Simard wins FIS GS at Loveland

GEORGETOWN, CO (USST report) – Canadian skier Genevieve Simard overcame tricky conditions Thursday to win the second women’s giant slalom of the Nature Valley Alpine Cup while Caroline Lalive (Steamboat Springs, CO) survived a near-spill at the top of her second run and finished third, leading three Americans into the top 10.

Birthday girl Resi Stiegler (Jackson Hole, WY, daughter of Olympic slalom champion Pepi Stiegler), turning 17, was sixth for the second day in a row as the Chevy Truck Super Series, the U.S. races on the Nor Am Cup schedule, got underway. Julia Mancuso (Olympic Valley, CA) finished ninth and Sarah Schleper (Vail, CO) 12th on Loveland Basin’s Spillway racing trail. NBC will broadcast Super Series coverage Nov. 24 at 3 p.m. EST.

Gusting winds and erratic snowfall created nightmarish conditions. Simard had a two-run time of 1:50.82 as she pulled past teammate Britt Janyk, the first-run leader for the second consecutive Chevy Truck Super Series giant slalom. Olympic medalist Martina Ertl of Germany was second in 1:51.09 with Lalive third in a time of 1:51.12.

“The weather was in and out all day,” Lalive said. “Coming down the hill was just a fight…but it was fun, too. The snow was blowing in and out. They were funny conditions, but what can do?

“The snow was really hard underneath, once you scraped it off,” Lalive said.

Mathias Berthold, U.S. women’s slalom/GS head coach, said, “For us this was just training. I thought the girls skied well. Lalive had a great second run; she did a great job. On the second run she was down at the top and out and she still finished third.

“Schleper, if she skis like she did in training, beats everyone by a second,” according to Berthold. “We’re just not there yet, but we’re going to get there. Stiegler was really awesome here these two days. We have a good bunch of people coming up.”

After an off-day Friday, the men take over the Nature Valley Alpine Cup stage with slaloms Saturday and Sunday, their final tuneup before the World Cup schedule resumes Nov. 21-24 with the Chevy Truck America’s Opening races – GS and slalom for men and women – at Utah’s Park City Mountain Resort. The women have Super Series slaloms Sunday and Monday at Winter Park before moving on to Park City.

CHEVY TRUCK SUPER SERIES
Nature Valley Alpine Cup
Loveland Basin Ski Area
Georgetown, CO — Nov. 14
Women’s Giant Slalom-2
1. Genevieve Simard, Canada, 1:50.82
2. Martina Ertl, Germany, 1:51.09
3. Caroline Lalive, Steamboat Springs, CO, 1:51.12
4. Britt Janyk, Canada, 1:51.33
5. Karen Putzer, Italy, 1:51.35
–
Americans in the top 25:
6. Resi Stiegler, Jackson Hole, WY, 1:51.43
9. Julia Mancuso, Olympikc Valley, CA, 1:51.43
12. Sarah Schleper, Vail, CO, 1:52.07
20. Kaylin Richardson, Edina, MN, 1:52.79

Miller will have knee scoped

VAIL, CO (Nov. 14) — Olympic double medalist Bode Miller (Franconia, NH) will undergo routine arthroscopic surgery to clean-out his left knee but is expected to be racing at the Chevy Truck America’s Opening races next week in Park City, Utah, the U.S. Ski Team said Thursday.

Men’s Head Coach Phil McNichol, who took five runs with Miller in the morning at nearby Beaver Creek resort, said Miller would undergo the routine procedure Friday with Dr. Richard Steadman at the Steadman-Hawkins Medical Clinic in Vail. “Bode will miss the two Super Series slaloms at the Nature Valley Alpine Cup at Loveland this weekend as Dr. Steadman removes a very minor piece of cartilage, which is causing him some small discomfort, but he’ll be racing in Park City,” McNichol said.