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

[Cheizz]

+ 1

Will there be the same level of inside-the-event reporting next weekend in Beaver Creek?

 

[Rudi Riet]

I missed Bode. I was very impressed with his ability to take a glance at a skier coming down and immediately discuss the good and bad points of the technique. I really hope he comes back

I'm guessing Bode may be brought in for Birds of Prey, but otherwise he'll be shelved now that it's not an Olympic year. NBC wanted him for the name value; now that we are in a "non-revenue" year (per USSS standards), NBC doesn't need to break out the big commentary guns.

It was fun hearing Alice McKennis try her hand at commentary from Lake Louise, though. She's learning, and the more she does it the better she'll be.

 

[Rudi Riet]

Will there be the same level of inside-the-event reporting next weekend in Beaver Creek?

That's for @Philpug and @Tricia to say. As @AaronFM and I are east coasters with regular day jobs, our ability to wing out to Eagle County is limited. Also, covering a speed event can be more challenging, especially for photographers. Perhaps next year we can figure something out - I'd love to cover Birds of Prey or Lake Louise at some point.

 

[Tricia]

That's for @Philpug and @Tricia to say. As @AaronFM and I are east coasters with regular day jobs, our ability to wing out to Eagle County is limited. Also, covering a speed event can be more challenging, especially for photographers. Perhaps next year we can figure something out - I'd love to cover Birds of Prey or Lake Louise at some point.

We asked someone to go to Beaver Creek last year and actually considered making the trip ourselves, but the logistics didn't work out. I would LOVE to have this kind of coverage at all the North America events.
@ScotsSkier and @DoryBreaux did a great job at Squaw a few years ago as well.

 

[Dwight]

A little POV of the slalom run.

 

[Rudi Riet]

I'd be remiss to not post this shot of @AaronFM working the post-race presser after the slalom on Sunday. Pardon the so-so cell phone photo quality.

 

[Philpug]

I'd be remiss to not post this shot of @AaronFM working the post-race presser after the slalom on Sunday. Pardon the so-so cell phone photo quality.

Sooo..@AaronFM didn't take those pictures with a iPhone 8?

 

[Rudi Riet]

Sooo..@AaronFM didn't take those pictures with a iPhone 8?

Heh!

I did a swift snap of that shot under really crappy lighting conditions - simply wanted to catch the man in his element.

 

[James]

It was fun hearing Alice McKennis try her hand at commentary from Lake Louise, though. She's learning, and the more she does it the better she'll be.

Oh that's who that was, I saw some of that coverage on the Olympic channel late Sun night. Yes, she was pretty good. She resisted the standard setups by the announcer which usually result in many words of little substance.

 

[AaronFM]

Heh!

I did a swift snap of that shot under really crappy lighting conditions - simply wanted to catch the man in his element.

Looking at amazing events through a tiny hole. The pitfalls of a photographer . I barely remember Guy in Shorts taking that photo of us at lunch; getting used to new workflow management in the midst of capturing 2500 images was taxing!

As for other races I'd love to cover more. Waterville Valley is hosting US Nationals in SL and GS late March if there is interest and Phil/Trish can find a writer.

 

[K2 Rat]

Great reports and pictures! I was there on Saturday with my group at Mount Snow Academy and it was a great day. Didn’t seem more crowded that last year, but they reported 18,500 this year vs 15,000 ( if I recall correctly) . Regardless, great crowd and the largest for a Women’s only World Cup, which is surprising to me. Killington did an amazing job. It was my 28th World Cup race I atttended dating back to Stratton ‘78 and they never disappoint.

 

[James]

View attachment 59244 Great reports and pictures! I was there on Saturday with my group at Mount Snow Academy and it was a great day. Didn’t seem more crowded that last year, but they reported 18,500 this year vs 15,000 ( if I recall correctly) . Regardless, great crowd and the largest for a Women’s only World Cup, which is surprising to me. Killington did an amazing job. It was my 28th World Cup race I atttended dating back to Stratton ‘78 and they never disappoint.

