The weekend in review.

Ok, so my excitement and anticipation didn't help our USA teams much this weekend. We definitely fell short of expectations on almost every level and we lost our friend TJ Lanning for yet another season to a fractured vertebra and a dislocated knee. But that is Downhill and stuff like that happens. You combine 70+ MPH speeds and snow, ice and poor visibility and you have to think something bad can happen.
Get well TJ and hopefully we will see you soon!

MEN'S LAKE LOUISE DH

The conditions were not good. Visibility was horrible at times. Some flurries in the air and some loose snow outside of the track. Cuche put the smack-down and made it obvious that he is the most prepared for the season right now. Werner Heel ran a very smart race and kept himself high on the hill from fall-away on down. That was good work and he carried great speed. He is an excellent glider as well and it came together. Carlo Janka just conitnues to be consistent and fast at the same time. Walchhofer probably does not think much of his 4th place finish but he seems to always bounce back so look for something better in Beaver Creek. Johnny K and Robbie Dixon were excellent in 6th and 8th and the old man Jaerbyn at 40 years old was awesome in 7th. I have to say that it was the most impresssive performance of the day from my point of view. I know him pretty well and it is a process every day to drag himself out there on a physical level. He obviously loves what he does but it has got to be difficult on his knees and other joints every morning.
The USA boys had an awful day. I feel for everyone and especially for TJ. Sad does not even begin to decribe my feelings. I first met him when he was a J3 man-child, laying waste to entire fields of 14 year olds all over the world. He has always been the most talented athlete we have. A guy with all the speed. Maybe more speed than he knows how to deal with? He is a special ski racer and I hope he can bounce out of this one. He is only 25 years old...he can bounce back. If Andrew Weibrecht did not save the day it would have been exceptionally dark in the American camp. Andrew got a little bit of good light and took advantage of it gunning it into 12th place. Congrats to him. Another big shout-out to Criag Branch(AUS). A few World Cup points to open the season must feel pretty good. The other guys, who I thought would have great start numbers, were likely spooked by TJ being air-lifted but they all blew the same turn near the top above the SG start. With the quality and experience on that staff, I am sure that we need to chalk it up to the guys being distracted by the accident. Flush this one, forget it happened and move on. That's all you can do. The best thing about ski racing is that there is another test just around the corner.

MEN'S SG
MANNY OSBORNE-PARADIS! His first World Cup SG podium, and it is a win. His 2nd World Cup win...Fantastic job, what can you say. Very, very impressive. You knew that he would push things a little today because he was obviously disappointed yesterday in the finish area. Guay and Dixon also did a great job. Hopefully they can roll it over in less familiar territory. The loss of Johnny Kucera is going to hurt the team. The Canadian Cowboys lost one of their mainstays and leaders. That bitterweet feeling when one guy wins and another loses his season is always a possibility, and always painful.
Walchhofer had a podium again in Lake Louise and continues to be very consistent there. Adrian Theaux(FRA) did a great job going from 42 to 6.
AMERICANS:
A much needed better day. I know the boys go out there every day expecting and wanting a podium. But sometimes you need to evaluate with some perspective and look at the positives. Ted was 8th. He has never, ever done that well on a course that requires this much gliding. A fantastic finish for him and maybe a little confidence for later races? Weibrecht into 12th again. He backed up his DH performance with another Horse-like performance. Sulli bounced back a bit today. I know him well and he is not out there for a 15th place finish, but it is not bad and sometimes you need a lift. He can look at this like it is a stepping stone. Fish in 23rd is not the goal but after yesterday's lack of execution, he needed this and can use it to feel confident going into The Beav. Build on it boys.

WOMEN'S GS

I want to let you all know that the hill in Aspen was slick. And that is tough on the girls. They do not always ski on injection in GS and it exposes a lot of weaknesses. And in Aspen, they will always inject the slalom hill. And it being the bottom of the GS hill, you do not want the athletes coming off of super-grip hero snow to injected ice half-way down the course. Not only is it uncomfortable, it is unsafe.
I will go further on the injection issue. I personally have injected countless training hills and I know you can mess it up. I have messed it up. You can make puddles that freeze, you can over water, under water, etc. Sometimes it ends up perfect. I was on the hill today and I can tell you that there were slick spots. Most of it was very skiable but there were some puddles that were not nice. This is not an indictment of the inection process, it is very difficult to get it perfect. We do have to question the use of injection bars for ski races. They started to be used as a last-ditch effort to make things hard and fair when the weather was not cooperating. Now it has become a short-cut to a hard surface. Now, you can make snow and not pay attention to the finished product thinking, "we can always inject." When wet snow is made and rolled out while still wet, there is a good chance with some skiing and slip pressure the product will turn out very hard, and you don't need to inject. Then, and only then, if the snow product is not consistently hard and fair, you choose to inject. I truly believe we can create man-made snow surfaces that are hard and fair and skiable through normal snowmaking procedures. As long as we work hard, be smart and proactive and put in the hours to get it done. Tommy Johnston, who is the Race Director for USSA once told me speaking of Birds of Prey, "If I do my job right and the weather cooperates, we should never have to inject. Injection should be a last resort."

WOMEN'S SL

I hope you read the above rant about injection. The slalom in Aspen was brutal. I watched it live and was a very hard race to watch. The separation in times was huge. 5.28 to qualify in 30th? Almost 8 seconds to 30 in the final standings. Anja was 4 seconds out in 10th place! There is a lot to question. Not to mention the lack of performance out of team USA.
Twice in my career with the US Ski Team did we not have any athletes in the second run. Once in Flachau and once in Garmisch, both were slaloms. But both times it was due to major mistakes or DNFs. Somehow that was more acceptable than just being slow. It is very hard to describe the feeling when you are watching the second run from the finish area or on TV rather than having athletes participate and try to move up. Getting "shut-out" is like getting kicked right in the lower mid-section. First there is pain, then nausea, then acceptance. You have to just move on and believe in your program. That if you are true to what you believe and it is based in fundamental skiing skills, the team's poor performance on any given day was just a blip on the radar. Hopefully, that is where we are at with the women's slalom program. I know Lindsey is a great slalom skier and will bounce back. I also know that Hailey Duke is a good slalom skier and she will get the job done next time. The rest I am not so sure about. They did not display quickness, strength or determination. One spectator and ski coach mentioned that they girls needed to "learn how to fight" and maybe a "come to jesus" speech might be forthcoming. We will see.

Congratulations to Sarka Zahrobska(CZE) for teaching the field a lesson and to Marlies Schild(AUT), Kathrin Zettel(AUT, Susanne and Maria Riesch of Germany. And most of all a big high-five to Anne-Sophie Barthet(FRA) who backed up her charge in GS with a 6th in slalom from 58th start position. AND for her dance skills in the finish area. Great job!

Men SG in Lake Louise and Women SL in Aspen

Right about now, SG course setter and Head Men's DH Coach, Chris Brigham is done creating his masterpiece in Lake Louise. His staff was with him, helping him judge speed and angles entering the many corners and pitches in Lake Louise. The Super-G typically starts down the steep pitch with a little swing in the course onto Wee Waxy Flat. Then the rest of it works similarly to the Downhill except there are 35 turns, minimum. Virgil (Brigham) set last year as well and we all helped out; giving advice, looking ahead around corners for him, standing in front of an approaching blind spot so he can measure distance. And aside from some whining from the Austrians about it being too fast, it was an uneventful affair. The course ran well and Marco did well, finishing 5th. Funny that the Austrians were crying about it, seeing as the legendary Hermann Maier won the race. Or maybe that was why they were whining? Because they thought he might win? Hard to say. Anyway, I am sure Virgil is done with the set and has checked it over and will now need to deal with the reality of checking on TJ Lanning, again. I can't remember the last time TJ made it through a full season unscathed. It seems like we are visiting him in the hospital more often than not. Get well TJ, the boys will miss having you on the hill!

On to a little SG preview.

Really, Super-G is a different kind of test than all the others. To me it's the purest version of our sport. Downhill has training runs, sometimes as many as 3. So you get to practice on the track. Super-G has no training runs. And in the tech events you get a second run to redeem your first if necessary or hopefully to defend your first run position. Super-G has one run, and one inspection on World Cup. So you better be able to judge speed and turn shape, make a good plan and execute the plan. Or it's over before you know it. It IS racing. I love Super-G, if that is not yet apparent.

Aksel Lund Svindal is the SG globe winner from last year. He does not look ready and the flat light is not helping him. Defago made some bad choices and executed poorly today. Obviously, Heel and Cuche will compete. Both guys turn well and had a great day today so they have the momentum. Look for another good performance from Carlo Janka. He is the GS World Champ and had his second DH podium at Lake Louise today. He was 21st last year starting 48. He will have a much better number this year. Walchhofer was 4th last year in the Super-G and he should be a player again.

CANADIANS:

A strong contingent this year with good start numbers. Johnny Kucera is one of the best SG skiers in the world on any hill, anytime. Johnny was 2nd last year. Erik Guay is a strong technical skier and can do well in Lake Louise as he also has good gliding skills. I am increasingly impressed with Robbie Dixon in all his disciplines. His skiing is up to par, he has a very even-keeled approach and he inspects very well. Even if his cheesy moustache is not working for him. And Manny has a lot of speed. I like him to step it up after today's showing. He is a competitor and I don't think he likes finishing where he did. I can only assume they will start Louis-Pierre again after scoring 9 World Cup Points today.

