11/27/17 Temps Soar in Utah, Shiffrin Scores in Vermont

Trouble in the Beehive State as temps soar to record levels in parts of the southwest; Snowbird shut down their early season activities this weekend with no word on when they’ll reopen…World Cup action this past weekend, in a nutshell, the names you expect to see at the top of the charts were indeed at the top. Men competed in speed events in Lake Louise; Saturday’s downhill event saw Swiss star Beat Feuz top the podium, followed by Matthias Mayer of Austria and Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway, coming back from injury. In yesterday’s Super G competition, Norseman Kjetil Jansrud led the charge, followed by Austrians Max Franz and Hannes Reichelt. Svindal finished a respectable fifth, which just a couple years ago would’ve been a disappointment, but as time marches on these good finishes merely add to his legend. As for team USA, there were a few skiers who earned points, most notably Travis Ganong with a 16th place run yesterday…the ladies meanwhile were center stage at a fabulous event in Killington, Vermont. Giant slalom competition Saturday led by Germany’s Viktoria Rebensburg, who seems to be dominating that event thus far. Second place went to a very determined Mikaela Shiffrin, third to Italy’s Manuela Moelgg. And further down the pack, Swiss star Lara Gut finished 23rd with little fanfare, but a big step in her return from injury. Shiffrin dominated yesterday’s slalom event, no surprise there. Second place finisher Petra Vlhova of Slovakia skied capably and might’ve scored her third straight slalom win if not for a slow start in the second run. Third place went to Austria’s Bernadette Schild. Coming up we’ve got a bunch of speed events; the gals move in to Lake Louise and the boys head south to Beaver Creek…some unexpected and unhappy news from the World Cup circuit, German tech star Felix Neureuther tore his left ACL in training; he’ll miss the rest of the season including the Olympics. Neureuther was off to a great start, having won the season opening slalom in Levi…Pennsylvania Pocono’s Shawnee Mountain opened over the weekend, they’re shut down and the forecast isn’t that great for a quick return…likewise New York’s Windham Mountain opened for the holidays as well, however they appear to be shut down today, not sure what’s going on. Their WROD looks pretty good…Vermont’s throwback Magic Mountain has announced a December 16 opening date, which is three weeks ahead of last season…