Levi is in a few weeks and the boys and girls are in the states. The World Cup staff on both sides will be focusing on their needs to be ready for Finland. The groups will head for Colorado to make something happen with injection. The snow guns are blazing and it has been snowing. It doesn’t get any better than having that mix of man-made and natural to inject. The hard snow that comes out from that mix is usually the best. It is extremely hard but retains some grip.
The teams will likely be looking for terrain that is similar to Levi if they can get it. A long flat out of the start would be nice for them to work on starts and their first 20 gates on a narrow flat. It has a few rolls but they can likely build them into anything they can inject. Levi also has a good steep pitch with a sharp break-over but the steep part does not last more than 5 turns and then gradually flattens to a bend right and a very long flat to the finish. All of these types of terrain are definitely available to the teams at Loveland, Vail and Copper. It should be relatively easy to duplicate their needs.
Our men’s team is in Vail at this writing and held a time trial for a spot in Levi, which was won by Mission Ridge boy, Colby Granstrom. The way the team is getting set-up for Levi remains to be seen. But they have two spots from top 60 guys to fill plus the basic quota spot. Ted, Bode and Nolan Kasper create the base for the slalom team in Levi. Nolan also owns a Nor Am automatic qualifier spot along with a top 60. So they can use that top 60 spot for a top 100 ranked guy. Jimmy Cochran is not ready to go for Levi so they can use his top 60 spot with a top 100 skier. And then they can use the basic quota. The boys eligible for the top 60 spots are: Brandenburg (ranked 34), Chodounsky (44), Ford (65), Granstrom (74) and Jitloff (90). Then there are also Mike Ankeny and Will Gregorak according to one of the Men’s staff members. So, you slot Granstrom into one of the top 60 spots and then select 2 more guys for the last spots. The problem with Levi is that it is a very expensive plane ticket for one start so this is one race where the ski team might not fill the quota. But if they do, I would think they would look to guys with the best rankings to take advantage of start position. I would anticipate Brandenburg and Chodounsky getting the spot. If the start goes to Jitloff, Ankeny or Gregorak, you will be using the basic quota for a guy who will be mired in the back with a bad start number.
POTENTIAL PROBLEMS
There are some serious difficulties in getting prepared for Levi, especially going in from the States.
1. Where are you going to find daytime darkness? It is weird there, at the Arctic Circle, with the light this time of year. There is a brief passing of the sun through the horizon around 11 AM-2PM and then it is black again. The lights are on all the time at the ski area and your body never feels right. The only way to deal with it is to go to Scandinavia a few days beforehand and train up there. Maybe in northern Sweden or in Finland itself. Either way, you want to be in Lapland.
2. Fighting jet lag is an issue that most people do not think about. But unless our guys go in to Europe about five days before the race, they will not be on the right time. Absolutely the worst jet lag I ever had was flying to Levi from Colorado about three days before the race. And I was not alone. We flew Denver-Munich-Helsinki-Kiitala and then drove to Levi, getting in late at night with some very irritated athletes. We did not train until 11:00 A.M. the next day but no one slept at all. We even had the help of prescription sleep-aids. I know that a lot of people think it is not right but sometimes it is absolutely necessary. And the sleeping pill route has ALWAYS worked for me. Not that time, my body was so out of sorts that I didn’t get more than an hour of sleep. And never slept more than four hours on any night we were there.
3. The last time I went to Levi, we did a Colorado training camp at Keystone and then flew over there. We were able to inject our slalom lane for two days of very hard snow before leaving. We felt prepared and we felt like our equipment was ready and had good grip. We trained a couple of short sessions while in Levi on some questionable injection but all the teams had the same problem. When race day came, with all the side-slipping hill-preparation, we found that many of our skis did not have the grip we needed or expected. Only Jimmy was able to get what he needed out of the ski to stay in the course, let alone score. It was so disconcerting that we went up on the race-hill the next day and tested skis before leaving for the airport with flights leaving around 1: 00 P.M. My opinion is that even if you have very good injection in Colorado, which I am sure they do, it is not the same as the very humid snow in Levi. It is high and dry Colorado man-made and, while slick, develops a very different feel than in Levi. It’s not impossible to be ready, but they need to be prepared for the snow to feel different there.
