This weekend, both men and women fired up their fans with thrilling races. However, the conditions could hardly be different. While the ladies enjoyed the lovely conditions and perfect snow in Colorado, men had to fight like polar bears through fog and blizzards in France. Thumbs up for the organizers at both venues. The first kept the perfect conditions in slightly warmer temperatures, and the second fought tooth and nail with the weather to make the races happen and be regular.
Speed Races in Beaver Creek: Ladies Conquer the Birds of Prey
In Beaver Creek, the ladies tasted the Birds of Prey slope for the first time in history. Previous women’s races in this venue took place on Raptor, a slope specially designed for women.
The downhill on Saturday, icy and fast, belonged to the speed queens. Sofia Goggia (ITA) went out of the start gate fearless as usual, as if she had not been out for half of the season. On the first bump, she nearly caught an edge but recovered and, with a perfect low posture, got to the finish line with half a second lead. Lara Gut-Behrami (SUI), who also has excellent form this season, tried to get the better of her Italian rival with her usual smooth and sleek style but could not. But then Cornelia Hütter picked up where she left it last year and conquered the Birds of Prey with a 0,16 seconds lead on Goggia. This means the battle for the downhill crystal globe will be thrilling again.
Later, three ladies with higher bib numbers fit into the top ten. First, the Czech amphibian Ester Ledecka, who races both on skis and snowboard, performed superbly after a season of recovery to finish sixth in the final rankings. Then young American Lauren Macuga, with bib number 27, used the home crowd´s support to her advantage and finished fourth. Let’s not forget the surprising fifth place for Austria’s Ricarda Haaser with bib number 37.
Super-G races took place on a similarly fine winter day. Lara Gut-Behrami went down the slope following the perfect line and proved that super-G is her favorite discipline. She sat comfortably in the red chair as Federica Brignone (ITA) and Cornelia Hütter tried to depose her. Only Sofia Goggia could do so. Goggia went down with her usual speed and fearlessness. Compared to Gut-Behrami’s run, her run looked scrappy, but the clock also said it was faster. And that counts.
The Blizzards in Val d’Isere
When the first racers went down the hill on Saturday, the inversion limited visibility, and snow drizzle tainted the view. However, with every racer, the conditions deteriorated. In the second run, the racers could barely see the gates due to fog, and snowflakes the size of ping-pong balls fell from the sky to melt on the racers’ goggles. The racers had to use both technique and bravery to win this race.
First, Henrik Kristoffersen (NOR) knew that he needed to finally put two good runs together to have a chance of success. He skied nicely and aggressively and finished second. Everybody’s eyes were on Marco Odermatt (SUI), who finally managed to win the first run. Lucas Pinheiro Braathen (BRA), wearing the red bib, was disappointed to finish 21st in the first run and got himself his first DNF in giant slalom this year in the second run. Austria’s Patrik Feuerstein did not catch many eyes, finishing 24th. Still, in the second run, he cleverly used the better conditions as the weather continued deteriorating for the later numbers.
The second run was met with blizzard and fog, making it impossible for some to go fast. However, some managed excel. Austria’s Stefan Brennsteiner, going forth, toppled his teammate, Feuerstein, comfortably sitting in the red chair and watching his rivals struggling against the weather. The blizzard took the better of both Loic Mellard (SUI) and Henrik Kristoffersen. But Marco Odermatt thrived in the harsh conditions, skied smartly with just the right blend of caution and speed, and finally got himself a giant slalom victory. He admitted in the post-race interview that he loved such harsh conditions because this is how the winter should look.
On Sunday, the conditions improved. It stopped snowing, but the visibility was just as bad as it grew dark during the second run. The pre-race favorite Clement Noel was missing, as he twisted an ankle in a fall on Saturday. He wanted to get the pressure of the home crowd off his chest with some giant slalom racing and crashed severely. Let us hope for his speedy comeback. With Clement Noel out, the door was wide open for the competition to pick some points in his backyard.
First, the French Steven Amiez held the French flag high and won the first run. Henrik Kristoffersen used his inner Viking to nail the first run and finished second, followed by the rest of the Norwegian squad (Timon Haugan, Atle Lie McGrath) and Austria’s Manuel Feller.
In the second run, the only surprise was Lucas Pinheiro Braathen, who managed to transform his 26th place with a brave second run charge into fourth place in the final rankings. However, the gold goes to Henrik Kristoffersen as he held his nerve and built on his lead to finish first in front of Loic Meillard (SUI) and Atle Lie McGrath, pushing last season’s overall slalom champion Manu Feller to fifth place. However, for Feller, his fifth place provided mental relief after the DNFs from the past weeks.
Steven Amiez experienced how hard it is to win from first place in slalom; more than technical proficiency is needed. But this Frenchman is so good that he (under the expert guidance of his colleague Clement Noel) will surely earn his World Cup victory one day.
