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Rudi Riet

AKA songfta AKA randomduck - a USSS coach, as well
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Reporting from the Media Center, where I'm surrounded by Agence France Press journalists....

The GS course is set for tomorrow, and hill prep crews are working their magic. Most athletes have called it a day, though some are still banging the gates on Skye Lark.

A couple of pics for y'all to get a taste of things:

"I guess I'm here..."

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Superstar from the KSC Media Center windows:

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James

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So the media center is in the Killington Ski Club building?

What are the reports on the course conditions?
 
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Rudi Riet

Rudi Riet

AKA songfta AKA randomduck - a USSS coach, as well
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What are the reports on the course conditions?

I've heard that it's firm and a little chalky, but far more solid than last year. The course prep crews are doing laps on Superstar right now to get the surface down to a smooth sheen. There's the outside chance of a little liquid precip tomorrow - a warm front has just moved in - so they want any anomalies out of the way. Luckily, it is forecast to freeze overnight.

The USST start list is deep for tomorrow, though only Shiffrin is in the top seed. Here's the full roster here - I've included FIS points and world rankings for a sense fo how much of a difference a few FIS points make:

DESROCHERS Rachael [14.60 (103)]
FORD Julia [27.20 (241)]
HENSIEN Katie [29.71 (345)]
KLOMHAUS Storm [17.04 (133)]
LAPANJA Lila [21.53 (202)]
MANGAN Patricia [16.47 (127)]
MCJAMES Megan [7.00 (39)]
MOLTZAN Paula [7.60 (43)]
O'BRIEN Nina [11.25 (63)]
PETERSON Foreste [8.98 (50)]
SHIFFRIN Mikaela [1.08 (2)]
STIEGLER Resi [28.33 (315)]

For our north-of-the-border folk:

GAGNON Marie-Michele [5.33 (18)]
GRENIER Valerie [14.66 (104)]
MIELZYNSKI Erin [14.20 (94)]
SMART Amelia [9.79 (55)]
ST. GERMAIN Laurence [26.00 (280)]
TOMMY Mikaela [8.00 (44)]
 
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Rudi Riet

Rudi Riet

AKA songfta AKA randomduck - a USSS coach, as well
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An update: just spoke with a good friend of mine (long-time New England race coach and event director) who is on the hill prep crew, after the crews did their final slips of Superstar:

Tuesday's injection (which is the second one they did - there was also a larger-scale one on Sunday), combined with the cold over the past few days, has created a surface my friend (who doesn't mince words) calls solid ice. He says it should hold up, no matter what transpires weather-wise over the next 24 hours. The race crew hopes to avoid the peeling snow of last year's GS, and it seems like they've pulled it off.

We shall see tomorrow, of course.
 
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Rudi Riet

Rudi Riet

AKA songfta AKA randomduck - a USSS coach, as well
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The crowd is starting to build at the base. It's breezy (down trail, so the wind will be at the racers' backs), and there's a bit of a temperature inversion going on at the mountain right now. It's warm, but the surface is still very solid.

The other starters from USA and CAN:

19. Marie-Michele GAGNON (CAN)
33. Megan McJAMES (USA)
35. Mikaela TOMMY (CAN)
41. Amelia SMART (CAN)
45. Nina O'BRIEN (USA)
54. Erin MIELZYNSKI (CAN)
55. Valeria GRENIER (CAN)
59. Patricia MANGAN (USA)
63. Laurence St. GERMAIN (CAN)
64. Resi STIEGLER (USA)
65. A.J. HURT (USA)

-----

At last night's press conference, I asked Paula Moltzan about what it's like to be an active NCAA racer while still pursuing a World Cup schedule. She says the time management is tough, but that it's a great alternate path to elite racing in the U.S. She hopes that more women can follow this path that male racers have been blazing for years.

For a few minutes, Bode Miller was seated next to me at the presser. So he's around, likely for NBC (I didn't get to ask him anything). I've seen Steve Porino a few times over the past 24 hours. So the TV team looks to be the one the network will use for the Olympics, getting a test run.
 
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Rudi Riet

Rudi Riet

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First run is in the books. Some observations from the finish area:

The earlier racers certainly had the best course conditions. The weather today is quite warm, around 40°F/4°C, and there was a persistent wind from the southwest. So the very solid surface of yesterday began to soften in spots. Many of the athletes were hitting their edges too hard, likely on skis that were tuned for more solid snow. While the racers were, by and large, satisfied with the surface, it definitely rewarded a deft touch. The final pitch, especially was a bit softer than the upper part of the course and claimed its share of victims, both in terms of time and in terms of people skiing out.

Big move of the morning: Alex Tilley of Great Britain, who moved up from 32nd bib to 9th place. Her skiing was perfect for the conditions, with a line that was aggressive, and turns that were a bit more patient. She was very pumped.

Shiffrin skied the second half of the course better than the upper portion, to my eyes (and to the clock's tale). Rebensburg is definitely fully recovered from her recent injuries. And the Italian squad is still deep, with veteran experience leading the way in the form of Manuela Moelgg.

Team USA had two make the flip, the Canadians had one. All five of Italy's athletes made the flip. Four of Switzerland's squad are in the top 30. Slovenia has three taking the afternoon run. Even the Netherlands has an athlete going for some World Cup points.

Pictures to come in a bit - the lunch break for the media is quite brief.
 

Swede

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Frida held her skis together (she can be a little wide). Haven’t seen her look as good in GS in a long time. Paid off with a top ten. Too bad Hector went out. She is fast now.
 
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Rudi Riet

Rudi Riet

AKA songfta AKA randomduck - a USSS coach, as well
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The journalist in that photo, Masimiliano, is a 20+ year veteran from La Gazetta dello Sport, Italy's premier sport newspaper. Nice guy - I was beside him most of the day. Sadly, my Italian isn't that great, so his interviews with the Italian athletes weren't anything I could suss out.
 

surfsnowgirl

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Mooore cowbell

What a great day. So glad we had grandstand seats. Somehow had our same front row seats before and after lunch. Next year hopefully we'll get the VIP parking. Otherwise parking at sky ship and shuttling to and fro was super easy.

Wasn't there to star watch, didn't care who was sitting next to us. Just wanted to watch some awesome ski racing and that we did.

Perfect day.

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