Super G and Combi tomorrow!

GARMISCH AND ST. MORITZ. SUPER G AND COMBI TOMORROW

St. Moritz showed its teeth today. It is a tough hill when the light is flat like that. There are no trees, no landmarks and no vision. It is tough to even know where you are on the hill, so easy to get lost. But Lindsey put the smack-down and it was obvious that, once again, she is better than all the others. Riesch was second best, but really she was first-worst. No one was even close. One of the things I really like about her skiing these days is her ability to move to the new ski early and line up her turn with great position, allowing her to time almost every turn perfectly. Did you see when the outside ski was bouncing late in the turn? What did she do? She knew she had all the direction she needed so she just went to the new ski. You can call it the inside ski all you want, but really it is the new turning ski or outside ski. It was very nice execution of a move that most of the girls are not comfortable doing.

With Maria, you could see a very defensive position from the start. Maybe it was the light, maybe the rough track, maybe both. But no matter how you call it, her position was defensive and her tuck position was awful. Hands low, shoulders catching air. It was not World Cup skiing. But that’s the way it goes sometimes and Lins put another C Note in her Overall and DH globe column.

Tomorrow they are competing in a SG/Super Combi. And Lins should win this one too.

Lindsey, Maze and Riesch will be the podium.

GARMISCH

At least there is a Super G tomorrow. Today was disappointing. I know it’s an outdoor, winter sport held on mountains. Any weather can happen anytime. Garmisch had the seemingly ever-present fog and the start was lowered. But lowering the start to the Alte Schneise in Kitz is one thing. Lowering the start in Garmisch without even using the Frei Falle is really dull. I am as big a fan as there is of World Cup skiing but that just lost my interest. I watched about 4 or 5 guys and I just could not get into it. Sorry. It was no fun to watch.

Super G is tomorrow. And with his penchant for great skiing in Garmisch, I have to think Erik Guay is going to bring it and pull in a win. I really do. His SG has been mostly solid this season and he has always been very good in Garmisch. Innerhofer won the World Champs last year and Kostelic has been in there in SG in the past in Garmisch. But Kostelic has been off the pace in speed this year and I am not sure that is something that is easily fixed. It could be a set up deal and if that’s the case I doubt he has the time to go out and test SG glide turns to figure it out. He skis 4 disciplines and there is little time for speed testing.  I just don’t see it because he has been nothing short of awful in SG this year. Svindal was good last year and has been good in SG this year. He leads in the SG standings and he is likely pulling his motivation from this one discipline because the others seem to have abandoned him.  But he can do well here. I seem to be talking myself into Svindal and Reichelt as the 2 and 3 spots on the podium.

GUAY, SVINDAL AND REICHELT but I could see someone like CUCHE challenging for the steps.

Garmisch and St. Moritz DH Tomorrow!

Garmisch and St. Moritz downhills are coming up tomorrow. The girls had a Super Combi today that was won by Lindsey and allowed her to increase her hold on the overall. She has a 302 point lead over Tina Maze and I honestly see her winning the downhill tomorrow and the SG/ Super Combi on Sunday. If that is the case, 1270 points by the end of January is a huge total. As a reference, she won the overall in 2008 with just over 1400 points. And if you look at the rest of the season, she could go well over 2000 points and that would be something to celebrate! If she averages 50 points per race the rest of the season after St. Moritz, she would fall just short of 2000. I think she will do better than that.

ST. MORITZ

The very famous resort in the Engadin area of Switzerland is known as a playground of the rich and famous. From the horse races on the lake to sail boarding on the ice, the valley looks like a carnival every day of winter. And high up, far above the valley floor, the downhill track starts at the very top of the ski area and ends before the tree line. Because of the high altitude and the traditionally cold weather, the track is often characterized by very hard, dry and severely aggressive surfaces. The track also has a ton of terrain, some big jumps and a lot of blind turns and fall-aways. As a result, you normally want to go as late as you can so the track compacts a bit and the more experienced skiers have an advantage having skied there a few times. In addition, the two times I have been there for races, have been among the coldest I have ever been on a race hill.

