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MEN'S World Cup 2021-2022

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Moose32

Moose32

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My main issue with Killington races is it always on the best day of college football.
So while I always try to get it on at the bar or watch in the living room it is tough to travel to it.
They need to figure out how to get the top 5 in run two to start just as halftime starts for Michigan-Ohio State.

edit: races not just SL
 
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S.H.

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My main issue with Killington SL is it always on the best day of college football.
So while I always try to get it on at the bar or watch in the living room it is tough to travel to it.
They need to figure out how to get the top 5 in run two to start just as halftime starts for Michigan-Ohio State.
Killington SL has always been on a sunday
college football is on saturday

:snowball:
 

Rudi Riet

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Part of what makes Killington work as a race venue is the trail, Superstar, ends at the bottom. Access and getting out is very easy. No lifts, not that much walking on snow. You could actually watch from the access road.

Don’t think Superstar would be appropriate for a men’s gs race. It’s not exactly Adelboden. I’d love to see Killington increase the length of that final pitch, but moving dirt, then a lift, never happens.

That's why I'd suggest Superstar for a 2xSL men's event. The trail would work well for that, and while not the most technical SL venue around it would be perfectly fine.

But realistically, I just don’t see the US supporting lots of races. Mikaela is helping a lot right now, and youth racing and the families are a big part of the crowds. It’s hard enough to get people who ski and sort of watch racing, to go 35min away to watch a race. I’ve got family who’ve never been to Killington wcup, and have worked as gatekeepers in junior racing in the past.

Yes, there's the "no local folks who are competitive" aspect that can be a spanner in the works. Part of the blame can be placed on the USST PR operation: they push the big names like Shiffrin when they're the "it" skiers but when there isn't a name that's racking up podiums and wins it's crickets.

The U.S. media likes stars, especially when the sport isn't common in school or on a playground. The media can kinda wing it when dealing with a star of a fringe sport because the stars have gravitas. But when there isn't a clear-cut world-beating super skier the coverage isn't great. Consistent top-15 finishes won't make for a name known around the dinner table.

Yes, the X-Games bring a different subset of winter sports culture to Aspen - one that probably rankles the "furs and martinis" set that Aspen is known to harbor. But they come for the show and for the stars of these events. Shaun White became a household name via the X-Games and NBC Sports ran with it. The X-Games are custom made for TV coverage - much like parallel races are being marketed right now - and they get eyes on screens.

Alpine ski racing is certainly at a crossroads. The racing is super exciting but also super sanitized these days. Race courses are "playpenned" with enough A and B netting to prevent spectacular crashes. The speed skiers will soon all be mandated to wear airbags for crash protection. The courses like the Hahnenkamm and Lauberhornrennen are constantly altered to make things less dangerous because the equipment is so much faster than it once was. And the racers are far more dialed in technically. Sure, there are outliers like Bode but they're just that: outside the current norm. Most of the athletes are super sound in terms of technique and the differences between winning and 20th are so minute that it takes a trained eye to tell where speed was gained or lost.

I admit that what drew me to alpine racing were characters like the Mahre brothers, Tamara McKinney, Marc Girardelli, Stenmark, Bill Johnson, and Franz Klammer. In the case of those last two, they brought personality to the mix - mach Schau! What they did was compelling and exciting. These days there aren't as many of these types. Picabo was one, Hermann Maier was another, Bode and Mancuso carried the torch into more current times. Now we have Mikaela who is a precision skier who is only really exciting when she makes a big error in an event where she's typically unflappable. There are prima donna characters like HK, for sure, but mostly these athletes are dialed in and heavily media trained so it's more clinical.

Sure, I'm still super interested in following these athletes' exploits but it's less approachable to the common viewer. I try to make it more palatable when I'm reporting for SkiTalk, for sure, but I also try not to oversimplify. That said, the audience here already has familiarity with the sport. The average U.S. TV viewer doesn't, and now there are fewer opportunities to get that exposure.

I know that Eliasch wants to see the sport grow, not only in terms of participation but even in simple awareness. It's a big challenge here in the U.S. and A.
 

hbear

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Big challenge for sure. Sport is shrinking here in North America....not getting bigger. Just such a different culture to ski racing here in North America as it is for Europe (way too many reasons to get into on this thread, access, cost, willingness for our kids to grind instead of pulling the chute when things get hard...etc). At the FIS level, I know any of our kids that go over to Europe get a eye opening to what ski racing is in Europe and the depth of competition. Honestly, the most recent men's FIS race we saw while training here in Sweden had a bunch of WC guys, a stack of EC guys and was a deep as I've ever seen. Ryding ended up winning (think his margin was only 1s), and was awarded 23 FIS points LOL.

Let's face it, World cup alpine is Eurocentric....they are trying to open doors in Asia (chasing dollars) but given it's pretty much a requirement for athletes to setup shop in Europe for the season, going across the pond for a tech race (even 2) would not be the preference for all but the US and Canadian athletes. Yes there is a big gap on the men's side at this point of the season, but the tech guys are all pretty much training in Europe prepping for France.
 

4ster

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First two training runs. Looks like day three training was canceled…
9BD9EC42-D069-4AF9-AECF-EEB28583DCB3.jpeg
58534754-8027-43B0-A7CB-16D2AE57A135.jpeg


Day 2…
17E223D2-0FC1-41B3-B564-B760A4A4BB52.jpeg
5E4A7AF4-9218-4E71-902E-488E5E005682.jpeg



Kilde
Paris
Mayer
 

Peefeeniz

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So these are races for the big momentum mesomorph gliders?

US Canada doesn't have any 200 lb + guys does it? Bryce Bennett maybe because he's tall?
 

S.H.

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So these are races for the big momentum mesomorph gliders?

US Canada doesn't have any 200 lb + guys does it? Bryce Bennett maybe because he's tall?
goldberg is listed 190 but i wouldn't be surprised if he's actually around 200
RCS is listed 201
Bennett is 220, but I don't expect him to do especially well at LL
Nyman is also 220
Arvidsson also listed at 200

Broderick Thompson is listed at 89 kg, so almost 200
jeff read listed at 92 kg, so over 200

i wouldn't expect any of them to do especially well at LL.

RCS off injury and on new equipment
Nyman is really broken
 
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4ster

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So these are races for the big momentum mesomorph gliders?

US Canada doesn't have any 200 lb + guys does it? Bryce Bennett maybe because he's tall?
Nyman is a big dude who can glide. If he gets the timing right & works the terrain he can be fast but often he lets the terrain work him.
 

BrianB

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Interesting that Pinturault is actually starting in the downhill. Based on the training run results it is a very long shot, charitably speaking, that he will get any WC points. Looking back the past 3-4 years he seems to have skipped Lake Louise. Maybe trying to improve his chances in SG on Sunday.
 

Primoz

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My main issue with Killington races is it always on the best day of college football.
So while I always try to get it on at the bar or watch in the living room it is tough to travel to it.
They need to figure out how to get the top 5 in run two to start just as halftime starts for Michigan-Ohio State.
And that is exactly why skiing is where it is in US ;) No offense but as long as people think that Worlds best athletes at that single race in US will adapt timing of the race and starts to some kids match, it's really hard to expect anyone will be interested in investing more into skiing on US ground and having more races on US side. And say whatever you want, but colleague football is kids game. I would understand Super Bowl (not normal during season match) but colleague game?
 
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