COVERAGE: FIS Alpine World Cup - Killington, VT - 24-25 Nov 2018

[Blue Streak]

@AaronFM and @Rudi Riet.... You guys ROCK. Thanks for taking the time to attend and report, the pics and words are awesome.

 

[Blue Streak]

Let's start a gofundme page to get Bode on the air for all of the races.
There is no comparison.

 

[4ster]

Thanks for the great report on day one GS. Only sorry that I didn’t see it till now.
I have been watching & touting Stephanie Brunner’s technique for a number of years now. So glad to finally see her break onto the podium after many 4ths, top 10’s & singular fast runs!
Also looked like Anna Veith has taken another stride forward.

Traveling today, so probably won’t see the Slalom till tonight. I will look forward to the on sight report from here.

 

[Swede]

SL today, 1st looked foggy. Was a fairly long interview with Shiffrin on today's coverage over here. She talked about her "bad" season and mental stress.

 

[Philpug]

Let's start a gofundme page to get Bode on the air for all of the races.
There is no comparison.

I am not sure what was worse, watching these women fight the fog or listening to the announcer act like it was Wrestlemania. I think it was the is the latter.

 

[Blue Streak]

I am not sure what was worse, watching these women fight the fog or listening to the announcer act like it was Wrestlemania. I think it was the is the latter.

I am glad I am not the only one that thought that.

 

[Rudi Riet]

SL First Run Report:

"This ain't no party, this ain't no disco,
This ain't no fooling around..."

Talking Heads - "Life During Wartime"

Today is a very New England racing day. We have fog. We have rain. We have sleet. We have a snow surface that is challenging. Basically: it's a war zone, and the gladiators of the women's World Cup slalom circuit were ready to take it on. The organizers supplemented natures water injection with a ton or so of urea to help firm up the surface for a fair race.

The course held up well for the first 10 or so racers, then it started to get choppy with peeling snow - not ideal, and causing a large spread in times. The cutoff for the flip (i.e. 30th place) is 4.95 seconds, which is a large disparity for a world-class field.

The top results came from those who screwed up the least. Visibility was tough, and lack of depth perception meant the athletes needed to have a top-notch inspection. One who live by this (and told me directly) was Mikaela Shiffrin, who skied the best along all but the middle section of the course and landed in the lead by 0.29 seconds over Bernadette Schild (AUT), and by 0.54 over both Petra Vlhova (SVK) and Frida Hansdotter (SWE). Fifth place went to Anna Swenn Larsson of Sweden, 0.95 out.

Mikaela Shiffrin watches the run of Resi Stiegler from the finish area. Photo by @Rudi Riet

From there, the intervals got larger. Wendy Holdener (SUI) finished in seventh, 1.48 seconds out. Nina Haver-Loeseth (NOR), a strong slalom specialist, skied tentatively to land in 14th, 3.07 seconds out.

Ending up in 15th with a run that was all guts after a recovery move early in the course was Laurence St-Germain of Canada. I spoke with her after her run, and she compared the course to those she sees on the NCAA carnival circuit. Starting 25th, she said the track was fairly chewed up, with slush pockets and no really smooth line down the course. It's no fault of the organizers, whose volunteer course maintenance army was working tirelessly to keep slough off the line and knock down any ruts or holes, but there was definitely a survival aspect to the run. Laurence is a senior at UVM, and will race a full carnival circuit and all of the World Cup slalom events this season - no small feat!

Laurence St-Germain (CAN) - photo by @Rudi Riet

Other performances of note:

Piera Hudson (NZL) skied an incredible run out of the 59th start position to finish 24th for the run and make the flip. Roni Remme (CAN) finished 21st. And two USST athletes, Paula Moltzan and Nina O'Brien, made the flip in 28th and 30th. This means O'Brien gets the honor of starting first for run number two.

The other USST athletes either skied out or didn't make the flip.

Pictures by @AaronFM:

Frida Hansdotter (SWE)

Mikaela Shiffrin (USA)

Petra Vlhova (SVK)

Petra Vlhova (SVK)

Michelle Gisin (SUI)

Lena Duerr (AUT)

Nina Haver-Loeseth (NOR)

Ana Bucik (SLO)

Ana Bucik (SLO) summing up how most folks felt about the weather and conditions for run one

Maren Skjoeld (NOR)

Laurence St-Germain (CAN)

Carole Bissig (SUI)

Roni Remme (CAN)

Nina O'Brien (USA)

Nina O'Brien (USA)

Piera Hudson (NZL)

The weather is less foggy for the second run, though still warm at 40°F/5°C, so chemicals will once again be used liberally to keep the course in shape.

