Aspen: Bib of the day goes to Canada's Acton

ASPEN, Colorado — Canada’s Brigitte Acton easily claimed bib-of-the-day honors Sunday in the women’s World Cup slalom, climbing from a No. 42 start position to finish 18th. She finished 29th in the Aspen WC slalom last season

ASPEN, Colorado — Canada’s Brigitte Acton easily claimed bib-of-the-day honors Sunday in the women’s World Cup slalom, climbing from a No. 42 start position to finish 18th. She finished 29th in the Aspen WC slalom last season.
    The soon-to-be 20-year-old (her birthday is Nov. 30) native of Sault St. Marie, Ontario, is beginning her fourth season on the World Cup, and Sunday’s finish was just her fourth in the points in a World Cup slalom. Her WC career best in slalom is a 10th in Zagreb two seasons ago.
    “The snow conditions are pretty aggressive. [The course] was a lot different than the first set, but I just tried to stay ahead of it, tried to look ahead,” Acton said. “And I came down in the lead and I was kind of surprised.”
    “For me to get the points [in slalom] is really good.”
    Acton and Anna Goodman were Canada’s only two starters Sunday, with Goodman not finishing the first run. Acton said it was nice to not be the only starter for a change, as Canada fields a young but improving slalom squad — with its collective sight set on the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver.
    “It’s nice to have Anna here. The day she qualifies [for a second run] will be awesome,” Acton said. “I try not to feel the pressure. It doesn’t do anything for me, so I just try and keep things simple, think about my run and what I have to do.”
    What Acton said she’d love to do is come back to Aspen and race again this season, which is a distinct possibility as the International Ski Federation grapples with where to run a pair of women’s races scheduled for St. Moritz, Switzerland, that were canceled Saturday. A decision is expected by Wednesday, and Aspen may very well host one or both races.
    “Coming to Aspen always is so great,” Acton said. “I’ve been coming here since I was young. It’s nice to come down and have North Americans cheering for you. Nothing against the Europeans, but it’s really nice for us to be back.”
    Acton also has a simple solution for solving Europe’s weather woes and lack of snow this season: stay here.
    “I think, personally, that we should have races in December and they should be all North American races, and then we all head over to Europe in January. It would be nice to spend Christmas with my family,” she said.
    With the way Acton performed Sunday, coupled with teammate John Kucera’s super G victory on home snow a few hours earlier in Lake Louise, Alpine Canada is continuing to build momentum for 2010.
    “I think by the Olympics we’ll have a lot of pressure on ourselves,” Acton said. “But we’ll be learning at the World Championships this year and in 2009, so we’re a young team, there’s a lot we’re doing well so we just have to build a bigger team and keep enjoying it as much as we can.”
    As for how Kucera and the Canadian men’s team are celebrating tonight, Acton has her own ideas.
    “For Johnny, I mean, that’s an amazing result,” she said. “I think those guys are flying down to Beaver Creek [Colorado] so they’ll be in Calgary [tonight]. I’m sure they’ll shake it a little bit, especially with Manny Osborne-Paradis. He’s quite the entertainer.”