SCHLADMING, Austria — As usual, the annual night slalom under the lights here last week was a crazy scene with tens of thousands of people, deafening noise, sparkling flares and flag-waving. It’s just such a cool atmosphere.
There was a downpour the day of the race and it was super-wet out, but just before the race it started to get a little colder and the racing surface got a crust on it. It was in bad shape.
The first guy down threw massive chunks of snow off the course and posted what would stand as the fastest time in the run. It was pretty much over after his run, because the soft course deteriorated so rapidly. I ran 13th, and there were holes in the course up to my knees in places. I can’t imagine what it was like for guys who were racing in the 30s and later.
I was pretty happy to survive that bumpy hackfest with the 11th-best time. Between runs it was cold enough that the course firmed up a bit, making it more fair for the second run. I ran 20th, and while it was still bumpy, I was able to ski into fourth place.
It was frustrating being only .7 of a second out of second place, but under the circumstances it was a pretty good day.
I didn’t race the downhill and combined over the weekend in Chamonix, France, but it was a great two days for the Americans. Marco Sullivan picked up his first World Cup victory in the downhill Saturday, and Bode Miller won the combined Sunday.
It was epic to see Marco win after having three years of injury after injury. He has been getting consistent top-10s this season after earning his first podium at Lake Louise in November, and now he has come through with a win. He has always been a great glider, but now his turns are really coming along. He has gotten really consistent and really fast.
He’s really stepped it up this season, and it’s really cool to watch. It couldn’t happen to a better guy. I love his attitude — totally a free spirit and really laid-back.
Bode is skiing awesome. His slalom is back to the point where he’s fairly fast — not good enough yet to win, but it’s good after a couple years of pretty poor slalom.
Ted Ligety, the Olympic combined champion, reports regularly from the World Cup ski tour in collaboration with Denver Post ski writer John Meyer.
