Skiing Season 2013/14

A thread for all forms of skiing. Whether you're a skier, or just a casual observer, feel free to join in and let's get some conversation going.

Mikaela Schiffrin showed everybody how it's done in the women's slalom at Levi, Finland.  She was just imperious in the first run... so well balanced, with the exception of one mid course slip where she nearly fell, but she was so superb over the rest of the course that she led Tina Maze by more than half a second on first run.  

Maria Hoefl-Reisch put in a stronger second run but Schiffrin still finished the event with a winning margin of 1.06 seconds.  That's a big win.  

When Lindsay Vonn comes back from injury, USA are going to have one heck of a strong women's team..!!

Glad to see a dedicated ski thread here, as the season starts to get going. Missed the women's slalom yesterday, but caught a little of run 1 of the men's race - can't see run 2 in the main Eurosport schedule though? So far normal service - Marcel Hirscher from Felix Neureuther with Mario Matt third - have to see how it goes in the crucial 2nd run!

Later: Not on a main Eurosport channel, but the 2nd run was shown on a bonus one with no commentary (presumably as Nick "right on the edge of his game" Fellowes was doing the luge commentary?). With the aid of the ZDF liveticker I managed to keep up (just - my German is very shaky this early in the season!). I have a great deal of admiration for Ted Ligety, so it was nice to see him put in a better 2nd run which eventually left him in 11th place. I thought Alexis Pinturault was going to do something a bit special but he took one risk too many - hope he's OK! As we moved onto the top 10 from run 1, there were some great runs - I had the impression that it was very easy to lose time on the lower section, but Benni Raich seemed stronger there (8th place in the end) and Kostelic was very strong, finishing 4th. Henrik Kristoffersen (Nor) went one better, getting on the podium behind a very impressive Mario Matt and Marcel Hirscher who gave a real masterclass - he started 0.31 up and built all the way - -0.37, -0.46 and finally -0.62 faster than Matt - good day for Austria! Poor Felix Neureuther was lying 2nd but lost a lot of time at the top of his 2nd run and then did a very impressive forward somersault (that's a different discipline, surely?) to finish 26th - recovery of the day! So - the first slalom for men - Hirscher, Matt & Kristoffersen in that order. Next stop - Beaver Creek.

Fourth Lion - I'll probably add a thread for biathlon (my favourite winter sport) but did you intend to include cross country here?

[quote="Bleausardv2"]Glad to see a dedicated ski thread here, as the season starts to get going. Missed the women's slalom yesterday, but caught a little of run 1 of the men's race - can't see run 2 in the main Eurosport schedule though? So far normal service - Marcel Hirscher from Felix Neureuther with Mario Matt third - have to see how it goes in the crucial 2nd run!

Later: Not on a main Eurosport channel, but the 2nd run was shown on a bonus one with no commentary (presumably as Nick "right on the edge of his game" Fellowes was doing the luge commentary?). With the aid of the ZDF liveticker I managed to keep up (just - my German is very shaky this early in the season!). I have a great deal of admiration for Ted Ligety, so it was nice to see him put in a better 2nd run which eventually left him in 11th place. I thought Alexis Pinturault was going to do something a bit special but he took one risk too many - hope he's OK! As we moved onto the top 10 from run 1, there were some great runs - I had the impression that it was very easy to lose time on the lower section, but Benni Raich seemed stronger there (8th place in the end) and Kostelic was very strong, finishing 4th. Henrik Kristoffersen (Nor) went one better, getting on the podium behind a very impressive Mario Matt and Marcel Hirscher who gave a real masterclass - he started 0.31 up and built all the way - -0.37, -0.46 and finally -0.62 faster than Matt - good day for Austria! Poor Felix Neureuther was lying 2nd but lost a lot of time at the top of his 2nd run and then did a very impressive forward somersault (that's a different discipline, surely?) to finish 26th - recovery of the day! So - the first slalom for men - Hirscher, Matt & Kristoffersen in that order. Next stop - Beaver Creek.

