle of a large glacier. It has a very flat start and a very flat finish with an extremely steep pitch in the middle. The course setters for the race have some hard work to do to control speed and get a large percentage of the athletes to the finish. The good part about setting in Soelden is that you rarely have to set anything tricky or difficult to separate the competitors. The hill is difficult enough to take care of that itself. It is a great opportunity to set at the World Cup and allow the hill and the athletes to shine.
The course crew is mixing wet man-made snow into the natural snow that has fallen on the hill and will try to inject the hill later in the week. Probably Wednesday to allow time for the snow to set-up and get consistent.
The course setters for World Cup races are listed at the beginning of the season so everyone knows who is setting for the entire season. World Cup coaches know the tendencies of all the course setters and try to prepare their teams accordingly. The men's first run will be set by David Chastan of France and run 2 will be set by Franz Gamper of Norway. Women's setters are Anders Paerson of Sweden and Trevor Wagner of the USA.
What does it mean to the race? The course setters will have an impact on the outcome of the race in both results and finish rate.
CHASTAN (FRA): Given the opportunity, Chastan will set open and fast. Soelden does provide for this as getting minimum gate count is not difficult. This is generally bad news for Ted Ligety. But luckily it is only run 1 and you have that second chance. Look for Svindal, Jansrud, Janka and Fanara as good skiers of Chastan courses.
GAMPER (NOR:) Franz Gamper has not set a lot on the World Cup. Athletes who skied fast when he set in Alta Badia 2nd run last year were Marcus Sandell, Thomas Fanara, Kjietl Jansrud and Marcel Hirscher. Sandell will not race as he is recovering from injury. There were a lot of DNFs last year when he set.
PAERSON (SWE): Anders Paerson has one thing in mind, setting to his daughter's strengths. I think Anja's better years are behind her so having Dad set will not help much. Anders set the second run last year and Zettel, Chemmy Alcott and Megan McJames were fast. Good news for Megan so she can have confidence and get deep into the top 30 after run 1 from her mid 30s start position.
WAGNER (USA): Trevor Wagner is an experienced course setter and likely will do an excellent job helping his girls move up. He set the first run last year and Lindsey was 10th, which at the time was an excellent result for her in GS. Julia was 18th and Megan was 29th, qualifying for her first time at Soelden. Look for strong opening runs from Tanja Poutiainen, Katrin Zettel and Denise Karbon. They have all skied well on Wagner GS courses in the past. They were 1-2-3 last year after run 1 last year which was set by Trevor.
I will be blogging at least 2 more times this week at least. Preview of the field on Wednesday and the USA starters on Friday! Get ready it's coming! Alpine Race Consulting will be speaking at Mt. Hood Community College in Gresham, Oregon this Saturday and at Seattle Pacific University on Sunday.

Friday, October 16, 2009

Soelden Confirmed, Here's an early preview!




The opening GS races at Soelden, Austria were confirmed today after the final snow inspection by the FIS. Not much of a surprise considering the normal mid-October snow storm hit Soelden as it has every year in the last 8 except for October, 2006. Couple that with top to bottom snow making on the race hill with cold temperatures and you can count on the race happening. You can also count on the race preparation crew there to start the injection process. The snow should be very hard and fair.




The Hill: The race hill in Soelden is unique on the World Cup in many ways. It is on a glacier, in the middle of the glacier so the crazed Austrian fans can watch anywhere on the hill, on their skis with lift access. It is a wide-open snow field with a lot of access. The race opens atop a very large start ramp and opens with about 8 very flat tuck-turns. Then breaks over into a short pitch and bends to the right a little. The pitch is 2-3 turns long, flattens again for 3 turns before breaking over again into a very long, very steep pitch. Depending on the course sets, this pitch could be 11-15 turns long. By far the longest major pitch on the tour. Then it gradually runs-out on a very long flat to the finish.


Courses: There is no problem getting to minimum turns on this hill so look for wide open GS racing with quite a lot of swing. I would think that you would see 26m-28m on the pitch to 32m on the flat approaching the finish.


Tactics: A good, strong start with excellent quality tuck turns to the first pitch for all. Look carefully at when the athletes are breaking their tucks and how much they are setting up the first pitch. Believe it or not, there is a lot of variation in approaches here. Next, look for when they set up the main pitch and how they get direction in their skis to get the appropriate elevation for the main pitch. Good quality turns for 10 turns or so on the pitch gets the job done and then look for when the skiers start to take chances coming into the bottom flat. How straight are they willing to go and how high on the pitch are they when they decide to do it? Then watch for delays on the flat and see who does it right. Also keep in mind that it is the first race and there are a lot of athletes that are not quite ready to go. Look for big mistakes and lots of crashes!


Other issues at Soelden: The women and men both race on the same hill on back to back days. This can beat up the hill pretty badly by the time the men race run 2. Morning runs are characterized by bright sunshine on nice days and the afternoon can be very dark. Very flat light with bumpy conditions makes for exciting racing.




Enjoy the race and the anticipation! This is my favorite time of the year. The work is almost done, the athletes are going to race. Time to find out if you did a good job. And with a month before the next GS, there is time to make changes. Will the season end with a scene like the one in the photo above? I hope so.


More to come on the athletes to watch next week! I am at Gonzaga tomorrow delivering the keynote speech at the PSIA-NW Fall Seminar. 10:45 AM.

Monday, October 12, 2009

Alpine Race Consulting in Spokane, Wa. 10/17/09

Hi Everyone-

Fall and winter are in the air depending where you are. Loveland opened in Colorado on the 7th, Red Lodge, Mt. got 3 feet of snow. It's cold in the Pacific NW. And it sounds like the high sierra is going to get pounded with high elevation snow and a lot of it this week! Boreal is open outside of Truckee, Ca. too! Everywhere you look, winter is on the way. So don't forget to buy your passes at your local ski area and get some new skis and boots! Get ready to go!

I am very happy to announce that I will be the keynote speaker at the PSIA-NW Fall Seminar in Spokane, Wa. this weekend. It will be held at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Wa. on October 17, 2009. You can get more information at www.psia-nw.org. The subject matter will be presentation of foundations and fundamentals of skiing that cross from alpine racing to recreational skiing and learning. What to teach and how to teach it. It will be a lot of fun for me to speak to a new group with a different application of many of the same concepts. I will also be speaking at 2 other PSIA-NW Fall Seminar locations over the weekend of the 24th and 25th in Gresham, Or. and Seattle, Wa. respectively. There will be more information in next week's blog.

I will be writing at least once a week all winter long. Next week will include information on the PSIA Seminar as well as the beginning of previews for the FIS World Cup opener in Soelden, Austria! Get ready, it's almost here!

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Thanks to Boyne

Hi Everyone-
I want to thank everyone at Boyne Mountain Resort for their hospitality and friendliness during my visit and presentations this past weekend. It was a fantastic experience for me and thoroughly enjoyed presenting, Skitoberfest and the social atmosphere. Congratulations to everyone for a successful first Skitoberfest and I am sure there will be more to come.
Both presentations went extremely well and I think the message was well received. We had a great time at the beer tasting afterwards as well as a great dinner. I am very excited to get back there some time soon for some more clinics! Maybe something on snow