Anyway, the past has not been that kind to Lindsey in St. Moritz. She was 5^th twice. Once in 2008 and once in 2010 but she is a different skier and a different person now. I still look at her to win this thing tomorrow. Looking at the rest of the American girls, Alice McKennis has a good recent history as does Stacey Cook. And in the Downhill portion of the combi today, Leanne Smith was 3^rd and Julia was 4^th. At the very least, there will be a lot on confidence going into race day for the girls. With the weather looking pretty clear and cold, the start numbers will play a role. The cold snow, dry snow at high altitude is loaded with static and creates a lot of friction. At -15 Celsius tonight on the course with some wind, the surface will be slow at first. Starting later will be better. I don’ think it matters once you get about 8 girls down the track but very early could be a drag on the skis. If they have enough forerunners, that will help. But with forerunners, they are not always able to hold the race line that the World Cup girls can and the earliest starters often end up on clean snow. And clean, cold, dry snow has a lot of friction. So, that being said, Laurenne and Alice drew numbers 1 and 2, so I hope I am wrong on that one. Leanne starts number 4. Cookie starts 10, which is really right where the best numbers will start to be. And I really do think you need to look to the bigger girls, starting 16-22 to have the biggest impact. Lindsey chose 20 which is really perfect. And Maria goes 21. For me, they are first and second with Lindsey winning. Tina Maze also is a bigger girl and has a nice number at 18. I would be looking at someone like Merighetti too as she won in Cortina which also has a lot of terrain and she is a vet with size. But she has been a mess all week in St. Moritz, including a DNF in the Combi today. I would think she would be in the hunt. I do not put a lot of stock in training runs normally but her performance so far this week has been woeful. I just can’t imagine she is bringing confidence into tomorrow’s race. But staying with the Italians I would look to Elena Fanchini to make a splash. The Austrians to look for are Fenninger and Goergl. Lizzy certainly has the experience and the start number in her favor and she is big enough that the friction will not be that much of a penalty. I am not all that high on the French girls on this venue. I think they struggle with the bigger terrain and the blind knolls and turns. If I had to pick one of them it would be Marion Rolland. The Swiss girls are at home and that could boost the chances of someone like Lara Gut,  Nadja Kamer, Fraenzi Aufdenblatten or Fabi Suter. Gut and Suter have good histories on this hill and both of them love the grippy snow but Suter is not on the start list. Kamer and Fraenzi start pretty early, maybe too early.

The Canadians start Larisa Yurkiw and Kelly Vanderbeek on their comeback trail. I have written a lot about Larisa already this season as she has been so impressive in rebuilding her career in a short period of time. Both of them are starting their first World Cup DH races since Lake Louise in December of 2009. Kelly’s comeback is very impressive too. But at least she was an established World Cup downhiller with a lot of success and experience. She has a much better idea of what all the racks look like. In fact, she has had a lot of starts, and success, in St. Moritz. The Canadians will also start Fernie girl and World Cup rookie, Sarah Freeman.

DARK HORSES

I would consider Mancuso at number 22 a dark horse for this race. She has one top ten in her career here but has a great start number and was 4^th in the Combi downhill.  Tina Weirather, the daughter of former World Cup stars Hanni Wenzel and Harti Weirather and has been on a roll so far this year. While she is not a big girl (about 5’4”) she has done well on “big girl” hills like Lake Louise. She has a nice touch on the snow so I could see something out of her. I could also see Nicole Hosp come out of the back to get something done.

Ok, here we go, an unexciting podium: Kildow J, Riesch and Goergl. Then Maze and Fenninger.