Fourth Lion - I'll probably add a thread for biathlon (my favourite winter sport) but did you intend to include cross country here?[/quote]

Please do, old chap. Quite happy to discuss cross country.... biathlon... whatever.  I love to discuss all disciplines in the white circus, and I'm looking forward to some good discussions over the course of the winter.  

I completely missed the second run of the men's slalom.  Damn.   Was actually feeling a little foolish, having been telling my daughter who watched it with me just how good Ted Ligerty is.... before he made that rather unimpressive first run.  Call it an early season shakedown.  He'll come good.

Living in the south of England as I do, you'll not be surprised that I only get to ski when we go on a winter holiday every couple of years or so, and I also have to dust off my French and hope the continentals I speak with can understand that or my English.  My German is non-existent.

Are you resident in UK or on the continent..?  Wherever, it's good to 'meet' with you on here and I look forward to chatting on all topics of mutual interest.  Regards.


PS... most people abbreviate my title down to 4L.  Makes it easier.

4L; Biathlon thread up and ready for this weekend, although I missed the Norwegian opener - great performance by Andrea Henkel!! I'm currently in UK, so also dependant on Eurosport (plus the occasional ARD/ZDF feed or IBU video when Eurosport don't cover what I'm interested in), sometimes with a ZDF liveticker to help (although that is a challenge!); I spent 4 years in Bavaria where I got hooked on biathlon and cross country (always was a fan of Alpine skiing). Great links in the biathlon thread to a very interesting site, and a lively forum.

Nice to "meet" another enthusiast!

Yep, there is biathlon, ski jumping, alpine and luge to enjoy this weekend.  

It must have been great to live in Bavaria.  I've never been there myself, but would like to go one day, especially to experience the Four Hills at Garmisch Partenkirchen.  The atmosphere is incredible and I've heard the Bavarian gluhwein is particularly excellent.

My love of winter sport stems from two things:   Firstly, watching the immortal Franz Klammer win gold at the Innsbruck winter Olympics, and secondly from going out on training runs with the Royal Marines when I was based at NATO Afnorth in Norway many years ago.

Unfortunately, the Me'm Sahib has designated this weekend as set aside for something she called "Christmas shopping", whatever that is, and I'll be dragged away from the TV.  Resistance is futile.

It looks like the 'record' button will come into play, methinks.

I managed to see some highlights of the Ski Jumping from Klingenthal this morning and although it was a qualification round it still gives insights as to who is looking good for early season form. I expect the podium will eventually be occupied by the 'usual suspects' such as Wolfgang Loitzl who looked good, although I doubt very much he'll ever repeat the feat of getting a full set of perfect 20 style marks, as he did in the Four Hills in 2009. That would be too much to ask, but he'll be there or thereabouts this winter.

What do you think of pre-qualification for the top ten..? I've heard it argued that it can make the jumpers a little lazy but from what I saw this morning they all seemed to be around the K point and you can't ask for much more than that at this stage. Kemel Stock tried to go really long and ended up sitting down on landing. Ooops..!!

I'm about to be dragged out to go shopping now and will miss the luge on Eurosport 2. Gloom. I'm hoping to get home in time to catch the live ski jumping this afternoon. It starts at 1445 which you'd think should be a given, but when the Me'm Sahib goes into Chrimbo shopping mode nothing can be taken for granted. Oh well......

Just seen a report on the BBC red button that Lindsey Vonn has partially torn her right ACL in training - think that was the leg that was injured last Feb; very disappointing for her.

More at. http://www.fis-ski.com/alpine-skiing/news-multimedia/news/article=vonn-suffers-another-acl-injury-the-repaired-right-knee.html

4L - hope you survived the Christmas shopping and managed to catch some of the delayed coverage on Sunday; my heart sank when I turned on the biathlon to hear the commentator wittering about changing the gate for the ski jumping and "after the break we'll bring you the first of 50 .." Luckily they then swapped biathlon to Eurosport 2 and the coverage wasn't too bad apart from missing the first shoot! Exciting stuff!