Great photo. Would those girls be there if Mikaela wasn't Mikaela?

 

[K2 Rat]

Great photo. Would those girls be there if Mikaela wasn't Mikaela?

Playing basketball. And that is a real problem with USA. Vonn is done after this year and Ted is not too far behind. We are a team of one which young kids can look up to and want to a be a ski racer like _______ .

 

[K2 Rat]

Most of the girls were very appreciative of the little kids yellling their names as they walked by ( this is after 1st run of GS) . Although Mikaela was not particularly thrilled with her first run, she smiled for the kids. A couple stopped who did not qualify for 2nd run and took their bib off and tossed it to the kids.

 

[James]

Did it cost $ to get them that close? I went the first two years. The first year the athletes were using the big bar area as a dressing room.
In general it's amazing that one can go to a world class event for free.

 

[K2 Rat]

Tessa was one of the best. She took her time walking out through the fenced in corridor, stopping to sign autographs and pose for pictures. All while being the only racer to carry her own skis ( and the only one who bagged them - not sure why , but can’t be hiding the pistons as everyone has seen them) . While walking away after posing with these 2 kids I coach, the little girl said “ nice job Tessa”. She stopped, turned around and said “ thank you “, which I got a pic of

.

 

[Wilhelmson]

The view was ok from all over. However the event could take a cue from the pga with kids' viewing areas. At the Dell Championship around here several of the holes had kids's viewing areas right next the the green. Pretty cool to drive 15 minutes and catch Tiger on the 9th hole from a few feet away. Maybe I'm missing something about world cup skiing that requires keeping the spectators so far away.

 

[Tricia]

Looking at amazing events through a tiny hole. The pitfalls of a photographer . I barely remember Guy in Shorts taking that photo of us at lunch; getting used to new workflow management in the midst of capturing 2500 images was taxing!

As for other races I'd love to cover more. Waterville Valley is hosting US Nationals in SL and GS late March if there is interest and Phil/Trish can find a writer.

If money were no object, I'd fly you to Deer Valley for the Freestyle WC too!

 

[K2 Rat]

Did it cost $ to get them that close? I went the first two years. The first year the athletes were using the big bar area as a dressing room.
In general it's amazing that one can go to a world class event for free.

The pics were from the free standing room. Killington figured out that is more profitable to keep the bar open to the public as the racers drank very little ! The kids were able to get close to the racers as they exited to finish area as you can see Nina here. This is right behind the leaders chair. Tent to the right is where the equipment went in for testing. It looked like only a few had to go in and get boots evaluated/tested. Lara Gut was one and she had to be in there for 20 mins after her first run.
Then they walked out in a lane behind the finish area back to Superstar chair, but I could not tell where they were housed/fed, etc. After the second run, they walked the same path. Most spent more time with the kids then as the race was over. Some went through pretty quick after the GS ( Petra , Shiffrin), but I could see women training SL late up on the upper pitch of Superstar ( GS start ) and maybe that was where they were headed.
All in all , the athletes were pretty accessible ( one kid I know posted 10 selfies with racer) and much more so than the WC races I have been to in Europe.

 

[QueueCT]

Playing basketball. And that is a real problem with USA. Vonn is done after this year and Ted is not too far behind. We are a team of one which young kids can look up to and want to a be a ski racer like _______ .

My daughters root for Shiffrin but know all the female racers and have autographs on their helmets from Gut, Mielzynski, Vhlova and more in addition to Shiffrin, Vonn and Stiegler. It's truly an international sport and while they loved chatting last week with Alice Merryweather about her Olympic experience it would have been just as special if it was a non-American.

On the men's side, Henrik gets all the love from them as an incredible talent who is the perpetual also-ran to Hirscher.

Really sorry we missed it this year after attending the last two. Hopefully we'll make it next year.