Robbins Nest: Snowfall of historic proportions

The snow pelting Are, Sweden, for the start — in name only — of the 2007 alpine World Championships called to mind two other recent championships, both in Austria: the 1999 nordic title events in Ramsau and the ’01 alpine championships in St. Anton.
THE SNOW PELTING Are, Sweden, for the start — in name only — of the 2007 alpine World Championships called to mind two other recent championships, both in Austria: the 1999 nordic title events in Ramsau and the ’01 alpine championships in St. Anton. And the 1993 alpine windsfest in Morioka-Shizukuishi, Japan, which immediately made old-timers — not me — recall the monster snowfall and winds of the ’72 Olympics in Sapporo.
    Ramsau, organizers had to call a timeout midway through the second week so they could move and clear snow in the stadium area for cross-country races. In St. Anton, organizers had to scrub the opening weekend — as they did in Are — because snow had drifted in some place higher than the second story of nearby inns. In Are, coaches reported drifts higher than 20 feet at the top of the men’s course.
    Said Phil McNichol, U.S. men’s head coach: “You can’t say enough about what these race crews have been able to pull off. It’s epic. It’s heroic … and it’s a great tribute to all of them.” At her super G press conference, Anja Paerson, having successfully defended her surprise title from 2005, once again showed why she’s so popular and such a gold-medal PERSON as she made a special point of saluting the crews, too, with a brief shout-out. “It’s easy enough for us to come down and talk about the snow,” she told the overflow crowd, “but I don’t think we have any idea the effort that goes into preparing the course.”
    On the other side, let’s not forget the ’95 alpine championships in Sierra Nevada, Spain, which not only were postponed because of a lack of snow, but were pushed back an entire year — into 1996. That was the year the U.S. ladies went gold-bronze-fifth in the DH with Picabo Street winning, Hilary Lindh taking bronze and Megan Gerety in fifth place; Street also finished third in the super G.

WORD GAME: Most observers have simply called Paerson’s signature move a belly-flop to celebrate each victory, but veteran British TV commentators Nick Fellows and John Clark are calling it “a penguin slide”…The French label it “the airplane”…If Paerson’s gold was popular, and it was, Kildow’s medal — after her well-documented frustrations — was almost equally popular. At  ’05 worlds, she had two fourths (DH, combined) — “three, counting the team event,” she notes — and then that storybook crash and comeback at the Olympics a year ago which took her out of any medal contention.
    In her seventh worlds — going back to ’96 in Spain — and three Olympics, 44 World Cup wins, six worlds medals and two more from the Winter Games, y’think Austrian veteran Renate Goetschl may have been playing some head games with Kildow Tuesday before they made their podium runs in super G? Would she do something like that? “We were at the start and she told me she had eight medals,” Kildow told the news conference. You don’t think — the 22-year-old didn’t sound like she thought — Goetschl may have been trying to put a dent in Kildow’s focus, do you? (Does Donald Trump love headlines?).
    For the last couple of seasons, Kildow has written a weekly column for
The Denver Post about life on the World Cup tour. Now she’s got a teammate also lurching into journalism (of a sort). Before the races began in Are, Julia Mancuso agreed to write a regular series of columns during the championships for a new daily in Austria called Oesterreich. Marco Sullivan did some blog writing last season for VISA and he’s doing the same this season for WCSN.com from the World Cup tour and the championships.
    So, with all the focus on Kildow and Mancuso, you know it’s only a matter of time before the media turns the Dynamic Duo into a one-word creation. Anyone for Kilduso? How ’bout Mancudow? With her prowess in Deutschesprechen growing, perhaps the most surprised media element was Swiss TV, who was told as Kildow arrived for her post-medal interview that they could conduct it in German. Red Bull, her leading sponsor, has provided a tutor to accelerate her learning curve, and she dazzles the interviewers, looking them in the eye and rolling seamlessly from one question to the next in Deutsch.

NURSERY REPORT: Olympic cross-country medalist Sara Renner and Canadian alpine star Thomas Grandi welcomed daughter Aria on Tuesday, and Grandi was on a plane within 24 hours for worlds. Mom, daughter and dad doing well.

LAWYER SHORTAGE? So, don’t they have enough mouthpieces in Are, where they seem to spread cinders or gravel with a teaspoon? With ice the dominant factor on sidewalks and walking paths, and the equivalent of sand little more than a rumor, you have to figure it’s because there aren’t enough personal-injury lawyers in the region. If it were this way in the ski towns in the USA, aka Litigationville, it wouldn’t be this way.

ANJA THE AMAZING: This is why they run races instead of simply awarding placings. There have been five super G’s on the World Cup; Goetschl has won three of ’em with Kildow and Mancuso picking off the other two. So who wins the SG gold at worlds? Right, the home-nation heroine who skipped San Sicario (where there were two SGs) so she could rest and refocus. Said Kildow: “You KNEW Anja would win when she took time to get away from racing for a few days … and more power to her for handling the pressure of winning at home.” Added Goetschl: “I think we all knew Anja would be the one to beat.” Asked if her gold meant a bonus for her coach, Paerson said last year — after Olympic gold — she gave him a boat. “So now, what? I don’t know — a helicopter?”
    For the record, Kildow’s medal meant the U.S. Ski Team has medaled in the opening of every alpine World Championships in this decade: 2001, Daron Rahlves won the men’s super G; 2003, Bode Miller was silver medalist, in a tie with Hermann Maier, in SG, and the next day Kirsten Clark took silver, two-hundredths away from gold, with Jonna Mendes in third place in super G; 2005, Miller won the super G; 2007, Kildow kept the streak alive with her silver medal.

CALLING ALL CARS, CALLING ALL CARS DEPARTMENT: It wasn’t exactly an APB, but here’s the report on www.eurosport.com at 1:42 p.m. during the second run of the first men’s slalom Jan. 27 in Kitzbühel:
    13:42 — THERE HAS BEEN A ROBBERY – We have just got word from the course that Kalle Palander had his skis STOLEN in between runs, and he would appreciate any news on their whereabouts. Email ukfeedback@eurosport.com if you have any details!!!
    Now, hear this: That is all…

THINK FAST: When was the last time U.S. moguls skiers went through a weekend of four events (two contests for men, two more for women, one in moguls and the other in duals) and didn’t have at least one podium? It was good to get back to skiing after three weeks off, but going 0-for-La Plagne was not in (ahem) les plans … nor was a knee injury for defending bumps world champion Hannah Kearney. Note to self: freestyle worlds get under way in a month, March 8 in Madonna di Campiglio, Italy … maybe.

SERIOUS CRISIS: How c-c-c-cold was it heading into the second day of racing in Are? The portable toilets were freezing and volunteers, with a smiling — but straight-face, offered, “Well, there’s an Austrian restaurant just outside the [finish arena] gates … and they have a toilet inside.” OK, you in the back, cut out that snickering. Of course, wouldn’t know it’d be Austrian? They’re like Norwegians at the nordic championships — they’re everywhere, they’re everywhere …

FOOD FOR THOUGHT: So, when was the last time you had Swedish meatballs as a breakfast tidbit every day?