14 November 2016 — Leading with FIS World Cup news, first the good. Slalom competition this weekend in Levi, Finland saw US great Mikaela Shiffrin top the womens podium (photo above) she was flanked by Swiss star Wendy Holdener and Slovakian Petra Vlhova who were a respectable .6 behind. US veteran slalom entrant Resi Steigler gave a good showing with a 16th place finish. No surprise on the mens side as reigning overall champ Marcel Hirscher had a 1:30 gap over teammate Michael Matt and Italian technician Manny Moelgg. Top US mens finisher was none…on to the bad news, Lindsey Vonn broke the humulasomething bone in her arm during a crash in a practice run last week at Copper, Colorado. The x-rays are downright ugly, not gonna show it here… more good news, Wild Mountain up in freezertown Minnesota opened Saturday morning, just a rope tow but hey that’s better than a sharp stick in the eye, and I believe first in the midwest…more bad news, Snowbird UT postponing opener due to overly warm weather. The bird was planning for the 19th but that ain’t gonna happen…electric bills at resorts in New England will be ugly this month, but that’s good news for us because it means the pumps are pumping and the compressors are compressing and the fan guns are fanning and the snowmakers are getting some bad sleep patterns with snowmaking hither and yon, guns on the for first time this season at Jiminy Peak MA and Gore Mountain NY…cross the country from New England to New Mexico and the story is pretty much the same; Taos and Sipapu both making snow as temps permit and they’ve been at it off and on for about a week. Both of them would like the season to begin sooner rather than later because they have some bills to pay — Sipapu has millions invested in a new lift and new trails, while Taos has millions invested in a new lodge….housing situation is ugly in Steamboat Springs CO, The Steamboat Pilot & Today reports that Steamboat Resort will pay an additional $200/month to qualifying landlords who can house ski area employees for less than $500 a month. Seems the AirBnB phenomenon has contributed to the situation as it seems homeowners can get more income with a handful of short term rentals versus season long rentals. Resort spokeswoman Nicole Miller sez half of the seasonal labor force is without housing right now.
Photo above courtesy FIS