AMERICANS:
Marco Sullivan: Our highest ranked SG skier. As I mentioned yesterday he has been working hard on his GS skills and it paid off last season. He was 5th in the SG at Lake Louise last year after a similarly disappointing DH finish. Look for Marco to step up and get in the mix tomorrow. I am sure he's pissed off.
Bode Miller: Bode did not look very confident today. Which is difficult for me to say because I know him as one of the most confident people on the planet. I think he will bounce back tomorrow too.
Ted Ligety:Ted is ranked 23rd on the WCSL in Super-G. Mostly due to a 7th in Beaver Creek and a 13th at the World Cup Finals, which is a limited field. He was headed for a medal in Val d'Isere in Super-G too last year. If you look at all of those results, there is not a hill with any gliding in it. Lake Louise has about 30 seconds of flat at the bottom. Ted's weaknesses are straight gliding and those low edge angle glide turns. Ted's buddy Sam Sweetser thinks it's too flat for him to do well.
Andrew Weibrecht: It will be nice if Horse sneaks into the top 30 on the board tonight so he gets a good start number. After today's performance he deserves a little luck. If not, his FIS point rank is 49. Also an excellent technical skier, he can do well in the LL Super-G.
Jeremy Transue: Worm's FIS rank is 45. With a few injuries ahead of him on the list, he will start around 40. He has skied this hill many, many times growing up on the Nor Am circuit. As I said before, he is talented, he needs to execute.
Erik Fisher: Fish has a late start number and will need to pull out his best skiing and every bit of his available grey matter to make this a successful trip to the Great White North.

OTHERS:
Hannes Reichelt(AUT) has been a good SG skier for years but has trouble in Lake Louise. I am a big fan of Marco Buechel(LIE) and he is a great Super-G skier. He is pushing the envelope on his career at 38 years old but Lake Louise could be good for him. He will need to dig deep into that 38 year old body to make it happen.
I need to throw our english speaking buddies a bone here and mention Edward Drake(GBR). Ed was on the podium in Reiteralm, AUT earlier this season in a Europa Cup Super-G so he seems to be skiing fast. He would be the darkest of horses but he deserves some mention. And Craig "Bud" Branch(AUS) getting a few World Cup points today! Congrats and maybe a few more tomorrow?

Prediction: Cuche doubles up. Podium: Cuche, Kucera, Janka.
Swiss are tough. Just wait until Dani Albrecht makes it back.

ASPEN WOMEN'S SLALOM

Did anyone see that hill today? It was slick on the first run with some slick spots in a couple of left footed turns. That hill took it's toll today. Congrats to Kati Hoelzl(GER), Kathrin Zettel(AUT) and Federica Brignone(ITA), a 19 year old out of Ski Club Courmayeur! Also congrats to Squadra Italia with 3,7,8,9 plus two more in the points. Excellent job. The weather during the second run seemed to warm up a little and the hill began to soften. The girls definitely had more grip on run 2.

Hopefully for tomorrow's slalom is is more like run 2 than run 1. The girls have been on the hill now too, so things should look a lot better tomorrow. plus they are all far more used to skiing on injection on slalom skis than on GS equipment.

Favorites:

Maria Riesch (GER): No reason to think she won't do well in Aspen after her victory in Levi. I saw her training in Vail last week and she looked very solid, if winded and jet lagged. But she should have adjusted by now.
Sarka Zahrobska(CZE): She won here last year and I would not put it past her to repeat. The hill is pretty moderate from the slalom start down through Strawpile to the finish and Sarka is very good on that type of hill.
Tanja Poutiainen(FIN): She has pulled from the race tomorrow, but you have to give her credit, she was out there banging away on the ice and qualifying and scoring points. Competing to win year end globes.
Marlies Schild(AUT): Her comeback continues and she skis extremely well. If you are not too close to the training course when she skis, you would swear she looks like Benni Raich. Very, very solid.
Sandrine Aubert(FRA): She let me down in Levi and the was not great in Aspen last year so I am not sure she will get anything done. Although the number 1 bib could be an advantage.
Kathrin Zettel(AUT): A great result today after being sick with the flu earlier in the month. We'll see what her recovery program is for tomorrow. But obviously, Guenther Obkircher and the rest of the staff did a great job handling her heading into today and should be on top of it for tomorrow.

CANADIANS:
Anna Goodman will start 23 which gives her a great chance to score deeper into the top 15. Anna was 24th in Aspen last season and had a great finish in Levi, finishing 16th. I like her chances to get her first top 10. Marie-Michele Gagnon starts 30 which is a great break for her. She was 14th in Levi and looks to build on that. Brigitte Acton will start 36 and also is coming off a good score in Levi in 17th. I love their chances in Aspen.

AMERICANS:
Lindey Vonn- She needs to and will bounce back tomorrow in slalom. She might be a Downhiller now but she grew up at Buck Hill, MN and knows her slalom. I am sure she will have her skis dialled and will compete for the podium again.
Hailey Duke- She will start 27 and have a shot at scoring some more points. She is a very solid skier in slalom and is coming back from an ankle injury in the fall. But she was 21st in Levi and 21st last year in Aspen.
Sterling Grant- Sterling starts 35 and she was 29th in Aspen last year.
All the other girls are going to start very late and Kaylin will have to repeat her huge move-up from Levi to get anything done. Kaylin relies on momentum and confidence and she should have some good feelings going into Aspen. Mancuso starts 52, Schleper 53 and Kaylin Richardson 63. Julia Ford starts 55 in her first ever World Cup. Good luck Julia!

Others to watch:
Fanny Chmelar(GER) has moved into the top 15 and has a lot of momentum after a 9th place in Levi. Teammate Susanne Riesch is also on a roll and looked very strong on the injection here at Vail within the last week. I was also fortunate to see Sanni Leinonen(FIN) train this week. She starts 28 and she looked very fast but did have occasional probems on the injection. Michaela Kirchgasser(AUT) also looked excellent all week. Look for Nina Loeseth starting 29 and her little sister Mona starting 48 to do something big. The hill should hold up well and they were 20th and 14th respectively in Levi. Also watch Sophie Barthet and Federica Brignone, who had the races of their careers today. They start 58 and 70 tomorrow. I have no idea if they are good slalom skiers but if momentum and confidence mean anything they will be worth watching.

Podium guess? Schild, Riesch, Vonn.

I am heading to Aspen myself in the morning to watch the slalom along with Mission Ridge Ski Team athletes Brooke Wales and Clare Wise. Both of whom will be racing Nor Am GS at Aspen on Monday and Tuesday against many of the same girls you have been watching on TV or the internet today.

Thanks one last time to Ski Club Vail and Vail Resort. It could not have been any better. I hope it snows here soon, after I leave on the 3rd!

Can you feel it? 2 World Cups tomorrow!

That's right, two races in North America tomorrow and I cannot wait. My Palm Pre will be on live timing all day while I am on the hill and I will watch the races as soon as possible tomorrow. I am a junkie, I can't stop watching racing and the anticipation for tomorrow is almost too much to take. Last year at this time I was trying to sleep before the race in Lake Louise and not doing very well at it. Not really nerves, more like excitement! The season is about it get into full swing.

LAKE LOUISE MEN'S DOWNHILL

The training runs were marred by weather. The 2nd run was canceled which really does not have an impact on the guys. I think they would rather only have 2 runs most of the time. But it does change things for the service guys and ski selection. They will have less information, some of which is not reliable. Both training runs were strange and inconsistent. There was softening snow on day 1 and then the residue from the 15 centimeters of snow that fell on day 2 when they went out of the gate on day 3. According to Uncle Virgil (USST Head Men's DH Coach, Chris Brigham) today's run was fluky. With some groomed snow on the track and changing light and weather. The light was good early and then went away later. The wind picked up and was gusty at times. You can look at the times all you want from today but it just can't tell you anything. And race day brings out the true competitors.
The draw might tell you something too. Walchhofer chose 16 with the first pick. Kroell grabbed 19 with pick number 2. Svindal 20, Defago 22, Cuche 18,Manny Osborne-Paradis picked 17 and Bode 21. What does that say? They do not want to start early. And Bode wants to see the other guys go because 15 was open when he selected. So in the random part of the draw, Austrians drew 4 in the first 5 starters along with Adrian Theaux(FRA). If the big boys are right about how the track will shape up, these Austrian boys will have a slow track starting early. In contrast, Sullivan drew 23, Lanning 24, Fisher 25 and Nyman 29. Again, going off of how the highest ranked guys chose, these would seem like great draws. Directly after the TV break so some hill work gets done and very close to where highly ranked guys chose.

FAVORITES:

Walchhofer(AUT)- A downhill like this has to favor him. Right in his wheelhouse. As I said before, this is a big downhiller's downhill and he is a big downhiller. A consummate pro who has excellent skiing skills. He is often derided as not being a good skier but he has been in the top 30 in the world in slalom and has scored world cup GS points numerous times. He has won slalom runs on the world cup level.
Kroell(AUT)- Another strong Austrian candidate in this race. Good glider, good skier, strong and big. He was 5th last year at Lake Louise.
Svindal(NOR)- One of my favorite skiers and people on the tour. But recovering from the leg injury it sounds like he is not quite willing to risk. His Tweets this week seem to hint that he is not 100%. 7th last year in his first DH back from his injury in Beaver Creek the previous year.
Defago(SUI)- He proved last year that he is a great downhiller winning Wengen and Kitzbuhel back to back. The 2 most legendary downhills in a 7 day period. He was 8th last year here and I would think he would not do worse that that this year.
Cuche(SUI)- Geting better with age. He won the first training run and should compete for the podium this year.

CANADIANS
The home hill and adrenaline definitely pays off. Sometimes it energizes and sometimes it pressurizes. The undisputed leader of their squad, Erik Guay, finished 10th last year in a somewhat fluky race. He did look tight and made some line decisions that were too risky. Manny Osborne-Paradis was 30th, he really should do better on this hill but again, was there unseen pressure? He might be the best glider in the world. John Kucera should have a shot at the podium. He is the World Champion in Downhill, granted on the opposite type hill. But Johnny is a great skier and can get it done for the home fans. Robbie Dixon came off the Nor Am circuit to finish 24th last year starting 60th. Dixon starts 7th, he should score. Jan Hudec is big, strong and fast but is coming off yet another injury. And Louis-Pierre Helie has been skiing well in the training runs. He starts 60. Tyler Nella starts 64 in his 2nd World Cup. He was 51st in Wengen in his only other appearance. I watched Tyler improve dramatically through the week in Wengen. He is a strong skier and I would not be entirely surprised if he snuck into the back end of the points.

