COVERAGE: 2017 Killington Women's World Cup

Rudi Riet · Nov 26, 2017

Second run notes:

Snow was firmer, and the wind persisted. The surface, according to a few racers I spoke with, was grippy ice.

And the second run set had its share of victims. Many of the athletes would get into the back seat and simply not recover. Such is slalom racing - there's little margin for error on those short skis.

There were some standout performances today:

Biggest move up the ranks: Katharina Gallhuber (AUT), moving up from 38th start to 7th place over two runs. She was understandably pumped with her day.

Biggest North American move: Laurence St. Germain, who just made the flip after starting 47th in the first run, then had a corker of a second run and moved up to 14th for the day. She was in great spirits afterward when I spoke with her - she's someone to watch for CAST for the rest of the season.

Vlhova made up for a lackluster first run with a great second run... only to be overshadowed by Shiffrin's spectacular second run. Still, Vlhova is MS's closest competition right now on the short sticks. Wendy Holdener, Frida Hansdotter, and Bernadette Schild are all great, but they seem to be competing for third place these days - MS and PV are that much stronger right now.

Tough day for the USST. Resi Stiegler's first run was OK, but her second run did her no favors. She "overskis" everything: too much turn, too much braking against the fall line, too little movement down the hill. The other USST women didn't make the flip.

Aside from St. Germain, Team Canada's hopes were on the shoulders of Marie-Michele Gagnon (DNF 2nd) and Erin Mielzynski (DNF 1st). For Team GB, Alex Tilley's first run was nothing to write home about (DNF).

One thing that was a running theme throughout is that the crowd here was cheering for everybody, and with great volume. The racers notice this after they cross the finish, even when there are DNFs: the cheers are loud and supportive.

Laurence St. Germain (CAN)

Melanie Meillard (SUI) pumping up the jam.

Petra Vlhova (SVK) and Denise Feierabend (SUI) wait for the final racers to compete.

Shiffrin races toward the finish of run 2.

The final podium.

Frankly · Nov 26, 2017

I know the hit squad from NBC might try to take me out for all my complaining... but having just watched the live coverage I’m wondering why they couldn’t have found time to play some of the first run highlights during the 30 minutes of filler?

To his credit, Dan Hicks is growing on me, he does a good job.

Are these guys doing it all remotely? Wish Bode covered the Men’s race too.

BC. · Nov 26, 2017

PisteOff said:
I’ve lots of pics and video I will try to upload tonight..... just 35 minutes the the SL finals. We got in 3 Gondolas and a couple laps on Northridge Triple. Snow is decent up top. Time for some Lagunitas and WORLD CUP STOKE!!

Have a few Lagunitas...but u gotta try a Fiddlehead....

Muleski · Nov 26, 2017

Laurence St. Germain, yet another example of how some NCAA skiing can work in concert with, and help advance you to, the World Cup. She was a very, very good junior racer in Quebec, on the Quebec provincial team, on the CAST D team, then dropped and headed to UVM. Two seasons later was splitting time between the NCAA and WC. We'll see if she skis at all for UVM this season. Might well be all WC. Her college teammate Paula Moltzan was in the gate today, as well, with a USA uniform.

Fun to see.

PisteOff · Nov 26, 2017

BC. said:
Have a few Lagunitas...but u gotta try a Fiddlehead....

I’ve had some Long Trail IPA’s...... :huh:

BC. · Nov 26, 2017

Beer always tastes better at the Beast.....lol..

Sounds like it is a great time!...my daughter just “reprimanded” me for not taking her. Great event..

Enjoying all of your posts.

Zrxman01 · Nov 26, 2017

Dear Mikaela.
I had a great time.
Thanks for the memories!!!!

Rudi Riet · Nov 26, 2017

Muleski said:
Laurence St. Germain, yet another example of how some NCAA skiing can work in concert with, and help advance you to, the World Cup....We'll see if she skis at all for UVM this season. Might well be all WC. Her college teammate Paula Moltzan was in the gate today, as well, with a USA uniform.

According to Laurence, her plan is to race entirely World Cup this season, then possibly return to UVM next season. She's doing her college work via correspondence this winter.

Rudi Riet · Nov 26, 2017

Frankly said:
Are these guys doing it all remotely? Wish Bode covered the Men’s race too.

No, Dan Hicks and Bode were on-site. The broadcast facility here at Killington is fairly big. Bode's presence was the talk of the weekend. During Friday night's press conference, he sat next to me for ten minutes. Never asked a question, but the murmurs he created resonated through the press corps.

He's also a big guy - still in good shape, if not quite in race-ready condition.

