Alpine Events - Beaver Creek & Lake Louise (inc Val d'Isere "replacements")

Downhill Friday with the men at Beaver Creek (the only downhill in the USA?) and the women at Lake Louise. Hot news seems to be that the events scheduled for next weekend at Val d'Isere have been cancelled (lack of snow) so there will be extra at Beaver Creek during the coming week - not sure what at present.

Men's Downhill: A 2.7 mile course, with 67 starters. Yannick Bertrand (Fra) was an early pace setter, but bib 8, one Axel Lund Svindal (Nor), took the lead away by 0.02 seconds! Only a brief spell in the lead though as Johan Clarey (Fra) beat his time by 0.18. At that point Bode Miller (USA) produced what the German commentary referred to as "Vollgas, und immer noch Gas" with a lovely run on the crucial upper part of the course, not too steep but undulating, before keeping the pace up on the steep stuff to take the lead by 0.78 seconds - as a fan of the man I was delighted to see him back on form; all or nothing! Klaus Kröll (Aut) came close to the lead, and Beat Feuz (Swi) was even closer - slower at the top but making great gains lower down to end up only 0.04 seconds back from Bode. The next threat was Didier Cuche, but despite being the fastest through the speed trap at that stage, he finished off the pace - maybe trying too hard? By that time the changing light was affecting several later starters and Bode's lead remained intact - luck of the draw! Final top 6 - Bode Miller; Beat Feuz; Klaus Kröll; Clarey; Svindal; Bertrand.

Women's Downhill: Another race with something of a weather lottery at times due to changing light and variable winds at the top of the course. Early starter Lucia Reccia (Ita) set a good target, just beaten by Dominque Gisin (Swi) but the margins were very small. Riesch and Görgl took a higher line and seemed to lose out, while Lara Gut (Swi) also looked promising but faded on the lower part of the course. Anja Paerson (Swe) was really flying, but one error cost her a good place too. Then it was Lindsey Vonn's turn - she might be having personal problems, but they certainly aren't joining her on the piste - a massive lead of 2.06 seconds! Viktoria Rebensberg (Ger) had a good run, despite dark conditions in the middle of the course, and suddently the sun came out and the wind died! Mariella Voglreiter (Aut) took full advantage going into the top 6 and next down Ilka Stuhec (Slo) went nearly as fast. Conditions stayed fine and Tina Weirather (Lichtenstein, and a racer with a good pedigree) went into second, but still 1.95 behind Vonn. Final results - Vonn; Tina W; Gisin; Rebensberg; Voglreiter; and joint 6th Stuhec and Recchia. Amazing that 7 years ago Bode won at Beaver Creek and Linsey Kildow won at Lake Louise!! More at http://www.fisalpine.com/news/lindsey-vonn-far-ahead-lake-louise,1566.html

Beaver Creek – Men’s Super G: Seventy starters on a foggy/misty course with light snowfall at the start. Quite a technical course with a particularly tricky gate on the approach to Screech Owl, which caused several people some trouble and a few complete misses! First run with a real chance of a podium place was arguably Robbie Dixon’s (Can) – lovely rhythm and very nice line to take the lead (at that point) by over 1 second. Bode Miller produced a classic Bode run – all out for the win – but it didn’t work out this time; how he managed to stay upright is a matter of conjecture (and probably amazing skill and reaction speed). Axel Lund Svindal showed how he does it by taking the lead; could Didier Cuche go better this time? At the top Cuche was ahead, but lower down the light went from green to red as he faded a little. His compatriot, Beat Feuz, also started out with green lights, and kept them ¾ of the way down the course, slowing slightly at the end to take 2nd place by just 0.06 seconds. Patrik Järbyn, probably fed up with being told that he’s the oldest man on the course, showed his reaction time is still good with his entry into the “how did I survive that and ski on” competition – one to rival Bode! With the commentators easing off and starting their write ups, Sandro Viletta (Swi) starting with bib 30, produced an astonishing run to go into the lead! No more real upsets and it ended Viletta (Swi), Svindal (Nor), Feuz (Swi), Hannes Reichelt (Aut), Jansrud (Nor). More at http://www.fisalpine.com/news/sandro-viletta-lands-unexpected-victory-beaver-creek-super,1567.html.

