Kranjska Gora is great for Americans.

Kranjska Gora
As you drive over the Wurzenpass from Villach, Austria to Kranjska Gora, you are struck by the view straight ahead, across the valley as you drive down the south side of the pass. It is a winding, steep trail that twists down in front of you into the tiny village of Podkoren. The name of the slope bears the same name, Podkoren. The first time I drove over the pass from Kärnten, it was a year of almost no snow early in the winter, and Kranjska somehow got the race hill prepared. It was a singular strip of snow down an otherwise brown hill. It was menacing and magical. I almost drove my Cargo van off the winding pass as I stared at the strip of snow. I was so impressed that they had it covered and that we were going to race. That was early January, 2003. Bode won the next day in the GS and Schlopy was 4th, just .01 off the podium in a very tight race. I think he was only .02 from second place held by Christian Mayer. Bode won by a lot.
Kranjska has always been good to us and we have seen the village grow and prosper over the past 8 years. There are new hotels being built as well as bars, restaurants and discos. We always look forward to the excellent pizza at the Kotnick or Lipa. The race organizers have welcomed us with big smiles, extra credentials, really anything we want. It has also been good to Ted Ligety. He won a Europa Cup slalom here on his way up through the ranks, his first World Cup points were scored here, he has a World Cup slalom podium and he has won the last 3 World Cup GS races held on this hill. Today’s race was the replacement race for Adelboden, the famous Pokal Vitranc is being held tomorrow. Obviously, Ted has to be the favorite. Confidence and comfort for him in Kranjska would lead anyone to believe that he can win again tomorrow. If he does so, he will 3-peat the Pokal Vitranc, the first time in history.
The Podkoren course starts directly next to the top lift station. Ski off the ramp to the left and you are there. Look down the pitch at 442 vertical meters to the valley below. The start pitch is a very steep, injected pitch with a seemingly mild roll in the middle of it. That roll never gets enough respect, and burns those who do not plan for it. If you look at Ted’s splits at Kranjska, I will bet he was fast on top, he knows this roll and skis it well. Then as you pass the top of an ancient platter lift on the right, the hill flattens with a slight bend t the left and then a major roll. Then another big roll with 3 turns on it before it flattens suddenly and bends hard left. I always stood on this roll above the flat and bend. I could see all the way to the GS start and to the slalom start, almost half the hill. As it bends to the left there is almost always a delay set in the compression and ends up being the most important single turn on the course to be able to carry all the speed from the top pitch into the flat, rolling middle section. The trail turns back to the right at the slalom start and rolls moderately for about 20 seconds and constantly pulls you to the right. As you approach the finish, the trail plunges toward the line and pulls even harder to the right as the trail gently bends to the left. The fall-away here is fierce. Six to eight more turns and through the finish and you are the winner of the historic Pokal Vitranc.
Congrats to Ted for his win today, and to Tommy Ford and Tim Jitloff, tallying some more World Cup points! Congratulations as well to Marcel Hirscher and Kjietl Jansrud for their podiums. Another GS tomorrow and I think you should expect very close racing. If you give these guys 4 chances on any hill, there is a great chance the time differential will compress. It should be exciting racing. I love Ted’s chances on this hill tomorrow and I would look for the major challenge to come from Aksel Lund Svindal and Marcel Hirscher. Jansrud should compete but his consistency, or lack thereof, is bothering me a little.
In another encouraging note, Marcus Sandell (FIN) was able to fore-run the race in Kranjska Gora, signaling that he is getting very close to a return to the World Cup.

Kitz is done, Schladming on the way!

