Val Gardena and Vald'Isere

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

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

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

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

Racing on the Face de Bellevarde, not nice.

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