AMERICANS

BODE MILLER- Probably the best chance we have in Lake Louise. Always the competitor and always fast on that hill. If he keeps his plan together he will podium.
Bode was 16th last year after winning training runs. It was a strange day last year, funky weather and an ill-timed hold in front of him and behind him due to fog.
MARCO SULLIVAN- A true downhiller. He has worked on his GS skills diligently for the last 2 years and it really has showed. Especially in his Super-g. With a little luck last season, he would have had a much more productive DH season as well. Marco was
23rd last year in a dense fog.
TJ LANNING- Last year, TJ charged from the back to finish 9th in stormy and foggy conditions. He showed his strength both physically and mentally. Finally announcing his big time arrival on the FIS World Cup. He has a great number at 24.
ERIK FISHER-Fish came on last season after the big day in Val Gardena. He followed that show up with 11th at Kitzbuhel. The kid has it for sure and I saw him last week skiing much improved GS. I see Fish finishing in the top 15. He also has a great number at 25.
STEVEN NYMAN- Believe in Steven! I do. He goes 29th.
SCOTT MACARTNEY- Mac is back again this year. The horrific crash in Kitzbuhel cut short a fantastic season and his knee injury in Wengen cut-off his comeback. He was doing great when he got hurt. Hopefully he can get this comeback underway here tomorrow. Mac starts 35.
JEREMY TRANSUE- We know him as "Worm" and that he will be in this blog for the rest of the season. Worm has battled injuries his whole career but has great natural talent and might be as good at gliding as Manny Osborne-Paradis. Worm wears 57 tomorrow.
ANDREW WEIBRECHT- "Warhorse" or "Horse" or "Warbird" (he'll answer to any of them) is a fantastic talent and was on his way to a top 20 finish in Lake Louise last year when he inexplicably almost fell over while on a straight, flat glide section only 20 seconds from the finish. He starts 64.
TRAVIS GANONG- "Traw" is starting 71 and in his first World Cup. He was 13th today coming out of the back in training. It would be unlikely for him to score a point tomorrow but it sure would be exciting for all involved.

DARK HORSES/OTHERS TO WATCH

Hans Olsson(SWE) has a great history on this hill and is a big guy with great gliding skills. He starts 11. Werner Heel and Christoph Innerhofer of Italy will do well, they always do. Heel starts 9 and Inner starts 12. Innerhofer was 6th last year. Carlo Janka(SUI) is a great skier and starts 15. Janka was 2nd last year at Lake Louise. And Andrej Jerman(SLO) is starting 27th. He has won World Cup Downhills and is a strong glider too. "Jerry" could pop into the top 5.

THE PODIUM: Miller, Walchhofer, Cuche.

ASPEN WOMEN'S GIANT SLALOM

I did most of the writing on this one the other night. But with the start numbers out it seems there is more to say.
I spoke with Stacey Cook who will start 56 tomorrow. They had their free ski today on the race hill and her reaction was clear. "It is really, really hard." It was injected on Tuesday, skied on today, it will be raced on tomorrow. She also said, "I don't have to worry about the course deteriorating."
That being said, let's go inside the numbers.
Maria Pietilae-Holmner(SWE) drew 1. Hoelzl(GER)2. Goergl(AUT)3. Poutiainen(FIN)4. Zettel(AUT)5. Maze(SLO)6. Karbon(ITA) 7. Our friend Lindsey Vonn drew 9, which is great. Little grooves and bouncing chatters can happen on that hard injection and 9 is a great place to start. Julia Mancuso is 18, Megan McJames 30, Sarah Schleper 35, Leanne Smith 41, Stacey Cook 56. Canadians Gagnon and Janyk start 29 and 54 respectively. With McJames sneaking into the top 30, I really like her chances. As I said before, I like the way she skis, she needs to get the job done in Aspen. I think she will.
One last mention that needs to be made. Sarah Jarvis(NZE) is on the start list at number 69. I used to coach Sarah at Mammoth Mountain, California when she was a J3. I was surprised to see her on the list and it might be a way to get her on the hill before the Nor Ams start in Aspen on Monday. Sarah is making a push to qualify for the New Zealand Olympic Team headed for Vancouver in February.
The other night I picked Karbon, Poutiainen and Vonn in that order and I am sticking to it.
Turn on your Universal Sports TV tomorrow or watch on www.universalsports.com. Two races in one day, the only thing better would be three.

Hurry up and wait. What the cancellation in Lake Louise means

Downhill at any level can be a funny and fickle sport. Whether you are in Lake Louise this week for the World Cup or Bormio or Big Mountain, Montana for a FIS race. "Safety" is paramount and it is a relative term. When officials and coaches and athletes talk safety, they are talking about whether or not the conditions put the athletes at an unreasonable risk over and above their normal risk. So going 80 MPH or flying 40 meters off a jump at 70 MPH is being judged on relative safety. There are A nets, B nets, big fall-zones, crowd control. These are all in the realm of safety. But races and training runs are canceled due to weather and track condition more than anything. The training run in Lake Louise was canceled today due to unsafe conditions from about 5 inches of snow fall overnight. As FIS and the organizer look at it, they have 3 runs scheduled, the weather looks reasonable the rest of the week. So why not use the day to remove snow and have a good, clean training run tomorrow? They are banking on the weather forecast being correct. And the strong backs of the "Sled Dogs" as the Lake Louise volunteers are known; in order to get this training run off tomorrow, and the race the next day. There is also a Super-G on Sunday and everyone needs to get to Beaver Creek. So there is no margin for error in the calendar.
So let's say the forecast is good. The guys get their training run off tomorrow and the race on Saturday as scheduled. What did today's cancellation mean? The reality is that it did not cost anyone much. Everyone will be able to get another look at the hill, take another run and try to go fast. The service guys will get on there one more time to look at the new snow, etc.
What changed because of the cancellation? New snow crystals in the surface changes the waxing and ski preparation program. They were on old snow on run 1 and snow that was deteriorating in warming temps. Now there are new, sharp crystals mixed into the surface. More work for the already over-worked service guys. Different skis will go out tomorrow and more attention will be paid by the technicians to the surface as it changes going into race day.
Let's say the forecast is bad? It keeps snowing and they race on Saturday but without a training run on Friday. So you've had a training run. A lot of guys took it easy out of the start, or skied the pitches with less than full intensity. Or did not push all the way through the finish. If you are a skier who did that and does not have a lot of experience on the World Cup or at Lake Louise, you might not be able to judge what happens in C turn or Fishnet or Claire's having not carried full speed into one or more of those sections. It could lead to mistakes and crashes on race day. Because the guys are going to race. That is what they have been doing their whole lives. Competing as hard as possible with just a helmet and DH suit between them and the rock hard snow. They have made it where they are because they have guts. Because they go like hell where most of us would just as soon side slip.
The boys will knock it down, push for all of everything from start to finish. But if someone wasted day one either being cute, saving energy or only working hard for certain sections, it could hurt them by Saturday if there is no training run tomorrow.
The last thing is that the snow has changed dramatically since training run 1. No matter how you did or if you tried all the way down. IF there is no training run tomorrow, everyone is starting from scratch on Saturday.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!

Aspen Women's GS- Preview

It is Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving. Those of us on the road this holiday will give thanks and eat turkey with our teammates and friends rather than our families. It has been like this most years of my coaching career, and this year is no different. It is one of the things that make our teammates like family. Why it becomes so hard to let go of them and of the sport as we get older. The bonds that are created by having holidays together are tight.
Tomorrow, the men will take their second training run in Lake Louise and the women will travel to Aspen and settle into their housing, and get ready for free skiing on the race hill on Friday. According to Aspen Valley Ski Club Director, Jeff Kai, the hill is in great shape with man-made snow and injection they did last night. From all that he has said it sounds like the conditions will be excellent
The race hill in Aspen is officially called Lower Ruthie's by the FIS and it has a few places to watch carefully. The first is the bottom of Spring Pitch, which is basically the last bit of Aztec. The ladies need to charge down Spring Pitch and nail the last few turns on the pitch to carry speed as the course bends to the left onto Summer Road. This area is make or break. Someone who can take a little more risk earlier on the pitch will be able to carry more speed across the road as long as she can execute the turns cleanly as the bottom of the pitch approaches and the compression there does not cause a problem. The decision making here along with execution can define their run. After the road the girls will enter Strawpile. As you can tell by the name, this section has large rolls and terrain features. Side-hills, drop-offs. The good terrain skier with some guts will do best through here. After Strawpile things are pretty mellow to the finish. All of this action with injected snow will cause some errors to be made. Both in judgement and execution. The decisions made during inspection and before the start will make a mark on this race, as will the execution of these decisions.
Course Setting:
Last year, both courses were set within 2 turns of minimum which tells me the courses can be set open. Plenty of room between gates. A lot of carving and a lot of fun.
The first run will be set by Guenther Obkircher(AUT). Guenther is a long-time men's coach on all different levels in the Austrian system. From Development to World Cup and back down. Now he is with the Austrian Tech girls. Zettel, Schild, Kirchgasser and Brem are his best. Liz Goergl is not in his group but was 3rd in Aspen last year. Watching him set here in Vail all week, it looks like he will set 26-28 meters for distance most of the time and open it up a bit at the finish. His girls have been skiing well all week. He will try to stick to his own identity as a course setter so his team sees things that they are used to seeing. I would expect them all to have good first runs.
The second run is set by Stefano Costazza(ITA). The same will go for him and will help his athletes. Costazza set in La Molina, Spain last season and set 44 turns, within 4 of minimum. The run he set was won by Zettel, Moelgg was 2nd and Maria Pietilae-Holmner was 3rd. For Americans, Julia was 12th. We watched the La Molina race last year on TV in our apartments near Innsbruck, AUT, the weather was very funky. Warm and very windy with injected snow that was failing under the strength of Mother Nature. This does not discount the results, they are as real as any others. But it does ask the question as to the relevance of the course setter with regard to results in that type of situation.

