CRANS-MONTANA, Switzerland (Feb. 12, 2016) – Though all eyes seem to be on Fenway Park in Boston for the Polartec Big Air competition, the Audi FIS Ski World Cup tour continues on, with the White Circus paying visit to Crans-Montana, Switzerland and Yazawa Naeba, Japan this weekend.
Snow is lightly falling upon the quaint ski village of Crans-Montana, but earlier the snow wasn’t falling so lightly. The forecast called for 40 cm of snow – a far cry from the spring-like conditions last weekend in Garmisch. It’s a lovely, sparkling sight to see … but it could present some challenges for Saturday’s downhill.
The weather hasn’t bothered the women’s speed team too much, as they enjoyed a powder day at the beautiful Crans-Montana on Wednesday. In an Instagram post on Tuesday night Alice McKennis (New Castle, CO) commented, “Oooo yea...it's a winter wonderland in Crans Montana! On tomorrow's menu it's either slalom training or powder skiing...I might be hoping for one more than the other...” McKennis was gifted her pow day and there were big smiles by all after their shred session.
The beauty of Crans Montana, Switzerland (USSA)
The scenery is a sight for sore eyes too, with the Matterhorn in the distance and the stunning European village in sight as the women cross the finish line. To describe it as “inspiring” would be an understatement. An early training day today due to the potential for a moody Mother Nature meant the chance to witness sunrise in Crans Montana – that’s a sight to be imprinted to memory and stored away to be brought out on a gloomy day. It’s a 360 panorama of epic views here.
Though everyone is talking about Lindsey Vonn (Vail, CO) vs. Switzerland’s Lara Gut and Mikaela Shiffrin's (Eagle-Vail, CO) incredible comeback for the slalom on Monday, there’s another exciting story to share – and that’s the depth of the women’s speed team. On both downhill training days, it was Vonn’s teammates, a pair of Oregonians – including first-ever Lindsey Vonn Foundation Ambassador Jackie Wiles (Aurora, OR) and Laurenne Ross (Bend, OR) who skied the fastest, Wiles finishing sixth on Thursday and Ross landing in third on Friday. Stacey Cook (Mammoth Mountain, CA) was ninth in Thursday’s downhill training run. Ross will look to carry the momentum from her top five downhill result in Garmisch. It’s safe to say this track is good for the American women, who are poised to stack the top 10 tomorrow.
Vonn carries an 87-point lead over Lara Gut into an important weekend on Gut’s home soil, with a downhill and alpine combined. Crans-Montana will also play host to a slalom race, a makeup from Maribor, which will mark the return of Shiffrin to the tour after a December injury.
The men’s Audi FIS Ski World Cup tour heads to Japan for a week of tech racing, headlined by giant slalom specialist Tim Jitloff (Reno, NV) and David Chodounsky (Crested Butte, CO) – now ranked top 15 in the world in slalom. They’ve gotten their fair share of snow over in Yuzawa Naeba, too…it was JAPOW-style skiing earlier this week as tech skiers were gifted with 90 cm of the fluffy white stuff. Too bad that was just before the U.S. Tech Nerds arrived. Germany’s Felix Neureuther, France’s Julien Lizeroux and Slovakia’s Adam Zampa posted drool-worthy pictures of chest-deep pow. The tech events will be live streamed Friday and Saturday evening USA time.
Crans-Montana (DH, AC, SL) Starters
Stacey Cook – DH, AC
Abby Ghent – DH
Alice McKennis – DH, AC
Lila Lapanja – SL
Paula Moltzan – SL
Laurenne Ross – DH, AC
Mikaela Shiffrin – SL
Resi Stiegler – SL
Lindsey Vonn – DH, AC
Jackie Wiles – DH, AC
Yazawa Naeba (GS, SL) Starters
Michael Ankeny – SL
David Chodounsky – GS, SL
Mark Engel – SL
Tommy Ford – GS
Tim Jitloff – GS
Robby Kelley – SL
Tim Kelley – SL
QUOTES
Lindsey Vonn
[On Friday’s training run]
I think the course ran a lot better today, starting from the top. There were definitely some awkward sections where I wasn’t quite sure on the timing, and the line was a little bit off. In general, I think I was pretty solid and I’m really looking forward to tomorrow – hopefully the weather holds up.
[On the skill you have to have in order to win on this track]
You have to be able to be really scrappy. It’s not a normal downhill – it’s not high speeds with long, sweeping turns…you gain speed, you arc, and then you have to throw a feather in – you have to steer the ski a bit. The distances are short; it’s steep sometimes. It’s a really scrappy, always-on-your-toes kind of course, and you have to make adjustments the whole way down.
[On Crans-Montana in general]
I feel good here. It’s a beautiful place and I’ve won here before, so I’m happy to be back. It’s also nice to be on a new track. It’s a new challenge, and I think I’ve figured it out – but I’m not 100% sure, so we’ll see tomorrow.
Jackie Wiles
[On Thursday’s training run]
Today felt good. Course was pretty easy – not too complicated. I just have to get some shape in a couple of turns and carry some speed and I think I was able to do that with the easy conditions and it felt pretty good.
[On translating the success from training runs to race day]
For me the biggest challenge is trying to do too much on race day. I think I just have to keep it simple and just ski the way I know how to ski and then the results will follow.
Broadcast and Live Streaming (times EST)
Friday, Feb. 12
8:00 p.m. - Men's GS1, Yuzawa Naeba - LIVE NBC Sports Live Extra
11:00 p.m. - Men's GS2, Yuzawa Naeba - LIVE NBC Sports Live Extra
Saturday, Feb. 13
4:30 a.m. - Women's downhill, Crans-Montana - NBC Sports Live Extra
1:00 p.m. - Men's giant slalom, Yuzawa Naeba - Universal HD
2:30 p.m. - Women's downhill, Crans-Montana - Universal HD
8:00 p.m. - Men's SL1, Yuzawa Naeba - LIVE NBC Sports Live Extra
11:00 p.m. - Men's SL2, Yuzawa Naeba - LIVE NBC Sports Live Extra
Sunday, Feb. 14
4:00 a.m. - Women's combined downhill, Crans-Montana - LIVE - NBC Sports Live Extra
7:00 a.m. - Women's combined slalom, Crans-Montana - LIVE - NBC Sports Live Extra
12:00 p.m. - Men's slalom, Yuzawa Naeba - Universal HD
5:30 p.m. - Women's alpine combined, Crans-Montana - Universal HD
Monday, Feb. 15
3:30 a.m. - Women's SL1, Crans-Montana - LIVE NBC Sports Live Extra
6:30 a.m. - Women's SL2, Crans-Montana - LIVE NBC Sports Live Extra
NOTE: Slalom streaming coverage to be confirmed
RESULTS
Women’s downhill training 1
Women’s downhill training 2
