Disappearing Development

Julia Ford won the Nor-Am DH title.

UPDATE: The original caption for the lead photo stated that Julia Ford had made the US Ski Team in addition to winning the Nor-Am DH title.  In fact, she just missed making criteria, so we won't know for sure until the nominations come out in May.  It's also worth mentioning that a couple skiers are very close to criteria, and depending on what happens with adders and expiring scores with other athletes across the world, they may sneak in and make the criteria based on the May list, which is the list the nominations are made from.

 Lots of great stuff has happened since the last post (almost a month ago... oops).  There was that time that Ford Swette scored a 13 and a 12.  There was that time that Mikaela Shiffrin repeated as US National Slalom champion.  There was that one guy who tore his ACL on the new 35m skis, reported by Ski Racing.  Then there was the ensuing commentary below on that story that pointed in that a few others skiers have already fallen victim to the new skis as well.  3 or 4 skiers doesn't exactly constitute a major crisis, but the nature of the rules and of these injuries does ensure that we'll all be watching carefully over the Summer.  Of course, this all happened AFTER Ted figured out that he's maybe actually faster on the 35m skis than on his old stuff.  Man, this is getting pretty complicated.

And now, it seems, there's no more women's D-Team.  You read that right.  The US Women's Development Team is no longer a thing.  Instead, word is that they've opted to move a few of the best skiers from the D-Team up to the C-Team (most of whom were already on the C-Team, for all intents and purposes), along with the D-Team coaches, and it appears that USSA is leaving it to ski clubs across the country to figure out the rest.

So, women in ski racing, good luck realizing your dreams of making the US Ski Team and trying to ski World Cup.  It's been difficult to get your foot in the door in the last year or two, what with the political roulette and abundant use of Discretion.  Now the door has closed even tighter.  You now have to have under 20 points in SL or GS, PLUS either a Nor-Am title or sub-12 points in the other event (or 22 DH points or 15 SG points) to make the US Ski Team at the lowest level.

The US Ski Team's "Best in the World" slogan has now become a delightfully self-fulfilled prophecy.  To make the Ski Team, you have to already be one of the best in the world.  Nice how that works out, isn't it?  Essentially, if you take a PG year and aren't skiing around 12 points by the end of the year, you're not going to make the US Ski Team.  More athletes will probably take PG years because of the age change (college coaches only have 1 year of FIS skiing to look at to evaluate recruits), but to meet this sort of criteria they'll have to take multiple PG years (like probably 3 or 4).  This is impossible for most people, and since USSA has never looked favorably on college skiing as a means of development, what does the future hold for the US Women's Ski Team?

Right now, the following skiers qualify for the US Ski Team based on published criteria:

Lindsey Vonn
Julia Mancuso
Mikaela Shiffrin
Leanne Smith
Laurenne Ross
Stacey Cook
Alice McKennis
Resi Stiegler

And I believe that's it.  Will there be more than 8 skiers on the Team?  Probably.  How will they qualify for the Team?  It's really anyone's guess.  The blanket of Discretion is big, soundproof, and doesn't let very much light through.  In any case, there has been no information about any sort of women's tryout camp disseminated to coaches or athletes outside the Ski Team, so that integral part of the the equation, important enough to be used for men's C- and D-Team selections this year, appears to have gone by the wayside.

This is disappointing on a number of levels.  First of all, it's disappointing that this is the caliber of development system that USSA feels it owes female skiers in this country.  The youngest person to qualify for the Women's Team was born in 1989, aside from Mikaela Shiffrin, who is a '95.  If you take Mikaela out of the equation (because she's a special case.  Stop denying it), the youngest skier to make criteria is 23-years old.  Given the huge percentage of athlete turnover at the D-Team level in the last two years, this does not speak well of the development system we've been given by USSA.  The response of the US Ski Team?  Cut ties with your development program altogether.  Don't believe it?  Check the status of the NDS in a couple of months.  Word is that it's already all but gone, with regions already wondering, "Who's going to pay for this?"

It's also disappointing that the nomination system has regressed from a clear set of objective standards to a game of politics and discretionary picks.  On first glance, a read through USSA's nomination criteria seems straightforward.  Different standards for different ages.  Seems to make sense.  Except that, starting at the B-Team level and moving down, there's that little bullet that says "Coaches' Discretion."  Get down to the D-Team list and you'll notice that, in addition to Discretion, your nomination only counts towards a selection camp, at which point you are sized up on ability (a subjective measure) and not points/rankings (an objective measure).  It's a fine line.  After all, without Discretion, we might not have a D-Team for either gender.

So, issues with ageism aside, the objective criteria set forth by USSA are rendered almost meaningless as politics and favor take over.  The Criteria guidelines explain that part of Coaches' Discretion is an assessment of "Attitude and Commitment."  This says it all.  If they don't like your attitude, or they judge your "commitment" (in quotes because, really, what does that even mean?) to be sub-par, then they don't have to take you.  This kind of interpersonal assessment and judgement is unacceptable, especially for young skiers who are developing not only as athletes, but as human beings too.  Want to develop an athlete's attitude?  Want to help them learn to be more committed?  Coach them well.  Don't kick them out.

