The women’s downhill in Sierra Nevada is best forgotten: in fact the two races in program have been cancelled, the first one because of the fog and wet snow as it is dangerous for the racers, the second one because of the strong wind, even though the day was wonderful and the sun was shining, the sky was blue and the snow perfect. What a cheat, but nobody found anything to object to as in the downhill safety is the most important thing, and on the top of Veleta slope the heavy wind would have caused many problems, especially on the jumps.

We would like to know why the International Federation frequently schedules Sierra Nevada in the calendar: It’s a wonderful resort in Andalusia, but the weather there is really unpredictable and many times it has disrupted the try outs programmed.
But why schedual two downhill’s on a track not that spectacular instead of slalom or a giant on the steep and beautiful slopes next to it.

The answer came from Jan Tischauser, who is the safety superintendent in the FIS women circuit: he said that in February it’s almost impossible to find resorts ready to arrange downhill races, because they are very expensive. In fact you have to consider also the days of the trainings, when you are obliged to close the track for 10 days at least (and usually this is the longest and most beautiful track of the resort). Moreover you have to place protective barriers for the racers safety that usually are not necessary in technical races. Sierra Nevada was willing to take on the charges and FIS can’t really say “No thank you!”

Will they have another chance in the future? Well, to visit the Alhambra in Granada is worth the journey, but probably the athletes would have preferred visiting runs and chair lifts!

Garmish : review

In Garmish Stephan Eberharter dominates the sixth downhill of the season winning the World Cup in Downhill, a natural consequence considering that he has dominated the season since the first races. The Austrian champion, thanks to his 14 successes, is now in 4th place among the Downhill Cup winners. In front of him there are only Klammer (25), Mueller (19) and Heinzer (15).

During the race, probably the most demanding of the season, Stefannator mistreats his opponents leaving them many seconds behind especially the American Bode Miller who gained only 3 miserable points in two races.

The race was selective. The world champion Walchhofer is out. At the same point in the track many athletes fall out of the race: among them the home racer Max Rauffer and the Italian Kristian Ghedina, another confirmation of his bad season.

Daron Rhalves also makes a mistake, the fastest in the two time races and the only one who could contend for the Downhill Cup over Eberharter. Nevertheless the American is on the podium, but at 1’30’’ from the winner.

On the podium, behind the ruler of the downhill season, we find Didier Cuche, after having achieved a great result.


In Super G it was time for a veteran of Cup.

Marco Buechel, born in Liechtenstein in 1971, gained his first career victory and went to the top of the Super G ranking, just before the last trial in Kvitfiell.

Besides Buechel’s first time there is another new entry on the podium: we are talking about Tobias Gruenenfelder, who started with bib 12 and finished third even after wuenderteams attacks. Behind Buechel there’s the usual Stefannator. Fritz Strobl did a good race but just misses the podium.

Eberharter rejoices with his 200 points over Bode Miller. Only two weeks ago the American conquered the world championship crowd. In super G in Garmish he made some mistakes and left the way open for the Austrian.

There is still a chance for Miller in the away races in the Far East with two Slalom and two Giants. Eberharter will try to improve his performance in the Giant and to his keep distance from his opponent. If Bode wants the Cup he has to make the most of everything he has. 
 

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