THE SKIERS:

Tanja Poutiainen(FIN)- I saw Tanja a bit this week and I did get to watch her ski. As I mentioned earlier in the week she was very detail oriented and solid. I watched her free skiing and saw she was making strong transitions and working hard on clean initiations. Great stuff from a great skier. She was happy, relaxed and polishing her approach. She basically said, "One race at a time..." Sounds like any professional athlete anywhere who has been winning. She was second in Aspen last year and will easily be in the mix this week.
Kathrin Zettel(AUT)- She had the flu during the Levi slalom and could not race. She then had to fly here after recovery. The Austrians seem to be keeping her on low volume and few repeat days. They seem concerned with her health and hydration. I will go on a limb and say that she will be less likely to be a factor in Aspen. Recent illness, air travel, jet lag, low volume, the dehydration that flu brings on? It will be tough for her to get it done.
Tina Maze(SLO)- Tina looked very strong and clean in all of her runs in Vail this week. I have been impressed with her skiing,speed and consistency. I would not doubt if she competed for a podium in Aspen.
Denise Karbon(ITA)- I think she is the best female GS skier in the world. I will bet on her every time. She was absolutely crushing the pitch here in Vail today which ends with a bend to the left like in Aspen. She won the first run in Aspen last year and had a problem on the 2nd run, finishing 15th. The only negative for her in Aspen is there might not be enough pitch for her over the duration of the hill.
Kati Hoelzl(GER)- She was fastest here yesterday in some timed runs with girls present from Italy, France and the USA. No other top 7 girls were present for the timed runs. She is a good skier and can compete. The Germans have also been in Vail for about a week.
Tessa Worley(FRA)- She won in Aspen last year, she is a fighter and she seems to be skiing pretty well. Repeat wins are hard to come by on the World Cup but I do think she can be competitive.
Michaela Kirchgasser(AUT)- She has been coming on in GS, her coach is setting, she has seemed very happy and relaxed around Vail all week. I don't know how much pure speed she has in GS, but she is an excellent skier and has an advantage with the course setting. They have been here since the 17th. Look for her in the top 10 by the end of the day on Saturday.

AMERICANS:

Lindsey Vonn- Last year, Lindsey had her best GS result finishing 4th in Aspen. She was 7th after the first run with a mediocre start number. Now she starts 8-15 and is skiing GS better than ever. She is another month on her new equipment since Soelden. She has had unbeatable training in Vail since returning from Levi. She has had her own lane at times, full length, prime real estate. Today she looked very strong and was going on a tight line while making clean turns. I would expect an excellent performance from her. She also seems to be used to her new skis and very happy with the whole equipment package.

Julia Mancuso- At his point I can only hope she does well. The few runs I saw were not exceptionally fast.

Megan McJames- As I have said in previous blogs, I love the way Megan skis. She makes a very nice transition and clean initiation as long as she has time to do so. I think the course sets in Aspen will give her the time. I also think that Colorado snow and Park City snow are very similar. She grew up on this stuff and it does help. So will the home crowd. I am very high on Megan's chances.

Sarah Schleper- Home snow and she was 13th last year in Aspen. Pretty good stuff and a chance to repeat that type of performance.

Jess Kelley- Jess is a great technical skier who needs to find her groove. To get herself in gear and just get after it. She is highly trained after years on the ski team and numbers of years on the World Cup, she needs to put aside any drama and just go.

Stacey Cook- My personal favorite as I was her coach at Mammoth before I moved on to the ski team. Stacey even lived at our house and remains one of my wife's best friends. Stace won the time trial the ski team held for selection. She has scored World Cup points in GS in her career so it is not a shock she won the spot. But her rank is 113 on the FIS list which means she will start near the back. The circumstance cannot drive her performance, she needs to take chances and make it work from back there. She is playing with house money and needs to ski like it.

CANADIANS:

Simard will sneak into the top 30 on the start list so she has a chance. Gagnon is a great young skier with a good number but unless she is able to make major changes from Soelden, I don't think anything earth shattering is going to happen.

DARK HORSES:
Look for Viktoria Rebensburg(GER) and Stefanie Koehle(AUT). I just think they are both excellent skiers and competitors and will eventually break through.

The Podium? This one seems tougher. But I think I am going with Karbon for the win, Poutiainen 2nd and Vonn 3rd. Her first World Cup GS podium.

Choices

We all make choices. With skiing, and more specifically ski racing, we make choices about many things. Training venue, training conditions, travel days, days off, using or not using an opportunity that is presented. When you look at the contrasts in these choices, they do not seem like much. Like they will not make much of a difference. But when you look at a sport that is measured in hundredths of seconds, and probably should be measured in thousandths, these decisions make all the difference. Between 1st and 2nd, 3rd and 4th, 30th and 31st. All the placings that really matter in World Cup and all ski racing usually are decided by very small margins. So when to fly, where and when to train, when not to train, what to eat and when, hydration, sleep, when to do conditioning and what time to do so all play a role. What can inspire? What can call to question? All these things make a difference. This is what the coach does in approach to a race. To make these choices but also to take advantage of relationships, call in favors. To give their athletes the best possible chance to take advantage of their opportunities. When you do all of these things well, all you have done is give your athletes the opportunity to excel. You are not and are never guaranteeing anything, but you can help them succeed by making better decisions.
All of that being said, we are just days away from free skiing day on Friday in Aspen. Teams are spread throughout North America training and making decisions. There are some things I would most likely take into consideration. The first is geographic proximity to the race. Why? Short travel time into the race, similar snow temperatures and texture, more control over days off, avoidance of air travel to name a few. So if you were going to race in Aspen why would you fly from Europe and go to Canada to train? It's like flying from the USA or Canada and prepping for Alta Badia in Norway! But yet teams do this. And even here in Colorado you have differences. Vail is closer to the same elevation of Aspen than Loveland or Keystone. It is even closer geographically. Sleeping at higher elevations has a negative effect on recovery. Even if by only 1000 feet. My opinion is that everyone who has trained at Vail this fall is at an advantage at Aspen. Does it mean that the people training here will prevail in Aspen? No, of course not. But it does give them an advantage.
In talking to Jeff Kai, the Program Director of the Aspen Valley Ski Club, the race hill is well prepared with excellent man-made snow and they injected the hill today. The temperatures have been great here and the water will take very well. They have 2 more days to prep the surface and make it smooth for the ladies' race. I do not think it will be overly slick as their plan has been good. With good but not extreme temperatures and night and good care of the hill.
So who has trained here a lot? Poutiainen, Maze, Drev, Hoelzl, Vonn, Zettel, Kirchgasser, Schild, Leinonen. Maria Riesch just got here so she is fighting some jet lag and training. Mancuso maybe did 2 days here in the last couple weeks, Schleper? I haven't seen her here. Hometown and all... Decisions, I am not criticizing, just observing. And I am sure there is a valid reason for every single decision made and it does not make them incorrect. But it does allow for 2nd guessing.

Lake Louise and Aspen... here we come!