GARMISCH-PARTENKIRCHEN

Garmisch is one of the coolest stops on tour and one of the favorites for us Americans. There is an American military garrison there which houses the Edelweiss Lodge. The Edelweiss is a recreation and conference center for active military and their families, as well as retirees and civilians. There is also a shopping area where you can get genuine American goods. As a regular stop, after weeks on tour, it is great to be able to go the Edelweiss and meet some of the service men and women, have some dinner and an American Bud or two with the Commander. There also are laundry facilities and Armed Forces TV. Unfortunately, the boys will be in Chamonix next week trying to find the Super Bowl  rather than in Garmisch where it is easy to find the game on TV. There are also many Americans on the base who teach in the school or run the hotel who help on the hill with running the race and also provide a large cheering section in the finish area. It is as close as we come to a home crowd in Europe. Before I move on, I want to thank everyone in the US Armed Forces for their dedication and bravery, and for being so hospitable to us over the years when we come to Garmisch.

The Kandahar Downhill track has been redesigned over the years and has become a very difficult race. The start pitch is steep and rugged, and runs over a road until it turns about 90 degrees to the left and crosses under a Nazi era chairlift. Then it hits high speed until the Eishang section into the Seilbahnsprung. That area of the course is brutal. It has tough turns and a lot of terrain, large and small. It then bends to the left again and hits the huge and visually intimidating Frei Falle jump. This is where I got to cover the hill last time I was there. The landing is so steep off this jump that we could only listen for the landing sound even though we were up in a TV tower, straight across from the take-off. Then there is a huge compression and some large swinging turns from there to the finish. It is a tough and very fast hill. The weather in Garmisch is often marginal with warm temperatures and fog seems to be a regular visitor. You can always expect limited visibility of some sort while you are there. Luckily, the weather looks like some very light snow with temperatures that are cold enough to have the track hold up well.

AMERICANS

Bode is our only top 30 guy, starting 16. Fish, Wiebrecht, Sully and Ganong go 31-34 which is really a great place to start. After the TV break and a sideslip. Although Fish better hope they don’t rub-off the flats. But if the turns get buffed out on the Starthang and in the Eishang section, that will help them a lot. Although, Sully not starting today training does concern me. Aspen boy Wiley Maple goes 39, Biesemeyer 47 and Tommy Ford 53. Honestly, I think every guy we have on the start list should be in the points in Garmisch. I totally believe that. It seems as though Ford is in the DH to get on the hill for SG but he certainly skis well enough to get the job done. Miller should be able to fight his way into the top 5.

CANADIANS

Erik Guay won the second training run and he had very good splits in the toughest sections. All that bodes well for him tomorrow. The number 13 bib is also good for him. His only real problem is that historically he has not handled winning training runs very well. Maybe it’s time to get past that and he has good history in Garmisch with 3 podiums including a win. Hudec starts 3, Benny Thomsen is 46 and Conrad Pridy is 50. Conrad is in his 3^rd straight World Cup DH start.

FAVORITES

Other than Guay, the World Champion on this hill, the biggest favorite has to be Cuche. He has done well here and is coming off a record 5^th win in Kitzbuehel.  He has a great knack for staying within himself tactically and not taking ill-advised chances. He chooses his spots very well because his skiing allows him to make those choices. Innerhofer has also been great here but he has been off all season. But “Inner” had  good training run and can definitely start to reel in the leaders the rest of the year. Kroell should be good on this hill but that Eishang section down to the Frei Falle could give him trouble. The tempo picks up there and I am not sure he has the GS skills to deal with that part of the hill. I would also throw Mario Scheiber into the mix as he has a good history on the reconfigured hill.

DARK HORSES

I am not buying the training performances from Theaux and Clarey. Theaux has never scored a World Cup point in Garmisch and Clarey was 15^th once.

I do see good results from Jansrud and Reichelt due to their GS skills. I also think Svindal can do well but really, he has been off his game all year.

I could also see some best-ever type performances from Keppler and Sander, the German boys and from Romed Baumann.

PODIUM: CUCHE, GUAY AND MILLER with Reichelt and Innerhofer close behind.

THE NIGHT RACE COMETH!

SCHLADMING TOMORROW NIGHT!

