The World Cup According to Grande: Aspen Women's GS Preview
It is Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving. Those of us on the road this holiday will give thanks and eat turkey with our teammates and friends rather than our families. It has been like this most years of my coaching career, and this year is no different. It is one of the things that make our teammates like family. Why it becomes so hard to let go of them and of the sport as we get older. The bonds that are created by having holidays together are tight.
Tomorrow, the men will take their second training run in Lake Louise and the women will travel to Aspen and settle into their housing, and get ready for free skiing on the race hill on Friday. According to Aspen Valley Ski Club Director, Jeff Kai, the hill is in great shape with man-made snow and injection they did last night. From all that he has said it sounds like the conditions will be excellent
The race hill in Aspen is officially called Lower Ruthie’s by the FIS and it has a few places to watch carefully. The first is the bottom of Spring Pitch, which is basically the last bit of Aztec. The ladies need to charge down Spring Pitch and nail the last few turns on the pitch to carry speed as the course bends to the left onto Summer Road. This area is make or break. Someone who can take a little more risk earlier on the pitch will be able to carry more speed across the road as long as she can execute the turns cleanly as the bottom of the pitch approaches and the compression there does not cause a problem. The decision making here along with execution can define their run. After the road the girls will enter Strawpile. As you can tell by the name, this section has large rolls and terrain features. Side-hills, drop-offs. The good terrain skier with some guts will do best through here. After Strawpile things are pretty mellow to the finish. All of this action with injected snow will cause some errors to be made. Both in judgement and execution. The decisions made during inspection and before the start will make a mark on this race, as will the execution of these decisions.
Course Setting:
Last year, both courses were set within 2 turns of minimum which tells me the courses can be set open. Plenty of room between gates. A lot of carving and a lot of fun.
The first run will be set by Guenther Obkircher(AUT). Guenther is a long-time men’s coach on all different levels in the Austrian system. From Development to World Cup and back down. Now he is with the Austrian Tech girls. Zettel, Schild, Kirchgasser and Brem are his best. Liz Goergl is not in his group but was 3rd in Aspen last year. Watching him set here in Vail all week, it looks like he will set 26-28 meters for distance most of the time and open it up a bit at the finish. His girls have been skiing well all week. He will try to stick to his own identity as a course setter so his team sees things that they are used to seeing. I would expect them all to have good first runs.
The second run is set by Stefano Costazza(ITA). The same will go for him and will help his athletes. Costazza set in La Molina, Spain last season and set 44 turns, within 4 of minimum. The run he set was won by Zettel, Moelgg was 2nd and Maria Pietilae-Holmner was 3rd. For Americans, Julia was 12th. We watched the La Molina race last year on TV in our apartments near Innsbruck, AUT, the weather was very funky. Warm and very windy with injected snow that was failing under the strength of Mother Nature. This does not discount the results, they are as real as any others. But it does ask the question as to the relevance of the course setter with regard to results in that type of situation.
THE SKIERS:
Tanja Poutiainen(FIN)- I saw Tanja a bit this week and I did get to watch her ski. As I mentioned earlier in the week she was very detail oriented and solid. I watched her free skiing and saw she was making strong transitions and working hard on clean initiations. Great stuff from a great skier. She was happy, relaxed and polishing her approach. She basically said, “One race at a time…” Sounds like any professional athlete anywhere who has been winning. She was second in Aspen last year and will easily be in the mix this week.
Kathrin Zettel(AUT)- She had the flu during the Levi slalom and could not race. She then had to fly here after recovery. The Austrians seem to be keeping her on low volume and few repeat days. They seem concerned with her health and hydration. I will go on a limb and say that she will be less likely to be a factor in Aspen. Recent illness, air travel, jet lag, low volume, the dehydration that flu brings on? It will be tough for her to get it done.
Tina Maze(SLO)- Tina looked very strong and clean in all of her runs in Vail this week. I have been impressed with her skiing,speed and consistency. I would not doubt if she competed for a podium in Aspen.
