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.
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