The boys rolled out of Kitzbuehel last night after their slalom on the Ganslern slope. Then they drove a couple hours east to Schladming, from “The Race” to “The Night Race.” We once had dinner with Night Race Director, Hans Grogl and his family in Schladming in Charly Kahr’s restaurant, directly across from the Planai finish area. Charly was a legendary Austrian National Team coach and Hans and Charly invited us to eat with them one evening when we were in Schladming training. Anyway, Hans and Charly told us of the battle with the OESV and other entities to try to get the Night Race in Schladming. They were convinced they could sell it and it would be a success. Now it draws over 50,000 people inside the venue and one of the largest TV audiences in ski sport. One thing that is rarely mentioned about these live numbers is that there are usually another 20,000 revelers in the town square watching on TV. AND, the ticket sales numbers do not count the people who skied in from above to line the upper part of the course. Some people quietly mention that there might be 70,000 people on the hill for the second run. This, of course, is outside of the permitted amount so no one ever brings it up. Another number that is often not mentioned is that the town of Schladming nets approximately $10M EURO in one Tuesday night. I do not know what the real numbers are but it is not surprising if these numbers are true. Sarah Schleper once fore-ran the race there and said as she skied the top 1/3 of the course, out of the view of the public, she was calm and there was little noise. And when she turned the corner at the top of the very long and steep pitch that heads to the finish, the roar of the crowd was deafening. “It scared the s**t out of me!” she told me later between runs. Regardless, it is a huge event and a lot of fun to be a part of.

The weather looks pretty questionable for tomorrow night. Some rain during the day then possibly having a bit of a temperature drop and the precipitation will change to light snow. The temperatures look to be hovering just above 0 degrees and then dropping below and getting considerably colder as the evening moves along. I do not remember which season we had that happen but it did. The first run was a battle; the hill broke up in places and was very rugged at the bottom. And then, as the night wore on, the hill froze. It literally froze solid between runs. And as the boys inspected the second run, the water in the snow was smoothed out and it froze in the cold, night air. It could happen again, causing equipment and edge adjustments between runs.

The draw has been done and Hirscher (Mr. Straddle) goes first. I am just joking, Austria, don’t go crazy on me. It is tough on him because who knows what he felt or what he knows? It is not ONLY his responsibility to pull-out when he knowingly straddles. There is a TV monitor right next to Hujara on the hill. The boys are watching in the start area or in a restaurant nearby. There are coaches all over the hill who are supposed to be watching and calling it in if they see something and there are numerous television crews with expert analysis personalities in the booth who could call attention to it. But, the rule does state that the athlete who knowingly straddles he is to ski out or be fined 999 CHF. But as I said yesterday, if he did ski out on the second run, we would have been deprived of seeing one of the most entertaining slalom runs of the year. Anyway, he has a great number, especially if that forecast holds. Then come Andre Myhrer, Matt, Neureuther, DeVille, Grange and Kostelic. There is little doubt the winner will come from this group. And to the Ivica’s detriment, he got the worst possible draw if the weather goes as forecasted. Hirscher obviously can win the event, but his best here is 11^th. Grange won last year and he certainly has the speed and skill, but he is going through a rough patch right now and nothing is tougher than getting a series of straddles out of your mind. Andre was second last year and has a history on this hill that is strong. His break out run on the world cup was a second run win a number of years back. Matt has a love/hate relationship with this hill. He has a ton of DNF and DSQ over the years but also 2 wins and a 3^rd place finish. Neureuther can do well anywhere but he has only a 5^th place finish here to sow for his efforts. I think Ivica will be too far behind based on the weather but if it holds up he should compete. One of the things I find funny about Ivica on this hill is that his skill-set should match up well with is and he should have had much more success over the years. But he really has not done extremely well here. Of the guys in this race, the true kings of this hill over the years have been Herbst and Raich. But honestly I cannot endorse them for a win right now. Benni, as great a skier as he is, just has no punch to this skiing and his quickness is basically gone. And Herbst, well I don’t know what has happened to him. I have my theories but they are far too involved to get into here. But his career was made on one slalom ski, and now it has changed a bit and his old boots wore out and he is searching for material that works for him.

