Olympic combined champion Ted Ligety, the 2008 World Cup giant slalom champion, reports regularly from the tour in collaboration with Denver Post ski writer John Meyer.
VAL D’ISERE, FRANCE — I picked up the first podium of my career in a “speed” event here Saturday when I was second in super-G behind Austria’s Michael Walchhofer.
I’ve had 17 podiums in slalom and giant slalom, but podiums in the speed events (super-G and downhill) had eluded me. My super-G has gone well the past few months, so I knew I could do well.
To be honest, the super-G hill here is a glorified giant slalom with longer skis, so that suited me well. I was able to make it down without too many huge mistakes, relative to other people. I went down on my hip at one point, but I was able to fight and stay on the course.
I’ve been working really hard the past couple of years to improve in the speed events. I think it will be a while before I can be super competitive in downhill, but in super-G, especially if it’s a little “turnier,” I definitely have a good chance. I feel like a threat.
In general, super-Gs still favor the downhill skiers. It’s pretty rare when giant slalom specialists score points in super-G. But in the past couple years we’ve seen a few more super-Gs that are what you would think is the idea behind the super-G — a race that’s halfway between downhill and GS.
Sometimes the hill really dictates how a super-G is set. On a super-steep hill like Val d’Isere, you have to stack in a ton of gates, so it’s going to be turny no matter what. The course setter can’t set it open, or straight, because they have to control the speed a little bit. A place like Val Gardena, the super-G will be pretty straight because the course is pretty flat the whole way.
Another factor is that super-Gs are normally run in conjunction with a downhill, and course setters tend to be speed coaches who set for their downhillers. They would rather have their speed skiers doing well than the GS skiers.
In Sunday’s GS I made some big mistakes in the first run but had the fastest second run to finish 10th. I’m skiing super fast. When you’re going as fast as I am, the margin for error is pretty small. Luckily I’m athletic enough to stay in the course when I make mistakes and overcome them.
Every race this year I’ve felt like I was one mistake away from winning. It should come together — it’s not that far off.
