MARIBOR, SLOVENIA — World Cup overall champion Lindsey Vonn, a product of Ski Club Vail, reports regularly from the tour in collaboration with Denver Post ski writer John Meyer.
My experience in Sunday’s slalom really bears out the importance of proper ski preparation and having edges sharp enough for the conditions.
The courses here were extremely icy, like an ice-skating rink. In the first run, my edges didn’t grip well and I finished 18th. I slipped out of the course on like the fifth gate and skied conservatively from there, just trying to get to the finish. I slipped again near the bottom and almost went out of the race.
Even with the extremely sharp edges we normally use, that just wasn’t adequate. You needed a serrated edge. It’s like a steak knife, as opposed to a butter knife.
My ski tech serrated my edges for the second run, I gave it everything I had while still being smart with my tactics, and it was light years better. I put down the fastest second run and ended up in fourth place.
Considering what happened in the first run, it was a good day. To move up from 18th to fourth is pretty sweet.
You have no idea how careful you have to be with edges as sharp as I had for the second run. If you run your finger down a serrated edge, you would cut your finger seriously. It’s very, very dangerous. The edge I had for the first run was very sharp as well, but it was smooth. You could run your finger down it without cutting it.
The rest of this month will be really important for me in the overall title chase. Because of weather cancellations we’ve had only one downhill so far this season, the one I won in Lake Louise. Now five of the next eight races are speed races (downhill or super-G), plus a combined race (slalom and downhill). That stretch, which starts this coming weekend in Altenmarkt, will be followed by the world championships in Val d’Isere.
The next three weeks are going to be really tough, with a lot of races crammed into a short period of time — eight in 15 days and four in Cortina d’Ampezzo (a super-G, two downhills and a giant slalom), Jan. 22-25.
It’s going to be difficult, but I feel pretty good. I feel like my energy is still pretty high. I’m just really looking forward to getting back on the long boards this weekend.
