The World Cup According to Grande: The Women Have Slalom tomorrow, BTW!

I thought I was going to have an easy day. Just say something about the girls’ race tomorrow and call it good. But then the whole Lindsey and Julia thing happened. Then the Austrian girls could not hold on to their positions on the podium. A very young and inexperienced girl in Viktoria Rebensburg worked her way to the top position. Then Bill Demong and Johnny Spillane led the Nordic Combined team to a Gold/Silver in the large hill.

I do want to spend a few lines on these guys. In my 7 years with the ski team, I spent a large amount of time in the training center in Park City. I did not get a chance to talk to them much, but I watched them work. Billy and Johnny (and Todd Lodwick) worked their butts off for a long time, for years… Not for one year or one season or a summer. They worked hard for YEARS. And they got steadily better and more consistent, every season. I don’t know how to convey to you how impressed I am with them as athletes and as hard working guys who wanted to climb their personal mountains. They are fantastic, they deserve your attention. Congratulations guys!

And as I see the end of the Women’s GS happen today, I have to be impressed with Viktoria Rebensburg. I have been calling on her since the beginning of the season to make a big move. I gave up on her mid-season because she was not getting it done. I have watched her ski and I think she is very good. She has a longer turn shape so it helps her at places like Whistler, and at Garmisch at Finals. She grew up at Ski Club Kreuth, near Tegernsee in the Bavarian Alps which is very near Garmisch. Congrats to her and to Tina Maze of Slovenia who now has 2 silver medals. It has gone largely unnoticed by our press but someone better pay attention. If she can pull down a medal tomorrow in the slalom she will have 3 medals and should be as big a story as Lindsey, or Julia, or Lindsey and Julia fighting, at least. Either way, Tina has been at it for a long time and has been a very solid on the World Cup. She definitely should get more attention for her accomplishments.

As I am writing this, I am listening to “The Doug Gottlieb Show” on ESPN radio. I know, I am a sports geek and I listen to sports radio almost all the time. But this was funny. Doug does a segment called “PMI” which is a take- off on “PTI.” He plays small excerpts from “Pardon the Interruption” and calls it “Pardon My Interruption.” Regardless, they covered the Julia/Lindsey fight based on the crash in the GS. The definitely did not realize what is going on there. They talked about rivalry “brewing” based on this incident. The rivalry brewed 12 or 13 years ago when they were little kids. But I think the rivalry is a healthy, athletic rivalry. Not one based on attention grabbing and popularity. They have been fighting hard for years to beat each other and I am not sure either woman would be where she is without her rival.

Julia made a good challenge at the podium today and in our sport, sometimes you need to take the small battles. Win what you can, when you can and move on. Jules is a very talented skier and can get it done at the end of the year. Good things ahead.

 
THE WOMEN’S SLALOM

Our best chance at a medal in Slalom is clearly Lindsey Vonn. She’s the best slalom skier we have. She was 2nd place in Levi, 8th in Are and 18th in Lienz. If Lindsey could be more consistent with her slalom the Overall would be wrapped up by now.  And let’s talk about that: Lins just broke her pinky, and her shin definitely still hurts. Anyway, she is our best bet. And I am sure a lot of you are wondering why the pinky break is a big deal. But in slalom there are 50 to 60 turns per run at least. And half of them are blocked with the broken hand. And pole planted many times as well. So impact after impact could affect the performance. But even beyond that, I am going to revisit a management issue I brought up earlier when Lins was complaining of the shin injury. As soon as she got out of the DH and SG with 2 medals, maybe I would leave her in the Kombi. But after the Kombi I would have tried very hard to convince her to pull out of the technical events so she could get better for her push toward the World Cup overall, DH, SG and Kombi globes. Mostly for the World Cup Overall but I would try to keep that in perspective while looking at the realities of more Olympic medals. She now has another injury on top of the shin injury. So now it is worse than it was going in. She is going to favor the shin, and the hand and that will likely lead to the potential for another injury, possibly more serious. And the chances of her medaling again are not increased since she is in more pain than before.

Sarah Schleper was 14th today in the GS which was totally respectable. The field was very strong and she beat some very capable GS skiers on the biggest stage. She has slalom tomorrow which is traditionally her better discipline. If Sarah can keep her turns clean at initiation, she can get it done. Maybe even having to give a little line away to do so might be worth it on run 1?

Tomorrow’s courses are set by Klemen Bergant and Guenther Obkircher. Both are long-time pros and I know them both well. Klemen was even the Alpine Director for Slovenia at one point. I would expect very well-set and planned out courses. Even if there are some funky combos in the race, I am sure it will run well. And with Tina Maze having knocked down a couple of medals, Klemen is free to relax and do his job with little pressure.

Sarka Zahrobska starts number 1 and I can’t think of another situation that helps any one girl more than this. Sarka needs to be ready to go, and she has the advantage on an easy hill with likely soft snow. Get a big lead and hold onto it on run 2 has to be the strategy. Susanne Riesch starts 2. She has had a great year but this might be too much pressure? I think she has great talent in slalom, hopefully for her she can compete. I can only assume that Poutiainen still has back problems as she is too good of a skier to be doing this poorly. Zettel is a contender at every race. Maria Riesch, the way I see it, the race is hers to lose. Number 6 is Sandrine Aubert, of Les 2 Alpes in France. She is a great slalom skier and definitely has a chance. The last of the first 7 is Marlies Schild of Austria. She is my pick. She is the most consistently fast slalom skier in the world. She is coming back from injury so it is not all there in her head but I think that if she pulls it together, she will win. After that, Lindsey starts 10 and she can definitely make a run at it. Fanny Chmelar of Germany starts 12 and I think she will have a chance to contend. She is a very tall girl and with a relatively flat hill and softer snow, it could be in her favor. Even if the snow is hard next to the gate, the glide areas of the turns will have new, soft and abrasive snow, favoring the bigger girls.