Didn't we go to objective criteria specifically to get away from stuff like this?

If this were pro sports, this would all be fine.  If the New York Yankees don't like your attitude, then you're fired.  Should've had a better attitude.  They're a private business, so they can do that.  But it's not pro sports.  Quite the opposite, in fact.  This is a system that we all pay into at length, and though some skiers are paid with endorsement deals from individual companies, USSA itself is an amateur sporting organization, and as such should be obligated to us, the paying members, to provide equal opportunity for advancement based on a set of objective criteria.  They are not free to hire and fire athletes as they see fit, but it sure seems like that's what's going on.

Incidentally, cutting out the women's D-Team may put USSA in violation of the Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act.  Specifically, Section 220524, Subsection 6, which states that one of the duties of a national governing body is to:

(6) provide equitable support and encouragement for participation by women where
separate programs for male and female athletes are conducted on a national basis;

Seems pretty straightforward.  Binding arbitration, anyone?


--Lead photo of Julia Ford borrowed from Zimbio.com


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On the Bubble 2012: A Bunch Of Numbers

Tim Kelley shreds Slalom.  Photo by UVM athletics, snagged from Burlington Free Press.

Late March is an interesting time of year for ski racers.  Skiers who have already met their goals and had some good scores start wanting even more.  Those who have done neither are starting to think about doing the Desperation Tour in Scandanavia, just trying to maintain start position for next season.

Depending on what your FIS point goals are, there may only be a couple of races left for you.  If you're looking for scores in the 30's or higher, you've got some opportunities left.  If your goals are below 20, you're probably feeling the pinch more acutely than most.  You've got Nor-Am Finals, US Nationals, Canadian Nationals, and that's about it.  Can the penalty at Mission Ridge be 9?  Yes, but that usually means it's a blowout, so the winner scores but nobody else does.

There are always a bunch of people who are close at this time of year, they're just looking for that one race to put them over the top.  Here's a rundown of sorts, although the list is surely incomplete.

Tim Kelley is close.  Because he's an ancient old man (26-years old) he has to make the B-Team.  That means he has to have 6.00 points or less in one event to make criteria.  He's demonstrated lately that his sublime lurpy skiing style is right on form, but unfortunately it will be impossible for him to make criteria at this point.  There is only one Nor-Am SL left, which means only one opportunity to score a 6.  There is a National Championship SL, but the minimum penalty there is 8.  So if Tim wins a Nor-Am SL and scores a 6, then wins US Nationals and scores an 8, he'll still be praying to the Gods of Discretion.  Might be kind of a nice feeling, though, don't you think?  Maybe it's a relief to know that you have no shot at criteria.  In Tim's position, all he can do is go to the big races (not always easy since he's in college) and ski his best.  After all, discretionary spots seem to be as much about technical ability as they are about point profile.

One man who should certainly be back on his nation's ski team is Trevor Philp, if he so chooses.  Trevor chose to leave the Canadian Ski Team at the end of last year, bound for greener pastures at the University of Denver.  So it must have been quite a surprise for everyone (this really should have gone in the previous post...) when he started getting on the podium in Nor-Ams this season.  First he scored a 13.  Then a 7.  Then a 9.  Then he won the weirdest race ever and scored a 6.  Now what?  Oh, right, now he's the second placed North American in the Nor-Am SL standings.  Can you say "World Cup spot"?  Take a look at the man's FIS profile.  16 of his best 20 scores have come this season, his freshman year and his first year off the Ski Team.  Aside from first year J2's, there aren't a lot of people who have ever achieved that kind of single-season scoring percentage.

Some other skiers to watch as the end-of-season unfolds:

