ON SNOW IN MAY IN ASPEN

ASPEN USES X GAMES TERRAIN

 For the second consecutive season, the Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club and Aspen Ski Company have paired to build an alpine training venue with left over snow that was made for the X Games Slopestyle competitions. Buttermilk Mountain manager Susan Cross, grooming guru Travis Benson and AVSC Alpine Director, Greg Needell have grouped together over the last two seasons to build an approximately 140m vertical training venue at the bottom of Buttermilk. “We have the snow, we might as well use it,” said Susan Cross.

 Last year, Needell regularly drove past the monster jumps on Buttermilk that were made from man-made snow for the X Games. “I thought, we could push that out for use in May,” said Needell. He went to Aspen Ski Company management and Buttermilk management to ask if it was possible and after some discussion, the project was given the green light. Needell jokingly called it “The Buttermilk Glacier Project” which has caught on with the staff and locals. “Right now, there are a lot of teams scrambling to pay for space on the Front Range and in Summit County while we have our own venue in the backyard. It’s convenient and cheap and has created an atmosphere of camaraderie among the different age classes and between the coaches and parents.” Parents have been recruited to help with driving vehicles, etc. The club uses vehicles to drive up to the start through a nearby residential neighborhood. “It is a very unique project and a great opportunity to build a team,” Greg added.

 Continuing, “I saw it as a chance to bridge the gap between the end of the season and summer camp; and a chance for the kids advancing an age class to work with their new coaches. This year is an added bonus as our FIS athletes had another chance to get on the new FIS legal GS side-cut.”

 AVSC trained GS last weekend and will train Slalom for the next 2 weekends.

ASPEN HIRES LISA PERRICONE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Greg Needell, AVSC Alpine Director

(435) 714-9560

gneedell@teamavsc.org

 Eldora’s Lisa Perricone joins Aspen coaching staff

ASPEN, Colo.-Lisa Perricone, Eldora Mountain Ski and Snowboard Club’s Head Alpine Ability Class Coach, joins the AVSC staff beginning in September.

 Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club Alpine Director Greg Needell announced Thursday that Perricone, 28, joins Head Coach Kent Towlerton and coaches Torey Greenwood and Austin Nevins in a newly created position to accommodate AVSC’s growing ability class program.

“Lisa brings strong coaching experience and race experience to an already excellent staff,” said Needell. A member of the University of Colorado’s 2006 NCAA Championship Team, Perricone was a five-time All American and captain of the CU Ski Team. Early in her career she was a medalist at the Trofeo Topolino in Italy, and while a college student, Perricone represented the U.S. at the World University Games.

“That kind of high level race experience throughout the course of a career is very rare in the coaching world and we are looking forward to helping Lisa share her experiences with AVSC athletes,” Needell said.

Perricone, whose accomplishments include creating Eldora’s Elite Team, a post-graduate program designed for athletes racing at a high level of competition, said choosing AVSC was an easy decision because of its reputation.

“The coaching staff is the best in the country which is shown through the tremendous successes of their athletes. As the head coach of a smaller program, I was able to help athletes find success at all ability levels. I am very excited to bring these skills and a fresh perspective to a club with amazing resources and leadership,” she said.

AVSC’s Needell expects Perricone to have a seamless transition, as she’s already a known quantity among the coaches. Perricone said she’s wanted to move to Aspen since her first NorAm race as a teenager.

“The town is beautiful, the skiing is amazing and there is a very strong sense of community. I can’t imagine a better place to be.”

Take It Or Leave it.

IT’S BEEN A WHILE

I have been away from the keyboard for a while. And I know I kind of disappeared near the end of January with no explanation. But I had my reasons and it was time to take a few months off from writing this column. Why? You might want to ask and I will give you a reason or ten. First, and foremost, I was simply worn-out and was having a hard time finding the passion to write. Second, I have been very busy doing my real job here at Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club. Normally, I would write on Thursday and Friday evenings or on my day-off on Monday. But there was no time. At least no time when I could stay awake long enough to write. And the Monday, off-day thing disappeared.  And third, and definitely the catalyst in this decision, were some very unsavory and personal attacks on me in my FB messages or sometimes in my personal email. An unnamed person, hiding behind an alias, harassed me pretty badly and I figured it was not worth it. This person is local to Colorado as far as I know and threatened me with some harm, so I shut it down for a while. And while this was not the sole reason, it was the trigger. Maybe it wasn’t the bravest decision but I felt it was wise at the time.

So, I am back and I am going to write some as the race season draws to a close. You might notice a shift in topics from opinion on certain athletes’ successes and failures to more personal experiences and focus on political, ski governance decision making, staffing, team cuts and decisions to fund or not fund. But the weekly grind of analyzing World Cup racing might drop to the background. We will see when next season rolls around.