We are 5 days from the GS free ski on the race hill in Aspen for the girls. The boys arrive in Lake Louise on Tuesday. A lot is about to happen here in the ski racing world in North America.
World Cup DH staff and skiers are making their way to Lake Louise from their training venues in order to arrive there before the first Team Captain's Meeting on Tuesday evening. The World Cup DH boys are headed to Lake Louise Tuesday to start the first training run on Wednesday. Three training runs are scheduled for Lake Louise, primarily because it is early season and everyone can use a few extra DH runs to figure out skis and other equipment issues. Not to mention figure out the line on the downhill. The boys and staff will settle in quickly on Tuesday afternoon, do some recovery work and start watching video almost immediately. Putting together archived video of previous races so the guys can see how they executed in the past and who executed better and what they might have done differently. Also, serious discussion happens, lead by the most experienced downhillers to help educate the younger guys and to analyze with the coaches what led to certain difficulties the previous season. The athletes at that level are the best analysts of their problems and successes. Of why results or lack of them happened. Along with the extra pairs of eyes the coaches provide, it ends up being a collaborative experience. As long as everyone is as objective as possible and set ego and feelings aside.
Lake Louise is considered a downhiller's downhill. Very fast in spots, a lot of tucking and tuck turns and the technical sections are still at high speed. Guts has it's role here for sure. But there are a few little glitches along the way that can cause consternation. The Fishnet and C turns always pack a little G force and the Gunbarrel coming off a steep pitch to a flat, narrow section has a nice compression. The trail then bends to the left and crosses under the chair before making the turn to the right in Claire's Corner. Then it rolls and glides to the finish. But Claire's can be tricky and guys can blow the race there by going in too straight, or even worse, applying left ski pressure too late. As one of my favorite cliches goes, "You can't win it here, but you definitely can lose it."
There are 3 training runs in Lake Louise which seems like a ton of time to figure things out. But teams work hard to get the line right on day one. At least as close to perfect as possible to try to adjust for the next day. With 7 cameras on the hill during training, the US Ski Team staff will be knitting video camera views together to watch full runs of each athlete as well as everyone else who was top 3 in any split. Or run winners. So after everyone gets back to the hotel, eats lunch (late) and does their dryland and recovery, they sit down to another hour or 2 of video to make a plan for the next day's attempt.
One of the cooler things about Lake Louise is that the girls race on the same track the following week. The FIS and race organizer do some things to change it. They attempt to soften the surface (usually without success) and they set some different gates that control speed in different places on the hill. Maybe they lower the start a little. But it is essentially the same track and Lake Louise is the only place that happens in DH.
I am in Colorado and most of the women's teams are here in Vail. They are here getting ready for the tech starts in Aspen. We had the good fortune to share the hill with Lindsey Vonn, Tanja Poutiainen(FIN), Tina Maze(FIN), Michaela Kirchgasser(AUT) and Kathrin Zettel(AUT) today among other solid World Cuppers. Lindsey had her own space and was fine tuning for the Aspen GS. Maybe testing some skis, ramp angles or mounting points.
Tina trained GS next to us with Sanni Leinonen(FIN), Ana Drev(SLO) and a few others. Tine Maze looked great on the hill. I have seen her ski a lot over the last 8 years and she looked very strong today. Physically as well as technically.
Kirchgasser and Zettel trained slalom and were very solid and relaxed. If they take that kind of skiing into the slalom at Aspen, they will be highly competitive.
And last, Tanja Poutiainen was free skiing on both sets of equipment.
And I want to make a few points about what I saw.
1. She was definitely trying to feel out some canting and ramp issues. The good thing about her is that her service guy speaks German and she speaks Finnish, so they speak English to each other. Much easier for me to understand.
2. When she skied GS she skied in her GS stuff. GS boots, GS poles, GS helmet, etc. When she skied on slalom skis it was the same deal. Slalom boots, slalom helmet, slalom poles. Attention to detail, over and over and over again.
3. She is in a great mood after her good start early but is keeping it all in perspective. Saying things like: "It's a long season." " I only think about the next race." All one day at a time type stuff. Watch out, she is skiing very well, making a very strong weight transfer when free skiing to create bend in the new turning ski with total control of the where and when.
So here we are, 3 days from the first training run of the first DH of the season and 6 days from the Aspen GS. A lot going on to get ready. I am sure the equipment adjustment game is on. The high and dry Colorado snow, even when injected, is totally different from the it's European cousin. Much drier, more easily carvable, better grip. So edges can be less aggressive, cants can be adjusted, ramp angles can change, or even pick a different pair of skis. To adjust for the .01 that gets you the win or into the flip.
More coming! Ladies' Aspen preview should be up by Thursday and the Lake Louise DH should get a preview after training run 2 or 3. Thanks for reading!

Getting Ready for Aspen

I woke up this morning on our 7th consecutive day of perfect weather in Vail. Clear and cold, as it should be. We have a day off today after some excellent days of training which included 2 days of slalom on the injection. While we were unsure our Mission Ridge Ski Team athletes could handle it, they did handle it and handled it well. It is something that they have never even seen in person, let alone tried to ski on. I am sure they were nervous and intimidated about it. The first day we did sections of ten turns and the injection was still a little rough. So we had some better grip. But as it got skied on more, it got slick. This was the second time Ski Club Vail injected this section because it snowed last week. Anyway, injecting over injection with very cold temperatures can often produce skating rink type smoothness. And after skiing on it for a couple days, that is what we got yesterday. Dane Spencer and I were talking and we both felt it was similar to Flachau in January, 2005. It was a legendary injecting situation and was a very slick surface. Dane actually hurt his back on the third turn because he spun out a little on the ice. At Flachau, the organizers and FIS decided to re-inject after it had snowed and it then got extremely cold. Pretty much the same situation we have here and it showed. All of that said, we set 33 turns on the injection and the kids tried their best. They learned a lot about slalom yesterday and about themselves. They learned that their flaws will be exposed on this type of snow and they learned to fight to stay in the course on every close call. Hopefully they also understand ski tuning a little better. And they will be able to watch World Cup through much more educated eyes. I am very impressed with the group as a whole in their adjustment to the situation we put them in! Great job!
So I am sure you must be thinking that this all must have a point. The point is that the USA girls have been training here on excellent conditions. Hard injection, hard man made snow and ice. A great hill with excellent rolling terrain to train on that has been prepared with care and focus. The Austrian tech girls are here. The Swiss have made a day trip here. The Slovenian girls are doing their work here as well. They are all in good shape as far as I am concerned with their choice in venue for training. Right now they are all smiles and focus. Confidence and low stress in the feeling around here right now.
I was talking to Guenther Obkircher yesterday. He is the slalom group coach for the Austrian women and a long time friend going back to a FIS trip in 1998 I took to Austria with some Western Region athletes. He was out there on the hill for his first time yesterday and was thrilled with the hill and the preparation. He set some GS and we watched some of his girls. Kirchgasser looks pretty good on that hill.
The other thing is that the hill here in Vail has some similarity to Aspen. A steep pitch that flattens suddenly as it bends to the left as well as some rolling terrain on a moderate pitch at the bottom. It mimicks the Spring Pitch area and then the Strawpile section on the Aspen World Cup hill. On top of that, Guenther sets run 1 at the Aspen GS. He will set here all week so Zettel and Kirchgasser will get to ski his courses on a similar hill. He will get a chance to set some visually similar sections to what he will set in Aspen. I am liking their chances at this point, a week away.
Thanks again to Ski Club Vail and Vail Resort for having us here and all of their hard work!
Get well, Resi!!!!!!!!!!

Lake Louise Snow Check Approved

Men's World Cup DH is the coolest thing on earth. The start is almost always at the top of a ski area, and ends at the bottom. At the top there are amazing views. In between there are turns, rolls, flats, jumps, sidehills. Whatever you can think of. It is the ultimate challenge. Fastest to the bottom wins, end of story. It's like when I was a kid growing up at Stratton and we would all line up on Sunday afternoon at the top of the ski area and race to the bottom down Wanderer...or even better, Work Road/Wanderer. It was flat but fun and had some jumps and a lot of tucking. Just legs burning at the bottom trying to get your skis as flat as possible. So much fun trying....and winning. It's the same thing for the big boys on the World Cup and it all starts in 11 days in Lake Louise.
The area around Lake Louise is absolutely beautiful. Huge peaks, enormous trees and solitude. If is truly breathtaking. The World Cup is housed in the Chateau Lake Louise which compliments the surroundings. I took my family there during the races last season and they had a ball hiking and skiing and checking out the pioneer era history of the area.
With Lake Louise passing their snow check today, the game is on. World Cup DH is only 11 days away. Lake Louise has 3 training runs, the men will be heading there soon.
The track at Lake Louise is widely considered very easy by Men's World Cup standards. And I would agree with that opinion if you base downhill only on guts. It is not only about that in Lake Louise. It is still a fast track with a lot of terrain, tricky turn sections,tactical adjustments as well as some jumping. You can be the ballsiest downhiller in the world and not win in Lake Louise. All the skills are tested. Guts, gliding, turning skills, tactical awareness,jumping. It is a strong and fun opener. A lot plays into it. The flat light of late November, stormy winds, the cold canadian weather. The three training runs themselves can take a mental and physical toll. I saw Andrew Weibrecht, at the end of a potentially top 15 run, totally bonk on a dead-flat straight glide section above Claire's Corner and almost hit the fence. He corrected and held it together but ended up outside the points. I can only point to stress and fatigue from the 3 trainers for the cause.

The hill opens with a straight shot schuss down the start chute onto a flat with a little compression. Then it bends to the right with some rolling terrain in a very narrow section. It breaks over into the super-g start and down another steep shot with very little swing. Another compression bending to the left into an open meadow and on to the steeper, turnier sections. Add an off-kilter left-footed take-off jump and the technical prowess and tactical awareness come into play. Then the downhiller's Downhill begins again. Big sweeping turns down a good pitch through a compression and into a narrow flat chute. Just pinning it as hard as possible. The trail bends to the left and then another straight shot crossing under the lift and into Claire's. This is where I saw Weibrecht sit on his bindings. Then Claire's, which is a turn to the right where you need to get way out near the fence as you are carrying good heat and finish your turn early enough to stay on line. There is another big roll/jump just below Claire's. Then a highway to the finish.
This section near the bottom is typical of Lake Louise. It is not visibly intimidating but there are tricks everywhere. If you don't have a good mental grasp of the plan, and/or you don't execute the plan you leave there with an empty feeling. A feeling of what should have been. This race has left a lot of excellent racers scratching their heads.
I am currently in Vail training with the Mission Ridge Ski Team, my home club. The training is fantastic and I would like to thank Ski Club Vail and Vail Resort for having us here. It could not be better!

Men in Levi, What was that?

Every once in a while you get one of those races that just does not turn out well. Maybe it's the snow, the course set, poor light and shadows, bad tactics by the athletes, bad advice from coaches? All or any of those things can happen. Sometimes it just doesn't look great as a product on TV and maybe the smartest guys made the podium today and not the purely fastest guys?
First, I have to address course setting. And I was not standing there on the hill so I do not know for sure, but the turn totals looked high and the second run was a little out of the range for this hill to run well. Christian Hoeflehner(AUT) set and his guy won so it is all ok there. But he lost 2 guys of his own in a section that took out a bunch of guys. Maybe that was the plan? The hill deemed too easy for the men so he set some tricky rhythm changes? I don't know the plan but the Austrians usually have one. But in my mind, that hill runs best in the range from 57 to 61 turns, not 65. You can set it turny and with some room to carve and you get very close, fast and fun racing. Instead, it turned into a war of attrition. To me it looked too fast entering the pitch and for a turn or two after the break and then turned them a bit too much, too late on the pitch with not enough distance to recover if necessary. Lizeroux, Grange, Ligety, Cousineau, Myhrer and many more had major problems in the same section. They were a little late with the pressure there, like Hirscher and Matt, then trapped in the very aggressive snow in the already late groove, and were done.
But enough of that. When you get the information or see it on TV at the start, change your tactics. The run 1 leaders all get to see plenty of guys make mistakes. Get on the radio and call your coach in the area, or listen to what he is already saying, or just change what you want to do based on what you are seeing.
Herbst just skied within himself, used his lead over the people who had gone before. He put himself in the lead and let the others try to catch him. Kostelic did the same thing. Very smart, and then executed well, and finished 1-2.

