Vonn, Mancuso carry confidence into Cortina

CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy — The U.S. Ski Team can thank their Swiss counterparts that they didn't spend all afternoon trekking back to town amid a blizzard.

CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy — The U.S. Ski Team can thank their Swiss counterparts that they didn't spend all afternoon trekking back to town amid a blizzard.
    With a World Cup downhill training session canceled Thursday, the Americans went out seeking fresh powder snow while their European counterparts hunkered down in the gym or hotel.
    This time, though, the likes of Lindsey Vonn and Julia Mancuso ended their escapade skiing down a road that eventually turned flat. That's when a Swiss team car came to the rescue.
    ''We went the wrong way, so we started skiing down the road and then saw a sign for Cortina — 5K (3 miles) — but we saw the Swiss going down and we hung onto their car for a while until we though it would be a better idea to just get in,'' Mancuso said in an interview with The Associated Press inside her personal bus.
    Downhill training was canceled for the second day in a row and pushed back to Friday. The downhill race is scheduled for Saturday and super-G's will now be held both Sunday and Monday.
    Despite buckets of fresh snow, the Americans didn't see many other skiers on the slopes.
    ''I don't think they really understand powder skiing Vonn said of the Europeans. ''No one was skiing out of bounds and they were looking at us like we were crazy for free skiing in the powder. It was sweet. We just kept going around making first tracks on everything, because no one else wanted to.''
    ''It was awesome. I hadn't been freeskiing or powder skiing in years,'' Vonn added. ''I think we were the only people up there.''
    The races in Cortina are considered the high-point of the women's World Cup season and Vonn and Mancuso have big expectations.
    Vonn had the first podium finish of her career here four years ago and enters the downhill as the discipline leader with two victories this season.
    ''I'm psyched to be back in Cortina, psyched to be racing speed,'' Vonn said. ''Hopefully I can ski well and get on the podium a couple of times again. It's a little bit of a bummer that it snowed so much because soft snow isn't really my thing.''
    Mancuso is the defending champion for Sunday's super G and is feeling at home in the bus she travels the circuit in. Her mother, stepfather and grandparents came over from the United States for the weekend.
    ''They're all here. I feel like the last couple of years, instead of traveling all the time and competing, I'm creating a home away from home on the road,'' Mancuso said. ''I'm getting more friends in other countries. I have a really good friend who lives here in Cortina. Last year, we had dinners at his house every night. It's just fun sort of establishing a home base and friends everywhere we go.''
    Since Bode Miller split from the U.S. squad, the team has scrapped its rule from last season that skiers had to sleep in the team hotel the night before races.
    ''We can sleep in the bus,'' Mancuso said. ''This year I guess the rules are more in the hands of the head coaches. It's definitely more relaxed.''
    The skier to beat will still be Austrian speedster Renate Goetschl, who has a record 10 victories in Cortina but is winless this season.
    ''Cortina is for sure her hill,'' Vonn said. ''It's kind of like when I race in Lake Louise [Alberta]. Some athletes click on certain hills and I definitely think she clicks here. But the last couple races weren't that good for her, so you never know.''
   
    — The Associated Press