Rudi Riet · Nov 26, 2017

Some quick notes from the post-race press conference:

Bernadette Schild is a big fan of racing in the U.S. Apparently she spent a lot of time in North America when she was in her mid-teens, learning English during summer study programs. And the results are clear: her English rivals that of the Norwegians (whose accent is all but invisible when they are interviewed). She spoke highly of Killington's race crew and the quality of the racing surface. It seems she's finally emerged from the shadow of her older sister.

Petra Vlhova's speed of late is no fluke: she trained with Shiffrin before Levi. She says it was beneficial to have a bit of a rabbit - said it was "just like race day" on every run, and her slalom speed shows. If not for some baubles in the first run, the margin of victory would likely have been in the range of two or three tenths, not 1.64 seconds.

All the same Shiffrin wasn't as thrilled to "rub off" on Vlhova (mostly joking, but you could see in MS's facial expression that she prefers to train alone, only with her team). She said that her first run was meant to be a statement from the get-go - i.e. not waiting until the final half to turn on the jets. Thus why her first run margin was so big. In the second run, she still went aggressively but not quite as "full gas" as in run one.

I asked her about her prep for the upcoming weeks of speed events. She says she'll compete in all three Lake Louise events, and that she really loves skiing speed on the long boards. However, her confidence when conditions aren't ideal (e.g. flat light or wind) still paints her as "green in the speed world," and that she is working hard to overcome this. As to the races in Europe throughout December, the super G events are on her schedule, with downhills whenever possible. Methinks she's trying to defend the overall - not a shock.

Bernadette Schild (AUT).

Petra Vlhova (SVK):

Mikaela Shiffrin.

Muleski · Nov 26, 2017

Rudi, GREAT stuff!
Thanks!
:thumb:

Muleski · Nov 26, 2017

Rudi Riet said:
According to Laurence, her plan is to race entirely World Cup this season, then possibly return to UVM next season. She's doing her college work via correspondence this winter.

Not surprised there, at all. Wish her the best. Having a foot in both buckets is hard. When our kids were racing NCAA, there were handful of skiers who would fly back to race the absolute minimum number of carnivals to then qualify for the NCAA championships. Tough to do. Harder to do if you're allegedly a full time student. At our kids' schools getting a dean's excuse to skip a day to two of class to race a NorAm was an impossibility. Then again, they were not tying to win a national championship in skiing, with a LOT of effort.
That's a good move for Laurence!

Rudi Riet said:
He's also a big guy

I've been around Bode a fair amount. When he was 18-19-20, he was tall and pretty darn lean, and I think he kept growing in height until his late teens. A number of my friends had not seen him until the time that he was winning the WC overall, and had largely become the dominant speed skier on the WC. At that point he was BIG. Not Svindal at biggest size, but not a lot smaller. Good observation to write about, as it shocks some people. When he's standing next to his wife {who I think is 6'1"}, they look like a very striking couple. When they are with shorter folks....yeah, they are tall! Bode's a lot leaner than at his peak as a speed skier. I also have to add that he is just an incredible athlete. I can't think a sport that he couldn't master pretty quickly.

Glad that he cast a pretty big shadow. My wife and adult daughter were both saying that "Bode is really good at this!" Their observation, is that typical of Bode, he calls it as he sees it. He's honest. But he's also got a nice way of not being mean. or harsh. Kind of hard to describe. It's nice to watch.

In addition to be a big guy, he's a smart guy, and an articulate one.

One more observation. This past two seasons of these races have been VERY good for the Killington Mountain School. Much more visibility at a time when they have a lot of other good things going on. Good to see. Good group of people there.

Great event!

Dave Petersen · Nov 26, 2017

Brian Finch said:
View attachment 33818

Athlete parade & ‘18 hat!

So cute!

Black Dog · Nov 26, 2017

Erik Timmerman · Nov 26, 2017

While I am downloading today's photos, I'll upload yesterday's.

Two different approaches to a tricky left-footer. People were throwing all kinds of shapes here:

Finish arena as seen from above:

The finish line pitch was dark all day this is abut the most light we ever got. Snow conditions must have been way different above this knoll:

Alex Tilley had a pretty good "attack from the back" run. As much as I too enjoy seeing great skiing Mikaela Shiffrin, I really like seeing these racers with high numbers defy expectations and move up the ranks.

Playing with what little light we had.

Resi Steiger and AJ Hurt. 1985 and 2000.

Burton · Nov 26, 2017

So, two years in a row I've staked out a spot on the finish line fence with my kids before the sun comes up (last year for SL, this year for GS). This year my kids wanted the exact same spot, though I warned them that once the press filtered into their designated row in front of us, our view may be blocked a bit. I reminded them of the really tall guy from last year, but they insisted. Cause, well, this happened:

Mikaela

Burton
Nov 26, 2017

Well, history repeats, tall guy was back right in front of us again this year (can't blame him--it was one of the best viewing spots), and back online at home I discover that tall guy is Rudi from Pugski. Hey Rudi, for next year, could you be more shorter? : )

Erik Timmerman · Nov 26, 2017

2nd run GS.