PS - Bavarian glühwein is highly recommended (as is most of the food, with the exception of Leberkäse!! Sadly some of it's so fattening that you need to x-country ski to work it off))

Sadly I missed a lot of this but did manage to see Lara Gut's spectacular winning run - really in a class of her own! Tina Weirather in second and Fanchini third; great day for the Swiss as, apart from the win, they took places 4, 6 & 9!!

Apparently Lindsey Vonn is back on the slopes and training, but I haven't seen any news about how it's going and what the prognosis is for Sochi.

Thanks for the tips on the German cuisine. I shall duly pass this on to the Me'm Sahib who is usually more interested in the après ski than the ski itself..!!

Getting some time to couch down and watch the coverage at last. It's been a bit of a frustrating week, with a lot of work on, but now I can have a good ol' catch up.

Kowalczyk looked good in the 1.4 classic cross country sprint from Kuusamo this morning. Yeah, I know she's red hot favourite but young Kiki Randall from the States could have a good season too, methinks.

Watching the cross country 5k right now. The snowfall has made the course slow for the early bib numbers but it seems to be getting lighter now.

I was listening to the interview with Randall earlier, where she made it quite clear what her objectives for the season are. I think she will be happy to just 'stalk' Kowalczyk during the world cup season and keep her powder dry for the Olympics. I still think Justyna will be too good for her in the end though.

The coverage started on Euro 2 at 0600 this morning. I made it, but was a little bleary eyed, I must admit.

Yes, Lara Gut was brilliant.  That was a near flawless run.  I am a big admirer of Tina Maze, but she never really seemed to get to grips with the course.  Disappointed, but have to tip my hat to Lara.  That was exceptional.

I always enjoy the American end of the tour.  Good, fast courses and the Colorado weather is usually pretty 'even' if you know what I mean.

I think Sochi will be Lyndsay's priority if she can't get back into the World Cup in time to make a realistic challenge she will cut her losses and target the Olympics.

Didn't see any of the langlauf and, to be honest, although it's very technical I don't really enjoy the classic races - much prefer skating! I see Justyna K won the 5Km from Marit Bjoergen and (my favourite) Therese Johaug.

Again, didn't see much of it, but very well done to Lara Gut who (as far as I saw, and luckily I did see her run) was a cut above all the rest again in the Super G! One epic moment, but she ended up nearly a second clear of Lizze Görgl who was almost the same amount ahead of Anna Fenninger - good day for Austria though with 2/3/4! Brilliant recovery by Tina Weirather, alas to no avail!

Update: I understand that Görgl has been DQ'd because her skis were "illegal". The FIS website said "However, the top 3 changed at the end the race after Elisabeth Goergl's disqualification for using skis that were too wide in front of the bindings"

It seems like a pretty amateurish mistake to make. You'd think that checking for such things would be standard preparation, wouldn't you. Still, it's easy to say that from here.

I'm sure she won't make that mistake again.

But what an excellent weekend of winter sport we've had. A tough and demanding men's Super G course at Lake Louise, with an especially difficult mid section that caused many of the racers a lot of problems, especially Ted Ligerty who actually missed a gate because of it and ended up with the dreaded DNF against his name.

The Beaver Creek women's Giant Slalom nearly provided a home win for Mikki Schiffrin, but she was pipped by Jess Lindell-Vickery who had enough of a lead from the first run to snatch the win from her grasp.

Strange isn't it, how, in Olympic year, both Ted Ligerty and Tina Maze are struggling to find their form, early season. Will they get their act together in time for February..? It seems impossible to imagine that they won't, but you really can't tell right now, can you..?

I gather Lizzie G's skis were only just under a millimetre too wide (but I can't find the details); doesn't seem much but one of my instructors was once DQ'd for his binding being too high by about the same amount - difference being that he wasn't an international with a full technical support team! Like to see Ted Ligety and Tina Maze get back on form, likewise Bode Miller, and sorry to see Lara Gut couldn't do the triple! Great result from Axel Lund Svindal in the Super G; looked a bit nasty at Lake Louise all weekend? At least the skiing took place, biathlon was a bust on Sunday due to the very strong winds!!!

Update - the Austrian papers say that the "error" in Görgl's skis was 0.12 mm!!