1. Abby Ghent.  Technically not on the bubble at the moment.  With a 99th world rank in SG, and top-200's in DH and GS, she's qualified for the C-Team on criteria.  She needs one top-100, and one top-200 though, so depending on how much things change with the next point lists, she could be in danger of losing that top-100 SG.  She does have the opportunity to lower her SG points even more, so let's hope she can stay on the good side of the razor's edge.
2. Nick Cohee.  Has a 10 and a 15 in SL.  On form lately, so if he can match the 10, he'd have 15 GS points and 10 SL points.  That doesn't meet criteria (he's an '88), but it would be pretty tough to justify not having him on the team.
3. Rob Cone.  Was .01 seconds from making C-Team criteria at World Juniors.  If he can score a low 20 or better in GS, he should qualify for the C-Team.  At the ripe old age of 20, that's where he needs to be.
4. Julia Ford.  Julia is winning the Nor-Am DH title at the moment.  Assuming the cancelled races from Le Massif mark the true end of the Nor-Am season, that means she has a World Cup spot for next year.  However, that doesn't guarantee her a spot on the National Team, as Chris Frank, Charles Christianson, and Warner Nickerson will attest.  If she can find a 10-point SG penalty somewhere between now and May, she has the opportunity to get the top-60 SG rank she'll need to make C-Team criteria.  Look for her to swing hard at US Nationals, especially if Vonn shows up.
5. Ronnie Berlack.  As a '94, he's half way to D-Team criteria with 35 SG points.  If he can match his best GS score (a 35), he'll make D-Team criteria outright. 
6. Bronson Wright.  Needs a top-220 world rank in SG, he's currently ranked 233rd.  A good SG score could put him over the top.  He also needs two mid-20's GS scores to get his 3-event average down, but it's possible.
7. Paula Moltzan.  Paula's best chance should be in Slalom.  If she can score in the mid-teens, she'll make D-Team criteria.
8. Matt Strand.  Matt is a '93 with 14 Slalom points.  That means he's halfway to meeting criteria for the C-Team or the D-Team.  With SL points like that, the real question is what squad he'll end up with on discretion if he can't get his GS points down by the end of the year.
9. Kieffer Christianson.  It will be interesting to see what happens with Kieffer.  His point profile is more well-rounded than most, but he doesn't yet have world rankings that put him inline with Ski Team criteria.  If he lowers both his GS and SL points by 4, he should make C-Team criteria.
10. Jared Goldberg.  Jared is ranked 116 in SG.  If he can drop his points by 1.5 in that event, he makes the C-Team.
11. Bobby Farrell.  Currently has 18 SL points and 22 GS points.  If he can get those down to 13 and 21 respectively, he makes the C-Team.

And a side note about  Canada's UVM's  Elli Terwiel, who just snagged herself a World Cup spot by winning the women's Nor-Am SL title.  She did not win any Nor-Ams this year, but she was only out of the top-10 once in SL.  Good skiing gets results.  Surprise!


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SURPRISE!

Erin Mielzynski, right after she surprised everyone.  This photo is from her blog, which has been amazing lately.

Here's a list of things that have happened semi-recently that have been pretty surprising to me:

1. That time Bryce Bennett won a Nor-Am and scored a 6 in Super-G.  He didn't even win by that much, I guess it just works out sometimes.  He'd been coming on pretty strong in SG this year, scoring in the 20's and then the teens.  But a 6?  Damn, that's low.  He followed it up with a 14 the next day.
2. That time that the women's Ski Team coaches apparently forgot to take any responsibility for the fact that their ringer had some trouble in the Slalom at World Junior's.  Here's a tip: When your team implodes at the big race, don't just blame the 16-year old athletes.  Show a little team spirit, at least in the press, and take some of the blame yourself.  Or not.  "Once you got off the steep, in the middle of the course you go go for it, but you had to be ready to shift gears in the middle. With Mikaela, we gave her everything in the course report, but she didn't shift gears.”  Hmm, yeah, not really what we had in mind.  For the record, here's roughly how it's done:
   
3. That time that Robby Kelley was all indignant that we were giving him a hard time in the Results sidebar (which hasn't been updated in months).  Apparently he found the very mention of advantageous visibility at Panorama insulting, which tells me he didn't read the next item down on the list, which clearly indicates that, regardless of the visibility, if you were a guy, not named Robby Kelley, racing GS at the Pano Nor-Ams this year, you got a beating.  Sorry, everyone, we do try to avoid these sorts of misunderstandings.
4. That time that Head Sport GmbH got pretty peeved about the spy photos of their new boot, which supposedly isn't due out now until 2014.  They spent €1 million developing the boot.  Factory testers are liable to the tune of $50,000 if they "lose" the boots while testing (read: "if they hand the boots off to Atomic").  This is, apparently, top secret stuff.  A clear plastic bag would have obscured the boots enough to make the photos meaningless, to say nothing of a proper boot bag, or (gasp) a cardboard box.  Maybe a paper bag?  Just spitballing here.  Then they wouldn't have had to ask a photographer friend to analyze the origin of the photo (it was a cell phone) to try and ascertain exactly where it came from (it was someone with a cell phone).  The man in charge of the Head boot project also designed the old Tecnica and the old Nordica, among others.  He was also one of the only non-Atomic people to allegedly see the orange plastic inside Marcel Hirscher's "Atomic" boots when Hirscher broke his ankle (apparently Krylon doesn't take well to the interior of a Tecnica shell).  He probably should have known better, but we all make mistakes.
   
   
5. The first time I saw parents at the start.  My how things seem to have changed over the years.
6. That time when Resi Stiegler started 35th and ended up 2nd in a Slalom World Cup.  That was the same race that Erin Mielzynski started 24th and, um, well... she freaking won.  For both of them, it was their best World Cup finish ever.  Resi has been on a long road to recovery and hadn't seen the top-5 in 5 years.  Mielzynski had never even been in the top-10 before.  Also, it was only her 9th World Cup start ever.  Marie-Michelle Gagnon was 3rd, her best World Cup finish ever.  That was amazing.
   