I want to write about Mattias Hargin(SWE). He has only one gear, all out. And he paid a little in the section in question too. It will be interesting to see if he learns over time when he needs to give away a little line and make some good turns to get through a tricky section. Usually that takes more experience in the top 7 to establish that kind of confidence. The confidence that your speed is high enough to win as it is. And then usually it takes that confidence to recognize the issue, but then also the confidence to actually do it in the heat of a slalom run. Tough stuff. He still turned in a great performance and should be very happy with the outcome.
Some other things I saw.
Jimmy Cochran(USA)- I was pretty happy to see him ski as well as he did. I think he skied technically better than I have even seen him recently. I hope he can fix those consistency issues a little further to make his move into the upper level once and for all.
Axel Baeck(SWE)- What can you say about him? The Swedes just seem to keep pushing new slalom guys into the show. He is the newest one and moved from 48 to 15! Good stuff.
Marc Gini(SUI)- A very strong performance from him. He started in the late 20s and finished in 10th. That type of hill is good for him, almost every time.
Lars Myhre(NOR)- He was great today. Sometimes he just has these moments of brilliance but rarely backs it up with another run or race. It will be very interesting to see if he can back it up next time.
I want to go on record to say that I jinxed the American boys. I rarely predict odd-ball wins like that. If a guy does not start in the top 7, I will rarely pick him to win. I just had one of those really good feelings about all the boys but it just didn't work out. I have done this before and should have learned my lesson. Ask Robi Kristan who tuned Bode's skis for a long time. We were in Adelboden in 2003 and riding up the tbar. I looked at him and told him "I have a good feeling about today!" He said, "Really? Awesome." We started 8 guys that day. Daron finished 22nd. Schlopy fell on run 2, 2 guys did not qualify, and 4 fell on the first run. So I should know better about my "good feelings."

Levi Women's re-cap and Men's bib draw

I spent most of my day flying and driving to Vail today to get ready for our Mission Ridge Ski Team fall camp. I can't wait to get out on the hill Ski Club Vail has prepared. I have heard nothing but outstanding reports and look forward to getting a lot accomplished here.
I got a chance to watch the women's race today on Universal Sports when I got here. The video was a little glitchy but I got the gist of it. First of all, congratulations to Maria, Lindsey and Tanja! As well as Susanne Riesch and Michaela Kirschgasser. That's the top 5 and they all did a great job. Lindsey let me down a little because I picked her to win, but losing by .08 is well, .08. I thought she had it won when Maria had lost ground by the end of the top flat but Maria held it together when she could have lost it. Congrats to Lindsey, a great start to the season. Start racking up those points in slalom and GS and dominate the speed stuff again and the big globe will be yours. Great job! And Tanja as well, right in the mix in the first 2 tech starts. Susanne continues to ski well in Levi and I am so glad to see Michi Kirchgasser start to put her slalom back together. She has been struggling with it for a while but it looks to be back in order. Very cool.
Most impressive stuff:
Nina Loeseth(NOR) coming from 46th start position to 20th place. But even more impressive was younger sister Mona starting 51 and moving up to 14.
The Canadian girls! All 3 got in the flip and finished back to back to back in 14-16-17 (there was a tie for 14th). Nice job ladies.
A solid day for Hailey Duke in 21st place, well done.
And most of all, the 2 girls coming out of the 70s to get second runs. Kristiina Rove(FIN) born in 1990, made the flip and got a second run. She finished last in the 30 but had a smile in the finish area so big that lit the place up! Congrats to her and hopefully it is the beginning of more to come. And to Kaylin Richardson for making a second run happen from start number 70 to finish 23. I really did not think she would get it done and she did, with room to spare. Fantastic.
Now for a not so positive. Anja Paerson can look at this race and think it was an error and keep banging away at slalom. But I see slow feet and the loss of the ability to recover at speed while carrying speed. The last 1/3 of the course on the second run is where that kind of stuff happens when fitness and quickness decline. Is it really just a little mistake? Or is it symptomatic of something more? Is she on the decline, especially in slalom?

MEN'S BIB DRAW

What number a guy draws in the top 7 likely will not mean much with the way the surface looked for the girls up there on the Levi Black. The place looked perfect, and just as I remember it. Frosted over, Acrtic ice fog hanging over the lights. Not quite dark but definitely not light. Very hard snow that holds up extremely well. One real difference between the men and women is the men beat up the hill a bit more. They put more pressure on the skis and they cut harder into the injection. So it can be worse than what we saw today.
Manni Moelgg of Italy drew 1 but I stand by my opinion that he is better on steeper, tighter, straighter courses.
For me, Herbst at number 2 is a good draw for him as is Hargin at number 4. JB Grange drew 7 and I do not think that will cause much problem for him. I believe he will do well. The other great draw his number 9 for Mike Janyk. That will help him in confidence and therefore with his focus going into the race.
Bode at 16 is a great number for him and will have a shot of getting deep into the top 10. Head skis went 1,2 today so that looks good for Bode. Ted is in at 18 and I think the race is winnable from there. If he can stay within three-tenths after run 1, I really believe he can get it done. And remember that Lindsey won the Levi slalom with bib 18 on last year and on Rossignol. I know that sounds superstitious, but I'm just sayin'.
Others and their numbers? Watch for Mark Gini(SUI) who snuck into the top 30. He could get it done on a moderate hill. He won 2 years ago at Reiteralm which was a replacement for Levi.
Four Canadians start between 35 and 45 and will need to hammer to get into the flip.
One thing that is interesting is that there are a lot of great slalom skiers with late start numbers and are worth sticking aroung to watch. Even if they don't qualify, they will entertain with speed and agility as well as high skill.
One of my favorites is Akira Sasaki(JPN) starting 44. Sake-bomb is a cult hero in central Europe and very popular in Austria. Watch him slash his way down the hill as he tries to reclaim his spot in the top 15. Jimmy Cochran starting 46 has a fantastic chance and a great history on this hill. Tim Jitloff starting 49 is, by all accounts, skiing as fast as anyone in slalom. Watch him move into the top 30.
Home-boy Jukka Leino starts 50 and always brings the heat.Jens Byggmark, a former top 7 guy is starting 55. Watch out! He is likely to blast in there too. Thomas Fanara(FRA) starts 56 is a fast skier as is Natko Zrncic-Dim(CRO) at 57. There is a lot of speed in the back at this race. The last guy I want to mention is Stephane Tissot(FRA)starting 63. He was the best slalom skier in the world not long ago. Consecutive injuries have put him into the back but I look for him to regain his old form sooner rather than later.
Check out the race and enjoy!

Women's bib draw in Levi: What it means and why should we care?

The bib draw is an amazing thing. The night before most World Cups, all the best 15 in the race show up at a stage, usually with a band, and choose their numbers out of a bin, or a hat, or whatever folk art is popular in the area. And usually the bibs are delivered to the athletes by a local junior skier. But whatever happens, it is a huge party to get the thing kicked off. In Levi it already happened today and local hero Tanja Poutiainen got the "hole shot." It's like Jimmy Johnson getting the pole in a NASCAR race in his home town. It's awesome, and exciting. She will be amped for that first run like never before and it will be very interesting to watch the outcome. Schild got 2 which is ok but still a little too early for someone who has been out for so long. If I were her I would prefer #4 which is what our hero Lindsey Vonn drew. I think a perfect first run number in Levi. With the normal 2 minute interval for the first group, she will have about 8 minutes to get herself into the right mood. I have said this before and I will again. She's a pro. She knows her job and she knows herself. I am very impressed with her entire approach to the sport. She will get it done here. Riesch is 5 which is good for both her and Lindsey as they are good friends and will likely relax each other. Sandrine Aubert(FRA) pulled 7 which is always disappointing but I don't think it will matter much. She should be in the mix. I don't think the next group of 8-15 packs much punch for this race. Maybe Therese Borssen(SWE) will get something done. I can hope all I want for Manu Moelgg(ITA) but more as a fan and friend than an analyst.
The real meat of any World Cup first run is the rest of the field. Will late top 30 starters stay in the 30 and get a 2nd run or will the girls in the back bounce them out? Especially this early in the year. Some of them are ready and others are not. One of my favorites, Resi Steigler will be starting 27. She is finally returning to the regular World Cup tour after consecutive knee injuries. She will be racing on her 24th birthday and my 46th. We are Scorpios and we all know that scorps kill it on their big day. Resi will get a second run and move up into the top 15 for a nice start to the season. This is a great hill for her as it matches her grip and rip style. Hailey Duke out of Boise will start 29. This is a big deal as she is nursing an ankle injury and a later start number could really make her feel it. Sterling Grant, the NorAm champ starts 34 which gives her a great chance at scoring some points as well. Unfortunately, Sarah and Kaylin are starting in the weeds at 58 and 70 respectively and that takes a lot of risk, guts and luck to get in the flip from there.
The Canadians all have decent numbers and could all be there in the 2nd run. Anna Goodman starts 25 and was very consistent last season. I think she will start to break into the top 15 instead of the top 20 starting tomorrow. Marie-Michelle Gagnon and Brigitte Acton start 35 and 36 and have a great shot at getting in there for a second run. If Brigitte can get it rolling early in the run and find her rhythm, she can be fast. If she struggles or bobbles early, she has a hard time bouncing back.
Some young girls to watch:
Christina Geiger(GER) She was born in 1990, yes that makes her 19 years old. She's starting 32 and was 2nd in the Europa Cup slalom standings last year. Bernadette Schild (AUT) is also a 1990 year of birth and for Austria to bring her up to Finland for one race means they believe she can get the job done. The same goes for Nadja Vogel(SUI) who is also a 1990. Even younger are Elena Curtoni(ITA) who is a 1991 and Mona Loeseth(NOR) who is also a 1991. Both are younger siblings of established World Cup slalom skiers and I think that the younger brothers and sisters tend to out perform their older siblings.
Start times are 11 AM and 2 PM CET. Stay up all night and fire up the computers to check it out!

