Of a nail-biter and a snow paradise

The speed skiers are confronted with difficult conditions at the Ski World Cup in Crans-Montana at the weekend. The slope is soft and has been treated with a lot of salt, after just a few runners deep tracks form, as was evident in yesterday’s only and not meaningful training session. Even if the sun takes a break on Saturday and it is supposed to be cloudy, there is a risk of a start number race in the downhill from 11 a.m. (ORF 1).

A lot of conviction is required, especially in soft conditions. Cornelia Hütter had a bad fall on the finish jump a year ago, and the concussion she suffered at the time still causes problems from time to time. “I was a bit sweaty today,” said the Super-G third and downhill fourth at the World Championships in Méribel.

It is certain that the material, which has worked well throughout the winter, cannot be used in Crans-Montana. “The snow is dead, there’s a lot of salt inside. You’re far from feeling good,” emphasized Hütter. As 16th in the middle of the red-white-red package, the 30-year-old was 2.19 seconds behind the Slovenian Ilka Stuhec, who, like many other runners, made a goal error. Today you also have to have Vice World Champion Nina Ortlieb on your list.

Reisinger nominated

For the Super-G on Sunday (11 a.m.), racing director Thomas Trinker also nominated Peilsteinerin Elisabeth Reisinger and Nicole Schmidhofer, who had not been selected for the World Championships.

For only the second time in history, a men’s Alpine World Cup will be held in Palisades Tahoe this weekend. The Californian ski resort in the Sierra Nevada will host a giant slalom (today, 7 p.m. and 10:15 p.m., ORF 1) and a slalom (Sunday, 7 p.m. and 10:15 p.m., ORF 1) before continuing to Aspen.

The men’s second trip to the USA this season, which was set at the instigation of FIS President Johan Eliasch, is controversial in the scene. But the runners are looking forward to the two races at an Olympic venue. “There’s a lot of snow and it’s still snowing. They’re having a really sensational winter,” said Raphael Haaser of his first impressions. Stefan Brennsteiner also raved: “A really cool winter landscape!”

The only men’s World Cup guest appearance in Palisades Tahoe dates back to 1969, when the giant slalom winner was Reinhard Tritscher from Styria. The women were often at work there, most recently Mikaela Shiffrin celebrated two victories in March 2017. Most of the Austrian faction took off for San Francisco on Wednesday and then drove to Lake Tahoe by car.