   
7. The men's Nor-Am at Stowe a couple days ago.  What in God's name was going on?
8. That time that the Swedish women went 1-2-3-4 and 10 on the second run in the Slalom at Are.  The winner of that run, Nathalie Eklund, started 51.  If they start to put it together 2 runs in a row, we're screwed.

Photo of Erin Mielzynski from her blog, which is a must-read these days
Photo of Hirscher from sportvicious.com
Photo of Resi borrowed from theskichannel.com


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It's March. Are You Still Racing?

Ayrton Senna was one of the most talented race car drivers of all time.  He was insanely aggressive, often to his own detriment, as well as to that of his competitors.  He once famously tested the laws of quantum physics in the first turn at a world championship race, trying to fit 2 cars into the space of one, with the result that he quickly and completely eliminated himself (the favorite) and Alain Prost (the other favorite) from the race about 3 seconds after the start.  Neither of the drivers would give way to the other, and as a result they ripped each others wheels off.

Senna also once made a point that should resonate with anyone who competes.  When asked by Jackie Stewart, in the least comprehensible way possible, to explain the frequent contact between Senna's own race car and the others on the track, his response was simple, if a little indignant.  Addressing his interviewer directly by last name, he answered:

"If you no longer go for the gap that exists, you are no longer a racing driver."

So as we approach the final competition phase for the season, ask yourself whether or not you're still racing.  Are you still in the game, or are you simply at the game?  Some of you have made the ski team you wanted to make, others haven't.  Some have scored the points they wanted to and achieved the results they were looking for, and others have not.  But that doesn't matter.  What matters is what happens when you show up at the race.  Are you still racing?

Whether you've won or lost so far this year is largely irrelevant.  What you are doing now is still the only thing that matters as to whether or not you have a successful season.  Remember: "If you no longer go for the gaps..."

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Outdated News, Part 3: Franz Klammer Does Some Things Quite Well, But Nobody's Perfect

Franz Klammer is one of the best skiers of all time.  Everybody knows that.  His career was lengthy, starting with a win at Schladming in 1973, a final victory at the Hahnenkamm in 1984, with a gold medal in Innsbruck in 1974 and 23 World Cup victories in between.  So, in the interest of history and posterity, here's Franz doing his thing in 1984:



It really goes to show you just how much things have changed.  Really, it doesn't get a whole lot more dangerous than what you see there, so it does make you wonder how we got to the place we are now, covered in B-net and yet still getting dinged left and right.  Perhaps Franz is skiing the course as it is, and too many of us ski the course we wish we had (or think we deserve)?  How often have you been to a race and watched skier after skier blow out in the same gate, even after they've gotten the course report?  Skiing the course you wish you had, where you can hit every apex at full throttle and lay it over as hard as you want, is often different than skiing the course as it actually is.  The correct line is not always the one we've dreamed about and idealized in our mind before the run.  Not casting blame about, just a thought that I know a few of us could stand to consider.

Back to Klammer.  Winning gnarly Downhills is something he does well.  Something he doesn't do very well is to help FIS shed their image as a male-dominated and sexist organization.  Witness the promotional poster for the Bad Kleinkirchheim Women's World Cup, in which the race organizers, Klammer, and FIS by extension made themselves out to be a bunch of chauvinist idiots:

This is a poster for a women's World Cup sporting event? I mean we're really just one or two garments removed from Logjammin' here. The sexual overtones of the poster are obvious: two women in tight clothes fawning over and stroking the big man in the suit. Is this what we've come to in women's athletics? "Hot young broads in tight clothes! Everywhere!"

For all of our sake, I hope we're better than this. Pro sports is already a male-dominated enterprise, from the playing field to the coaches to the front office.  This was an opportunity to reverse that paradigm, but instead it got flipped back around so that Klammer, Hujara, and Hungus remain on top.  Is this really the best we can do?  For a frame of reference, here's the poster from the men's race that same weekend:

Not even a hint of menage-a-trois! It took me about 5 seconds to find this photo of Bad Klein's analogous hometown girl:

But no, we'll take Janka's kissy face and Klammer's giant wang salad fingers (seriously, look at his hands in that picture) over Viktoria Rebensburg eating everybody's face.  I mean yeah, she's wearing the leader's bib, but it's the women's leader's bib so I guess it doesn't really count.

It should surprise no one that this same cabal of dimwits didn't include any women in their injury "study."  We're better than this.  We have to be.  Please?


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Outdated News, Part 1: Conrad Pridy

As a few of you have pointed out in grouchy emails, there hasn't been a lot of blogging in my life lately.  Life gets in the way, I suppose.  It makes me grouchy too, so please know that you are not alone.  Now then, enough crying, let's get down to business (again).  We'll be posting some long overdue "news" under the banner of "Outdated Information."