Bleausardv2 wrote:I gather Lizzie G's skis were only just under a millimetre too wide (but I can't find the details); doesn't seem much but one of my instructors was once DQ'd for his binding being too high by about the same amount - difference being that he wasn't an international with a full technical support team! Like to see Ted Ligety and Tina Maze get back on form, likewise Bode Miller, and sorry to see Lara Gut couldn't do the triple! Great result from Axel Lund Svindal in the Super G; looked a bit nasty at Lake Louise all weekend? At least the skiing took place, biathlon was a bust on Sunday due to the very strong winds!!!

Update - the Austrian papers say that the "error" in Görgl's skis was 0.12 mm!!

0.12 mm...!! Hmmm.... whatever prompted the judges to check that out, I wonder..? Who has Lizzie upset recently..?? Find that out and check their mobile to see what texts they've been making, perhaps.

Lake Louise wasn't the best of conditions, but it was ski-able and pretty much equal for everybody. As I said earlier, there was one rather tricky section in mid course where the racers had to find exactly the right line to go into it. If they did that, they were pretty much ok, but be just ever so slightly out and the amount of correction needed before reaching the next big left-hander would cost them all their speed.

I rather like those technical parts of a course, which challenge the racers. Some argue that the racers only get one look at the course and might not spot the difficulty in this turn, or that section or whatever, but I counter-argue that, at the very top of the sport, you have to be able to either 'read' a course, or if you encounter it during your run, you have to use all your skill to meet the challenge. If you want to be the best, you not only have to beat your opponent, you have to beat the mountain too.

What would be your take on that..?

I saw the conditions for the biathlon and as soon as the camera fixed on the anemometer, which was spinning fit to bust, I just flicked over to another channel. Nothing was going to happen there. Shame.

I get the impression that the FIS do routine checks on ski dimensions - there are templates a bit like one of those hand baggage size checks!?

Forgotten which of the women said in a recent interview something on the lines that many don't like going first down the course as they prefer feedback, but that she reckons that if you can read it properly, you can really get a great run in.  Some suggestion that the Lake Louise Super G was a bit too "straight and downhill" but as you say, reading the line of the course skilfully is what makes one athlete just that bit faster!

Incidentally, there is some good video of conditions at Östersund on the IBU website - link on the biathlon thread.

Thanks for the link, my friend. I shall make use of that.

Well, it should be an evening of bliss for me. The Me'm Sahib has gone on her work Christmas girl's night out so I have the TV all to myself and am right now checking out the men's GS from Beaver Creek. Unfortunately, the weather isn't good it is affecting the run.

Not so good at Lake Louise for the women either, where humidity is making the racer's goggles fog up, so the start has been delayed up there. It mut be quite irritating for Lyndsey Vonn who is on the start list for her comeback race.

Svindal has already won the downhill event, so he is having a cracking season so far.

Again, missed the very delayed Lake Louise action, but great result for Maria H-R (GER) to win from Marianne Kaufmann-Abderhalden (SWI) and Elena Fanchini (ITA). Not a great finish for Lindsey Vonn by her standards, but she beat a lot of her team mates and is back racing, which I guess was the aim of the day? Back to my first love; biathlon!

Lyndsey did look out of sorts, but that's hardly surprising after a long lay off with such a nasty injury.  But her post race interview left nobody in any doubt that the competitive fire is there and she is going to be in the mix.  

I'm watching the cross country from Lillehammer right now.  The conditions look pretty good and as I watch Niskanen is skiing smoothly and with good rhythm.  Actually, she's just taken the lead at the split point.  

But then.... Marit Bjoergen hasn't started yet.

Wow, what a ski by Kowalczic to beat Bjoergen, who could only finish in third place, by 25 seconds.

We are seeing some really smashing racing this season.

Bjoergen still leads the world cup rankings, but she's looking over her shoulder. Game on.

2 downhills in 2 days for the women!! Well done Maria H-R; a really useful double! Much more like it from Lindsey Vonn! Nice to see Ted doing quite well in the mens super G, but a great win from Patrick Küng and Aksel Lund Svindal is keeping up the pressure.