Levi Slalom: Men's Preview

Who is going to win this race? The one who skis the fastest...Really? Is that it? I think in this one it really is. There have been only 2 men's World Cup slalom races on the Levi Black and there were 6 different guys on the podium. (Grange, Miller, Matt in 2008) and (Raich, Larsson and Rocca in 2006). Here we are in 2009 and no repeats on the podium to draw from. And not really any repeats in the top 10 that we can draw anything from. Look at last year's podium. Grange is a great skier who is excellent on moderate hills. Miller is possibly the fastest, while most inconsistent top slalom skier in history. And Matt is among the most consistent in history. In the 2006 podium you have a winner who is super consistent and was on his way to a slalom globe that year, Larsson who rivals Miller for lack of consistency and Rocca who is the streakiest slalom skier ever. So, if I put all of those facts together with a qualification margin of 1.40 last season and 1.71 in 2006, I see flat-out, wide-open racing. The course setting is likely to be fairly open for the hill to ski well so we should see more of the same. I expect a high-risk, leave-it-all-on-the- hill approach even in run 1 because if you play it too safe, you will find yourself too far behind to make up the places. Or maybe watching it from the finish area?
With the courses expected to be open, I see very little tactical adjustment or planning. Maybe a tiny re-direct of the skis at the top of the pitch to be ahead of the tempo for 3 or 4 turns and then a full-gas approach the rest of the way.
All of this makes it incredibly hard to pick, but a lot of fun to watch. It also leaves some favorites for their style of skiing. I will hit on some of that here and have a look at the favorites, and their positives and negatives.

TOP DAWGS:

JB Grange(FRA): It all seems to be leaning in his direction. The hill is mellow, the courses will likely allow a lot of carving, he's the slalom king and defending champ. Along with a top 7 number and watch out. JB is definitely the favorite. His one real weakness, the lack of a classic pole-plant move, will not likely be deadly on this kind of hill.
Manfred Pranger(AUT): Always a threat and a guy who gets extremely ramped up. I actually think that will hurt him on this hill. He might get overamped and not even make it through the rollers on the top flat. Plus, Manny is much better on tighter courses with less swing. I expect the opposite type of sets in Levi.
Julien Lizeroux(FRA): I like his aggressive style and positive attitude. But I think he is similar to Pranger in many ways on the hill and I think he might push for a little too much and be a DNF or have a major error.
Ivica Kostelic(CRO): A big, strong guy and always a threat. His best is 5th in Levi and I think it's because he is also a little better at the straighter, tighter stuff. Just not versatile enough. He also is very energy-dependant. Sometimes he looks like he is just not into it. He also carries nagging injuries into the early season after their overly aggressive preparation period training volume.
Reinfried Herbst(AUT): I think he is built for this type of hill. A lot of success in similar venues over the years. I am pretty high on him in Levi and with Hoeflehner setting run 2, I think he can charge onto the podium on run 2.
Manni Moelgg(ITA): I am a big Manni Moelgg fan. He hails from St. Vigilio, a beautiful place nestled deep in the Dolomites near the Kronplatz and Alta Badia. A great place you should visit at any time of year. I do think he can be ok in Levi but he tends to excel on steeper, tighter, tougher stuff.
Mattias Hargin (SWE): This hill is tailor made for him! You heard it here! A free-swinging Swede who has found himself in the top 7. Similar approach to Byggmark. It's like a heavyweight fight that opens with a flurry of punches when this guy hits the hill. Unbeleiveable energy and speed. With a fairly gentle hill, watch out for a big breakthrough.
Mario Matt(AUT): One of the most consistent slalom skiers of this generation, along with Benni Raich. He will likely do well but I am not sure he will risk enough to win.
Marcel Hirscher(AUT): Super fast young guy. Born in 1989 and just making his mark on the FIS World Cup. He can be in there for sure.
Benni Raich(AUT): See Matt above. I think he lacks the risk for this hill even though he did win here in 2006. If there is going to be a winner by default or attrition, it will be Benni.
Mike Janyk(CAN): Here it is Canadian brothers, Mike Janyk will compete for a podium in Levi. The hill sets up perfectly for him and if the courses have room and swing, that is right in his wheelhouse. Good luck Mikey, let it rip!

AMERICANS:
I have avoided being a homer in the blog so far this season. But I am hearing so much good stuff out of the American training sessions, I just have to chuck fairness out the window. The news has been positive, I believe they are talented and skilled.

The USA is starting Miller, Ligety, Jitloff, Cochran and Nolan Kasper.
Here it is in a nutshell. The word from the American training in Taernaby is that Ted has found his speed and is ready to go. Ligety will fight off a mediocre first run start position to win this race. Ted has never won a FIS World Cup slalom. He has 6 podiums, the last coming in Wengen on Jaunary 12, 2008. He went all last season without a World Cup podium. That streak will end, the winless streak will end. Ligety will win on Levi Black.
Bode will do very well too. He is likely not ready yet but this is a great hill for him and will compete well for a top 10 finish.
Jitloff and Jimmy C will fight off some tough start numbers to qualify and then turn in excellent 2nd runs to make the top 20. And while I like Nolan as a skier, I think he has too much to overcome in start number and nerves to get it done here. But not to worry, he is a good skier and the tougher hills might favor him more. I think we come out something like: 1, 8, 13, 18.

CANADIANS:
As far as the neighbors to the north, I think they have a lot to cheer for. Janyk is ready to make a move, for sure. When you look at he rest of them, you have occasional qualifers in Trevor White, Brad Spence, Ryan Semple and Julien Cousineau. They all ski well on this type of hill. They just need to get a little lucky with course conditions and risk/reward but they can get it done.

Other dark horses to watch? Giuliani Razzoli(ITA), maybe Mark Gini(SUI) to come from outside the top 30. The same with Christian DeVille(ITA). Sandro Viletta(SUI) also brings a lot of heat to every run. One last one, this was the first big breakthrough for Jens Byggmark in 2006. Watch for him again, this time on Volkl.

Whew, that was a whirlwind. It just got me so fired up for this race!

Levi Women's Preview, Size Matters.

While certainly not the only ingredient for success at Levi, size has played a role in the results over the years in Levi. As has been mentioned in the previous blogs, Levi is a flat hill, with a long flat out of the start and another long one at the bottom after a steep, then moderate middle pitch.
When you put the hill profile together with the course setters, you get a recipe for carving style slalom and higher speeds. Just the pure impact of the gates at higher race speeds gives the advantage to the bigger girls. They can pound through the block with less disruption, then can carve slightly larger radius turns and are will not likely be required to be too quick on the pitches. And it just goes to common sense that they would be able to grip better on a slick surface.
Both course setters have set close to the minimum turns at other venues and both have very tall slalom skiers on their squads.
The result history backs this up. Last year's winner was Lindsey Vonn, 2007 was re-scheduled to Reiteralm, AUT. 2006 was won by Marlies Schild who is fairly tall as well. Prior to that, the Levi race was a women's only event in the late season with 2 races per visit. Those races were won by Kostelic, Paerson, Poutiainen and Maria Riesch. All of whom have size on their side. Last year, Maria Pietilae-Holmner was 2nd and Riesch was 3rd. The only really "small" girl with a podium on this hill is Kathrin Zettel (AUT) who is truly tiny. But I would argue is one of the best carvers of a slalom ski on the women's tour.
So does that mean that only the bigger girls have a chance? No, of course not, it is a ski race and we all know that anything can happen. Start numbers, fog, wind, snow, rain, a funky course set. The possibility of anything happening is part of the fun. "That's why they play the games" as one NFL analyst is prone to say.

FRONT RUNNERS:
Maria Riesch (GER): 3 podiums with 1 win in the last 6 starts in Levi. With good product on her feet, I think she is a contender again. Her coach sets run 1. She should get out to a good start and could hold on if the conditions are good on run 2.
And don't forget, she is the reigning World Champ in slalom.
Maria Pietilae-Hlomner (SWE): Maria was 2nd last year in Levi. I do think racing in Scandanavia will help the Swede this weekend. She is good enough and will have a top 7 start number. For her to get a win here she will need to ski a perfect race. Full speed, no mistakes, smart tactics.
Sarka Zahrobska (CZE): I think Sarka is a good slalom skier with a lot of opportunity to win this season. I just don't think it is here. She is a notoriously slow starter to the season and has had very little success in Levi.
Kathrin Zettel (AUT): As I mentioned earlier, she is a great skier. One of the best carvers of slalom turns on the women's tour. Very consistent and very quick. She truly needs to risk to overtake some of the bigger girls on this hill but she can do it.
Sandrine Aubert (FRA): Watch out for her. Very tall girl and coming off a roll at the end of last season. She won the last 2 World Cups and was leading the World Champs SL after run 1. I am sure the pressure was just too much racing at home in France but she showed her ability on a tough hill in Val d'Isere and went on after that to put up the 2 wins. I think she is primed to move into the slalom elite along with Maria Riesch, Mrs. Vonn, ET AL.
Anja Paerson (SWE): I know this is not the most popular opinion, but I just don't think she has much left in the tank. She won her first World Cup in December 1998 in Mammoth and has been going at it in 4 events pretty much ever since. 11 years is a long time on that tour, plus factor in 4 event skiing in the winter and all the days on snow in the preparation period to be ready to ski 4 events. I am not buying into her as a contender in slalom anymore. She might be able to steel herself for a push for one last Olympics, but I have been watching her fade a little at a time the last couple of seasons and slalom is usually the first to go. I will continue to count her out until she gets the job done.
Tanja Poutiainen (FIN): Never count out the home country! The Levi fans, while only about 5,000 in number, are extremely vocal. They are very loyal and proud of the home team as well as highly lubricated. They will push her to a good finish. I do think she can win and is riding high after the win in Soelden.
OTHERS TO WATCH:
Frida Hansdottir (SWE): A strong end to 2009 and racing in Scandanavia. She could get something done.
Ana Jelusic (CRO): She has a top 5 here in the past but her lack of size will work against her. It puts her in the high risk/reward category.
Therese Borssen (SWE): Again, a strong finish to the season last year and some decent results in the past at Levi. Scandanavian racing is different and there is some history for the Swedes, Norwegians and Finns getting strong results above the Arctic Circle. The snow is just different and the light is very, well...not light.
A few others to look for are Fanny Chmelar(GER), Susanne Riesch (GER) and Sanni Leinonen (FIN). The 2 German girls and very big and strong with their coach setting run 1. And Susanne had her first big World Cup breakthrough on this hill in 2006. Both Fanny and Susanne will start in the top 15. Sanni is at home and is a crowd favorite.