Outdated Information 1: Conrad Pridy Tastes The Challenge of the World Cup

Conrad Pridy came basically out of nowhere and raced a few World Cup DH races.  Alright, "nowhere" might be a little pejorative for the B.C. Provincial Team (sorry Dykster) but really, did anyone see this coming?  As a non-Canadian, and therefore an ultra-outsider into the strange world that is their National Team (WTF is with the mustaches you guys?), I was shocked to see his name on the startlist at Wengen.  Pridy went from barely inside the top-20 at the Panorama Nor-Ams in December (he finished 17th one day. Yehaw) to racing two of the biggest Downhills on the World Cup circuit: Wengen, and Kizbuehel.  Wengen went sort of alright.  He was 11 seconds out on the first training run, but by race day he was only 6 seconds out, and he only moved back one spot.  Kitzbuehel went less good during training, as you can plainly see above, but he lived through it all to finish just over 3 seconds out on race day.

The snow tastes a little better in Germany, apparently, because one week later in Garmisch he actually moved up 25 spots and finished in 25th place (World Cup points!), right behind Mr. Beat "You're Saying It Wrong" Feuz, and just 1.16 seconds out of perennial ass-kicker Didier "Ich fahre diese Scheisse" Cuche (that track was shortened nearly in half on race day, but it's impressive nonetheless).

6-seconds out, 3-seconds out, 1.1-seconds out, scoring in the 20's and then the teens.  A late surge to take second place in the Nor-Am DH standings by 20 points (World Cup spot!).  That, ladies and gentleman, is how it's done.

PS - In case you missed it, the top-3 finishers at the US National Championships DH were Canadian.  Oops.


Photo from Mitch Gunn/Action Plus Sports Images, without permission (double oops?).  Find the original here.

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Charles Christianson Is Racing On The World Cup Tomorrow. Support Him On Facebook Today.

Tomorrow, Kieffer Charles Christianson gets another crack at the World Cup.  He posted an update on Facebook the other day in which he made the announcement (and carelessly misspelled the word "booking") and it got a lot of attention.  He was 31st in his second start, just .18 away from World Cup points.  He has never been on the National Team, he has no coach, and he arranges all of his training and travel himself.  The man has been on a quest, and tomorrow he has the opportunity to fulfill that quest.

Is there another path to the top?  We may find out tomorrow.  Take a minute now and get on Facebook and let him know that you're pulling for him (assuming everyone can see his original post, which may not actually be possible, in which case let's all just friend request him at once so he knows we're on his side).  We're all on the same team, but this is one teammate we'd all love to see in the flip in Bansko.

Also, huge props to Travis Moonan, who travelled to Bulgaria, unannounced, to meet up with Charles and watch the race.  That is some serious loyalty.

As they say in Bulgarian: "отидете!"


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How To Get a Good Warm-Up

Canadian men's World Cup physio Matt Price posted this video on Twitter a few days ago, detailing what he considers to be an adequate warm-up. These are things to do not just before you lift or workout, but also before you go race. Most of us warm up before a workout, but most of us do not warm up (other than a few free runs) before a race. If that seems paradoxical to you (Hint: it should), then here's how to fix it. This is part of the Proper Preparation that Prevents Poor Performance, plus, like yoga, you'll probably be surprised at how good it makes you feel.

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Olsson On Top: Brother Hans Makes a Good Point

The other day, after racer-turned-freeskier-turned-freeracer Jon Olsson won a GS down in New Zealand and scored a 13, his brother, Hans, congratulated him via the Internet.  In that message, he makes a great distinction:

"[Jon] doesn't show me/us how it's done, he keeps showing us how it ALSO can be done!"

There is more than one way.  Jon Olsson is living proof. 

The excitement Hans felt for Jon is evident in the blog post.  The post contains 12 exclamation points, and just 9 sentences (including headlines).  Emphasis!  Hans Olsson has it!!!1


The photo was copied right from Hans' great blog.

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Roland Pfeifer Is a Man with a Plan

When we first read this article about newly hired women's tech coach Roland Pfeifer, somebody made a fart noise and then we moved on.  On the surface it's a boilerplate profile of someone 90% of us will never even lay eyes on.  Inner monologue:  "Blah blah...Austrian...blah...looking forward to a great year...blah blah blah...Shiffrin...Lindsey...Julia."  Not really that interesting.

But then we read it again and noticed the part where Pfeifer says, “We need to make them ski relaxed. We need to bring some fresh motivation and fun into the team... We need to convince them of what we are doing and we need to talk a lot, and train a lot.”

Whoa.  Wait a minute.

Didn't you think it was sort of extreme when he said "fun"?  I mean seriously, "We need to convince them of what we are doing."  Really, what kind of quack is this guy?  You call that a coaching methodology?  What ever happened to "Because I said so."?