Kitz is in the books and Schladming’s on the way.
This is one of the most exhausting stretches for the American Tech boys in Europe. Typically, they have been over there since late December or very early January. I have experienced more than one New Year’s Eve in Europe. Pushing a month now, training hard, heading for all the big races. It is a whirlwind with no end in sight. Hundreds of thousands of people have watched them race live, millions more on TV. Heroes of central Europe, all of them. There are people following them around in Innsbruck, wanting a hand-shake or a hello.
So Kitzbuhel is done, it was a huge weekend for Cuche. Proving that he is healthy again and looking to take the prizes due him in Whistler. He has to race in Kranjska yet and then get working on the Olympic grind. He will need to work through the difficult schedule and pick his training carefully but his peaking cycle for February 2010 is going to be good because of the relatively minor injury and the rest it allowed him. This is a sport measured in hundredths of a second and should probably be measured in thousandths. It is a sport where the right timing in rest, training and racing can make all the difference.
But the one thing I really want to talk about is Felix Neureuther’s first World Cup win. He has had 6 previous World Cup podiums with no wins. He has been one of the most talented young talents on the circuit since Ted Ligety, JB Grange and Felix all broke through in the 2004 season. It was obvious that all these guys were going to make it big; they were all still juniors at the time. We have all been waiting for the heir of German Alpine Skiing to make his big splash. And make it he did. As everyone knows, he is the son of Rosi Mittermaier and Christian Neureuther, both German World Cup slalom stars in the 70’s. Christian won the Kitzbuhel slalom in 1979. Christian and Felix are the only father-son combo I know of who are named on the gondola at Kitzbuhel as Hahnenkamm Champions. I have known Felix since his early days on the tour and remember marveling at his talent and pure speed. And knowing he needed to refine some skills to get the job done. But watching him develop, fight injury and illness and watch him grow into a mature professional has been a lot of fun. He is approaching his 26th birthday in March and has a long career ahead of him.
I do want to touch on one more fact about Felix. He is a year of birth 1984. And I don’t know why, but there seem to be some magic years of birth that flourish on the World Cup. Here are some names that are born in 1984, the list is long so bear with me if I don’t get them all: Ligety, Lanning, Neureuther, Myhre, Gini, Olsson, Grange, Innerhofer, Mermillod-Blondin, White, Spence, Missillier, Razzoli, Bourque, Kucera, Kueng, Osborne-Paradis, Maria Riesch, Vonn, Mancuso, Cook, Hoelzl. That is all I can remember but that is a long list off the top of my head. There are a lot of wins right there out of one year of birth that is still young. Someone should add up year of birth World Cup points men and women and get back to me on that but this one seems like the hottest year ever. Of course and as usual, I have digressed badly. I just want you all to know that Felix has fought for this through many problems, both physical and mental, and I am happy for him and proud of him too.


One more thing about this win that I have never checked on….But Felix won the FIS SL on Thursday Night in Westendorf. And I want to know the last double win of these two races? When was it? It is rare, and he should be patted on the back for it. It is pretty much the same as back to back World Cup wins. Well, to me it is…Nice job, Felix. I am sure all of Garmisch had a rough morning on Monday! Do it again!
Before I move on I need to give a shout-out to Nolan Kasper. First time in the second run in a World Cup on cut-off day for the Olympic selection. Great job Nolan and I hope it gives you the Olympic spot!
SCHLADMING IS TOMORROW NIGHT.
Schladming is the slalom giant. It’s the slalom race any slalom specialist has marked on the calendar. It is big, it’s nasty, it’s usually icy, it's at night and it always has an enormous crowd and is as loud a ski race as you will ever attend. It is held dead center in a small town in Ennstal, AUT and they have always welcomed us with open arms. For the USA boys it’s always a great stop because we get out of Kitz on Sunday after the race and usually have a day off on Monday. We have traditionally stayed up a long valley called Untertal, in a great small farm-hotel called Gasthof Tetter. They have taken tremendous care of us over the years. We have never wanted for anything at their place and always respected our space and quiet. If you are ever in this area of Austria and need great hospitality and fabulous food, please look it up. Best steak in Europe!!!! For sure.
Well, back to the hill. You take the Planai Gondola up and the slalom runs right next to it. You do have to ski down a long way in the dark to get there…a challenge and a lot of fun. You come out of the start and work on a hard left foot fall-away for about 20 gates. Then the thing bends to the left about 75 degrees and drops extremely steep the rest of the way. So at 63 turns minimum, that makes 40 or so turns of pitch. There is so much steep pitch on this hill that when you set you find you have to set a flush on a very steep pitch, there is just no way around it. It is totally exhausting and rugged. I have seen guys have beautiful ripping runs and I have seen real World Cuppers look like little kids. Depending on the conditions and the mentality of the athlete, it can be the heroic attempt you are looking for or it can be total pain. The most fun thing about it might be the crowd. They are 50-70,000 strong depending on the year. They are all hammered. They have flares and flags and make a ton of noise. Some of the guys have said it can be shocking when they turn the corner. The top tends to have only the brave hard-core fans who want to hike up a long way. So there are only about 5000 people between the start and the bend to the finish, but then you hit the full crowd, and they are all below you as you ski. It’s a bowl, it’s crazy and it’s a Tuesday night. The boys pack up and move on to Kranjska Gora before coming back our way for the Olympics.
Winners in Schladming:
The Austrians love to make their boys feel at home and it shows. They do extremely well in Schladming. I will have to look at more consistent skiers with the tough hill and the great draws those guys got. I think Raich wins. I think Herbst can’t get out of his own way right now, so no way. Not until he stops freaking out. So I see Kostelic in 2nd and Lizeroux 3rd.

