TOP FIVE FRIDAYS: FEBRUARY 7, 2020
#1: FIS World Cup Ski Racing Recap: a Down Week for the Women, Numerous Men Earn Points:
This week we offer our sincerest condolences to the Shiffrin family as Jeffrey Shiffrin, Mikaela's Father, has passed away. Image: Mikaela Shiffrin on Facebook
First up as always this time of year, is a recap of last week’s World Cup ski racing action. Coming into the week, we knew that Mikaela Shiffrin planned to take the Downhill and Super G races scheduled for Rosa Khutor, Russia off, so we expected to have a bit of down week in terms of news. Unfortunately, Shiffrin’s leave of absence may end up being longer than expected, as we’ll explain in the third paragraph of this highlight. In addition to Shiffrin’s absence, the Downhill race was ultimately cancelled, meaning the women had just one Super G race within the last week in which to earn World Cup points. In that race U.S. Team member Alice Merryweather secured 17th place, while Alice McKennis finished in 27th. Looking ahead, the women are scheduled to compete in a Super G and Downhill race this weekend in Garmisch Partenkirchen, Germany.
On the men’s side of things, the U.S. Team fared slightly better over the course of the weekend, with both a Downhill and Super G race being held at Garmisch Partenkirchen, Germany. To kick off the weekend, American Travis Ganong finished 5th in the Downhill race, while rising king of consistency Ryan Cochran-Siegle secured a 12th place finish, Jared Goldberg earned 20th, Bryce Bennett grabbed 23rd, and Steven Nyman finished in 29th. A day later, the U.S. Team put in another solid performance in the Giant Slalom as Tommy Ford took home 11th in the Giant Slalom, followed by Ted Ligety in 14th, and Ryan Cochran-Siegle in 22nd. Looking ahead, the men reconvene in Chamonix, France this weekend for a Slalom and Parallel Giant Slalom race, followed by a Downhill and Super G race scheduled for the 13th and 14th in Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Austria.
Finally, we’d be remiss to not conclude our World Cup ski racing coverage this week without sharing the news that Jeffrey Shiffrin, Mikaela Shiffrin’s father, passed away unexpectedly this week. In addition to deserving the credit for fueling Mikaela Shiffrin’s drive throughout her youth, Jeffrey Shiffrin was also a popular figure in the ski scene. An anesthesiologist with Vail Health and Anesthesia Partners of Colorado, Shiffrin treated numerous skiers and snowboarders over the years. Additionally, Jeffrey often found himself accompanying Mikaela at her races, camera in hand, ready to capture the moment. As a result of this devastating news, Shiffrin’s return to the World Cup Circuit has yet to be determined. We’ll keep you updated on that front as we learn more. For now, our sincerest condolences are with Mikaela, her family, and all of those who new Jeffrey Shiffrin.
#2: It’s Dew Tour Weekend! Here’s What’s in Store:
Next up in this week’s news, is a preview of this weekend’s Dew Tour, hosted by Copper Mountain. To start, let’s quickly recap the one event that’s already taken place at the time of this writing: the Ski Team Challenge. Unique to the Dew Tour, this year’s team challenge event asked Atomic, Faction, and Volkl to put together teams consisting of their best Modified Pipe, Slopestyle, and Streetstyle skiers to represent them in each of the three events. By the end of the day Thursday, each discipline had competed, ultimately resulting in a victory for Atomic skis, followed by Faction in second and Volkl in third. Looking ahead, the next three days will host a number of competitions for both skiers and snowboarders, including Slopestyle and Superpipe. In addition to these two mainstays, there will also be a Streestyle event which is focused purely on rails and has a skatepark style vibe. Amongst the crowded field of riders this weekend are plenty of names to watch out for, such as Gus Kenworthy, Nick Goepper, LJ Strenio, and Oscar Wester. In addition to these names, recent X-Games winners Colby Stevenson, Kelly Sildaru, and Alex Ferreira will all also be suiting up. All in all it should be a pretty exciting weekend! To follow along with this weekend’s events, we recommend checking out the schedule over on the Dew Tour website.
#3: Lawsuit Blocking Squaw / Alpine Base to Base Gondola Project Dropped:
In other news this week, it was announced that the lawsuit filed against Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows that was preventing the construction of their Base to Base Gondola has been dropped. The last time we checked in on this story was at the end of July, when the Placer County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the project. At that time, we expressed the need for caution as there was still plenty of time for a lawsuit to be filed in an effort to block progress. As it turns out, that’s exactly what happened. Between then and now, an environmental group called The Granite Chief Wilderness Protection League had filed a lawsuit questioning Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadow’s ability to build the gondola system on federally protected land. This week, that same group dropped the lawsuit, thereby officially clearing the path for creating the gondola. While there’s still a chance that another group files a lawsuit to try and halt the effort, at this point it’s looking increasingly likely that the project will move forward. When it does, it should take approximately 2.5 months to complete, and will be able to transport about 1,400 people per hour, with a total trip time of about 16 minutes. For more on this, check out the report from the Los Angeles Times, or the official Base to Base webpage.
#4: Meet Sharon Crawford, the 75 Year Old Competitive Ski Mountaineering Badass:
75 year old Sharon Crawford, avid competitive ski mountaineer and self proclaimed "endurance person." Image shot by James Stukenberg for The New York Times
Finally, let’s round things out this week with a human interest story. As you’re likely aware, we’re big fans of the growing uphill skiing trend. Whether it’s the establishment of new chairlift-free ski resorts like Bluebird Backcountry, or organized town races that encourage nighttime recreation during the dreariest months of the year, we’re big proponents of all the positives that come along with the uphill skiing movement. That’s why we were especially excited this week when we came across a New York Times article highlighting Sharon Crawford, a 75 year old woman who still competes in ski mountaineering races. As per usual, the New York Times has done an excellent job of sharing the story, so we won’t dive too deeply into the details here as they’re better left discovered while reading the full article. That said, one notable stat that demands mentioning is the fact that Crawford managed to knock out a 2 mile, 1,500 vertical foot climb in just 1 hour 2 minutes at the recent Breckenridge Ascent Series. While some of you may look at that number and say, “I could do that,” the fact that Crawford can achieve that pace at her age while a vast majority of her competitors are decades younger is downright inspirational. If you’re interested in learning more about this incredibly impressive athlete’s story, check out the full writeup from the New York Times. We highly recommend it.