Lindsey Kildow, a product of Ski Club Vail who is a five-event racer on the U.S. Ski Team, will report regularly this winter from the World Cup tour for The Denver Post. Kildow figures to be an Olympic medal contender in three events.
Lake Louise, Alberta – I’m really excited about coming back to Lake Louise, where I picked up two podium finishes and my first World Cup victory a year ago. It’s going to be really fun because I had such a good experience last year and pretty much every year I’ve raced here.
The races here – downhills Friday and Saturday, a super-G on Sunday – will be the first women’s speed races of the season. Last year we had Aspen before Lake Louise, so it’s going to be interesting getting some nerves out of the way.
Prior to Lake Louise last year I had one World Cup podium result, a third-place finish in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, the previous season. Coming here last year I felt I was skiing well, I had a lot of confidence and I was hoping for another podium, but I really wasn’t expecting a win. I wound up finishing first and fifth in downhill, third in super-G.
The previous season I didn’t have great results in super-G, just two top-10s. But at Lake Louise, I was just kind of floating from the downhills and had a lot of confidence. I just charged – I had nothing to lose.
In the downhill win, the weather was really bad. Bad conditions usually favor me. I felt like I was carrying my speed, which I think the other girls had a hard time doing because of high winds and blowing snow. There was, like, no visibility. You could hardly see the gates.
The conditions on the course were great, though. It was super icy, probably the most icy conditions we’d had in a while. That played to my advantage.
I think bad conditions favor me because I’m not afraid of skiing in flat light. When I’m on the course, I trust myself and I know where I’m going. As long as I know where I’m going, I don’t freak out, even if I can’t see the ground. I know where the terrain features are, I know where the jumps are, I keep on charging and I don’t let up. Maybe some of the girls who have had more injuries back off a little bit when they can’t see the ground.
Those Lake Louise races really set the tone for the rest of my season. I felt like being on the podium was something I could do more often, and I added four more by mid-January.
I feel really good going into these races because I’ve had the best speed training I’ve ever had. Last week I was watching video of my two weeks of training at Copper Mountain and you could see from the first day to the last day I improved so much. I feel really comfortable, I’m skiing well, I’m dynamic. I have the most confidence I’ve ever had going into Lake Louise.