Before I head out the door to help with a training session (it is still full-on winter here in Aspen), I do want to congratulate the obvious:

TINA MAZE: An amazing total of 2414 World Cup points! That is more than Sweden, France and Italy as well as many more. People might wonder what the outcome would have been if Lindsey was healthy, but that is a moot point. Lindsey was not healthy, and Tina was dominant. She was no worse than 2^nd in the standings in any single discipline and almost won the SL title too. She scored 800 points in GS alone while finishing no worse than 3^rd in any World Cup GS. Who did the new skis help the most? They helped the best skier.

ANNA FENNINGER: Anna finally showed consistent speed in GS in winning 2 races and adding 2 more podiums while finishing 2^nd in the GS globe race. She obviously adapted to the new skis as the season progressed and will probably challenge Maze next season for the GS globe.

TED LIGETY: He scored 720 points with 6 wins and no GS finish worse than 3^rd; a dominant performance by any standard. Add-in the incredible World Champs performance and you have a most magical season. This was his 4^th GS overall title. So, I would ask again, who did FIS help by changing the GS ski dimensions and lengths? Ted Ligety is the answer, the best skier. We can visit the rule some other time but it is obvious that FIS created a gap in the GS standings that made many of the races anti-climactic.

MIKAELA SHIFFRIN:  At the very least, she showed that solid fundamentals coupled with talent, is an unbeatable combination. Her 4^th win of the season was the very dramatic win in Lenzerheide at the finals to win the slalom globe. Again, with a World Championship in her pocket at the age of 17 and winning the slalom globe just 3 days after her 18^th birthday, it was a great year. Obviously, Mikaela has a wonderful future on the World Cup and I am sure she will bring her GS to the level of her slalom, probably by next season.

AMERICAN SPEED GIRLS

I will leave Lins out of this for obvious reasons, even though she won the DH globe without finishing the season. But without the best woman speed skier in World Cup history, the American girls stepped up and had a ripping year. Stacey Cook, Laurenne Ross, Alice McKennis, Leanne Smith and Julia Mancuso were the best speed team in the world. In Downhill, they scored a combined 1330 points. Out-distancing Switzerland (2^nd best DH team) by a massive 457 points and almost doubling up points on traditional power Austria.  And they scored the most SG points with 810.

Stacey was twice on the World Cup DH podium and backed that up with 2 more top 10s and a 6^th at World Champs in Schladming.

Leanne had 2 DH podiums and 2 SG top 10 finishes.

Laurenne was 2^nd in DH at Garmisch and 5^th in St. Anton and ninth in the SG in Garmisch.

Julia was the model of consistency with a fifth at World Championships and yet another FIS medal to add to her collection. She had 5 top 10 finishes in World Cup downhill and 4 Super G podiums while never finishing worse that 6^th.

Alice, of course, had her first-ever World Cup win at St. Anton before her season-ending injury at Garmisch.

So that’s it for now. Keep an eye on all the National Championship races around the globe that are happening now and pick out the up and comers for next season. 

Wengen is Awesome

THE LAUBERHORN- THE TROPHY THAT MADE ME CRY

 Several years ago, I think it was 2006, I cried in Wengen.

I was with the tech team, but Daron Rahlves had been crossing over to the GS team throughout the season with resounding success. So after Adelboden that year, I found myself thrust into the heart of the DH world in Wengen. I had a spot in the Super G turns and felt like I was pretty ready to go with the line and all of that. What I really did not realize on the first training run was that I was already 1:45 into the race. And that finding a place to video was a son-of-a bitch job. Climbing the skinny lodgepoles was out of the question for me. And I did not provide any help with video from the ground the first day. I found a better spot the second day but lost the exit angle into the Hanneggschuss. I was flailing with the video, BUT I relied on my eye and study of everyone from Walchhofer to Jerman to figure it out. Anyway, I was out in the line with the rest of the boys talking about the set and the line and figuring out if we could pull out something special. But it became clear…come out of the tunnel, straighten it out for two or three turns but then get some elevation turning 90 degrees into the SG pitch from the road to be able to build as much speed into the Hannegschuss as possible. Just above the Hannegg was a double (a pretty square corridor) that could be run deep and brought back at a higher exit angle, which would set you up for the Hanneggschuss as a straight-shot. D and I spoke about it during the week, he agreed but did not want to run that until the last training run. The SG turns have no TV coverage so it would not be on live feed and the difficulty of getting good hand-footage in that section is well documented. So, he wanted to try to just ski better from the end of the road to the “double” and then nail that line we talked about. And that is what he did.

  It was a perfect morning in Wengen and one of those days when you feel like something special would happen. From the dark morning train ride up to the Kleine Scheidegg to the bright blue Swiss morning, to the pre-game salute from the Patrouille Suisse, it was epic. We had just finished our pre-race lunch of Brats and Weissbier and it was time to go. I left the Lauberhorn start among a throng of fans. I stood on the top of the rock by the Hundschopf and saw the 10-15 thousand fans on the hill side below. I picked my way down the cliff to the left of the Minschkante into Canadian Corner and off I go down the road, through the Kernen-S and into the tunnel. Then I was in my spot after turning the corner into the SG turns. Anyway, it was cold, it was clear and it was beautiful. And I was sure we were in the ball-park on this one.