And Mikaela?  Well, he had this to say:

“I’ve got this unbelievably talented and gifted Shiffrin. She is skiing like a grownup already... I’m not putting too much pressure on Mikaela because she is 16 years old, I’m not going to set any goals for results, just to qualify top-30... She shows really good skiing, I like the way she skis and I like her. I’ve never met a 16-year-old that knows so much about skiing and she loves it. ”

Um, Roland, shouldn't he be bossing someone around?  Aren't you going to get all Donald Trump on us and kick somebody off the team?  Or are you just going to be all nice and positive and Tim Lepard?  Jesus, Roland, it's like you're taking coaching cues from Phil Jackson or something.  Don't forget, just because Phil is one of the most successful coaches of all time (ever, in any sport) this isn't basketball!  This is ski racing!  Get real!  Maybe what he meant to say was, "This is a critical year for these girls and they really need to live up to the expectations we put on them and show us that they're worth our continued time and investment.  We'll see if Shiffrin can live up to the hype, but at 16 she's already a little behind the development curve."  Maybe the new hires haven't had a chance to get through the media training yet?

Alright, well that's our sarcasm quotient for the day (no, actually that's probably not true), and maybe those jokes are a little unfair, but, well... start your own blog.

For real though, it's nice to see that kind of philosophy stated outright, especially for the women's team.  There's a lot of talent on that side, and it would be great to see the continued development of athletes like Duke, McJames, Stiegler, and Shiffrin (and a resurgent Schleper, too).  It's easy to rest on your laurels when you can point to huge success stories like Vonn and Mancuso, but it's the true champion's mentality to continue to work on development, even when things are going well.  It's also nice to see someone with clear and logical standards for measuring where the athletes can be.  There's none of the sweeping cliche of "Best in the world," or "Win Olympic medals and World Cup globes."  It's clear: Schleper and Resi can make the top-10 and get on the podium, and Hailey and Megan can be consistently in the top-30.  And in Pfeifer's words, those are all things that "we" need to do (emphasis added).

This looks like a good move by USSA/USST and it would be amazing to see Pfeifer continue this tone with the women's team, and to follow through the season with it.  Does he have the necessary faith in the process?  Do his bosses have that faith?  Time will tell, but the initial signs are promising and we're really psyched to see what the future holds for women's tech.

And, in case you missed the Tim Lepard link, you owe it to yourself to watch this:






Photo of Roland Pfeifer from the VSV website.  Auf Deutsch!
Bode video from Nike.com, way back in the day.

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US Ski Team Nominations: Men's Development Team

The time has come to rip the Men's D-Team for all of their past failures and missteps.

Ha, just kidding Randy.

Too soon?

As with the women's team, the known facts of the men's team are what they are, and we'll try our best to stick to them here.  The men's Development Team has enjoyed enough success over the past few years that you really do have to give credit where credit is due.  The men's side has a spotty history when it comes to successfully advancing athletes to the B- or C-Teams in the last decade or so.  They've enjoyed considerable success in some years, but have fallen well short in other years.  At times when they've carried, say, 16 guys on the D-Team, you got the sense that they were just throwing it all against the wall to see what would stick.

These days, though, it seems to be swinging upwards in a positive way.  In the last couple of years, a number of guys have moved up to the C- and B-Teams (Cochran-Siegle, Rubie, Ankeny, Daniels, Granstrom, Gregorak, Kasper, Maple, Ford, are we missing anyone?), and in large part they've done a good job sticking with their athletes and helping them realize their potential.  Many of those who have moved up from the D-Team were on it for multiple years.  There have been a few guys along the way that many people feel should have been given another chance, but overall you can see something that looks like a development process in motion.

This year sees a healthy crop of new blood in the system.  Scott Snow made criteria outright, as did Stratton's Nick Krause.  Krause is Stratton's first male Ski Teamer since 2002 when Brad Hogan was 22-years old, and he's the proud handiwork of their program since he was at least a J3.  Bryce Bennett, though he was a fair ways from meeting criteria, brings his rather loud voice out of the NDS and onto the Ski Team courtesy of coaches Randy Pelkey and Ian Garner's discretion.

Rob Cone just missed criteria (ranked 258 in GS and 434 in SL, though at one point last season he was 265/379, which just barely sneaks him in) but nonetheless earned himself a year off of college - the first college guy to make the D-Team in a very long time (maybe ever?).  Kieffer Christianson was also sort of close to criteria and was given the go-ahead, likewise for Tanner Farrow, a product of Sun Valley and highly recommended by Tyler Palmer.  A couple years ago at Loveland during the now-infamous superdeath injection hell week, Farrow was literally the only person whose skiing looked at all worthwhile, besides Sarka Zahrobska, but we can't seem to find any video so you'll just have to take our word for it.

Brian McLaughlin of GMVS made criteria, as did his teammate Sandy Vietze (the second "e" is silent).  Two GMVS guys making the Team in one year?  That hasn't happened since, dare we say it, the Transue brothers?*  Steve Utter, if you're reading, feel free to weigh in here.**  McLaughlin surprised everyone at an Aspen Nor-Am Super-G when he moved from #79 to 20th and scored a 33, and then he sealed the deal at the end of the year with GS in Stoneham and Mission Ridge.