Svindal is looking good, isn't he..? And Maria Hoefl-Reisch is in the form of her life.

Yes, it is shaping up to be a great season in all disciplines.

I'm loving it.

Just saw the last few runs of the men's GS from Beaver Creek - sadly in Flemish, which really is beyond me! I thought Hirscher might get it but the margins were just too much; another great win for Ted Ligety and delighted to see Bode back on the podium! Big time differences between the podium places.

Thought I'd discovered the Eurosport version of Groundhog day the other evening - watching what was billed as a biathlon repeat but which ended with a repeat of part of the men's langlauf relay; very odd as it kept looping back by about 4/5 minutes so that all you saw was the same few minutes of the race - really confusing the first time, and I then had to find out (via ZDF ticker) whether Maxim Vylegzhanin had managed to hold off all those Norwegian types - he had, so a great win for Russia.

Bit distracted by the competing demands of the C4 NFL highlights and then the biathlon, but what a start to the Men's GS at Val d'Isere - Ted Ligety (currently leading the discipline points) and Aksel Lund Svindal (overall points leader) both DNF!! Sounds as though Svindal's binding came apart - very unusual, as is Ted making a mistake.

Good grief - skiing on the BBC!!! Caught some of the ski cross on the red button - very exciting and, though I hate to admit it, probably more "viewer friendly" than traditional disciplines? Looked a mean course today!

Talking of mean courses, the women's GS from St Moritz looked a tricky one, an opinion backed up by the long list of DNF/DNS - both Lara Gut and Tina W out on run 1.

Bleausardv2 wrote:Good grief - skiing on the BBC!!! Caught some of the ski cross on the red button - very exciting and, though I hate to admit it, probably more "viewer friendly" than traditional disciplines? Looked a mean course today!

Talking of mean courses, the women's GS from St Moritz looked a tricky one, an opinion backed up by the long list of DNF/DNS - both Lara Gut and Tina W out on run 1.

I've missed virtually the entire skiing week due to work commitments. It's a very busy time right now and I have deadlines to meet. I'd love to be able to have the TV on while I'm working but because my work requires prolonged periods of intense concentration I can't allow any distractions. Oh well, you have to earn a crust, don't you..?

I'm taking a bit of time to chill out this morning and now watching the Nordic Combined from Schonack right now. It's the Jumping element which I always enjoy. Four Hills starts a week today and that is to me what Biathlon is to you.

Combined jumping / cross country always seems a bit lop-sided to me. The jumping specialists may get a head start on the cross country ski by virtue of their superior jumping skills, but the cross country specialists invariably make it up. Oh well, ever was it thus so.

I tuned in to Ski Sunday last winter more out of nostalgia than anything. I didn't really enjoy it. Graham Bell is no replacement for the wonderful David Vine in the commentary box. I suppose it is a sign of the times that the BBC have replaced a journalist who was a genuine winter sports enthusiast for a former racer who has no descriptive skill whatsoever but has a marketable TV persona.

My eldest daughter thinks Graham Bell is rather dishy. Can't see it myself. It says much for the BBC, I think, that rather than replacing David Vine with another journalist who is able to do justice to the action on the slopes whilst allowing the viewers to enjoy what they are seeing with as little interference as possible, they insert a former pro who seems to think it's all about him. All the technical gadzookery that gets employed now just gets in the way of things. I.... and I would suggest the vast majority of viewers of Ski Sunday...... know what we are looking at. We don't need it to be graphic-ed to death.

Oh dear, Klimov (Russia) has fallen before he got beyond the out-run. Sheesh.... just looking at the replay.... what a horrible, two-footed landing. That would have left him well short on style marks anyway, so he's probably not too disappointed that his jump won't count. He's picking himself up and seems to be in one piece. He'll live, although I think his pride may be mortally wounded.

Getting back to Ski Sunday...... I don't think I'll be watching it this winter. I would want to throw something at Bell's smug, smarmy fizzog before very long. Just describe the action, Graham. That's all.


PS

I've just found that there will be women's GS on the red button on Sunday at 1215. Might be worth checking out..... depending on who's commentating.

