2015/16 Ski Thread

[ballettmaus]

Not really creative when it comes to titles, so I went with the most obvious.

Anyway, amazed by Shiffrin's 15th place finish in her first Super G ever! And even more so by Vonn's three wins this weekend. Don't know what it is with that run in Lake Louise and her but I get the feeling she could ski backwards down that run and still win. That girl has such an amazing feel for the snow, the run and the downhill technique. Seems so unfair that the FIG denied her petition to ski with the men in Lake Louise a couple of seasons or so ago.

Bummed for Ted Ligety not finishing his 1st GS run but I'm still in awe over his and Hirscher's Super G's and Hirscher's GS. Ligety's finishing turns in the SG were to die for. Could watch him ski like that all day long

 

[AYS]

I watched all of Vonn's wins over this last weekend (hooray, no more "only on Universal Sports that 90% of you can't get with your cable providers). Absolute dominance!

Shiffrin is amazing, if she can follow up with solid runs in the Super G and continue to improve in her GS, she'll be almost unstoppable for the overall title (except maybe by Vonn, it should be fun to watch)!

 

[Seerek]

With Anna Fenninger injured for the entire season and Tina Maze sitting out the season, it's likely going to be Shiffrin vs Vonn for the overall title (only other person that can challenge is likely Lara Gut, who doesn't compete in slalom).

 

[ballettmaus]

I watched all of Vonn's wins over this last weekend (hooray, no more "only on Universal Sports that 90% of you can't get with your cable providers). Absolute dominance!

Shiffrin is amazing, if she can follow up with solid runs in the Super G and continue to improve in her GS, she'll be almost unstoppable for the overall title (except maybe by Vonn, it should be fun to watch)!

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to watch the Super G. Would have loved to see both Shiffrin and Vonn ski but especially Shiffrin since it was her first.
Not sure about the overall title. You may be right but those things are unpredictable. Look at Ligety, he disqualified in his best discipline. And Cornelia Huetter from Austria has had a great weekend, too. She placed on the podium in all three races as well. Not sure how she's doing with the technical disciplines though. Not sure how much Rebensburg will be a challenge. It probably depends on the shape she's in because, in theory, she's always a solid performer, placing in the top 10 but she's not been dominant in any discipline for a while.
Although, the men will probably be more exciting than the woman but only time will tell. Definitely looking forward to the rest of the season.

 

[ballettmaus]

Shiffrin crashed during the warm-up before the race Saturday morning and is heading home for a complete evaluation. So bummed for her. Hope she recovers quickly. http://news.yahoo.com/olympic-ski-champion-shiffrin-misses-race-warmup-fall-094823855--spt.html

In other news - Vonn won her first GS race since January 2013 and Hirscher won the men's event again. Ligety failed to qualify for the 2nd run; unfortunately, I wasn't able to watch so I don't know what happened.

 

[AYS]

I didn't watch the guys GS but I watched the second run for the women. Vonn had a pretty big lead after run 1, she built on it in the first part of the second run, then almost lost the entire thing but held on at the bottom. Visibility seemed pretty bad (snowing) by the last few skiiers, it was exciting; she's really confident at this point.

So bummed about Shiffrin! It seems it's not disastrous, but they were still assessing the injury last I read.

PS, I'm really happy I can get ski coverage again! I got pretty into watching a few years ago, and then Universal Sports went away from Comcast and I couldn't get anything. So glad I can now stream the events live on my NBC plus app and get the Universal HD channel.

 

[A.H.Black]

Just thought this would be a good place for this - http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/saltlaketribune/obituary.aspx?n=stein-eriksen&pid=177070519 - Stein Eriksen has died.

I remember he won one medal after falling and getting back up. He is also considered the father of freestyle skiing. Here's a short video of his flip - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6Qwwonh39Y

 

[ballettmaus]

Just thought this would be a good place for this - http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/saltlaketribune/obituary.aspx?n=stein-eriksen&pid=177070519 - Stein Eriksen has died.

I remember he won one medal after falling and getting back up. He is also considered the father of freestyle skiing. Here's a short video of his flip - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6Qwwonh39Y

I always enjoy seeing old skiing videos. It's amazing with what they were able to ski and ski so well. Nowadays it's all science.

As far as Shiffrin is concerned, she has a MCL injury and hasn't given a possible return date. http://www.teamusa.org/News/2015/De...ure-How-Long-She-Will-Be-Out-With-Knee-Injury
I think it's smart that she's doing it slowly; the technical disciplines are so much about movement from the knee, so it sounds smarter to rest than risk an early return.

And Marcel Hirscher narrowly escaped a drone collision... http://www.bbc.com/sport/winter-sports/35164700
I think that they didn't protest the race (at least, I haven't heard that they filed a protest) shows great sportsmanship. Though I certainly would have understood if a protest had been filed!

