SKI CROSS. GRINDELWALD, SUI (MAR 9, 2012) – After 11 races held in five countries on either side of the Pacific over the course of the last four months, still nothing has been decided in either the men's or the ladies' race for the Audi FIS World Cup ski cross Crystal Globe.

On the both the men's and the ladies' sides the battle for the 2011/12 season title is wide open as we head into the final two races of the season, with both races to be held in one of the world's great amphitheatres, under the watchful gaze of the Eiger, in Grinelwald, Switzerland, on March 10th and 11th.

At the moment, two Canadians sit on precarious leads in the World Cup standings - Brady Leman for the men and Marielle Thompson for the women - but on both sides there at least five skiers within striking distance of the title.

For the ladies, French legend Ophelie David sits a mere ten points back of Thompson, while the surging Swiss local Katrin Mueller is in 3rd in the rankings, some 75 points back of David.

On the men's side, things are even tighter, with the ever-consistent Alex Fiva trailing Leman by a stark 7 point margin. Behind Fiva, the red-hot Filip Flisar of Slovenia is in the midst of a charge that could very well see him holding the Globe at the end of the weekend, his 382 points only 43 shy of Leman and top spot.

On Friday Flisar qualified 1st, serving notice that his run at the Globe is very real indeed.

And lest anyone forget about the always-dangerous Austrians, both men's powerhouse Andreas Matt and the steadily improving Andrea Limbacher are waiting in the wings, just one or two strong races away from a dark horse run at the title.

If there's anything we know about ski cross, it's that anything can happen, and that if anything can happen in ski cross, it probably will. Last week in Branäs, Chris Del Bosco collided with teammate Nic Zoricic in their semi-final heat, relegating Del Bosco to 9th place when a strong top-8 showing would have had him right back in the Crystal Globe mix. And then there's Limbacher, who sits now in 5th overall despite missing out on valuable points by skiing out in her quarter final run in Branäs to put herself in 13th position.

Every race and every placing matters. This weekend in Grindelwald, it matters the most.

At the bottom of this weekend's course, the great grandstand erected to hold the race's spectators is dwarfed on all sides by the massive Swiss Alps rising out of the valley. There could perhaps be no better stage for the SX season's drama to come to a head.

FISfreestyle.com
Friday 9 March 2012

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