Outside of the top 15, Therese Borssen will bring some heat, if not as much consistency as we would like. Nastasia Noens (FRA) starts 21 and has been moving up the ranking list over the course of the season and could make a move. Sarah Schleper starts 26th and has the experience and ability to move up and give her a chance to get the job done to get the podium. Outside of that, I think Hailey Duke has a chance coming from outside the top 30 as long as she puts herself in touch with the leaders on run 1.

My last dark-horse challenger is Anne-Sophie Barthet (FRA) who starts 38. She is a great slalom skier who has worked her way up through the ranks and still has not made the top 30. Every day, she races from the back and scores World Cup points. It takes a lot of intensity and attitude to do that week after week. And she gets it done, week after week. I would not be surprised at all to see her a second out in 12th place after run 1 and then make a run at the podium. I was impressed with her skiin
g at Aspen and Loveland earlier in the season and I wish her luck.

My podium:  Schild, Zahrobska, Zettel.

THE WOMEN’S SLALOM

Our best chance at a medal in Slalom is clearly Lindsey Vonn. She’s the best slalom skier we have. She was 2nd place in Levi, 8th in Are and 18th in Lienz. If Lindsey could be more consistent with her slalom the Overall would be wrapped up by now.  And let’s talk about that: Lins just broke her pinky, and her shin definitely still hurts. Anyway, she is our best bet. And I am sure a lot of you are wondering why the pinky break is a big deal. But in slalom there are 50 to 60 turns per run at least. And half of them are blocked with the broken hand. And pole planted many times as well. So impact after impact could affect the performance. But even beyond that, I am going to revisit a management issue I brought up earlier when Lins was complaining of the shin injury. As soon as she got out of the DH and SG with 2 medals, maybe I would leave her in the Kombi. But after the Kombi I would have tried very hard to convince her to pull out of the technical events so she could get better for her push toward the World Cup overall, DH, SG and Kombi globes. Mostly for the World Cup Overall but I would try to keep that in perspective while looking at the realities of more Olympic medals. She now has another injury on top of the shin injury. So now it is worse than it was going in. She is going to favor the shin, and the hand and that will likely lead to the potential for another injury, possibly more serious. And the chances of her medaling again are not increased since she is in more pain than before.

Sarah Schleper was 14th today in the GS which was totally respectable. The field was very strong and she beat some very capable GS skiers on the biggest stage. She has slalom tomorrow which is traditionally her better discipline. If Sarah can keep her turns clean at initiation, she can get it done. Maybe even having to give a little line away to do so might be worth it on run 1?

Tomorrow’s courses are set by Klemen Bergant and Guenther Obkircher. Both are long-time pros and I know them both well. Klemen was even the Alpine Director for Slovenia at one point. I would expect very well-set and planned out courses. Even if there are some funky combos in the race, I am sure it will run well. And with Tina Maze having knocked down a couple of medals, Klemen is free to relax and do his job with little pressure.

Sarka Zahrobska starts number 1 and I can’t think of another situation that helps any one girl more than this. Sarka needs to be ready to go, and she has the advantage on an easy hill with likely soft snow. Get a big lead and hold onto it on run 2 has to be the strategy. Susanne Riesch starts 2. She has had a great year but this might be too much pressure? I think she has great talent in slalom, hopefully for her she can compete. I can only assume that Poutiainen still has back problems as she is too good of a skier to be doing this poorly. Zettel is a contender at every race. Maria Riesch, the way I see it, the race is hers to lose. Number 6 is Sandrine Aubert, of Les 2 Alpes in France. She is a great slalom skier and definitely has a chance. The last of the first 7 is Marlies Schild of Austria. She is my pick. She is the most consistently fast slalom skier in the world. She is coming back from injury so it is not all there in her head but I think that if she pulls it together, she will win. After that, Lindsey starts 10 and she can definitely make a run at it. Fanny Chmelar of Germany starts 12 and I think she will have a chance to contend. She is a very tall girl and with a relatively flat hill and softer snow, it could be in her favor. Even if the snow is hard next to the gate, the glide areas of the turns will have new, soft and abrasive snow, favoring the bigger girls.

Outside of the top 15, Therese Borssen will bring some heat, if not as much consistency as we would like. Nastasia Noens (FRA) starts 21 and has been moving up the ranking list over the course of the season and could make a move. Sarah Schleper starts 26th and has the experience and ability to move up and give her a chance to get the job done to get the podium. Outside of that, I think Hailey Duke has a chance coming from outside the top 30 as long as she puts herself in touch with the leaders on run 1.

My last dark-horse challenger is Anne-Sophie Barthet (FRA) who starts 38. She is a great slalom skier who has worked her way up through the ranks and still has not made the top 30. Every day, she races from the back and scores World Cup points. It takes a lot of intensity and attitude to do that week after week. And she gets it done, week after week. I would not be surprised at all to see her a second out in 12th place after run 1 and then make a run at the podium. I was impressed with her skiing at Aspen and Loveland earlier in the season and I wish her luck.

My podium:  Schild, Zahrobska, Zettel.

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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.

Click here for “The World Cup According to Grande” archive.