WC World Championship at Beaver Creek

[jbotti]

Here are television times for the events. For those that enjoy watching, set your DVR's.

Competition and broadcast schedule (all times Eastern Standard)
Mon. Feb. 2 – Opening Ceremony
Tue. Feb. 3 – Women’s super G, 12:55-2:30 p.m. NBCSN
Wed. Feb. 4 – Men’s super G, 12:55-2:30 p.m. NBCSN
Fri. Feb. 6 – Women’s downhill, 12:55-2:30 p.m. NBCSN
Sat. Feb. 7 – Men’s downhill, 2:30-4:00 p.m. NBC
Sun. Feb. 8 – Men’s combined downhill, 11:55 a.m.-2:00 p.m. Universal Sports
Sun. Feb. 8 – Men’s combined slalom, 4:30-6:00 p.m. NBC
Mon. Feb. 9 – Women’s combined downhill, 11:55 a.m.-2:00 p.m. Universal Sports
Mon. Feb. 9 – Women’s combined slalom, 4:0-5:00 p.m. NBCSN
Tue. Feb. 10 – Nations Team Event, 2:15-4:00 p.m. Universal Sports
Thu. Feb. 12 – Women’s giant slalom first run,11:55 a.m.-2:00 p.m., Universal Sports
Thu. Feb. 12 – Women’s giant slalom second run, 4:00-5:00 p.m. NBCSN
Fri. Feb. 13 – Men’s giant slalom first run,11:55 a.m.-2:00 p.m., Universal Sports
Fri. Feb. 13 – Men’s giant slalom second run, 4:00-5:00 p.m. NBCSN
Sat. Feb. 14 – Women’s slalom first run,11:55 a.m.-2:00 p.m., Universal Sports
Sat. Feb. 14 – Women’s slalom second run, 4:30-6:00 p.m. NBC
Sun. Feb. 15 – Men’s slalom first run,11:55 a.m.-2:00 p.m., Universal Sports
Sun. Feb. 15 – Men’s slalom second run, 4:30-6:00 p.m. NBC
Sun. Feb. 15 – World Championships Recap, 11:30 p.m.-12:30 a.m. NBCSN
Live post-race show every day on Universal Sports Network, 30 minutes after conclusion of race.
Release courtesy of USSA

[kirtland]

Thanks! I appreciate you posting that.

[h.harb]

Thanks John

[jbotti]

2 Things are painfully obvious from watching the first few races. First, the US coverage is just pitiful. Dan Hicks is completely clueless when it comes to ski racing. Even though Christin Cooper is quite good, Hicks just makes ugly mistake after mistake. As well, they leave the race for commercials and don't show skiers who have moved up to a podium position at that point in the race. Pitiful!!

The other thing that is very obvious is just how hard it is to win on home soil. The Austrians struggled mightily 2 years ago when Ted made their entire team his bitch. Was Ted that good? Probably not but every Austrian was dying to win on home soil and this does not produce great results. You are seeing the same thing so far with the US skiers.

Maze and Fenninger skied great in the women's downhill. Amazingly Maze was even cleaner (and certainly faster) in the most technical sections. She deserved the Gold.

[h.harb]

As usual here is a slightly different persecutive. Ted is not skiing like he did last year or 2 years ago, or everyone else has caught up and passed him. This isn't just for these Championships, it's been the case all season.

The Speed teams, the men's team without Bode and Darren, isn't and has never been consistent on the world cup. How can you win at Val Gardena and not make the top 10 at Beaver Creek. I don't have the answer.

The women's speed team except for Lindsey is a technical mess, (no comparison to Maze, Gut or Fenninger) and Vonn is not up to a total recovery on the knee yet. She favors the knee and this can be seen by the leaning away from that right ski on her left turns. The right footer coming off the steep is the most important turn on the course and she loses the race there.

We have a few aging super stars, but no technical base or depth from the rest of the team, it's blatantly obvious.

[jbotti]

I should correct one of my statements. Fenninger was cleaner in the technical section up top (and actually all the way through the race). Maze was however faster through it (technical turns up top). Amazingly in the gliding section lower Maze lost time to Fenninger but it looks like poorer line.