Olympic Selection is Near

Olympic Selection is Near.
Sunday was the Wengen slalom for men and the Maribor slalom for women. After those races, the men will have 1 event remaining in each discipline for selection for the Olympics except in GS which is complete. The Adelboden GS has been rescheduled as a 2nd GS in Kranjska Gora, after the Games. They will contest all of their remaining events at Kitzbuhel. One downhill, one Super-G and one slalom on Sunday. Selection is on Monday, January 25th. No races will be used after that date, meaning the slalom in Schladming will not be used. The women had the slalom in Maribor yesterday and then have a downhill, super-g and GS in Cortina coming up. Again, the last of their selection events.
The Olympic Selection for the US Ski Team goes as follows:
There are 3 lines of objective criteria. If more than 3 are selected at any line of criteria, they use the best FIS point result to rank the athletes selected to that point, in the last line of criteria used. If they are still tied, then they would use World Cup points to date. The fourth line is the need to decrease the team size and then they would use the highest single World Cup placing, then World Cup points and on.
The first line of criteria is a World Cup podium. The second line is a World Cup top 10. The third line is total World Cup points. Last, the fourth selection is reserved for a discretionary choice by the staff. I will let you know that this is rarely used, but it does happen. There is usually a pretty good point at which the points drop-off and selection is often obvious. But there have been times where it has been close and the younger guy or someone coming on strong directly before the Games has gotten chosen.
TEAM USA TO THIS POINT
MEN:
DOWNHILL
As of today, January 17, 2010, the men’s DH selection is as follows: Bode Miller is selected first with a podium. Andrew Weibrecht is second on points; Sullivan third on points, Nyman is fourth on points. After that we have Fisher and Macartney who need big results in Kitzbuhel and some kind of falter by Steven or Sully to make it in.
SUPER-G
This is a bit of a surprise since our leader is Ted Ligety. Ted has a podium in Super G and will be the first selection. Miller will also be selected with a top 10. Weibrecht sits in 3rd on points and Sully sits in 4th on points. Obviously, Nyman, Fish and Macartney need to get after it a bit in Kitz to get into the mix.




GS
GS should be a done deal as there are no more GS races on the docket before selection and this one is interesting. Ted gets in with a podium. Then comes Zamansky, Ford and Jitloff in that order with VERY LOW point totals. Please notice that there is one obvious name missing from this list and I don’t know how many people are aware of this, but Mr. Miller has not scored a World Cup point this season in GS, in his historically best event. So here is where your safety net, the discretionary spot, has to be used. I know, there are guys who more or less earned it but getting more points than Bode. But the Olympics are about 3 things, Gold, Silver and Bronze and NOTHING else. You are not there to gain experience, be an Olympian, or any other reason you can think of. You are one of the best 4 of Americans in your discipline and you are there to attempt to win a medal. There is One Gold, One Silver and one Bronze. I think my point is clear. They need to put Bode in the GS. Sorry, Jit but that’s the way it should be. I would think that the team would be Ligety, Miller, Zamansky and Ford. Miller can win races and we all know it.
SL
Ligety and Cochran are leading this selection with a top 10 each and then Miller on points. At this point there is not a fourth guy with any points. Due to the rules the discretionary pick comes into play. There are a lot of choices but really not a lot of good ones. They could decide to have the guys’ race for it at Europa Cups this week but we are getting to the deadline and the Kitzbuhel slalom will be the deciding factor. They can only hope that someone identifies himself. They could also use someone already qualified for the games in another discipline like Tommy Ford.
The other thing that is going to become a nuisance for the tech group is the potential for a shrinking World Cup quota in slalom. They need someone to step up and get the job done.
KOMBI
The Kombi selection is a little different as it only has 2 objective spots and those go to Miller and Ligety. Then Weibrecht has points so I would think he has a spot. After that, I think they will either select someone out of who is already on the team or no one at all.

