Beaver Creek – Colorado skiers are rejoicing over astounding early-season snowfall, but it’s been too much of a good thing for World Cup racers.
Through Wednesday Vail received 111 inches, the second- most in resort history for the end of November, and the storm that struck with a vengeance Thursday morning was expected to add 15 to 30 inches through Sunday. That will help Vail open its famed Back Bowls early, but it played havoc with Thursday’s super-G and threatens today’s downhill, the premier event of the week. The weekend giant slalom and slalom could be in jeopardy as well.
“We’ve got storm cells coming at us right and left,” said Ceil Folz, president of the Vail Valley Foundation that organizes the races.
Blowing snow driven by strong winds severely reduced visibility Thursday, and racers who strayed off course were slowed by piles of snow. American Bode Miller, who won the super-G at the world championships last year and the World Cup super-G title, skied out of the course halfway down, at least in part because his goggles fogged up. Thirty percent of the field (17 of 56) failed to finish.
“Very, very bad conditions,” said Austrian star Benjamin Raich, who finished 18th. “I think today it’s (most important) to be in good health and be in the finish.”
One of Raich’s unheralded teammates, Hannes Reichelt, captured his first World Cup victory, but even he had his doubts.
“I got in the start gate, a big (wind) comes against me and I think, ‘How can I ski now?”‘ Reichelt said. “The first two gates, I just see a little bit, because the snow from the wind is going like a hurricane. Then it was OK. I risked a lot, and so maybe that’s the reason I am so fast.”
American Daron Rahlves, third in the super-G standings last season and the 2001 world champion, was the top American in fifth. Steve Nyman, a promising young teammate wearing the No. 54 bib in his third World Cup super-G start, finished 25th to score his first World Cup points (top 30) in the discipline.
“I saw guys putting the brakes on because they couldn’t see,” said John McBride, U.S. men’s downhill coach. “It’s a bummer when that’s the kind of race situation you have. The guys who were hungry and weren’t putting the brakes on, for visibility or any other reason, were the guys who put points on the board.”
Rahlves made a mistake on a tricky fallaway turn just before the relatively flat middle section of the course that probably cost him his second podium finish of the season in super-G. Rahlves was third Sunday at Lake Louise.
“It was nasty up there,” Rahlves said. “In the starting gate, you were trying to keep your goggles off, because if you put them on too early, they’d start fogging up. I just hope it clears up and we get some good conditions for (today) so we can all hammer and be real aggressive, put down some good racing.”
Miller finished second in the season-opening giant slalom in October, but after two mediocre performances in Lake Louise and Thursday’s DNF, he has people wondering what’s wrong. Miller won four of his first five races last season.
What can coaches do to turn him around?
“I bet he will turn himself around,” McBride said. “I don’t think he likes being in that position, whether he admits that or not. I’m just hoping it will light a fire under (him) a little bit. I know he’s capable of winning on any given day in super-G or downhill. We’ve got a lot of races left. At this point I’m not overly concerned.”
John Meyer can be reached at 303-820-1616 or jmeyer@denverpost.com.
