It was all about the turns that weren’t on course. Tobias Gruenenfelder turned his 180th World Cup start into his first win at Lake Louise Sunday (Nov. 28). It was one day after turning 33 years of age and in the process it appears he and Carlo Janka have turned Switzerland into a super G powerhouse. Janka finished second by seven hundredths of a second and pushed early leader Romed Baumann of rival Austria to the bottom step of the podium.

While Austria hardly diminished its reputation as a strong speed team with three skiers in the top 10, the Swiss countered with five top 10 finishers including Didier Cuche in fifth, Silvan Zurbriggen in ninth from outside of the first seed, and number one starter Patrick Kueng 10th.

It was not a strong day for either North American squad, but hardly a lost effort. Bode Miller posted 12th and a trio of Canadians finished 15-16-17 with Manuel Osborne-Paradis, Erik Guay and Robbie Dixon claiming the slots in that order. Travis Ganong called for some meditative quiet from the team crew in the starthouse and enjoyed the heck out of a run that started 46th and wound up 20th for just his second (and best) career scoring result.

Ted Ligety started early (bib 3) and struggled a bit, hanging on to tie for 23rd place and get some points.

But the day certainly belonged to Gruenenfelder. He has struggled with injuries his entire career “It seems like something every year,” and said he was certain his family back in Elm would be celebrating.

“They, also, waited a long time for my first victory,” he said. “It is very emotional. I’m very happy because it is a hard time and a long time to my first victory and now I have it.”

The snow conditions played a role, at least according to those who made it to the podium. Gruenenfelder said “I like this course and I like this snow here. It is aggressive snow. Yesterday it was too icy I didn’t have enough grip. … I was really frustrated and was a little angry with myself, so I turned it into a good run.”

Janka said North American snow is to his liking, something anyone who saw him last season at Beaver Creek can readily believe. “I like the snow in North America, it is very aggressive,” he said, “It’s my type of snow.” He added that returning to Beaver Creek next weekend was titillating his memory banks.

“Of course there are the memories there last year with three victories in three days. It was very exciting for me so I am looking forward to it and am hoping for good weather so the show can go on,” the international skier of the 2010 said.

For the lone Austrian in the top three it was an unexpected pleasure to succeed at Lake Louise. “I got lucky in the bib draw and took number four and did well,” said Baumann. “It is a huge boost for my confidence. I never expected my first podium would be in the speed disciplines.” He actually owns three podiums, but all in combined events.

The U.S. guys were not overly surprised to find themselves behind the eight ball out of the box. Their summer training schedule got walloped, particularly in the speed events.

“It is nice to finally get a race under my belt,” said Ligety. “I felt like I skied well but just didn’t have the speed. For the whole U.S. team in general it’s been a lack of volume. Normally we get the bulk of our speed training in Chile and this year we didn’t have the opportunity because they didn’t have snow and then we went to New Zealand and had bad weather.”

Marco Sullivan was second at Lake Louise in 2007, but said he just hasn’t felt right. “I did feel better today (than in the downhill). I made some good turns up there. I feel like I’m still getting use to my gear and so I’m holding back a little bit I think. I’m just not as comfortable as I want to be. I’m trying to drop the hammer and really go for it. I had a good feeling today so it’s a step in the right direction.”

Told there was speculation his back problems are getting worse, he said with characteristic smile, “My back has turned into a chronic issue. On a day like today it really wasn’t an issue. It’s not nearly as bad as it was last year.”

The one truely bright light for the U.S. was Travis Ganong finishing 20th from way back in the weeds. “In the start usually Huey and all those guys are yelling and scream and getting all fired up and I was like, ‘calm down. … look at this view,’ … that put me in a peaceful content light.”

He said a course report from Sullivan caused him to change his approach completely. “Marco radioed up saying it was in good shape and that was just perfect. I changed my game place to charge all the way. … and it worked.”

There were two injuries on the day, one minor and the other sending German Andreas Strodl off dangling from a helicopter. Medical officers reported Strodl suffered second degree tears of both the ACL and MCL. Team officials indicated every attempt would be made to send him home for attention. British skier Ed Drake bruised up his shoulder, but was otherwise undamaged according to preliminary examination.

Gepa image

The SCOOP
By Hank McKee

Equipment
Men’s World Cup super G, Lake Louise, Alberta, Nov. 28, 2010
Skier, skis/boots/bindings
1 Gruenenfelder, Stoeckli/Lange/Atomic
2 Janka, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
3 Baumann, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon
4 Scheiber, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
5 Cuche, Head/Head/Head
6 Innerhofer, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
7 Jaerbyn, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
8 Raich, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
9 Zurbriggen, Rossignol/Lange/Rossignol
10 Kueng, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon

Men’s World Cup super G, Lake Louise, Alberta, Nov. 28, 2010. … It is the second of two races at Lake Louise for the men this season. … The third of 37 races on the men’s 2010-2011 World Cup schedule and the first of seven men’s super G’s. … It is the 76th World Cup race conducted at Lake Louise. … the 28th super G and the 12th men’s super G.

It is the first career World Cup win for Tobias Gruenenfelder. … His best previous results had been a quartet of third place finishes, three of them in super G and one in DH but none since Dec. 29, 2005. … He is the oldest skier to get his first World Cup win.

It is the 15th career World Cup podium for Carlo Janka but just his second in SG, the other coming at Val Gardena last season. … It is the second time he has finished second at Lake Louise, the other coming in DH Nov. 29, 2008

It is the fourth World Cup podium for Romed Baumann, the others all coming in combined. … His best previous result at Lake Louise is 11th in DH Nov. 24, 2007.

It is Bode Miller’s sixth best result at Lake Louise. … third best in SG. … It is the fourth best Lake Louise result for Manuel Osborne-Paradis and second best of the weekend having placed 13th in DH. … It is the 10th best of 16 Lake Louise results for Erik Guay and his seventh best at Lake Louise in SG. … It is the 14th best career Cup result for Robbie Dixon. … his third best at Lake Louise. … It is the second career scoring result for Travis Ganong who closed out last season with a 28th in SG at Kvitfjell. … It is the sixth best of nine career Cup SG scores for Ted Ligety.

Mario Scheiber (4th in race) leads the World Cup overall standings 130-119 over Silvan Zurbriggen (9th in race). … Janka is third at 116. … Bode Miller leads the Americans in 13th with 54pts. … Osborne-Paradis leads the Canadians in a four way tie for 20th place with 36pts. … Austria maintains the lead in the men’s Nations Cup standings by 20pts, 537-517 over the Swiss. … The French hold third at 239. … Canada is sixth with 164pts and the U.S. eighth with 86pts.