What the hell was that? Did someone just drop all the upsets into one weekend? Who is running this show anyway?

I love it, I love seeing new winners. I am a huge fan of Maria Pietilae-Holmner from a long time ago. Since we were training in Sweden prior to the Are World Championships in 2007 and she was beating Ted on the start splits. All the Sweden girls thought it was pretty entertaining, as did we. She has finally done it and did it with style. She won the first run convincingly on a tough hill and then she backed it up by squeaking by Maria Riesch for the win on run number two. It is a true rarity to see a double-win like that by the race winner on the World Cup and even more rare on a steep hill. It can be so easy to make a small error or two that would lead to a loss. But the podium was a good one, one I like anyway with MPH in first, Maria Riesch in second and Tanja Poutiainen in third. But the podium is truly only part of the story in Aspen from this weekend. We witnessed the return of a lot of girls to the top 10 who have not been contending in a while like Veronika Zuzulova(CZE) and Therese Borssen (SWE). There was a nice showing by Frida Hansdottir of Sweden in 9th and also Nastasia Noens (FRA) in 6th from the 22 start position That will move her up the WCSL list to 17th lurking just five points behind Nicole Gius for the 15th spot.

The race was also highlighted by the emergence of a Swiss 17 year old named Wendy Holdener who snuck into the flip 30 in 29th and then moved up to 18th. Wendy was born in 1993 and just to get a handle on that, the girl in front of her was Nicole Gius, born in 1980. Nicole was almost FIS age when Wendy was born. The Swedes had three in the top 10, the Germans had three in the top 15 and six girls starting the second run. And while the Austrians had three girls standing at the end of the day, only Niki Hosp was in the top five and I think disappointment is probably where the Austrian women’s team stands on the weekend in Aspen. Italy had only two in the top 30 with Nicole Gius leading the way in 17th. The DNFs from Moelgg and Costazza exposed them as a team without a lot of depth in slalom. And while Manu Moelgg is one of the best in the world, Costazza has been hanging back around 20 for most of her career. Nicole turned 30 just a few days ago and I just don’t see Curtoni as a threat in slalom. They are going to need to find some new athletes to push up through the system.

AMERICANS

Once again led by Lindsey Vonn with a top 10 finish in 8th place, the Americans seem a little thin in the discipline. I have not had a chance to see the race yet but I truly thought Sarah would punch in there. It should be a good hill for her as she has always been good on pitches. But the big story out of Aspen for us was the return of Resi Steigler! I think it was huge for her to get into the second run and get two shots at a World Cup hill after so much time away.  She stopped by our condo in Vail yesterday on her way to Loveland for Nor Ams and said she was “stumped” out at the bottom of run one and it was very turny towards the finish. All it means is that she needs to race more and get specifically race-fit. As well, the anxiety of racing World Cup can really draw a lot of energy the night before and in the morning of the race if you have not done it in a while. The more attempts she gets going forward, the better she will do. Especially when she gets into the rhythm of World Cup racing in Europe and can hit some familiar hills on which she has had a lot of success. Good luck in Loveland today to all the USA girls.

CANADIANS

What a great day for our neighbors to the north. I am sure that everyone would wish they were all stacked in the top 10 but they all need to be patient with results and keep doing the work to get in there every single week. The more runs you get on the World Cup, the more comfortable you will be and the better you will do down the road. Mitch Gagnon in 15th from 35 was very solid. It was another good finish for her. Eve Routhier scored 19th from 39 and scored her first World Cup points. She was also only half a second out on the second run and was 7th for the run. And even better, in another comeback story, Anna Goodman finished 23rd, scoring her first points since she was injured last season. And as I write this, she is leading run 1 of the NorAm slalom at Loveland. Nice work ladies!

LAKE LOUISE SG

Tobi Gruenenfelder, really? There is no way that anyone would know that he would win, or even could win. He has only been on a World Cup SG podium three times in his life, a 3rd place at Kvitfjell last season and two 3rd places in Garmisch in 2003 and 2004. That is a long time between podiums and then to pull out a win in the first SG of the season really made me wonder what his history actually has been at Lake Louise. He has raced there since the 2000-01 season and was only in the top 10 once, tenth place 2 seasons ago. His history at Lake Louise gave no hint that he would be able to pull this off. To further the mystery of this result, look at the winners over the last 11 SG races in Lake Louise. Until last season, when Manny O-P won on Rossignol, Atomic had won 9 straight SG races in Lake Louise. And then were close again this season. I am just stating fact, not opinion. The win on Stoeckli is a very important one for them. They have been doing very well in the last few years with strong finishes and some wins from the likes of Andrej Jerman. Atomic’s total lock on Lake Louise seems to be waning on the men’s side.

AMERICANS

Led by Bode in 12th, I would think the boys and coaches are not thrilled. I am sure they went up there with positive thoughts, goals and hopes.  Travis Ganong’s 20th place, which is his first top 20 World Cup SG, should lead to some positive feelings. Ted in the points again in speed always feels like a bonus somehow. Especially on a track like Lake Louise which does require a lot of gliding. But the big dogs not making it into the points has to feel like a bit of a disappointment. The good news for all of them is that they are now in motion toward Beaver Creek, where they have all had success.

CANADIANS

They are likely disappointed as well. But with the 3 best SG guys they have active right in the middle of the scoring, they cannot be too hard on themselves. I am sure Johno McBride, Rewk Patten and the other coaches wanted more out of the weekend, but they got what they got and it was not too bad. And being about 0.5 seconds from the top ten (more or less) they can likely watch some video and find that time tactically or with their skiing execution in specific spots on the hill. They will not be satisfied with that performance but I think they can pull some positives to move on to Beaver Creek and to Europe at venues where they have traditionally excelled.

A QUICK NORAM UPDATE

Anna Goodman won the women’s slalom in Loveland, which should really give her confidence as she heads to Europe and a slalom at Courchevel. I would guess that she will pick up a Europa Cup start and some FIS starts before the World Cup slalom in Courchevel. Taina Barioz won the second run and stormed into 2nd today and Denise Feierabend (SUI) was 3rd after finishing 2nd on the second run. The best American was Megan McJames in 8th. But the likely buzz coming out of that race will be about phenom first year FIS racer Mikaela Shiffrin who came out of the 81st start position to finish 14th. She was 5th on the second run, tied with Ms. Goodman and probably scored a result somewhere in the mid 20’s. Of course that is based on a minimum penalty. Anyway, a nice showing, she got some Nor Am points and a good FIS result so she should be on her way to good things.

The guys raced in Aspe
n today and the day belonged to JB Grange who is looking good in his comeback from an ACL tear last season. He won the World Cup slalom in Levi and he seemed strong today by all accounts. There should be no doubt about his physical or mental readiness by the time the GS in Beaver Creek happens. Grange was followed by Marcel Hirscher (.02 back) and our own Tommy Ford who was .19 out of first. After Ford came Palander, Richard, Sandell, Neureuther, Berthod, Haugen and Schoerghofer in the top 10. All World Cuppers in their own right. It’s nice to see Tommy Ford get in the mix.

AND TO TOP IT OFF the girls start their training runs today in Lake Louise. It will be a much anticipated start for the speed girls and a good break for the rest of our girls to train a little out of the spotlight. And I will not even talk about Lindsey’s dominance in DH in Lake Louise…yet.