Stay tuned...

 

[sjjohnston]

Nice first run photos. Looking forward to the same from run 2.

I got a kick out of how joyous the New Zealander (Hudson) was on finishing and making the second run.

Spoiler

Not exactly a shocking result, and I'm sure it made the crowd happy.

Notable: Given a fresh course, Moltzan had the 4th fastest second run ... a mere 6 hundredths behind the fastest, and just 4 behind Shiffrin (who obviously didn't have quite as clean a course on the second run, but I think she's pretty accustomed to running 30th by now).

 

[Muleski]

This was an unusually GREAT opportunity to work into the top 30 and get a second run. IF you could handle the weather and visibility. A very different situation that a clear, real cold day on a different surface and set. Very glad to see some capitalize. Hudson was one. Things cleared up for the fast few first run skiers. Huge opportunity. Worked for some. Some ugly skiing for others. The difference between the top of this field and the back is just huge...

Great reporting, guys, BTW!! And great pics!!

I find the announcing and the circus to be really annoying. One reason why we are not there. And, BTW, WCN is a friend. The “awesome” act that he is paid to deliver gets old to me, maybe because I’m older....and not new to this. But...whatever fans want, right? Huge crowd, so evidently “it works.”

Amazing to me who does show up for this. Big turnout! Many, many USST alums.

 

[bbinder]

Great pix and reporting!

 

[Rudi Riet]

SL Second Run Report:

The weather was misty throughout, though the fog cleared. The flat light and ever-changing snow proved challenging to the second run field.

As @sjjohnston intimated above, start position for the second run was helpful. The snow - once again treated with a lot of urea - degraded throughout the run, even with the most heroic efforts from the course crew.

Team USA had a great outcome, with Nina O'Brien moving up from 30th to 23rd, and Paula Moltzan moving from 28th to 17th on the fourth-fastest second run. Team Canada Alpine also had great results from Roni Remme and Laurence St-Germain, who ended up in 13th and 14th, respectively. Also making a big jump in the second ru was Josephine Forni (FRA), moving from 29th to 21st on the sixth-fastest second run. And Piera Hudson (NZL) ended up on 26th, scoring the first World Cup points of her career.

But the stars of the first run showed their mettle under less-than-favorable conditions. The margins between racers only grew due to the degrading course, but the cream always rises to the top. So hats off to Frida Hasdotter (SWE) in third, Petra Vlhova (SVK) in second, and Mikaela Shiffrin (USA) the victor. Her winning margin of the day was 0.57 seconds, having the second-fastest second run. Vlhova had the third-fastest time for run number two, the winner of the run being NCAA alumna Kristin Lysdahl of Norway, who used her college racing experience to rip the second course to shreds and moving from 27th to 16th overall.

The dominant theme of the second run was survival. The course demanded a lot from the athletes: the ability to adapt to ever-changing conditions, the ability to stay balanced on a surface that bucked and pitched the racers as they edged their skis into the snow, and the ability to drive through to the finish. The winners were worthy. The time spread of the top five was 1.93 seconds - an eternity in modern ski racing, and a testament to the challenge Superstar brought to these elite racers.

Overall, the Killington crowd was impressive on day two. While not as large (the wet weather likely having some impact on attendance), the crowd was loud and proud. Shiffrin thanked them for all the noise they made before her second run, and she says she used that as motivation to lay down a special run to cement what, to her, was not a sure win.

Vlhova and Hansdotter were most impressed with the organization here in Killington. Vlhova said that, while the rain and fog were concerns, athletes at this level are mentally prepared to race no matter what - "go full gas" to take advantage of the situation, and accept that the weather and conditions will be what they are.

Hansdotter was amazed at the fan support, and calls Killington one of her top three favorite slalom hills on the World Cup circuit (her other favorites: Åre and Flachau). Whether that answer had anything to do with the local press coordinator suggesting that Killington is automatically a top three contender is anybody's guess.

Shiffrin is certainly dialed into the Killington crowd, and finds that the crowd support is a key to success here. She also cites some of the drills she used to do while at Burke Mountain Academy - specifically a forward-driving double pole plant - for helping deal with courses that are as rough and worn-down as Superstar was this afternoon.

