The autumn part of the Alpine skiing World Cup season is strange. After last year’s debacle with the Cervinia/Zermatt downhills, no glacier got into the calendar to fill the early weekends after the early start in Sölden. Before 16th November, when the slalom specialists meet in the cold Finnish Levi, stars and their fans must wait. Yet, as the season has already started, they do not waste their time. They spend these weeks sharpening their skills, tweaking their equipment to perfection, and attending PR events.
Training on the Rettenbach Glacier and Preparation in Levi
Of course, most athletes, especially the slalom specialists, train hard to shine in Levi. Some, like Austria’s Manuel Feller and Switzerland’s Julia Scheib, remained in Sölden to train on the Rettenbach Glacier. Some technicians, like Germany’s Lena Durrer, have already traveled to Finland to be perfectly prepared for the notorious icy conditions.
The French slalom skiers, both men and ladies, are also already in Lappland. Clement Noel, who struggled with consistency last year, means business perfecting his already excellent technical skills and getting race-ready for the first slalom races of the season.
Meanwhile, Daniel Yule, Ramon Zenhäusern, Luca Aerni, and Sandro Simonet work intensively on their form on the Swedish slopes. Marcel Hirscher, who had not yet made a statement about his start in Levi, trains slalom in Kitzsteinhorn, close to his home in Salzburg.
Speed Training for Upcoming Races in the US
Some speed-focused athletes are preparing in the United States. Austria’s Conny Hütter, last season’s downhill winner, is training at Copper Mountain to regain confidence. Despite rather warm weather in Colorado, most speed teams have already crossed the sea to gain an advantage with early acclimatization and provide their technicians more time to come to terms with different American snow. Not all speed teams, however, chose to leave Europe just yet.
The Italian speed stars like Dominik Paris and Christof Innerhofer train on the Austrian glacier Pitztal. At the same time, Sofia Goggia works on her fitness form in Bergamo. She expects to train on the slopes of Cervinia.
The French speed specialists join the Italian team in Pitztal; however, the veteran Adrien Théaux struggles with back pain. The Frenchmen plan to leave for America on November 18th. Then Cyprien Sarazzin, who is working on his fitness and rehabilitation in Albertville, joins the team to see how ready he is for the first speed events of this season.
There are also notable absences in this part of the season. Lara Gut-Behrami struggles with injury, and so does Loic Meillard. The Swiss, who won the nation’s cup last year, hope to have these two in the circuit as soon as possible.