Glad to see you back 4L - thought the Mem might have revoked your Eurosport licence for making derogatory comments about Xmas shopping!! Women's downhill at present (I hope; what a surprise - Eurosport still have the jumping, which has over-run yet again - saw them practice at Ramsau in September, on water not snow which was quite impressive and looking down the ramp at Oslo gave me a feel for the courage needed but I really can't get into that; each to their own!!) - no World Cup biathlon until the new year but I hope I might get to see the "invitational" two meets on 27 (Jura City biathlon in Garmisch) & 28 (Gelsenkirchen) Dec.

Thanks for the welcome back, old chap. I missed it.

Watching women's downhill from Val D'isere.  Lindsay Vonn is putting her catsuit on right now, and she looks like she means business.   Lindsay goes at number 19 and Tina M has the 20 bib.  

This could be interesting.

Yes - I'm on the same race (by the way, I agree about the Ski Sunday presenters but the Eurosport ones can also waffle for England; sometimes better to turn the sound off!!); hope Marie M-A is OK - nasty looking crash.

A nasty fall for Marie Marchand-Arvier. It looked like her skis crossed. Thank goodness for modern bindings..... her skis came away immediately, but it still looks unpleasant.

Maria H-R is just going to have to wait at the start gate and try to stay warm.

Grrrrrr..... I'm getting dragged out again. Most irritating. Have clicked on the record facility. Will have to catch up later.

(tells myself) Keep smiling...... keep smiling..... keep smiling........

Well, that didn't last long - poor Stacey Cook. The advertisers are certainly getting their money's worth this morning! Can't see her at all where she ended up, so we'll have to wait for a report to see how she is. Seems she's up and skiing down - tough bunch these skiers!!

Speaking of which, Lyndsey Vonn is a DNF - no crash, but that didn't look good - was that pain, disappointment or a bit of both? I know she's keen to be racing, but I wonder if she's rushing it? Not the best of runs from Maria H-R or Lara Gut either. Fanchini down, but seems OK - she's beating the piste with her ski stick!!

Men not having a better time of it either! Just seen David Poisson crash out at Gröden - he's OK too luckily! Anyway, as we have yet another hold - well done to Marianne K-A for winning at Val d'Isere; Tina Maze coming back on form in 2nd and Hütter getting 3rd after a great early run (if the Liveticker got it right).

Great run from Bode Miller; too much lost in the top section, but great lower down and 3rd at present. That looks a really vicious course! Great recovery by Svindal, who dislodges Bode from a possible podium.

Don't you just love the Fanchini sisters.....one or the other is always likely to have a fall. <smiling>

I got home and watched the recording of what I missed this morning and I think things don't look good for Lindsey. She was pretty emotional when she dropped out and that knee is clearly giving her problems. She could completely miss out this winter and that would be a terrible shame. Methinks Tiger's going to be doing the 'listening role' job quite a bit over the holiday.

Not a good day for the women overall, though. There was that little clutch of big names, all one after the other and Marianne could probably hardly believe her luck when only Tina M got close to the time. I reckon Tina will be happy with a podium place..... for now. She'll want more in the next race.

Wow.... didn't Bode go at the end of that downhill...!! If that course had been just a hundred yards longer he would probably have made up the time. He's looking in good nick.

Svindall must be cursing that one error in the middle of the course; which cost him. He was only 0.17 away from winning. Fine margins, eh..? But he did nudge Bode off the podium so he'll be happy with that. If you can't win the race, it's not a bad thing to get a little 'one-up' on a major rival.

Sadly, 4L, I think your worries about the BBC commentary on the Women's GS were well founded! I know my pronunciation isn't perfect but it's REESH, not RYESH for a start and that isn't the only one he's getting wrong!! Good run from Kling; looking better than she might have expected starting so far down! Schiffrin has just displaced her, and in turn Maria H-R has gone even better - now it's coming alive. In the end Tina Weirather (another one he can't pronounce) was just too strong and got the win from Lara Gut (more useful points in the overall) and M P-H.