I don’t remember why, but Walchhofer had number 4. And being a huge guy, along with being an excellent skier, I was sure he would win when he took the early lead. Before him, Fritz Strobl had taken the lead. And being a wonderful glider and a big man in his own right, I really thought we might be in trouble. We worked through Defago and Hoffmann, the Swiss favorites. Then came “D” at number 16. There was no hesitation. The course report came up, “as inspected.” It came to me…”D. As inspected…no shit.” And he did the job. He came down that monster hill,  leading at the time all the way down. He did what we said and he said what he did. He went into the lead. Now it was just waiting for everyone else to do their thing. We had boys running in the back but we were waiting for the top 30 to get through. But Rahlves was .4 ahead. That meant the leaders like Hermann, Aamodt, Buechel and even Miller would need to put down their best ever. The earpiece was buzzing. Everyone was giving splits. We couldn’t even hear Jenny in the finish area with the official times because everyone was talking. It was a reminder, we werent’t done. John-O jumped on and said “hey, we got a race to finish! Pay attention!”

 With that, Marco came out of 44 to 16. Mac from 41 to the low 20s.

 We were on! Daron won one of the big ones! He had already won the Hahnenkamm in 2003. But really, no one expected him to do this on the Lauberhorn, ever. He was too small or not a great glider. Whatever… he won. He won , he won… he won!

 There are times where you really get to let it sink in and see the awards and all that. This was not one of them. I got to see the short, finish area version of the awards, that was when I cried a little, but then it was back to work. I had to set first run of the men’s slalom the next day, which shares a finish area with the DH. It was a fantastic day, all the way around. When I was done setting , with some help from Forest Carey, we sat at the restaurant at the top of the slalom hill (Allmend) and enjoyed the sun going down before skiing back to the hotel. Wengen is one of the most wonderful places on earth.

 Congrats to INNER! And his service guy, Ales Kalamar. And you all need to know that Innerhofer is working through a sore back that takes injections…the guy is tough, real tough.

Fantasy Ski Racer to give away $1,000 per week to USA Ski Clubs!

Hello ski fans!

 We hope your season has been going well and you’ve enjoyed watching the US ski team on the World Cup tour. Between Ted Ligety setting new GS records, Lindsey Vonn winning a clean sweep in Canada, and seeing many of the US ski team on the podium, it has already been an exciting tour this year. We hope that it will continue and that we can share it with you. In order to better share the action of the tour we are excited to announce a partnership with Fantasy Ski Racer that includes a $8,000 giveaway exclusively for USSA members and their local ski clubs!

 Fantasy Ski Racer (FSR) is a website that US ski team member Steven Nyman developed as a way for fans to follow the World Cup.  FSR is a fantasy sports game designed for amateur and avid ski racing fans where you try and predict the top 10 athletes for each World Cup race.  You simply pick the top 10 racers in their correct order for each World Cup race.  The more accurate your picks, the higher the score for that race.  Simple!  It is a fun, interactive way for ski fans to predict winners on the World Cup tour and that is where you come in.  

 On FSR, every ski team in America has their own club and starting on Jan12th, 2013 with the Men’s GS in Aldeboden and Women’s downhill in St. Anton each USSA member will have a chance to participate in a weekly giveaway of $1,000.

To start you will need to make a profile on www.fantasyskiracer.com and your USSA ID#.  Anybody can make a profile and participate in USSA/FSR giveaway but only players with a USSA ID# in their profile will qualify to win prize money.  (You can make a profile and add your USSA ID# later if needed).

 Every ski club in America will be competing against each other.  The winner of each weekly contest will be determined by the club who has the member with the single highest score that week.  So the more racers from your club that sign up the greater your chances to win.  Do you want some new gates?  To have your next hotel or travel expenses paid for?  Then start spreading the word and sign up as many people as you can.  

 Current standings for the giveaway will be posted on the FSR blog and the winning club for each week will receive Spyder / USSA T-shirts and other swag for all its members.  But that’s not all!  A Grand Prize will be awarded to the USSA member with the single highest score during the entire contest.  The Grand Prize winner will receive a VIP trip to next years Birds of Prey World Cup race.  Airfare and lodging included.  

 Fantasy Ski Racer has also partnered with Universal Sports who has provided a highlight page of all the winning runs, crashes, and interviews of the season. If you’ve had trouble finding a way to watch the tour this is a great way to view the winning runs immediately after the races. So, get your club members to signup at www.fantasyskiracer.com, Have them create a profile, do their research, and become the next FSR winner!  We hope to see your club win!