Denise Karbon(ITA)- I think she is the best female GS skier in the world. I will bet on her every time. She was absolutely crushing the pitch here in Vail today which ends with a bend to the left like in Aspen. She won the first run in Aspen last year and had a problem on the 2nd run, finishing 15th. The only negative for her in Aspen is there might not be enough pitch for her over the duration of the hill.
Kati Hoelzl(GER)- She was fastest here yesterday in some timed runs with girls present from Italy, France and the USA. No other top 7 girls were present for the timed runs. She is a good skier and can compete. The Germans have also been in Vail for about a week.
Tessa Worley(FRA)- She won in Aspen last year, she is a fighter and she seems to be skiing pretty well. Repeat wins are hard to come by on the World Cup but I do think she can be competitive.
Michaela Kirchgasser(AUT)- She has been coming on in GS, her coach is setting, she has seemed very happy and relaxed around Vail all week. I don’t know how much pure speed she has in GS, but she is an excellent skier and has an advantage with the course setting. They have been here since the 17th. Look for her in the top 10 by the end of the day on Saturday.
AMERICANS:
Lindsey Vonn- Last year, Lindsey had her best GS result finishing 4th in Aspen. She was 7th after the first run with a mediocre start number. Now she starts 8-15 and is skiing GS better than ever. She is another month on her new equipment since Soelden. She has had unbeatable training in Vail since returning from Levi. She has had her own lane at times, full length, prime real estate. Today she looked very strong and was going on a tight line while making clean turns. I would expect an excellent performance from her. She also seems to be used to her new skis and very happy with the whole equipment package.
Julia Mancuso- At his point I can only hope she does well. The few runs I saw were not exceptionally fast.
Megan McJames- As I have said in previous blogs, I love the way Megan skis. She makes a very nice transition and clean initiation as long as she has time to do so. I think the course sets in Aspen will give her the time. I also think that Colorado snow and Park City snow are very similar. She grew up on this stuff and it does help. So will the home crowd. I am very high on Megan’s chances.
Sarah Schleper- Home snow and she was 13th last year in Aspen. Pretty good stuff and a chance to repeat that type of performance.
Jess Kelley- Jess is a great technical skier who needs to find her groove. To get herself in gear and just get after it. She is highly trained after years on the ski team and numbers of years on the World Cup, she needs to put aside any drama and just go.
Stacey Cook- My personal favorite as I was her coach at Mammoth before I moved on to the ski team. Stacey even lived at our house and remains one of my wife’s best friends. Stace won the time trial the ski team held for selection. She has scored World Cup points in GS in her career so it is not
a shock she won the spot. But her rank is 113 on the FIS list which means she will start near the back. The circumstance cannot drive her performance, she needs to take chances and make it work from back there. She is playing with house money and needs to ski like it.
CANADIANS:
Simard will sneak into the top 30 on the start list so she has a chance. Gagnon is a great young skier with a good number but unless she is able to make major changes from Soelden, I don’t think anything earth shattering is going to happen.
DARK HORSES:
Look for Viktoria Rebensburg(GER) and Stefanie Koehle(AUT). I just think they are both excellent skiers and competitors and will eventually break through.
The Podium? This one seems tougher. But I think I am going with Karbon for the win, Poutiainen 2nd and Vonn 3rd. Her first World Cup GS podium.
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Greg “Grande” Needell grew up ski racing at Stratton Mountain, Vermont. After graduating from SMS he skied for NCAA Division 1 St. Lawrence University in Canton, NY where he was co-captain in 1986. Greg returned to SMS to coach there for five years serving as the Head Women’s Coach as well as the Head J2 Men’s Coach. He then moved to Mission Ridge in Wenatchee, Washington in 1992 to become the Program Director and Head Coach of the Mission Ridge Ski Club. In 1997, Greg became the Head Coach at Mammoth Mountain, California.
In 2002 Needell was asked to join the U.S. Ski Team staff as a World Cup SL and GS coach. From 2002 to 2008 Needell helped lead the U.S. Ski Team Men to 43 wins, 105 podiums and 264 top ten finishes. Now at the helm of Alpine Race Consulting, Needell offers his knowledge and experience to clubs nationwide.
About the Author: Eric Williams