Meanwhile Hirscher has taken the Alta Badia event from Pinturault and Ted Ligety - 3 Germans in the top 10!

I watched the race on Euro and yes, it was a good race. The second run was a great watch because the final stage was all genuinely competitive.... nobody could rely on having enough time in hand to be able to play safe and glide home.... they had to keep racing right the way to the line.

The Alta Badia race was shown before the women's GS and that too was a tough old scrap. Ted Ligety will be cursing his second run, but he really lost it on the first..... he just left himself too much to make up. Benny Raich was the one who really blew it in the first run though.... he was the fastest on the second run, but two seconds behind the leaders on first run is always going to give you too much to do. Marcel Hirscher is looking good value for the "Maillot Rouge" at the top of the GS standings though. There could be a good scrap shaping up there, between him and Ted.

I know you're not a fan of jumping, but Kamil Stock took the Engleberg event and is looking good. If I were a gambling man (which I'm not) I would put my money on him for the 4H which starts at Obertsdorf after Boxing Day. Bring it on..!!

Before the Four Hills got under way today, I took in the women's GS from Lientz.  The second run was deceptively difficult.  It looked at first like a fairly straightforward run, but around the first intermediate, there was a tricky little section that caught a lot of racers out.  

Some were showing split times in the green as they went through the split, but then they hit a difficult little banana section which caught many of the unwary out and lost them a lot of speed.   Maria Hoefl-Reisch lost more than a second between the first and second intermediates and that is just not like her.

With nearly two thirds of the racers going in the second run there were three Italians, who started in the lower part of the second run, on the podium and the way it was going, it wasn't beyond the boundaries of possibility that they might just stay there. But I think the message about the mid-section trap must have got back up to the top of the hill and the later racers negotiated it better.  Micky Shiffrin (who is going to be one heck of a formidable skier in years to come) did particularly well and from my armchair looked the best racer on the second run.  Unfortunately for her, Anna Fenninger and Jess Lindell-Vikarby had too much in hand from the first run and were able to take the top two places on the podium.

From the racing I've seen this winter... particularly in the women's events.... the courses have been very good.  Fast and exciting, but often with sections that challenge the racers technical skills to the full.  Good to see.

Whoever wins the world cup this year, is going to earn it.

Watched a little of the first run of the women's slalom from Lienz; your tip re Micky Shiffrin looks good as she's currently leading, although there are still a few to come and a 2nd run to survive. Currently two Riesch siblings in the top 20, and with only just over a second separating the top 10 it should be an exciting race - weather looks rough though and I understand the men's downhill from Bormio is postponed.

I didn't see the second run of the women's slalom so will have to check out the FIS website later to see the results.  It's a bit of a nightmare to navigate around, but it does have all the results.  Here's a link, just in case you haven't already got it:

http://www.fis-ski.com/

I do like the look of Schiffrin.  She's only 18 and shows all the fearlessness of youth.  I suppose there is a bit of a fine line between "going for it" and being reckless, and any young ski racer who gets it wrong can end up in the netting more often than not.  But from what I've seen so far, this girl has talent and with Lyndsay Vonn out of the picture at this time, American ski racing might just have a new poster girl by the end of February.

It was a good start to the Four Hills.  Not a classic but enjoyable.  Was disappointed to see Kasai drop from third down to sixth on his final jump.   The grand old man of ski jumping still doing the business at 41.  It would be nice to see him have a strong competition.

The Poles are definitely up and coming  Adam Malysz may be retired but he's left a legacy.  Ski Jumping is incredibly popular in Poland and his career seems to have inspired a generation  (where have we heard that one, recently..?)  

Next stop is Garmisch with qualifying tomorrow.  Bring it on..!!

Another highly enjoyable round of the Four Hills, with Thomas Diethart coming through to win both rounds and give himself a comfortable 11 point  margin of victory, beating the much more experienced Tommy Morganstern and Simon Amman into second and third places.   This is Diethart's  first time on the top of the podium and I'm sure it won't be the last.

This win makes him the overall leader in the 4H so far, and hasn't done his world cup standing any harm, either.

