World Cup calendar poses some obstacles

The 2006-07 alpine World Cup consists of 38 men’s races, 37 for women, and a few variations on the standard calendar that has evolved in the 40 years since the circuit was founded.
    This weekend’s coed slalom at Levi, Finland, turned out to be the season openers after the Sölden, Austria, openers (Oct. 28-29) were scrapped. Some aberrations from the norm include men’s slaloms at Alta Badia, Italy, and Garmisch, Germany, and a stand-alone women’s slalom at Megève, France, just before Christmas.
THE 2006-07 ALPINE World Cup consists of 38 men’s races, 37 for women, and a few variations on the standard calendar that has evolved in the 40 years since the circuit was founded.
    This weekend’s coed slalom at Levi, Finland, turned out to be the season openers after the Sölden, Austria, openers (Oct. 28-29) were scrapped. Some aberrations from the norm include men’s slaloms at Alta Badia, Italy, and Garmisch, Germany, and a stand-alone women’s slalom at Megève, France, just before Christmas.
    The men’s schedule has grueling travel for any all-around athlete who might be gunning for a title at season’s end. Multi-event racers will fly from World Championships in Are, Sweden, (Feb. 3-18) down to Garmisch (Feb. 24-25), drive to Kranjska Gora, Slovenia (March 3-4), fly up to Norway for speed events at Kvitfjell (March 9-11), followed by yet another flight down to Switzerland, for the World Cup Finals in Lenzerheide (March 14-18).
    Notable on the women’s side, meanwhile, is a quirk of scheduling that has no downhills or super G races taking place between Val d’Isere, France (Dec. 16-17), and Altenmarkt, Switzerland (Jan 12-14), giving speed specialists a nice long break. A highlight for them will be returning to the Olympic course at San Sicario, Italy, Jan. 27-28 (vengeance for Lindsey Kildow?).
     Three weeks later, after Are, the women have tech events in Sierra Nevada, Spain — where they haven’t raced since 1999.
    “The challenge will always be if we have snow where we are going,” said Atle Skaardal, director of the women’s tour, naming Aspen, Levi and Semmering as the sites most susceptible to early season snow shortages.
    Both schedules reflect the trend toward combined racing — the women have three super combis (St. Moritz, Switzerland; Altenmarkt; and Tarvisio, Italy) and the men have four (Beaver Creek, Colorado; Val d’Isere; Chamonix, France; and Wengen, Switzerland) plus the perennial “paper combined” at Kitzbühel.
    The newfangled nations team event — coed, cross-discipline and possibly destined for the Olympic program — will not appear in the World Cup midseason, but there will be one at World Championships and another at Finals.