WOMEN:
DOWNHILL
I think Lindsey Vonn gets a spot in DH? Then we have 3 girls with top 10 finishes. They are Cook, Mancuso and McKennis. So it seems like a done deal. There is an outside shot from Chelsea Marshall, Leann Smith and Keely Kelleher but they need big results into the top 10 and have the other girls get shut out for it to happen for them. I think the book is closed on this one.

SUPER G
Ummmm, Vonn gets a spot. Then Julia with a top 10. After that, Keely, Chelsea and Alice all have points but not a lot of points. So Cookie, Leann and Kaylin Richardson could all get on the board with a strong finish and steal a slot. Cookie is the only one with a lot of World Cup experience on the hill in Cortina and I would think she will be the one to break through if anyone does. She did have two top-15 finishes here in 2008.
GS
Sarah Schleper leads the way with a top 10 finish. Lindsey has her top 10 from Soelden. Then come Julia Mancuso and Megan McJames on points. No one else has any GS points on the World Cup so it looks like a solid selection. I think that Megan is an excellent choice even if you went through the discretionary criteria. It is possible that someone could make a charge in Cortina but no one has really shown themselves.
SL
The Maribor has passed with no points scored by the American girls. Mrs. Vonn has her podium from Levi for selection, then Schlep with a top 10. Then Hailey Duke and Kaylin Richardson have some points. Not a lot of points, by the way. The discretionary word comes up again. Who would you put in there instead of Kaylin, or Hailey? Maybe Megan McJames? She won a couple NorAm slaloms recently so maybe she could do it. It would keep the team size down and save some money. But then, why get rid of Richardson? She can be your 4th Kombi athlete too. So what about Duke? While she has not done much this year, she has managed some points after a solid season last year and has struggled since her ankle injury in the fall. At this point I would go straight off the points for slalom.
KOMBI
Vonn, the world leader in this category is an obvious choice again. Then Mancuso, who has been a staple in the Kombi for all major events in recent memory. I would guess that Stacey Cook would go in Kombi and Kaylin Richardson.
There will be a little fun watching the status of selections change as the teams charge for the last available slots. Good luck everyone!

