WHISTLER, B.C. - You've got to hit all the gates to make it into the results in Olympic downhill training runs. Austrian Michael Walchhofer was the guy to do this the fastest Thursday on a shortened course riddled at times with thick clouds of fog and steady snow.

Although it looked like Didier Cuche was once again the fastest in training, he missed a gate Thursday and Walchhofer's time, 1 minute, 34.46 seconds, was the top in the first complete training run of the Vancouver Olympic alpine events.

Canadian Robbie Dixon, who was barely 2 years old when he began skiing at Whistler, was second fastest for the second day straight (Cuche was first in Wednesday's training but only 42 racers made it out of the start before it was called off due to weather). Dixon was just 0.09 seconds behind Walchhofer. His teammate, Quebec native Erik Guay, was third Thursday, 0.22 seconds back.

The forecast is calling for the same - fog and snow showers - through Saturday, when the men's Olympic downhill is scheduled to take place. When asked for his personal forecast, Dixon, who grew up skiing at Whistler from the age of 22 months, said it's a toss up ... the only reliable prediction in this part of the world.

"My weather forecast is ... you never know here," said Dixon, who has four World Cup top 10s so far this season, including a fifth in the Lake Louise super G and a sixth in the Val Gardena downhill. "Today felt a lot like yesterday, but you're able to see enough."

When asked for a prediction on who would battle the elements best, Dixon said he considers himself having the advantage of huge familiarity with the hill, but pointed out that Cuche is on a roll ... one which can easily carry him through any of Whistler's notorious weather variables.

"Didier Cuche has had quite a season," Dixon said. "Flat light, snow, rain ... he's got it all. "

Racers said one of the most challenging aspects of the course Thursday was not what the weather was doing above the ground, but how it was affecting the snow, which varied in consistency from the top of the course to the bottom.

"It's really different," Cuche said. "Up there it's like winter and down here it's like spring ... cold, corn snow."

Swiss racer Ambrosi Hoffmann, who was third fastest on Wednesday before training was canceled, was fourth Thursday, .32 seconds off the lead pace. He said the conditions - fog that rises and falls and snow of various temperatures - are becoming familiar.

"Today the conditions are the same like yesterday," he said. "The top is really good, down the snow is like in the spring. When we skied, the fog was right after the finish. Now the fog goes up. It's nice to ski. I think it's OK."

American Andrew Weibrecht, 10th in Thurday's training, said his technician went for the "not-too-sharp" formula on his edges, but pointed out that getting material dialed in for changing snow surfaces is tricky.

"The snow is pretty soft," he said. "There are some parts that are pretty sugary and some parts that are a little bit slick, so trying to gauge what's going to hook up and what's going to push away from you is one of the challenges. The top is wintery, grippy snow, down here it's sugary. You gotta find something that works through all the conditions."

FISalpine.com
Thursday 11 February 2010

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