O'Brien was given special notice by participating in the winners' press conference, and while she was a bit star-struck with the honor, she said that it was all part of her "best day ever" as a ski racer. Also a BMA alumna, she said that conditions like today were something she'd seen many times before, and that it was helpful for dealing with the stress of waiting to see if she'd made the second run, and then the pressure of being first out of the gate in the second run. What was most charming was having Mikaela there, supporting and helping guide Nina through her first major race press conference.

And when asked whether she'd be up for a "Battle of the Sexes" slalom challenge between herself and Marcel Hirscher, Mikaela said the while it would certainly be interesting, and that a competition of similar ilk has existed in the past, she's concentrating on the here-and-now.

Photos by @AaronFM:

Nina O'Brien (USA)

Nina O'Brien

Carole Bissig (SUI)

Paula Moltzan (USA) - fourth fastest second run

Elena Stoffel (SUI)

Piera Hudson (NZL)

Piera Hudson

Gabriela Capova (CZE), racing on Augment skis - first time I've ever seen the brand.

Roni Remme (CAN)

Aline Danioth (SUI)

Laurence St-Germain (CAN)

Nina Haver-Loeseth (NOR)

Katharina Liensberger (AUT)

Katharina Liensberger (AUT)

Lena Duerr (GER)

Lena Duerr (GER)

Irene Curtoni (ITA)

Katharina Truppe (AUT)

Michelle Gisin (SUI)

Frida Hansdotter (SWE)

Petra Vlhova (SVK)

Bernadette Schild (AUT)

Mikaela Shiffrin - the depth her skis are cutting into the snow gives an impression of how weird the surface was

Mikaela Shiffrin

Hansdotter, Shiffrin, Vlhova

Mikaela Shiffrin

Your top three

Shiffrin being interviewed by Austrian TV (likely speaking German, too)

Hansdotter

Vlhova

Shiffrin

Vlhova

Hansdotter

Nina O'Brien

Shiffrin

Shiffrin, O'Brien, and bears

All in all, a splendid weekend of racing at the #BeastWorldCup. The Killington organizers run a world-class event, and it's very likely (according to a few little birds) that this will become a perennial stop on the women's World Cup circuit.

Thanks for tuning in!

- Aaron and Rudi

 

[Average Joe]

I am not sure what was worse, watching these women fight the fog or listening to the announcer act like it was Wrestlemania. I think it was the is the latter.

Sad when you have to use the mute button for a televised ski race.

 

[Tricia]

Great report on this one.
Phil and I watched in awe this morning that any of the athletes and course workers could see the race course. I'm not sure how @AaronFM is getting such good shots with this kind of visibility.

 

[Pete in Idaho]

Thanks Aaron and Rudi a really great job. Thankyou for your talent, determination and being here on Pugski. Really great job.

 

[Chef23]

Thanks guys for posting this. I watched first then read your posts and really enjoyed it. Unfortunately I had stuff to do this weekend but I am going to put this on my calendar for next year and try to go.

Shiffrin is amazing she seems to have a second sense of when to put the hammer down in the slalom events. Great to watch.

 

[AaronFM]

Thanks to everyone for tuning in for our coverage! It was an energetic whirlwind few days covering the races.

 

[Blue Streak]

Thanks to everyone for tuning in for our coverage! It was an energetic whirlwind few days covering the races.

Awesome job!

 

[Philpug]

Thanks to everyone for tuning in for our coverage! It was an energetic whirlwind few days covering the races.

Awesome job @AaronFM on the pics.

 

[James]

Thanks for the great coverage guys!
Saturday was probably the nicest Thanksgiving weekend day ever. Sun, dry snow, no brutal winds. It even got balmy. Hard to believe it was Vermont. Fear not, Sunday brought a mess of everything.
The Olympic channel doesn't have much of a circus commentary. Pretty straight from Dan Hicks and Steve Porino.

Great to see that Killington pulled off another great event. I went to the last two but couldn't make this one. The best thing about the crowd there is they cheer for all the racers, not just the Americans, and even for those at the back of the pack.

 

[Tricia]

The Olympic channel doesn't have much of a circus commentary. Pretty straight from Dan Hicks and Steve Porino

Really? We were watching on the NBC Sports channel which isI (I thought) the Olympic channel.
Maybe I'm wrong. I could have done without the screaming of the announcers, but I'm also happy that we have coverage of any kind in the USA. We need more coverage.