Slow and steady doesn’t usually win the ski race, but that’s the mentality that Anna Veith is counting on as she prepares for her comeback to the World Cup.

Starting down that path, Veith has returned to on-snow training on the Stelvio Pass in Italy just 10 months after sustaining the knee injury that ended the two-time overall World Cup champion’s season. Her goal is to return to racing pain free, so she is trying not to rush the start to her season. Though she hopes to be ready to race in Soelden, the Austrian wants to be in top shape and confident she can perform well before committing to the start gate.

The most frequently asked question she is asked is, “Will Anna Veith be just as strong as Anna Fenninger?”

“I think so,” she answered in a press release from the Austrian Ski Federation. “The only question is when.”

For now, Veith is training separately from her teammates who are in South America and New Zealand, finding the conditions closer to home perfectly suited to her return to ski program.