ASPEN — America’s top two downhillers had vastly different first impressions of the course here Monday after the first day of downhill training at the World Cup Finals. While Lindsey Vonn found it “awesome,” Travis Ganong called it “terrifying.”
That needn’t be fodder for any male vs. female jokes, although Vonn has been campaigning for the opportunity to race against men some day. Snow conditions are what racers call “grippy” and “aggressive,” meaning edges are quick to react and catch in the racing surface. The women typically race on aggressive snow, but not the men, because their courses are prepared differently.
“I thought it was great,” Vonn said. “The guys aren’t used to racing grippy snow, but for us itap like butter, itap perfect.”
Ganong, who won a silver medal in the 2015 Beaver Creek world championships, is one of six men who have won World Cup downhills this season. Only Kjetil Jansrud of Norway has won more (two).
“The last month on the World Cup, two months, we’ve been skiing on ice a lot,” Ganong said. “Now we’re back to grippy, dry winter snow on top (of the course), transitioning to spring on the bottom a little. Itap so aggressive and so grippy. Itap like night and day from what we’ve been skiing on in Europe. I have to totally change the way I’m skiing. Itap kind of shocking. It was kind of terrifying to ski on it just now, just because the skis were reacting so much.”
Vonn looked pooped after her run and was having trouble breathing because of a chest cold she picked up while flying home last week from South Korea, where she finished second twice on the hill where the Olympics will be held next year.
“I’m definitely a little low on energy,” Vonn said. “I felt really strong in Korea, and I still went to the gym and lifted weights (after getting sick), so my legs feel physically strong. Just my lungs are burning a little bit.”
Vonn has raced here 21 times, but rarely in her favored disciplines, downhill and super-G. The women haven’t had a downhill here since December 2007. Aspen is usually a slalom/giant slalom stop for the women in November.
“I like it,” Vonn said. “Itap definitely nothing like what we raced here last time (in downhill). Some parts I was definitely off line a bit, some parts were slower than I thought, some parts were faster than I thought — especially the bottom was pretty fast. I hope I get a better look at it tomorrow and execute, but I like it a lot.”
After one more day of downhill training, the downhill races will be held Wednesday, followed by super-G Thursday and the technical races this weekend.