Kamel Stock still leads the World Cup overall ahead of Anders Bardal and Shlieri, who hasn't been in the best form of his career this season, it has to be said.  

On we go to Innsbruck for qualifying on Friday and competition on Saturday.

And so the Vier Schanzen has come to an end for another year.

Not the most memorable of competitions overall, and having the Innsbruck round ended prematurely because of the wind was particularly disappointing. Some big names failed to come up to scratch. Overall, not the greatest I've ever seen, but made special nonetheless because the enthusiasm of the crowds always give these events such a marvellous atmosphere it's impossible not to enjoy it all.

Thomas Diethart came from nowhere to win the Four Hills on his first attempt. He must have wondered what all the fuss is about <smiling>. He will now be one to look out for at the Olympics.

In the meantime, some of the others, especially Schlieri, Wolfie Loitzl and Kamel Stock...... all highly rated but seem to be out of form right now.

Tommy Morganstern has won the World Cup, his eighth title, and now we all move on to Bad Mittendorf for the Ski Flying event at the weekend.

So, Lindsay Vonn is out of the Olympics. That really is a shame. She's worked so hard to get back to fitness and it's all gone again.

The Fourth Lion wrote:So, Lindsay Vonn is out of the Olympics.   That really is a shame.  She's worked so hard to get back to fitness and it's all gone again.  

Always sad to have that sort of thing happen - one of my favourite biathletes, Miri Gössner, has just announced that her season is effectively over and that she won't be going to Sochi (after a mountain bike accident last year which damaged 4 lumbar vertebrae and almost left her in a wheelchair). I watched part of her press conference and it was painful viewing, especially knowing how much she'd been through to get back into the competitions so far - hopefully this is the right decision and she can now recover properly; she's young enough to try again at the next Olympics!

I read about Miri. That was sad too.

There are people who think that skiing is a "soft" sport, and others who think that it is only the downhill racers who face risk of injury.

Not so, as you and I would well know, and anyone who has seen the news of Michael Schumacker's injury would surely change their mind.

Anyone who saw the readout of a biathlete's or a cross country skier's heart rate during competition wouldn't think it was soft, either.

For me, skiing is one of the most exhilarating of sports but anybody who does it should know the risks. I would certainly not go off piste at my age.

Professional athletes make skiing look easy and I suppose that lulls some people into a false sense of confidence, but as we know, they get injuries too and the road to recovery can be long and hard.

I hope both Miri and Lindsey..... and Schumi too.... make full recoveries soon.

More bad news - the BBC are reporting that Tomas Morgenstern has had a training accident; head and lung injuries although the hospital seem to think it's serious but not critical?

Meanwhile at Adelboden on the first run of the GS, Tomas Fanara was first down and no one could touch his time! With Ted Ligety about 0.8 back and Hirscher about the same it should be exciting! Women's downhill also on (on the BBC red button, no less) - a very steep start!

Did you see the incident with the goon who walked onto the men's GS course at Adelboden and right in front of Brennan Rubie as he was on his first run ..?

I haven't seen any more on this and I can't find anything on the news feed, but initial impressions were that this was probably a press snapper taking a short cut across the course to get back to the car park.  

Rubie was given a second run, and I didn't see that, but I think that photographer might just have his press pass withdrawn for a while

Ted Ligety didn't finish the second run.   He was chasing the time too hard, but that's Ted for you.  He won't die wondering, will he?  

Felix Neureuther managed to pip Fanara by 0.1 to top the podium.   Felix had two steady runs of very similar times whereas Fanara had a brilliant first run but blew it on the second.  I suppose it goes to show that consistency will usually win the day.

Men's Slalom seemed exciting, although I was focussed on the biathlon and only caught the very end on the liveticker; seems Ted L didn't finish this one either and Felix Neureuther must be kicking himself for a missed opportunity. Great result for Marcel Hirscher though - "Explosionsartig katapultiert sich Marcel Hirscher aus dem Starthaus" as ZDF put it!!

Latest from FIS is that the Ladies Races from Garmisch will be cancelled due to lack of snow and a poor forecast.