AMERICANS

So, we have Ted starting 17, Nolan 21, Brandenburg 32, Jimmy Cochran 33, Granstrom 34, Ankeny 52 and Seppi Stiegler 57. Yes, I said Seppi Stiegler, son of Pepi, sister of Resi. Ted has had a mixed bag of results t Schladming over the years. His best single run was lost to a straddle when he won the first run by almost a second. The highest and lowest moments of my career with the ski team within seconds of one another. I always stood up on the upper half and watched Ted rip by me after flailing on the first 3 or 4 gates. He went out of view toward the finish and I was thinking, “Wow, he just killed that!” I heard the roar of the crowd and heard our finish guy read me the time. He was wearing number 1, it was January 2006. Anyway, everyone kept coming at him and they can’t come close. Then my phone rings, it’s Phil McNichol, our Head Coach. He says, “Did Ted straddle up there?” I said, “No way, he looked clean.” As I hung up I turned around and Guenther Hujara was beckoning me to the TV monitor on the side of the hill. I walked up there and watched, it was clear, and my heart sank. I told the others on the radio that it was clear and I felt like that unlucky messenger that gets killed for delivering bad news. By then they posted it and put it on the Jumbo and everyone saw what I had already seen. Ted was out. Anyway, I digress. Nolan is back at it and skied very well in a tough Kitzbuehel and he was 13^th in Schladming last year, along with a football TD catch and spike it the finish area. Will Brandenburg goes 32 and Will really needs to put a quality run through the finish line at this point. Jimmy Cochran, coming off some points is 33 and Colby Granstrom is coming off his first-ever points to start 34, which is a pretty sweet spot from which to qualify again. Mike and Seppi are going to have to jam from the back and hope it holds up ok.

CANADIANS

I think Mike and Brad, starting in the 30 should be able to score. I think the best thing for them would be to hold their positions and get a good start number for run 2 so they can move up. Schladming has a history of pretty good reversal on run 2. Stutz at 39 can get in the second one but I have a feeling that might be the last of it for the whole field. I think anything over 40 as a start number will be very tough unless there is a lot of attrition early.

DARK HORSES

I think you have to watch out for Dopfer. At this point he is not really a dark horse or an unknown, but he could end up in the top 5. The Nordica set up seems to be working well, he skis with little risk and seems to have enough speed. Watch out for the top 5 for this guy in Schladming.

Patrick Thaler has been bringing it all year. He could crack the top 10

Naoki Yuasa (JPN) is the true dark horse at this venue. He was 10^th last year, 8^th the year before he was 14^th. He started 30, 39 and 42 respectively. This year he starts 27, he could be even better.

PODIUM: Kostelic, Matt and Myhrer with Dopfer and Grange lurking for the back end of the podium.

THE MOUNTAINS WIN AGAIN

KITZ WAS A MESS, BUT STILL THE SAME. GOOD RACING AND A LOT OF CRASHES

The Ganslern is always a challenge. As I said yesterday, the hill is just nasty. The terrain comes at you from start to finish and turn to turn. If you set rhythm, it does not matter; no turn will feel the same. And this is why I have always said what I have said about course setting on the World Cup; it is not about the course setter. The World Cup is “The Show.” It is a live and TV sports entertainment show. It is there for ski fans to see their heroes up close at the race or on TV. So, as a World Cup course setter you have some obligations: Make the boys look good and feel good, so they can feel confident and go for it. You need to realize this is on world-wide television and we need to produce good ratings and more interest. You need to use the terrain in a way that makes it fun to ski and noticeable on TV. You need to take into account what the snow conditions are and set so the ruts and grooves are longer and smoother. And you need to let the hill itself shine. The last thing announcers should be talking about is the course setter unless it is once or twice saying how great or fun it looks. The hills are tough enough to separate the boys; you don’t need to add novelty tricks to call attention to yourself.

