World Cup champion Lindsey Vonn is reaping the rewards of her recent move back to Vail, taking advantage of exclusive early-season access to a race course provided by Ski & Snowboard Club Vail.
The club installed a new snowmaking system this year and crews have “injected” the slope with water, which freezes into the icy surface racers prefer. Vonn began training Tuesday at the club’s Gold Peak race arena.
“This is a really unique situation,” Vonn said. “To have perfect injection at this time of year is unheard-of. Not only that, it’s essentially my own course. That’s exactly what I need. It’s perfect for testing skis and perfect preparation for Levi.”
Next week Vonn travels to Levi, Finland, for the season’s first World Cup slalom. Until then she’ll be training a mile from home and interacting with kids in the club that set her on a course for international stardom in the late 1990s.
“I love being around the Ski Club Vail kids,” Vonn said. “They are free skiing, they are doing drills, some of the older kids are starting to train in the gates next to me. They’re all really excited.”
After the Levi World Cup Nov. 14, the women’s World Cup resumes Nov. 28-29 in Aspen for giant slalom and slalom.
John Meyer: 303-954-1616 or jmeyer@denverpost.com
