The World Cup season kicks off in just over a week, and athletes from around the globe have had the opportunity to train on the race slope thanks to the solid snow conditions. The official snow control inspection took place on Thursday, and the race got the green light from FIS. Among the athletes  have been top American skiers Mikaela Shiffrin and Ted Ligety.

The ladies’ 2017 Overall World Cup winner has had quite a bit of success on this slope in her young career, landing on the podium three times including one win in 2014.

“It’s good to come here to Soelden before the races,” Shiffrin told ProMedia. “You can train on the hill, and when it’s good conditions, it’s such a good feeling to go to the race and feel like, ‘Yeah, I know what it will feel like.'”

Five-time World Champion Ted Ligety was on the same page as Shiffrin when it came to conditions.

“You couldn’t ask for better conditions here in Soelden right now,” he told ProMedia. “It’s amazing. It’s nice, sunny days every day and the snow’s good and, yeah, it’s been awesome.”

While Shiffrin has been a constant in the headlines over the last year, Ligety has been on the mend for some time now, dealing with back pain away from the World Cup tour. In the same interview with ProMedia, he said he’s feeling pretty good.

“My back feels a lot better than it did last year, so hopefully it keeps in this direction” he shared. “We’ll see. It’s definitely nice to be more or less pain free for once.”

The new dad has won at Soelden four times before in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2015, and he’s looking for more wins.

“I need to get a little faster,” Ligety shared. “I don’t necessarily have the full race speed yet, but I have a couple more weeks luckily before the race here, so hopefully, I can get fast between now and then, but skiing’s feeling good for the most part.”

Fans will find out next weekend if the athletes who trained on the race slope have an advantage over the rest of the field. Action kicks off with the women’s giant slalom on Oct. 28.

Training | AUDI FIS SKIWELTCUP Opening in Sölden from ProMedia on Vimeo.