Lake Louise – Women’s Downhill (Sat): Another day, another Ladies Downhill at Lake Louise, in really nice looking conditions, although the light was tricky at times. America’s Leanne Smith set the initial standard, which was bettered by Marie Marchand-Arvier (Fra); an impressive 0.57 seconds faster. Viktoria Rebensberg (Ger), keeping up her good run of form, took second at that point, and Dominque Gisin (Swi) went into third. Mancuso had a disappointing run (pity, as I rather like her approach) and Pärson must have been even more unhappy with her run, after a great effort on Friday. All well and good, but Vonn was still waiting her turn – two downhill victories in two days might be a tall order but given her speed on Friday it was certainly possible. Lindsey made it look all too easy – into the lead by a massive 1.68 seconds! Lizzie Görgl, bruised from a training crash, still managed to ski her way onto the podium – bit of controversy about whether she was concussed and if so, whether she should have raced – I seem to recall a similar incident with Vonn last season. I was just about to shut the machine down when Laurenne Ross had a very nasty looking accident and was lifted off by helo; not sure of all the details but one website says no serious injuries but a number of nasty gashes – all the best to her for a speedy recovery. Final results – Vonn, M-Arvier, Görgl, Rebensberg, Gisin, H-Riesch. Now, can Vonn make it a hat trick with the Super G? More - http://www.fisalpine.com/news/victory-number-ten-for-lindsey-vonn-lake-louise,1568.html

First off on Sunday was the first run of the men's GS from Beaver Creek. Snowing a bit and a rough, icy course. Bib 2 was Ted Ligety (USA), who promptly beat the first time set by 1.07 seconds! That proved a target too far for the remaining competitors, and Ted took his first place into the 2nd run! However, all to play for behind Ted, and Marcel Hirscher (Aut) was on good form, only 0.21 behind withn Benny Raich (Aut) holding a temporary third. Alexis Pinturault (Fra) had a few exciting moments, submitting his entry into the season's amazing escapes, but got away with it, at the expense of a fast time. Bode was disappointed, but Fritz Dopfer (Ger) managed to get into 4th, behind Benny, despite his late start number; star of Saturday, Sandro Viletta was a DNF but Leif Kristian Haugen (Nor - where else?) was inspired and slotted into third. End of Run 1 - Ligety; Hirscher; Haugen; Raich; Dopfer; Jansrud (Nor).

Back to Lake Louise for the Women's Super G - a contrast in conditions with blue skies and little wind here. Cold though so nice for the race; a drop of 524 metres 40 gates. Johannna Schnarf (Ita) was an early leader, but lost out to Maria H-R (Ger). Lizzie Görgl started well with a green light at the top split time, but lost tim elower down and went into 4th. However, still several stars to go and Anna Fenninger (Aut) took over first place by a massive 0.78. Now the one everyone was waiting for - Lindsey Vonn; no disappointment for her as she skied into top place, only by 0.19 from Fenninger though. Some of the later starters also made their mark, Julia Mancuso joining Vonn on the podium - final result: Vonn; Fenninger; Mancuso; Lara Gut (Swi); Maria H-R; Schnarf (Ita)

Back to BC for the 2nd run - Men's GS: Early "good run" went to Marcus Sandell (Fin) who held off some good challenges until Cyprien Richard (Fra) pipped him by a mere 0.01! Kjetil Jansrud (Nor) was over a second up at one stage but faded at the very last to take the lead by 0.19 - could have been more! Germany's Fritz Dopfer was looking very promising and took first by 0.5 seconds; with few remaining a podium might be on? Benny Raich skied out, Haugen dropped back but then Marcel Hirscher (Aut) took top spot - only Ted to go! Alas for the US team and the local crowd Ted couldn't quite hold on and eventually took 2nd. So, after an exciting race, Hirscher took the top step from Ted L and Fritz Dopfer. Jansrud was 4th, sandell 5ht and Richard 6th.

The first of the "extras" due to Val d'Isere being cancelled - Mens Giant Slalom: The first run was in temperatures of about -18; loads of tape over the racer's faces to protect the sinus area! The Birds of Prey course is apparently one of the highest (top altitude??) on the circuit as well as one of the hardest, so apart from dealing with the technical difficulty, there is also the effect of altitude to contend with. Aksel Lund Svindal (Nor) was the early leader on run 1, losing his place to Alexis Pinturault (Fra) with Marcel Hirscher (Aut) then splitting their times. Ted Ligety (USA) slotted into 4th with Kjetil Jansrud (Nor) 5th and Fritz Dopfer (Ger) 6th. Very tight margins though so the 2nd run should be very open.

