Michael Walchhofer collected his second straight training run Friday at Beaver Creek on a record cold day that resulted in considerable damage to skis.

It was an abbreviated downhill training with just 31 starters as the FIS experimented with holding a separate training from today’s scheduled super combined.

“No, no my skis are fine,” Walchhofer said in the finish, adding that a thin edge was helpful in preventing the type of freezer burn that will keep the wax rooms and technicians busy tonight.

Steven Nyman, who was listed as finishing 14th, took a detour on course when his skis “just stopped turning.” He said the damage sustained from sub-zero temperatures and snow surfaces had run the full length of his edges. He wasn’t alone as tech reps were quick to examine each pair of arriving skis, at times peeling strips of material from the surfaces.

With many of the top downhillers scheduled for the super combined race some of Walchhofer’s top competition was not in the training run for comparison. Of those who were, Canadian Robbie Dixon posted the scond fastest time and Frenchman Yannick Bertrand the third.

Nyman was listed as the top American, though he did not make all the gates, Marco Sullivan was in 16th, Erik Fisher in 17th and Jeremy Transue in 22nd.

The training run was delayed about 15 minutes as Pierre-Emmanuel Dalcin crashed in the lower section of the course. Preliminary reports indicate he injured his shoulder and complained of neck pain. He was taken off the course by sled.

Yannick Bertrand photo by GEPA