[h.harb]

Well now, I watched the women's downhill last night. I have to confirm even more after actually seeing it, what I wrote in the earlier post. The US women's speed team is a leaning and rotating machine; even Lindsey, on both turns. My earlier post was based on what I saw in the S-G and this season.

The top 4 women in the race skied the upper part of that course amazingly well, that was a highly technical section and as tough as anything I've seen on the ladies downhill circuit. The only thing missing, as K. Cooper said, is one or two more jumps or air time. Arcing those turns and connecting the RTE, on that surface is stupid difficult.

The lesser quality skiers really are shown up on this course. Rotating and leaning go together, first comes leaning then you have to rotate or the ski goes straight. After that it's a shit show. I'm not saying it's easy; you really have to commit to counter B and CA and set the hip, or you can't get the lower body engaged. If you extend out of the arc and rotate, or even slightly delay engagement, (like if you can't release, you have to twist or pivot the skis) because you didn't get the ski bent into an arc the previous turn, you are done.

The litany of wrong decisions by the US Ski Team is incredible, and the idea of bringing racers at a young age into speed because they can't compete in the technical events, has always and will always remain a failed strategy. Skiers who need to skid in GS should not be racing downhill at this level, it's just an inevitable ride in the ambulance or worst in a helicopter.

USSA please, teach or coach these girls how to ski. You can be slow, two ways in downhill, one is by having your technique too good, holding and finishing your turns too well. Or the other way, you can be slow and dangerous, by leaning and rotating and bouncing your way through the technical sections. I'd coach my team to be slow first with over technique, and then from there gain the confidence to go faster as you get the skis to work. That is how most technical skiers learn downhill when they first convert from slalom and GS.

[h.harb]

Congratulations the guys on the Downhill team finally fulfilled their potential. Really great skiing and line by the US downhillers.

[geoffda]

Great work by Ganong and Nyman was a classy teammate both before and after Travis bumped him out of the medals.

The women's course is amazing. I saw it in person a few weeks ago and it is really impressive. I love the way it goes from the hard right footer under the lift to the fall away left footer and back on to the 40 degree pitch. Having seen that thing up close, I can tell you that anybody who wins on that course is a worthy champion. Props to the Tinas for nailing the technical sections and skiing the course like it should be skied!

[jbotti]

It seems like the Women's course is tougher than the men's. They do say that the Men's SG is the hardest of any in the world (and it is essentially the same terrain as the downhill) but that Raptor DH is one tough track.

[jbotti]

Congratulations the guys on the Downhill team finally fulfilled their potential. Really great skiing and line by the US downhillers.

Clearly not a coincidence that this past off season they switched their training focus from working on gliding to working on GS.

[h.harb]

I'm sure everyone has noticed my bias toward the technical speed skier, one that can create good turns and good angles. Over the years it doesn't take scientific research to come to the conclusion that the best downhilllers in history had a strong and ongoing relationship with technical skiing.

Kammer, Nenning, Killy, Schranz, Girardelli, Maier, to name a few that had podiumed in Sl or GS. In the women, Preoll, Gut, Fenninger, Vonn.

Why does this constantly have to be such a revelation in US Ski Team Training?

[jbotti]

Watching a bunch of gliders that can't turn is just ugly. We have gotten used to this with our speed team. Glad the men may be turning the corner. Other than Vonn the woman look lost (not that Vonn doesn't have her issues after the injury). Other than the triple podium at Lake Louise (a pure gliders course with almost nothing technical) times have been pretty lean.

[h.harb]

Yup!

[jbotti]

I was just looking at the times for the Women's downhill portion of the combined today. Vonn is again not in the top 3 finishing seventh. They have video of the run up on the skiracing.com site and she again skied this course poorly and struggled in the technical sections up top. She may still be able to win races on less technical courses but at least in Beaver Creek at these championships she does not look anything like the Vonn of old. When you can't fully weight and trust the outside leg and ski, its real tough to arc clean turns (especially at 60mph) and she does not look like she trusts that leg.

The three skiers that skied clean earlier in the week are 1,2 and 3 again (Maze, Gut and Fenninger). More proof that you either nail the technical sections in this course or you are not near the lead.