Rahlves, Mendes capture FIS downhills; nationals get under way at Alyeska

Rahlves, Mendes capture FIS downhills; nationals get under way at Alyeska{mosimage}USSA — Less than 12 hours after arriving from the end of the World Cup season in Europe, Daron Rahlves won the men’s FIS-level downhill Thursday before the start of the Chevrolet U.S. Alpine Championships at Alyeska Resort in Alaska. A second Lake Tahoe racer, Jonna Mendes, won the women’s downhill.

Rahlves, who stuck around in Sestriere, Italy, for a couple of days to test equipment, arrived shortly before dawn, grabbed a couple of hours of sleep and then foreran the women’s FIS race so he would have one run on the course before racing in the men’s event at 12:30 p.m. Rahlves started 13th and finished in 1:43.95 to edge Kevin Francis by 0.2 seconds, with Bryon Friedman in third place at 1:44.26.

“This is a good start for me, especially considering I didn’t get here until 4:30 this morning,” Rahlves said. “What’s really amazing is that all 17 of our bags made it, too!”

Rahlves, the winningest U.S. man in World Cup downhill history (with six downhill wins, including March 10 at the World Cup Finals in Sestriere, Italy), said he liked the Bowl/Gelende racing trail at Alyeska. “This is a good course for nationals,” he said. “Even on the flat sections they have a lot of terrain.”

Earlier, Mendes won the women’s FIS race with a time of 1:46.27. Lindsey Kildow was second in 1:46.38 with reigning U.S. downhill champion Julia Mancuso in third place (1:47.60).

The championships begin Friday, returning to Alyeska for the first time since 1981. Doug Powell and Holly Flanders were the U.S. downhill champions that year.

The schedule for this year’s championships includes the traditional Chevrolet Return of the Champions, in which Olympic and world championship medalists return to enjoy a giant slalom race with teams comprised of alumni, current U.S. Ski Team athletes and development-level racers. There also are opportunities for socializing and sharing racing tips and philosophies. The schedule:

>> Friday: Men’s and women’s downhill

>> Saturday: Men’s and women’s super G

* Chevrolet Return of the Champions XI (2 p.m., fun GS after SGs)

>> Sunday: Men’s and women’s slalom

>> Monday: Men’s giant slalom

>> Tuesday: Women’s giant slalom

The FIS downhill traditionally starts the long weekend of racing at the nationals, giving skiers an opportunity to improve their international downhill ranking; 59 men and 34 women raced.