 

[Lara]

What is happening this season??? Svindal out since falling at Kitzbuhel Saturday, and now Ted Ligety too.

Meanwhile it doesn't seem to matter where Kristofferson and Hirscher finish in the first slalom run (even 22nd place), they'll still end up 1-2 in that order.

 

[ballettmaus]

Yes, Hirscher's finish was beyond impressive!
Unfortunately, I can't really be impressed by the Norwegian ski team - they seem to be pulling one talented biathlet after another out of the hat and they have a 40-year-old who still wins against athletes half his age, so that, combined with the fact that Svindal, after having been out with an injury for months, comes back dominating in the way he does and that they happen to have another skier who is just as dominant makes me wary of their success.
(And yes, Vonn and Shiffrin are both exceptionally good skiers in their disciplines. But they still have ups and downs, win one week, don't do well the next or win one race, don't do well in the next, Vonn didn't even ski any technical disciplines until this season, and the US doesn't also have a ton of dominant biathlets at the same time. And I kind of hate that it has gotten to that in sports, that that makes one suspicious)

So bummed for Ted Ligety! Guess I'll have to spend the rest of the season without his to-die-for GS technique.

 

[AYS]

Shiffrin is starting to get back on skis according to her FB.

 

[Lacey]

I keep missing skiing on tv, used to be on Universal here in US, have to go hunt...Is Vonn still leading?

 

[ballettmaus]

Shiffrin is starting to get back on skis according to her FB.

She said a few days ago she plans to race on Monday. I don't know if the race is still on though since they postponed the downhill to today (Sunday) due to snow yesterday (Saturday). I haven't heard if they cancelled the combined instead or pushed that to Monday and plan to cancel the slalom.

And yes @Lacey Vonn is still leading the overall standings. She won one race and finished on the podium at the other last weekend, if I remember correctly. She also set a new total downhill-win record (I think it was).

 

[AYS]

It looks like Shiffrin has picked right up where she left off, winning her first race back (the rescheduled slalom). All the other races from the weekend were cancelled, I think.

 

[Seerek]

Vonn wraps up downhill title after silver and bronze in the 2 races at La Thuile, Italy.

Left to determine is overall, where the Vonn vs Lara Gut race will likely go down to the wire.

 

[ballettmaus]

Another injury and another injury for Vonn http://edition.cnn.com/2016/02/27/sport/lindsey-vonn-ski-crash/index.html?eref=rss_topstories
I've cheered and rooted for her for coming back, however, I'm beginning to wonder if maybe she should consider retiring from racing. It seems she has had a lot of crashes lately and I'm not sure if continuing to race is worth risking her health over further. She has already achieved so, so much and I'm sure she could give a lot to the sport in other ways!

 

[ballettmaus]

Vonn placed 13th in the combined and extended her overall lead. Hoping she'll be able to race next week and that her injury won't cut her season short. http://espn.go.com/espnw/sports/article/14863525/world-cup-alpine-combined-event-results-sunday

 

[AYS]

Can't believe she skied with a fracture one day later. You'd think at least the swelling would have interfered. I hope she can finish out the race with Gut, but hopefully will not risk too much!

 

[Braulio]

Bummed for Lindsey, girl can't stay injury free for two seasons in a row

Imagine if she was injury-accident free what her record would be right now

And Mikaela placing 8th in her first ever Combined, she was 40th after the Super G and came back in the slalom her specialty of course

Once she picks up some speed and adds some events (SG, Combined) she will be a real threat for the Overall

 

[ballettmaus]

Can't believe she skied with a fracture one day later. You'd think at least the swelling would have interfered. I hope she can finish out the race with Gut, but hopefully will not risk too much!

I have no idea how she managed the slalom actually. That's pure knee/ankle action. They must have iced that knee or whatever to the extent that she can't have felt much in it. Hurts me just thinking about it

@Braulio And to think that Shiffrin wasn't satisfied with herself... I'm glad she's adding other races though and challenging herself.

 

[Braulio]

Mikaela is already competitive with Slalom and Giant Slalom, but now if she starts adding the Super Combined her chances for next season will increase

She did Super G this season prior to her injury, thats the next step to do this event regularly and pick points

 

[ballettmaus]

Unfortunately, Vonn decided to end her season due to injury. I'm bummed for her but I think it's best for her body. http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/2016/03/02/lindsey-vonn-injury-season-over/81199620/

 

[AYS]

For the best, but what a bummer for her and the fans. Between Vonn and Shiffrin, it's the season that could have been.

 

[ballettmaus]

Not only Vonn and Shiffrin, Ligety is out, too.