Ofterschwang: The course is set

The U.S. women’s team is gunning for what could be a last of the season hurrah for some this weekend in Ofterschwang, Germany, the last stop on the tour before World Cup finals in Are, Sweden, March 9-15.

Ofterschwang will host a giant slalom Friday and a slalom Saturday.

Most of the women have competed at the Bavarian resort before, though U.S. women’s head coach Jim Tracy hadn’t seen the hill until this week.

“It’s medium,” he said. “It’s not real steep, but it’s not totally flat. The course for [Friday’s] first run has been set. It’s a little on the tight side, but it should be manageable.”

Some of the U.S. Team trained for a couple days in Kirkberg, while Lindsey Vonn, after winning Sunday’ super G in Bansko, Bulgaria, has spent a couple days this week training elsewhere in Austria.

The team trained a bit at Ofterschwang on Thursday, but conditions were foggy. Friday and Saturday’s forecast calls for partly cloudy skies and a chance of snow.

Megan McJames and Hailey Duke have the most at stake in the Ofterschwang races. Both are very close to qualifying for World Cup finals. In each discipline, only the top 25 compete in Finals and McJames is currently 32nd in the GS standings and Duke is tied for 27th in slalom.

Julia Mancuso, who is already qualified to compete in downhill and GS in Finals, plus Sarah Schleper and Stacey Cook, will also be competing in Ofterschwang.

Watch the races live on universalsports.com. The first run of Friday’s GS airs at 4 a.m. EST and run No. 2 at 7 a.m.

The U.S. women’s team is gunning for what could be a last of the season hurrah for some this weekend in Ofterschwang, Germany, the last stop on the tour before World Cup finals in Are, Sweden, March 9-15.

Ofterschwang will host a giant slalom Friday and a slalom Saturday.

Most of the women have competed at the Bavarian resort before, though U.S. women’s head coach Jim Tracy hadn’t seen the hill until this week.

“It’s medium,” he said. “It’s not real steep, but it’s not totally flat. The course for [Friday’s] first run has been set. It’s a little on the tight side, but it should be manageable.”

Some of the U.S. Team trained for a couple days in Kirkberg, while Lindsey Vonn, after winning Sunday’ super G in Bansko, Bulgaria, has spent a couple days this week training elsewhere in Austria.

The team trained a bit at Ofterschwang on Thursday, but conditions were foggy. Friday and Saturday’s forecast calls for partly cloudy skies and a chance of snow.

Megan McJames and Hailey Duke have the most at stake in the Ofterschwang races. Both are very close to qualifying for World Cup finals. In each discipline, only the top 25 compete in Finals and McJames is currently 32nd in the GS standings and Duke is tied for 27th in slalom.

Julia Mancuso, who is already qualified to compete in downhill and GS in Finals, plus Sarah Schleper and Stacey Cook, will also be competing in Ofterschwang.

Watch the races live on universalsports.com. The first run of Friday’s GS airs at 4 a.m. EST and run No. 2 at 7 a.m.