2nd Run: Top 30 going in reverse order, so the early ones get the smooth track, which despite the best efforts of the team is getting a bit rough after so much activity - still 2 more events to go, including the first ever GS for the women on this course (Wednesday evening). At the half way stage it was an all 'north american" podium - Tim Jitloff (USA) from Jean Philippe Roy (Can) and Tommy Ford (USA). Despite the vocal support from the local crowd that couldn't last and for a while Davide Simoncelli (Ita) took over the lead, holding it against the best efforst of some good names. Then came Cyprien Richard (Fra) who lost time on the flat sections and was just being written off by the commentators when he took the lead after a massive effort on the bottom steep section. Hannes Reichelt (Aut) by contarst skied it all well, with a very good flat section to go in front by 0.66. Fritz Dopfer went very close to Reichelt while Jansrud powered through the lower section to take his turn at the lead. Home crowd now back in full cry as Ted Ligety had his second run - I know he always wants to win, but he really wanted this one and his aggressive run put him 0.78 up on Jansrud. Three left to go; Aksel is a big lad so possibly found this harder than Ted and went 4th. Hirscher was level with Ted's time at the top of the final section but was maybe too tired after his own win to hold on? Finally Alexis came down; his first time in this situation - good effort but argaubly not quite as smooth as his first run. To the obvious delight of Ted and the crowd the results were - Ligety; Hirscher; Jansrud; Pinturault; Reichelt; Svindal with Fritz Dopefr coming in 7th - good week for him.

Beaver Creek – Women’s Super G: First time ever for a Ladies Super G here at Beaver Creek, and it was Stacey Cook (USA, fittingly) who made the historic first run! Alas her time didn’t stay fastest for long as Martina Schild (Swi) was over 2 seconds faster. Shortly after that we had an all Swiss top 3, with Suter, Schild and Gisin in that order, but with the favourites coming later that looked unlikely to stay despite Fabienne Suter’s excellent run and fast time. First to spoil their day was Andrea Fischbacher (Aut) who took 3rd from Gisin. Maria H-R was technically nice, but very slow – theory is that she needs to learn the run and with no actual practice for SG that didn’t suit her. Then it was Lindsey Vonn’s turn; not perfect and with a couple errors, so her run lights went red/green/red/green as she went down the course – the crucial one was the final time of course, and she went ahead of Suter buy 0.17 – very popular with the crowd! I’m actually a fan of Lindsey’s but I was glad to see others running her close – don’t want a boring season! Anna Fenninger (Aut) was also fast and slotted in very close behind Suter. Final results – Vonn; Suter; Fenninger; Martina Schild; Fischbacher; Andrea Aufdenblatten. Despite all the hype, just 9 DNFs.

Men’s Slalom: Missed run 1, which didn’t seem to be live on Eurosport (probably due to the new schedule of races) and then the swimming ran over when it should have been a resume of that race pre run 2? Anyway run 1 saw Marcel Hirscher (Aut) just clear of Ivica Kostelic (Cro) and Christian Deville (Ita) who were tied for 2nd place, with Nolan Kasper, Ted Ligety (both USA) and Andre Myhrer (Swi) taking the next 3 places. Surprises were Bode Miller in only 28th place, Svindal not fast enough for a second run and Grange (the slalom World Champion last year) a DNF. The course for run 2, set by the Canadians, looked a bit rough after all the traffic and a number of racers were apparently not too happy!
A good race; with 8 left to go Mitja Valencic (Slo, and looking good for his best result for ages) was leading from Patrick Thaler (Ita) and Manny Mölgg. Felix Neurether (Ger) who had been suffering considerable knee pain and had returned to Germany for treatment intending to rejoin the schedule in Val d’Isere, made the longer flog back to Beaver Creek – a competitive first run, but only 5th after his second run. Andre Myhrer (Swe) took second by only 0.01, and then it was Ligety’s turn – usual crash and burn approach but a late mistake cost him too much time. Nolan Kasper restored the hopes of the local crowd by taking the lead, but Ivica Kostelic is regaining his form and put in a superb run to take the lead with an impressive margin of 0.7 seconds. Deville managed to snatch second, but Hirscher couldn’t match his first run and slipped to third. Final results – Kostelic; Deville ( a career best?); Hirscher; Kasper; Valencic and Myhrer.