Megan McJames just made the flip.

Meta Hrovat makes that turn look a little better.

Photography tip: When the light is bad and options are limited, you can always resort to pans. Here's a bunch of ways to reach for the line.

Another Attack from the Back candidate.

This is not a great photo, but I had to post it because it doesn't look like it would be part of a winning run!

James · Nov 26, 2017

A fun day. It was pretty cold standing out. Very windy at times with swirling snow on the final pitch. Mostly gray. Much grayer than it looked on tv. Between the blowing snow and the flat light visibility could be an issue depending on when you were racing.

Got a late start so I parked down at the Skyeship Gondola on Rte 4. Took the shuttle. A school bus, I sat under the 3rd grade sign.
Amazingly, we took the East Mt Road shortcut up. I was debating whether to take that road when I bailed for the shuttle that was there. No waiting. That road is steep! The bus barely handled it.

A few from the lot where the buses ran from. This was a rare patch of blue sky between the 1st and 2nd runs. From this vantage you see nearly the whole of Superstar. It might not look it, but the trail is impressive and it's nice to see the whole venue as you approach the mt. up the access road. The final pitch is quite steep. It reminds me of the steep trail at the base of Keystone, CO , Last Hoot(?), you can see from the road.

Honestly, if you had a truck with a roof deck and binoculars you'd have a good view from here.

I would say there were way more people this year. I don't think it looked like it at the base, but there were. Kids sliding all over that side area, lookers right of finish, on packed snow and fast dirt.

Shuttles out at lunch were very full. They were quite efficient as despite a long line the wait was maybe 5 min. Went down to Snowshed to eat. Last year it was empty, this year quite a few people but very easy and little waiting to buy food. Return on the shuttle was quick. They routed all the buses off the access road through the parking lot up to the K1 lot. Security was quick.

A big difference this year is the large number of people skiing and snowboarding. Really quite a few.

More vendors and food this year.Killington sold out of cow bells except for a huge one that was $275. They had decent stuff for sale at reasonable prices. A scarf was $30 or 35. Hat $30, unless an Estbor hat -$90! They still need to figure out dispensing hot beverages rapidly and how to charge. $3.03 for a coffee? The .03 costs too much time.

The K1 lodge now had the bar area for the public instead of the athletes. Made more sense but the uniqueness of having athletes right there was gone. A sensible move though. The space was needed.

Waiting for the racers.
The forerunners for the first run had a rough go. I don't think one finished. For the second run is was hard to tell when they were coming and they seemed to take it more casually with clothing over the speed suit. Probably a good idea as there were some spectacular recoveries, straddlings, and wipeouts in the 2nd run.

Overall, Killington definitely stepped it up from last year. They did a very good job getting people in and out. If you've considered going but have resisted because it's too much of a circus- stop this nonsense and go. If you've never been to Killington before and you can swing it, I'd say go Friday and ski. Eat lunch at the top lodge. It'll give you time to check out the hill, maybe meet some athletes and take the setting it in. You never know who you'll run into. If it's between that and buying grandstand seats, skip the grandstand.
But go. You can actually watch this event for free.

DoryBreaux · Nov 26, 2017

Primoz said:
@DoryBreaux it's not a problem about shooting video. We all do from time to time, if nothing else when going straight down whole top part of Val Gardena DH track with phone camera on to get to photo location. But problem is what you do with that video after that. If you keep it private it's no problem. If you put it out publicly, then you do have problem. I was actually talking with Ana when she was still media coordinator at FIS few years ago, and she said it's no problem to put that track thing to my FB (I still didn't though), but then again, noone cares about me going down the track anyway, what is problematic are inteviews with racers and stuff that could be used commercially (with this I mean news and/or real commercial usage).

They we're pretty clear with us as far as a strict no video policy, regardless of intended use. I wonder if it just depends on who you talk to. Also I wonder if they would have not made a stink if I had just recorded me slipping to my shooting position vs. recording an athlete actually in the gates. Not something I want to find out by practice

.

whumber said:
Ha, I have some 60 fps still sequences that I shot yesterday with an E-M1ii, better keep them hidden .

Hmm if I ever have the opportunity to shoot a FIS event again I should rent a Phantom... 1000fps.... :duck:

Erik Timmerman · Nov 26, 2017

Today's Slalom photos:

Forerunner A: this is how hard it was snowing early on, by the time the forerunners were down it had pretty much stopped. Sandra finished her run, a couple of the forerunners didn't. One of them took out a cluster of coaches like bowling pins.