And lastly, Matt Strand.  Strand traveled with the team on what seemed like Double Secret Invitee status last year.  He's a bit of a rarity on the D-Team these days because his point profile is so heavily weighted to one event (Slalom, insert Buck Hill joke here), but when he's on, he's so good that you really can't turn him down.  8th place at World Juniors, anyone?  Despite his 86 Super-G points, we'd still pick him for our fantasy team.  And really, 36 GS points is pretty damn good.

Go team go.



*2 GMVS guys is one thing, but 5 Eastern guys?  It's like USSA forgot about the Western Bias Conspiracy while making their selections.
/sarcasm

**That GMVS count doesn't include their Tryout and Mt. Hood camp invitees Danny Duffy and AJ Ginnis.  That's a power team.

Sun Valley Ski Academy Goes Live

As the trend towards ski academies creeps outward from the Eastern region, many club teams are realizing that they have the means to set up an Academy-style environment by just using their local resources more effectively.  Parents and kids alike are looking for more intensive specific-sport opportunities, but, college admissions being what they are, you can't afford to have poor quality academics.  Ford Sayre Academy set the standard decades ago, when club teams first started to feel the pinch from ski academies and needed to find ways to offer more opportunity.  They offer local kids the opportunity to have a modified public school schedule in the Winter to allow for more training time.  More recently, Ski Club Vail has famously adopted a similar model, though with substantially more funding and a much more comprehensive approach to the local school/local ski club relationship.  What started as a local ski club supported by a public high school has now become something analogous to a charter school - part of the public school system, but with it's own teachers, schedule, and facilities.

Now we can add the Sun Valley Ski Academy to the list, too, as they have partnered with Sun Valley's Community School in an effort to boost participation with the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation.  The school will offer both boarding and day options, which means it can completely tailored for the local kids, while still attracting and serving athletes from other regions.  The living quarters look new, although not that different from the standard ski academy chic, and the program they propose sounds downright home-like.  From takeout nights to riding the bus to school, seems like it would be a great place to be.

Also, SVSEF is a great ski team and has had tons of great athletes come through in the last 6 years or so.

Along these lines, USSA is also now offering an academic portion to their facility in Park City.  As pointed out by Bill Marolt, "every country in Europe has gone in this direction,” and it's time USSA did too.  Details have yet to emerge about how the program will take shape exactly, but we'll probably find out more over the summer.  Will it be a tutorial program, where athletes receive help on assignments they get from their home schools?  Or will it be a full-on school system in which teachers and administrators design and implement their own curriculum?  Will it be US Ski Team only, or open to any applicant?  In the last couple of years, many people have theorized that the Ski Team doesn't want to nominate athletes that are still in school.  If that's true, it would seem unfair to put skiing and graduating from high school at odds with each other, but perhaps this USSA academy will address that issue.

USSA is also adding an on-snow facility at Copper Mountain for more reliable early season training.  Unclear how that may conflict (if it does at all) with Vail's newly revamped and injected facility, but as Luke Bodensteiner pointed out at the USSA congress when the plan was announced, “That facility will provide incredible terrain in an early season situation.  For the elite teams, it’s a massive advantage but it will be amazing for a lot of development level kids and clubs.”  Definitely true.  We've heard that something like 55% of USSA memberships come from the East, so it will be interesting to see what, if anything, happens there too.

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Insane Post-Surgery Scar Photo From @JulianLizeroux

What Lizeroux tweeted as a "small present" is actually a monster scar following surgery on his quadriceps. We can't remember which leg he injured, and we can only sort of tell which leg this is by looking at the picture. Here's wishing you all good health.

Cringe.

Photo linked to in Lizeroux's twitter feed.

And the Winners Is...

As great numbers of older athletes try to keep themselves in the mix at the upper levels, Nor-Am racing has become more and more important.  Once a way to challenge the Ski Team guys when the tour came through your home region, Nor-Ams have become a way for college and post-college athletes to gain World Cup spots, score single-digit point results, and thusly keep themselves in the running for National Team spots (although those spots are now rarely, if ever, funded, which makes them vastly less valuable than they used to be).  Unfortunately for college affiliated athletes and Canadians, this just wasn't their year.  The US dominated the top Nor-Am spots for the most part, although Marie-Pier Prefontaine (CAN) certainly made her presence felt.

So, by the power vested in FIS Continental Cup Rule 5.4.1, here are the men and women who have earned themselves World Cup starts in their given event:
 

Overall:
MEN:  Tommy Biesemeyer (USA).  The only male with over 1000 Nor-Am points.  First Canadian was last year's winner Dustin Cook, in 5th place.
WOMEN:  Kiley Staples (USA).  Won the overall by over 100 points from Julia Ford.  First Canadian was Victoria Stevens in 4th.


DH:
MEN: Wiley Maple (USA) and Kelby Halbert (CAN).  Both '90s.
WOMEN:  Julia Ford (USA) and Kylie Staples (USA).  Georgia Simmerling (CAN) missed it by 1 point.

