Mikaela Shiffrin and Hailey Duke will carry the American torch to Levi this weekend for the World Cup slalom opener in the Arctic Circle Saturday. The race begins at 4 a.m. EST with the second run kicking off at 7.

For Shiffrin, it is a return to the discipline that brought her first World Cup podium last season.

"I've had a really good preparation period for slalom with great training in Mt. Hood, New Zealand and at Soelden," said Shiffrin. "I think a good part of that is because I'm very goal oriented when it comes to training. But when I get to the race, I have to let those goals out of my mind and just focus on skiing well between every gate."

The annual Scandinavian slaloms were canceled last season when unseasonably warm temperatures didn't allow for snowmaking on the Levi Black World Cup slope.

"The race was canceled last year, so I've never been to Levi, but Resi [Stiegler] told me it's a lot of fun. It will be interesting racing where it's dark most of the time," said Shiffrin.

Both Lindsey Vonn and Julia Mancuso will sit this World Cup out, opting instead to remain in the U.S. to take advantage of prime early-season training conditions in Colorado.

Meanwhile, tech specialist Resi Stiegler, who is coming back from injury this season, will also miss the opening slalom to cement her recovery over the next few weeks. She's expected to compete in Aspen later this month.

Saturday's Start Order

Photos: GEPA
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