POSITIVES
In reality, there is one main positive for the preparation the men’s team is having for Levi. It is that they get to be home for an extended time. They got home from Soelden on the 25th and had a week to be at home before reporting to Vail. They were able to spend Halloween with their hometown friends and hopefully the boys were professional and showed up on the 1st feeling 100%. Spending a week or so in Vail getting ready is the best scenario they could possibly get at this time of year in the U.S.A. They are staying at Manor Vail, walking to the hill about 100 yards away. The coaches can walk to meetings across the street at Ski Club Vail. The service guys can walk to the garage to tune. There is a small workout area, a warm pool and full-service gyms within walking distance. Absolutely anything you need is there for you. The guys can even cook for themselves in the condos so they always get enough of their favorite stuff and have no excuse for dehydration or lack of nutrition. Add to it that the Steadman-Hawkins Clinic is just down the street and all the bases are covered. It is an easy logistical camp, which makes things very relaxing and allows for excellent focus. That is not always the case.
STARTERS
I know for a fact that Ted, Bode, Nolan and Colby are starting in Levi. I am not positive of the next two but I have heard recently through the grapevine that the chosen starters are Will Brandenburg and Tim Jitloff. I certainly understand the Brandenburg choice. His ranking of 34 on the FIS list makes that one a no-brainer as long as he is skiing well. I am sure he is if they have elected to send him all the way to Finland. Jitloff is a little more of a mystery to me and not because of his ability. The problem I see with starting anyone in that last slot is start number. Jitloff’s slalom rank is 90 so he will start close to last in Levi. Last year there were 79 starters there and the latest number to qualify was Axel Baeck (SWE) with bib number 48. Further, Baeck went on to have a fantastic year, moving into the top 20 on the WCSL. The previous men’s race in Levi was a little different with two different guys coming out of the 60’s to qualify. The snow was beyond compare that season. I was there and it was fabulous. Jukka Leino (FIN) qualified from 65 and Ales Gorza (SLO) from 68 and they are two different type cases than any others. Leino is a Finnish boy who had incredible fan support and had raced and trained in Levi many times. Gorza is a World Cup veteran who had been in the top 30 before in GS and had scored World Cup SL points in the past. He had also qualified numerous other times when he did not conv
ert on the second run. In Jit, we have a very talented athlete who has scored once in slalom in Alta Badia two seasons ago. On the other hand, I do see the point. Jit is talented as I have said, he is a veteran (25 years old) and he has a history of doing very well on flatter hills. The last 2/3 of Alta Badia’s slalom hill is very flat, as are the indoor Europa Cup races where Jitloff has excelled. It is a perfect opportunity for him to break through.
More to come…
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Greg “Grande” Needell grew up ski racing at Stratton Mountain,
Vermont. After graduating from SMS he skied for NCAA Division 1 St.
Lawrence University in Canton, NY where he was co-captain in 1986. Greg
returned to SMS to coach there for five years serving as the Head
Women’s Coach as well as the Head J2 Men’s Coach. He then moved to
Mission Ridge in Wenatchee, Washington in 1992 to become the Program
Director and Head Coach of the Mission Ridge Ski Club. In 1997, Greg
became the Head Coach at Mammoth Mountain, California.
In 2002 Needell was asked to join the U.S. Ski Team staff as a World
Cup SL and GS coach. From 2002 to 2008 Needell helped lead the U.S. Ski
Team Men to 43 wins, 105 podiums and 264 top ten finishes. Now at the
helm of Alpine Race Consulting, Needell offers his knowledge and
experience to clubs nationwide.
About the Author: Pete Rugh
