US course for 2015 worlds gets good debut reviews
No Vonn on new course, may return in Lake Louise
BEAVER CREEK, Nov 27, (Agencies): Women’s World Cup ski stars gave good reviews Tuesday to the course for speed events at the 2015 World Championships after a practice session that provided the venue’s first full-length test.
“This is a cool downhill, a real downhill with something for everybody, flats and a very steep middle section, a worthy World Championships course,” said Swiss Lara Gut, who had Tuesday’s fastest downhill time at 1min 43.42secs.
The new Raptor downhill course practice run opened a week of events at Beaver Creek that will include three Alpine World Cup races, a downhill on Friday, Super-G on Saturday and giant slalom on Sunday.
“It’s a really nice slope to ski,” Gut said. “That’s what we racers want to enjoy. It’s a lot of fun.”
Austrian Anna Pfenninger was second in the debut session in 1:43.90.
“To ski all those curves perfectly the first time down this course is just an impossible task,” she said. “All is new. You first have to get your marks on this one.
“There
is so much
terrain, big rollers, that at certain times you can’t even see the next gate. There is so much to process all along the course. This is a really worthy course for the world championships.”
Slovenia’s Tina Maze was happy after coming 14th in 1:44.83.
“The course is really challenging and I encountered a few problems on the way,” she said. “I was really surprised by the speed we get here on this new slope, so, basically I pushed and braked as soon as the speed was too high from top to bottom. I will definitely need some more training.”
Until Tuesday, the only World Cup competitors who had tested on even a portion of the slope had been Americans.
“It kind of has everything,” said US veteran Julia Mancuso. “It’s fast and quick, a lot of the switches are quick and there are a lot of technical turns and intimidating sections. It’s pretty awesome.”
Leanne Smith led the US contingent at 17th overall Tuesday in 1:45.06 with Stacey Cook 21st in 1:45.14.
“It’s really hard. It’s relentless. It just keeps coming at you,” Cook said. “Normally you will have a hard section and then you will get a little break to recuperate and this one is challenging for the brain because you just have to keep thinking the entire way down.
“There are a lot of technical elements that we have never faced this early in the season. Such big compression turns and traverses are something that you ease into throughout the year. It’s just very challenging for a November race for us.”
Also: BEAVER CREAK, Colorado:
US women’s Hoedlmoser Lindsey Vonn’s head coach Alex remains hopeful that
ailing right knee will be ready for a return in Lake Louise, Alberta.
The new Beaver Creek downhill course that features a gliding section near the start for a skier to drop into a tuck and build speed would have been ideal for Vonn.
There are technical turns in the middle, followed by a steep part — maybe the steepest on the World Cup circuit — and then a giant jump at the finish.
The four-time overall World Cup champion was supposed to make her return this week from a serious right knee injury she sustained in a crash last February. But after hurting her knee again in a training mishap last week, Vonn will sit out to rest and recover because everything she does is with an eye toward the Sochi Games, which are less than three months away.
No Vonn now, but there is a chance she could be in the starting gate on Dec 6 in Lake Louise, a venue that’s treated her so well that it’s playfully dubbed “Lake Lindsey.”
“It’s all going to be determined on how her knee feels,” Hoedlmoser said in an interview with The Associated Press. “It’s up to her. She’s the only one who knows how her knee feels.”
Hoedlmoser was there the day of Vonn’s crash at the speed center in Copper Mountain last Tuesday, when she tumbled going from sunshine into the shade on a tricky part of the hill.