Laurenne Ross on her way to a fourth-place result in Lake Louise. GEPA

LAKE LOUISE, Canada — Tina Maze is feeling confident on her skis right now — confident enough to skip the third day of downhill training and still finish with nearly a half-second edge over reigning World Cup champion Anna Fenninger on race day.

With Tina Weirather taking the third step, Friday’s podium at the women’s downhill opener in Lake Louise featured some familiar faces. For Slovenia’s Maze, who finished with a time of 1 minute, 50.98 seconds, it’s the second win of the season — the other coming from the opposite side of the discipline spectrum at the slalom opener in Levi.

“I think the course is great, and I figured out how to ski it on the first two days of training,” said Maze. “I took yesterday’s training off and I was pretty nervous today, but it went OK. … When you come from slalom to downhill, it’s really hard to find the patience that you need in downhill, so that has been the hardest part. I feel great, great, great and I’m exited about my skiing.”

Joining the ranks of elite company, the U.S. Ski Team’s Laurenne Ross finished just shy of the podium in fourth position. She held an early lead in the race, running fourth, but was slowly bumped from the podium by the three aforementioned superstars.

“It wasn’t a perfect run, but I was gunning it for sure and trying to stay as low as I can,” said the purple-haired Ross. “I just felt like I did a good job of carrying my speed. The fresh snow made it a little bit softer in spots. It was a bit peely, but for the most part the track stayed quite smooth.”

The strong result is all the more meaningful in Lake Louise for Ross. A brutal crash at the venue in 2011 sent her into the netting, lacerating her face and knocking her out of competition for a month. It means a lot for her to overcome that particular section of the course, she said.

“It’s always tough coming back here and try to get through that turn,” said Ross. “Every time, I get a little bit passive through that turn, which I guess is understandable. But it feels really good to make it through this course and to know that I can ski well on this hill.”

Obviously, another major part of the story on Friday was the return to racing for Lindsey Vonn, who hit the World Cup track for the first time in nearly a year. Last season, she didn’t have an ACL. This season, there appear to be some kinks that still need to be worked out. But the program calls for patience.

“I caught my edge coming off of Gun Barrel, and I think that killed my speed a little bit going onto the flats,” said Vonn, who matched her best result in training, eighth. “I think technically I’m skiing really well and I just tried to push myself a little harder today than I have in the training runs. I know there’s a lot of improvement that can be made here, and I’m excited for tomorrow to get another chance.”

Vonn has stated her goal for the week is to crack into the top five. She’s not planning any dramatic changes to the game plan — stick with the line, stay in her tuck a bit longer and try not to make any mistakes.

“I’m only four-tenths away from second place today, so I still think it’s possible to get on the podium. I just need to make sure I’m clean coming onto the flats and execute the pitch like I did today. I think top five is a really solid goal and if I ski well, maybe top three.”

For Julia Mancuso, the rather benign Lake Louise hill hasn’t historically been her favorite venue. She had a pretty good run at it in 2011 and 2012 with a couple podium performances on the books, but last year it was higher numbers (26th, 21st and 17th).

“I just feel really solid on my skis,” said Mancuso. “It just wanted to have a solid run, it wasn’t anything special. You don’t need to prove anything. It’s a long season, and you have to pace yourself. The times are changing. Girls are retiring, and I have a lot of experience on this course.”

Mancuso said she didn’t see Ross’ run — no TVs at the top of the Lake Louise course — but she did receive some helpful information over the radio after her teammate’s finish.

“I think at times I could have pushed the limit a little bit more,” Mancuso said. “I’m happy with my performance. I know there’s still a lot of speed I can crunch out, but first race, it’s nice to have a solid decent run under my belt.”

Tina Weirather, who finished 21st and ninth twice in training, said she wasn’t surprised by her dramatic improvement on race day.

“I’m always slow in training,” she said. “I can’t really push hard in training, but then I have another 10 percent left for the race. Every time you’re here, there’s a lot to learn. It’s a quite flat hill, so you have to really be clean and not make any mistakes. You have to push hard, but not too hard, so it’s a lot of watch videos and improving from day to day.”

THE SCOOP

By Hank McKee

1. Maze, Stoeckli/Lange/Atomic
2. Fenninger, Head/Head/Head
3. Weirather, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
4. Ross, Volkl/Lange/Marker
5. Huetter, Volkl/Tecnica/Marker
6. Kling, Head/Head/Head
7. Mancuso, Head/Head/Head
8. Vonn, Head/Head/Head
9. Cook, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
10. Rebensburg, Stoeckli/Lange/Atomic

World Cup women’s downhill, Lake Louise, Canada, Dec. 5, 2015:

• It is the fifth of 35 races on the women’s World Cup schedule … the first of eight scheduled downhills. … It is the third of five World Cup races scheduled for Lake Louise this season, the first of three women’s races and the first of two back-to-back downhills.  … It is the 98^th World Cup race hosted by Lake Louise.
• The retired Maria Hoefl-Riesch is the defending champion having swept both downhills at Lake Louise last season. Lindsey Vonn has won an incredible 14 World Cup races at the site, the most recent in 2012 (2013 season) when she won both downhills and the super G.
• It is the 27^th career World Cup win for Tina Maze … her fifth in downhill. … It is her first win at Lake Louise, her previous best at the site a fourth in super G from Dec. 2, 2012.
• It is the 32^nd career World Cup podium for Anna Fenninger … her sixth in downhill. … It is her fifth podium at Lake Louise.
• It is the 17^th career World Cup podium for Tina Weirather. … It is her fifth Lake Louise podium without recording a win.
• Laurenne Ross matches her second-best career World Cup finish from the Tarvisio super G March 6, 2011. … It is the seventh best World Cup result at Lake Louise for Julia Mancuso and the 25^th best for Lindsey Vonn. … It is the seventh time Stacey Cook has landed in the top 10 at Lake Louise. … The last time the U.S. had four in the top 10 of a World Cup downhill was Val d’Isere Dec. 14, 2012 (Smith 2, Mancuso 7, McKennis 8, Cook 10). … It is the fifth career World Cup scoring result for Jackie Wiles, all in the last calendar year. … It is the 15^th career World Cup scoring finish for Larisa Yurkiw. … her eighth at Lake Louise. … It is the 23^rd career scoring finish for Alice McKennis. …  her eighth at Lake Louise.
• Tina Maze takes the lead of the World Cup overall standings 288-250 over Kathrin Zettel (did not race). … Mikaela Shiffrin (did not race) is third overall with 209pt. … Marie-Michele Gagnon (did not race) is the top Canadian in 14^th place with 79pts.
• Austria leads the women’s Nations Cup 1076-509 over Sweden. … The U.S. is third with 425pt (160 from this race alone). … Canada is 10^th with 100pts.

RESULTS