AMERICANS:
Lindsay Vonn: It is tremendously hard to pick a winner. There are so many variables involved as mentioned above. Plus, add that Lindsey recently switched ski companies late in the prep period. I am not sure she really knows what the skis will do. But, that being said, she is very professional and very focused in all areas and can certainly figure that out quickly. Her dedication will be on display throughout the season in 5 disciplines as she fights to retain the overall World Cup globe and earn an Olympic gold or two on the way. I do think Lindsey will defend her Levi win from last season and win this one too.
I do have one criticism however. And I do know that there are bigger things out there this season than the Levi slalom in mid-November. She had to come back to the states after Soelden to do the promo tour. I hope she got herself back to Europe early enough to fight the jet-lag.
In 2006, when Soelden was canceled, we took our team home to the USA and had training on our "private" slope in Keystone. We had injection for slalom. To shorten the story, the boys never could sleep through the night once we arrived in Levi. The jet-lag was the worst any of us had ever had. And we did not recover in time for the race. 3 of the 4 boys did not qualify while Jimmy did well, finishing 15th.
I think Lindsey got over there earlier than we did in that scenario and can find a way to overcome that issue.
As I said before, I do have confidence in her to get it done and win it again.

Resi Steigler: Resi will be racing on her 24th birthday. It is my birthday too but not my 24th! I think she has a great chance to start her comeback in slalom if her start number is decent. It is a great hill for her as she can take that full-attack style to the hill and make it cleanly to the finish.
Hailey Duke: Hailey had a great season last year. She is sitting in 28th on the current World Cup Start List in slalom which is great news for her. The only negative is that she is not 100%. She is nursing an ankle injury.
Sterling Grant: Sterling has a great opportunity with a high 30s or low 40s start number. The snow usually holds up very well in Levi so she will have a shot at getting a second run.
Kaylin Richardson and Sarah Schleper round out the American effort in Levi but with very poor start numbers, I do not expect a lot.
Julia Mancuso: As far as I know, she is not starting in Levi. No comment on that, yet.

CANADIANS:
With Anna Goodman leading the way and starting in the low to mid-20s, it will be tough for them to get a lot done. Anna had her best result at Levi last season finishing 23rd. She had a solid year last year and did her best racing toward the end of the World Cup season. At this point, I do not know who else will be racing but based on world rank I can only guess that Marie-Michelle Gagnon and Brigitte Acton will be their other starters.

The podium?
Vonn, Poutiainen, Aubert.

More to come, stay tuned!

American Men update.

While I was not planning on blogging again today, I came into some information that I felt I should pass along. Especially since I dropped a rumor bomb at the end of the last one.
First of all, I have been in contact with the American staff who just got done training in Wittenburg, Germany in the indoor dome. They report that Bode is fine. There is no problem with his knee and has been training well with the team. As has been the report in the past month, he has been a great teammate and is really pushing the other boys. Of course, as expected, his consistency is not yet there in slalom as he has very little volume to this point. But is very fast at times. Forest Carey, his long-time friend and former coach, says "Bode will be on the podium again in Levi!" He has good slalom skis and is very happy with their performance on ice.
The rest of the report is very strong. The indoor training was excellent. Very hard conditions and good work for flats. By all reports, Tim Jitloff has really been fast and hammering along. The boys are training in their normal patterns and look excellent. They are very happy with all of their slalom skis and all felt confident in their grip on the ice in the indoor.
The staff also communicated that they were excited where Jimmy Cochran is with his skiing right now and looking for him to make a big move in Levi. He also has a good history on this hill and tends to be fast on moderate terrain.
In short, they are confident in all the boys and excited to get up to Sweden this week for some more training under the lights.
There will be more blogging this weekend, Monday at the latest. The next planned blog is the full women's preview! Look for it.

Levi: The Course Setters

As I wrote recently about the Levi course, it is not difficult. And really no stress to set on regarding making minimum turns. It is only 180 meters of vertical and has a long flat at the top. Only needing 54 (-3) 51 turns to make minimum and a lot of opportunity to put in flushes on the flats, there is really no problem making "the number." In the past, setters have been up around 60 turns without really setting tight. When I was there, and the rule was 55 turns without tolerance, the sets were 61 turns on run 1 and 60 on run 2. Both were over 11.5 meters the whole way with the combinations set at 5.5 to 6 meters.In fact, the 60 turn course was closer to 12 meters the whole way. Last year, the women's courses were 59 turns and 61 turns respectively and then men were 63 and 62 turns respectively. With all that said, it looks like we will see courses in the 11 to 12 meter range for both genders.
THE COURSE SETTERS
WOMEN:
Run 1: Christian Schwaiger (GER).
Schwaiger is the German women's technical coach after spending years as the men's Great Britain tech coach. Taking care of the Baxter boys, et al. As a course setter, I have only seen him set in person in training venues, but he tends not to get too caught up in novelties and funky combos. As well, he has some good slalom skiers in Maria and Susanne Riesch and Fanny Chmelar. All 3 are very tall, big girls. I would assume he is going to set to their strength, which would be the slightly bigger turn. It is really good news that Christian is setting in Levi for all 3 of these girls as they all have good histories on the hill. It gives them an excellent opportunity to be competitive on run 1 and build confidence. The last SL Christian set was in Aspen last season and the run was won by Nicole Hosp (AUT). That will not happen again as she tore her ACL in Soelden and is gone for the season. She is making noise about returning in Garmisch at the FIS World Cup Finals but that statement does not make sense in so many ways.
Run 2: Phillippe Willman (FRA)
While I know very little about Phillippe's course setting skills, I have spoken to a few women's FIS World Cup coaches about him and they all feel confident he will set a nice course. His history by the numbers is that he hits the minimum turns often. However, even if he sets 13 meters the whole way in Levi, he will still likely be over the absolute minimum of 51. Again, this is all good news for the bigger girls. Higher speed, less foot speed is necessary, hit the gates harder at higher speed so "size does matter." Both setters and the hill lean toward defending Levi champ Lindsey Vonn, Maria Riesch and the other Garmisch giants and Sandrine Aubert (FRA). The last time Phillippe set was in Ofterschwang, Germany. The race was won by Aubert, his own athlete. The run was won by Alexandra Daum (AUT). Hailey Duke of Boise, Idaho was 3rd and Marie-Michelle Gagnon was also in the mix, giving the Canadian camp some hope going into Levi.
MEN:
Run 1: Manfred Widauer (GER)
Manfred is new on the scene as a course setter. He was the German assistant tech coach last year and is now the Head Coach of the German Tech group. Felix Neureuther, Stefan Kogler and maybe even Dominik Stehle look to take advantage of this fact. Kogler and Stehle both got 2nd runs last season at Levi, and given the fact that they are really the only people who have skied Manfred's sets, they have an advantage. The Germans did train with the Americans in Coronet Peak, NZ this past summer so Ted, Jimmy Cochran and company have likely run some of his stuff too. According to the USA coaches there was nothing out of the ordinary or "freaky" going on with his setting. In my own experience, the first World Cup slalom set I made was very basic. With all the distraction of people measuring and Hans and Guenther telling you what to do, you tend to default to basics on your first World Cup set. Also, with little concern with making minimum turns, I expect something solid and basic with plenty of distance. Close racing for sure.
Run 2: Christian Hoeflehner (AUT)
Now this is a guy I know a lot about. He has been with the World Cup SL guys in Austria off and on since 2002. We came into the World Cup together and spent a lot of time together those first years when team USA and the Austrians were official training partners. Our friendship did not dissolve when the teams ended the agreement nor when he was promoted to Head Slalom coach. He is responsible for the dominance of the Austrian slalom machine. Herbst, Hirscher, Pranger, Raich, Matt. Watch out for a strong run 2 push out of these guys. Historically, "Hoefi" has liked to set out past 11 meters. The turn count of 63 last year sounds like 11 meters to me. Even though Herbst and Pranger are better at tighter courses, this hill just does not run well at 10 meters and Hoefi is aware of the aesthetics of World Cup racing. It has to play well on TV. He wants the product to look good and the boys to look good on television back in Austria. Last year, Grange won the run Hoefi set, Ligety was 2nd and Bode was 3rd, just .01 behind Ted. JB won the race. Grange also won a Super-Combi slalom run set by Hoeflehner. Huh...
As an aside, I doubt much if Bode is ready for this race and there is a persistent but yet unconfirmed rumor that his knee is bothersome and he will not start in Levi.