SG:
MEN:  Ryan Cochran-Siegle (USA) and Tommy Biesemeyer (USA).  Ryan won the title by over 100 points, and Tommy was over 100 points ahead of 3rd placed Dustin Cook (CAN).  Ryan won 4 of the 6 Super-G races by about .3 or less.
WOMEN:  Julia Ford (USA) and Brooke Wales (USA).  Brooke is one of the bright spots at the end of the year for the decimated US women's D-Team.

GS:
MEN:  Will Gregorak (USA) and Tommy Ford (USA).  Gregorak won 3 of the 6 GS's and won the title by 136 points.
WOMEN:  Marie-Pier Prefontaine (CAN) and Kiley Staples (USA).  Prefontaine won the title by over 200 points, practically unheard of.  She won 5 of the 6 GS races and was 2nd in the other one.  Only 1 margin of victory was less than 1.5 seconds, most were closer to 2 seconds or more.

SL:
MEN:  Jonathan Norbotten (NOR) and Colby Granstrom (USA).  Granstrom was the only American in the top-5 in SL.  The only other North American was Ryan Semple (CAN) in 5th.  Nordbotten does not get a WC spot because he's not North American, but he does ski for UVM.
WOMEN:  Mikaela Shiffrin (USA) and Kiley Staples (USA).  In case you were in a coma, Mikaela is a first-year FIS athlete and has got to be the youngest ever to win a Continental Cup title.  She won by over 100 points.

Also, these are the dudes who will be bringing single-digit points back to their respective Carnival teams:
Gabriel Rivas (FRA, CU Boulder)
Peter Brenna (NOR, University of New Mexico)
Jonathan Nordbotten (NOR, University of Vermont)

Photo lifted from Guenther Birgmann's Facebook album.  Thanks G!

On the Bubble

With the start of March, let the springtime racing season commence! Now is the time to stop training and run what you brung. At this point in the season, you either do or do not have it.
There's always interesting scoring going on in the spring, and you have to watch FIS points like a hawk if you're trying to make a national team. One guy in particular who will be watching is Middlebury's Rob Cone. As a '92, he needs one world rank of 265 or better and another of 400 or better in order to make the D Team. He's currently sitting dead even at 265 in SL (22 FIS points) and 379 in GS (27 FIS points). As he pursues more scores, he enters the maze of adders, adjustments to the list, and the rising points of those ahead of him who are now retired and yet somehow still count according to FIS. Will the definitively retired Rainer Schoenfelder be purged from the list? He still ranks ahead of Cone. Will Svindal score somewhere, they way he surely can, and drop his points below 20? Right now he sits behind Cone.
There is simply too much stimulus and uncertainty to manage when you're on the bubble like that. The only thing you can do is march on, try to win races, and have faith that if you stick to that mission it will all work out.
Ready? Go.
http://www.fis-ski.com/uk/604/607.html?sector=AL&listid=167&lastname=&gender=M&firstname=&nation=&order=SL&fiscode=&birthyear=&Search=Search&limit=100

A Study in Contrasts: Warner Nickerson Garmisch GS Run1

Pretty entertaining run to watch.  Looks pretty bumpy out there, and even a nice effort at representing the Eastern Airforce.  Some good, some bad.  Sometimes you just need a minute more.

The suck knob just a smidge too high:

But a few seconds later, it's just right:

You can watch the entire run here at Universal Sports. Thanks to their organization and the Command+Shift+4 key sequence for the screenshots.

True Dedication

Means climbing a tree and sitting in it all day so you can shoot video with what looks like a direct-to-VHS HandyCam circa 1991.  That's Pete Korfiatis of the US Ski Team on top, and some 'schmo below him.  Looks like Pete has a nice place to hang on by his armpit.  Garmish Partenkirchen World Champs, men's DH.

Lifted straight from the original on Facebook.

Original photo with credits here.

A Fitting Tribute

Seen hanging in the brand new multi-million dollar Mt. Mansfield Ski Club building. You might think a gold-plated plaque would be a nice way to honor a champion, maybe with some nicely etched Times New Roman lettering and some sort of garland around the side. But if you know Karl Johnson, you know that a crinkly piece of pink typing paper and some Scotch tape will do the job just fine.

Congratulations, Karl.

Existential Crisis

Asked genuinely as a "have you ever..." question by a mid-pack skier today at America's oldest FIS race:
"If you look at the weather the night before and you know it's gonna be soft and the conditions are gonna be bad and the ruts are gonna be huge, and you know Nordbotten and TK and those guys are gonna be there and probably blow it out, I mean do you ever sort of wonder to yourself like, 'Whats the point?' "
So. What's the answer?

Shiffrin Sick, Others Just Scared

See the results here.  With so many DNS1's, one can only assume:
World Junior Champ's Women's GS

Mikaela was third in the SL, still sick, after reportedly losing nearly 10 pounds the day before:
World Junior Champ's Women's SL