Ok, rant over. The race was an interesting one and DeVille was a master on the second run in some harsh conditions to not only hold-off Matt and Kostelic, but he put time on them. It was a lot of fun to watch and the second run was much more exciting to watch. But in classic World Cup racing style, DeVille threw down coming from the 4^th to last spot to put down a huge lead. And put all the pressure on both Matt and Kostelic to push the limit of speed and athletic ability. But the truth is, neither Matt nor Kostelic has the spontaneity in their skiing that DeVille has. And when they were challenged, they could not put it together in that kind of terrain and course condition. Congratulations Christian! You deserve it after so many years, for you first win to be in Kitzbuehel.

IMPRESSIONS

Colby Granstrom, first World Cup points and moved into the top 60 on the WCSL to create another World Cup start position for the USA! It would be nice to back that up in Schladming and get deep enough into the 60 to keep that spot for next year. And Nolan was solid as usual in Kitzbuehel. If he can stay healthy, he will be a force on the slalom tour the rest of the season and in the future. And Jimmy Cochran, one of my former athletes, got himself a few points and little momentum?

I was also impressed with Byggi and Myhrer but even more with Fritz Dopfer. He skied clean and early and with great shape. He is building consistent finishes and creating confidence. He obviously has enough speed to get in the top 10 regularly and if he can keep doing that and not get greedy, he will work his way up in the WCSL until he has the chance to go for the win.

Wolfi Hoerl (AUT), who trained with us in Hinterreit outside of Saalfelden back in the day when he was not on the Austrian Team.  He always seems to pull something out once or twice a year and he had himself a day in Kitz.

Steve Missillier (FRA), who just went for it and almost got himself on the steps from the 19 start position.

DISAPPOINTMENTS

Really, I don’t think there are any. The hill is so tough and the conditions were awful. Mother Nature won again, as she usually does.

 If any, I would think that Hirscher was a disappointment. That straddle on the second run was unacceptable. By rule, he should have pulled out. It is possible that his run was so frantic that he did not notice but he will get a fine for sure, 999 CHF to the FIS, please. On the other hand, it was one of the most exciting runs of slalom in recent memory.

So, Kitzbuehel shuts down for another year. And another year goes by without an Austrian Kitzbuehel slalom champion. That is the 7^th consecutive season without an Austrian winner.

On to Schladming! The USA boys are probably upstairs in the Tetterhof watching the Pats play their playoff game and getting ready to enjoy a day off tomorrow, or at least a late morning. Enjoy, and get after it on the Planai on Tuesday night!

KIRCHGASSER WINS!

KRANJSKA AND KITZ, IT SHOULD BE A REGULAR PAIRING

I think it makes for a great weekend. Kranjska Gora is a great and challenging race venue for the women. They might even want to move the GS start up to just under 400 meters, which adds about 5 turns to the current GS but makes the hill much more challenging in many ways. And the slalom, while it is flat for quite a while at the top, has a lot of terrain, large and small and a long steep at the bottom with a hard fall-away right. Add fatigue and it brings in all the elements. I know Maribor is the regular stop, but it gets canceled there a lot and it is a flat hill. Maybe women’s skiing has progressed on the World Cup to the point that all of their tour stops should be re-evaluated based on difficulty. They don’t all need to be nasty, but none should be pancake flat either.

Anyway, I am sitting and watching the women’s race right now and will watch the guys later today. They are far enough apart that I might even publish twice today. So far, I have seen three things. The choice to inject was probably necessary but does not seem to be working very well as it is breaking through on the bottom at number 7. The first course set by Zuzu, for Zuzu took its toll in Riesch and Schild skiing out and Zahrobska killing all of her speed. And there were existing cross-ruts from the GS.

