BANSKO, bulgaria — I lost my lead in the giant slalom standings Saturday to Austria’s Marcel Hirscher. I had a good first run, and I was going hard in the second run when I made a huge mistake. I got twisted backwards at a gate, and had to stop and hike to make the gate.
It’s unfortunate for me that Hirscher won, which gave him 100 points while I finished 27th for just four points. He’s 81 points ahead, he’s skiing fast now and he deserves to have the red leader’s bib. It’s pretty rare that you have as many points as I do at this point in the season, and you don’t have the red bib.
There are still three GS races left in the season, so I still have a chance to win my fourth GS title. It would be a lot easier if I was only 20 points back and he wasn’t on such a roll. Hopefully I can make it a fight to the end.
Sunday’s slalom went pretty well — I finished seventh. I had a really good second run, especially, and had some really fast sections. It definitely was encouraging, and to get two back-to-back top-10 slalom results. It’s nice to see I’m gaining a little bit of consistency in slalom. I’ve struggled for that for some years.
A big part of it is that I’ve found a “set-up” on my slalom skis where I feel comfortable. I’ve been searching for that for some time now, and I think we’ve found one that’s pretty good.
The set-up includes adjustments of boots, binding plates and skis. I’ve changed the plate-binding set-up a little bit, and gone back to a pair of skis I was using at Beaver Creek in December . That seems to be the combination that works best right now. I’ve also had a chance to get some training on that set-up, getting more comfortable with it.
It makes me feel like I can feel the edges a little better, to be able to push on it and try to get speed out of the turn. Before, I was fighting to stay on the course.
Ligety, a three-time World Cup giant slalom champion, reports regularly in collaboration with Denver Post ski writer John Meyer