Greatest Show on Snow, the January Tour

The Greatest show on snow coming up this month!
MEN: Adelboden, Wengen, Kitzbuhel, Schladming
WOMEN: Haus, Flachau, Maribor, Cortina
Before I get going on this one I need to take care of some business. I left the US Ski Team last spring but somehow retained the title of Fantasy Football League Commissioner. And I have to congratulate and acknowledge fellow Wenatchee-ite, former employee and athlete of mine and current World Cup coach Pete Korfriatis as the champion of the US Ski Team Fantasy Football league for the 2nd straight season. It is the first repeat championship since the fabled 3-peat of 2002-2004 by yours truly. I would also like to wish the best to Anna Goodman of Canada. Another injury in a tough season for injuries.
First stop for the guys, Adelboden. The nickname should say it all, “Rattleboden.” It is the classic GS race on the World Cup. As great as Alta Badia is, and I love it there, I think Adelboden is the one. The one I would want to win if I ever skied fast enough to get the opportunity. The one that I always watched as a young racer and was amazed that they could do what they did. Tucked up the Frutigen Valley just outside of Interlaken, Switzerland, it is an amazing place. Sheer rock walls and a giant ski area. You can ski over to Lenk on the west side too. It is not far from the home of Gruyere cheese, either.
And on that note, one of the most amazing things they serve in Adelboden is cheese bread. First, a half baguette is skewered on a hot metal rod and left there for a few seconds. Then Raclette is scraped and poured into the hole in the bread. For 5 SFR it is yours and one of the best treats ever! Cheese fondue in every bite. Anyway, Adelboden has sold 37,000 tickets this year so it should be an amazing show. The most I have ever seen there is about 30,000. I have seen 10,000 people at the GS bib draw where they zip-line the boys in from a roof-top to the stage, ripping across a public square above the crowd. Watch out, it can be crazy. Half way down the hill there is a tent and a big screen. Usually about 5,000 people hang out here drinking wine and beer and schnapps. As well as eating a cheese bread or some sausage. It is just below the slalom start and often gives the home country boys a boost when they are about to bonk.
The first couple times I went there, the hill had only a t-bar. The quad they have is new only a few years ago. We would ride up between 2 fences with the race hill on one side and the crowd on the other. It felt like being in a zoo. People staring through b-net at us as we rode the t-bar. Now there is a quad so it is a little easier, although a little less familiar. But I will say this, no tech race is more impressive than Adelboden. The bottom pitch is insanely steep, with a road 3 gates above the finish. And when all the speed builds up into the compression and you hit the road, anything can happen. Rahlves’ crash there is the most violent crash that ever happened in a tech event. And with all of the play that crash got, Andreas Schifferer(AUT) had a very similar crash on run 1 that day and went a little above the air-bag, sliced through the net and broke a spectator’s femur. It is an intense day there.
When you drive up to the hill, there is always a feeling of anticipation, of intensity waiting to happen. And then you ride up for free ski and the hill is injected wall to wall. It drops out of the start for 5 turns of almost free fall. Then it hits a compression as the hill bends to the right. A road is there almost immediately and bounces you again, still bending right. Of course with fall-away right foot the whole way. It will stay relentlessly right footed all the way to the bottom pitch. Then it breaks to the left briefly and then re-adopts the right foot attitude and another pronounced road. Six more turns or so and then another road with a major deepening of the right foot pull. Then it flattens a little and into the slalom hill. A big break-over for a couple of turns and onto a dead-flat with some big, round rolls in it. It flattens more and starts bending to the right hard. Then breaks over again into the almost free-fall finish pitch. 1 minute and 13-15 seconds of unending intensity. Rattle-boden all the way. 30 thousand plus screaming Swiss at the bottom.
In the 7 years I spent on the World Cup, this race always amazed me with the fervor the crowd backed their boys. Their skiers are loved in Adelboden. I was there one year when Berthod and Albrecht were young. They had not done much all year and I was having my lunch at the slalom start trying to will my last athletes to stay in the top 30. When Berthod left the start, a buzz began, I looked up to the screen and he was only a couple tenths out at the first split, the noise got louder. He hit split 2 and the entire crowd understood, he was just .97 behind. They were willing him to qualify. And he did, the place exploded. The same happened on the next racer, when Dani Albrecht went. It was amazing.
At the awards there, they lift the top 3 out on a crane to the parking lot above the stadium. The year Berthod won (January 2005) and Albrecht was 2nd it was like a religious experience. I think Jimmy was like 17th? None of our other guys finished. But I stayed and watched the ceremony as I was waiting for the slalom course set anyway. And the crowd went nuts, and sung the national anthem over and over…it was a deep and moving experience. It was something that sticks with me and I hope we can someway reach that type of experience.
I will say more, that Adelboden requires a rare combination of intensity and tactics. It needs an athlete to be aggressive with their movement and body position. To be driving the switches and moving hard to be in the front of the boots, but yet to understand the tactics of the blind rolls, fall-away turns, the compressions and roads. It has it all. To put a little understanding on it, we were talking about which GS was toughest and the argument was between Alta Badia and Adelboden. I chose Adelboden. Ted looked at me and told me that he did not think Adelboden was all that tough. The next morning he hit the bottom of the first pitch and high sided himself into the red-room right in front of me. That was the year he won the GS globe. He still has not done better than 9th there ever. I think I am going to rest my case. Just recall the crash Daron Rahlves had at the bottom of Adelboden and that will tell you the level of risk there is on this hill.
Very quickly, congrats to Lindsey for her win today in the replacement race for Val d’Isere in Haus, Austria. Also to Stacey Cook and Alice McKennis for solid World Cup points!

Alta Badia GS, My Favorite!

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


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

Racing on the Face de Bellevarde, not nice.

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

Beaver Creek Review or Carlo Janka is really good.

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


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

Beaver Creek GS Preview

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

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

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

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!

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!

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

THE FAVORITES:

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

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

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

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

THE DARK HORSES:

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

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

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

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

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

THE AMERICANS:

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

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

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

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

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

THE CANADIANS:

Roy, Bourque, Dixon, Kucera

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

Good luck to everyone! It will be fun!