One thing about the first course set. Where Riesch and Schild went out, is set at the bottom of the first main pitch out of the start and the exit is near the compression. That pulls your momentum down toward the flat so the skier needs to be disciplined and demanding of themselves to keep the line high and turn into the hair-pin to come out with more direction and speed. So it is a factor of giving away some line, and risking less to carry speed across the long flat before it breaks again toward the finish. I am not surprised that Maria struggled there as she was carrying her hips too low from the very beginning to make any kind of line adjustment. But Schild really looked to me like she chose to be direct and try to snap the turn off in the hairpin. But that was a bad choice as it ended in a DNF. But even if she made it, she would have gotten jammed up in the double on exit and carried less speed. It is very apparent that after number 5, the snow broke through on the bottom. Not a rare occurrence in Kranjska.

It was a nice run for Lindsey on run 1. Maybe she was a little cautious at the bottom. But again, when things start breaking through, and the report is that it is tough and the light is flat, it is very hard to keep charging. And then when your skis are bouncing in the broken rut below the gate on the first 3 gates when you break-over, it is very hard to pick up the pace again within sight of the finish. Mikaela looked cautious from the very first turn and was never on pace. She never picked up the tempo, never shortened the turn, and never snapped a turn off the whole way down. It’s a long trip to Europe for your first time if you are Shiffy. She has been over there since before Courchevel and she is only 16. It’s a grind for the veterans, let alone a 16 year old on her first tour. Jules had a very nice, solid run and she scored some points.

In the second run, clearly Zettel and Hosp were going hard. It’s nice to see Niki back on her game a little. She was a phenom when she was a teenager; involved in the infamous 3-way tie at Soelden with Flemmen and Maze back in October of 2002. And after a few really good years, she was injured repeatedly and has been battling to get back ever since. This year, she just could not seem to make it to the finish line but she is definitely getting better. Lena Duerr had the lead in the bag, and just could not hold on all the way to the finish. In my experience in Kranjska, which includes setting there 3 times, 14 World Cup starts and a few Europa Cups, where Lena Duerr had problems is the spot where everyone has screwed up on the second run one time or another. Right near the transition to the flat just above the finish, it always catches someone. In the end, it was a great race. In typical Kranjska Gora fashion, only the finish area was left in the sun when the race reached the end. The sun-drenched crowd was also very large in Kranjska, a testimony to their dedication to ski racing.

 Michaela Kirchgasser finally won a World Cup slalom. She was thrown into the World Cup mix as a child and fought the demon of expectations as well as injuries for years. She is a very, very good skier and a person who is worth rooting for. She has had to battle; this is no overnight success story. One of the other exercises worth doing with her is to take a video clip of her from 3 or 4 years ago and then watch her now. Her skiing has changed. She definitely skis more like Schild in slalom, but it is more than that. It seems to me the entire Austria women’s slalom and GS group has gone to school on their skiing and made targeted changes. From upper body and core strength to pole plant skills and timing, they have improved. Along with that, they have definitely improved their inside foot control and transition skills, allowing cleaner initiations and earlier pressure.

Congratulations to Michaela on her first win since Sierra Nevada in GS in 2007. Also to Tanja and Zuzu for the podium appearances. Lindsey skied very well at times and should be good with the place and points toward the overall. She is pretty close in slalom, but it is tough to find the time, energy and organization to train 2 or 3 disciplines while racing 4 (5 with combi) and travelling.

Lindsey’s Overall lead is now 282 points. She lost a little to Tina but that was expected going into the slalom. Honestly, she could have lost more. With Schild out, it was Tina’s race to win and she was out-skied by Kirchgasser. And on the other hand, Lindsey’s lead was increased over all the other potential challengers. Schild’s hold on the slalom title is still strong but Kirchgasser put herself into the mix with 305 points. The next slalom on the schedule is in Andorra in about 3 weeks. They have a Downhill, SG and 2 Super Combis in St. Moritz next week followed by a Downhill and Super G in Garmisch before heading to Soldeu, Andorra for the next tech stop. It’s a very rugged schedule the rest of the way for the all around focused athletes.