Ready, set, Sölden: U.S. men prep for opener

By Published On: October 11th, 2008Comments Off on Ready, set, Sölden: U.S. men prep for opener

Sasha Rearick admits to being a bit of a gambler. But the first-year head coach of the U.S. men’s alpine team isn’t ready to make any predictions for his guys when it comes to how they’ll fare in the World Cup-opening GS in two weeks.
    "It’s not like NFL football where you get a few scrimmages. You wake up in October and you’ve got to go," Rearick says. "We’ve had a great prep period, stressed the details, had race simulations … and now it’s like, ‘Do all the cards fall into place and [are we] ready for Sölden? … I would say we’re in a good place, we’ve executed the plan we’ve put in place to be successful this winter.”

SASHA REARICK admits to being a bit of a gambler. But the first-year head coach of the U.S. men’s alpine team isn’t ready to make any predictions for his guys when it comes to how they’ll fare in the World Cup-opening GS in two weeks.
    "It’s not like NFL football where you get a few scrimmages. You wake up in October and you’ve got to go," Rearick says. "We’ve had a great prep period, stressed the details, had race simulations … and now it’s like, ‘Do all the cards fall into place and [are we] ready for Sölden? … I would say we’re in a good place, we’ve executed the plan we’ve put in place to be successful this winter.”

Nyman, Sullivan set pace at Portillo; Ligety impresses
Rearick and much of his coaching staff are now in Europe after spending the latter half of September at the team’s speed camp in Portillo, Chile. Having worked almost exclusively with the men’s technical team in recent years, Rearick this year observed a portion of the speed training in Portillo and came away impressed with his charges, particularly veterans Marco Sullivan and Steven Nyman.
    "In terms of actually going fast and skiing fast, those two guys are pushing each other, they’re challenging each other, they’re doing really good stuff," Rearick says. "I was pleased with the effort those guys were putting in and the focus."
    Sullivan and Nyman don’t kick off their seasons until Nov. 29-30 with downhill and super G events at Lake Louise. But leading the charge for the U.S. men in Sölden will be Ted Ligety. Ligety—the reigning World Cup champion in giant slalom—participated in the Portillo speed camp where Rearick said he focused on getting more comfortable with speed, working on his transitions between long, sweeping turns, and controlling the edge angle of his skis to improving gliding on the flats. That edge control, Rearick believes, should also help Ligety better retain speed through the flats on GS tracks with moderate pitches, like Sölden.
    Ligety has always been a superb technical skier and a master at creating edge angulation on steep courses. Rearick said given a few more years of focus on speed training, Ligety could develop into a top all-rounder for the U.S. team.
    "The progress Ted is making in downhill is substantial compared to what it was a couple years ago," Rearick says. "In terms of really being fast in speed, I think it’s going to take some more years of getting comfortable with going that fast.
    "Will he be on the podium in downhill this year? No. But if he continues making steps like these over the next couple years we can seriously talk about him being a four-event skier."

Solden starters not determined
In addition to Ligety, the other U.S. starters favored to start in the opening GS are reigning World Cup overall champ Bode Miller, Erik Schlopy, Jimmy Cochran, Jake Zamansky and a discretionary pick by the coaches. The final selections won't be made until later this week or next and will be confirmed when their names are placed on the start board at the team captains meeting in Sölden on Oct. 25.
    Rearick did tell Ski Racing that he is leaning toward choosing Tim Jitloff as a possible coaches pick, but there may be a time trial held. Cody Marshall and Tim Kelley could also contend for that coaches pick, Rearick says.  
    Jitloff is rehabbing an ankle he sprained while playing volleyball during the Portillo camp, but he doesn’t expect that to hamper his race prep. Jitloff also switched to Fischer skis and boots this off-season, a move the reigning U.S. national GS champ said has improved his slalom technique immensely.
    “The goal at Solden is to make the [top 30] flip, and anything else would really be a bonus,” Jitloff says. “I’m definitely a little anxious, a little excited. You spend all summer working, studying and training as hard as you can to be in the best possible shape, and it’s just nice to finally get going.”
    Rearick said recent storms in the Tyrolean Alps have left soft snow conditions on the glaciers but temperatures remain cold. B Team members Kelley and Marshall, along with C Team member Will Brandenburg, are in Europe now through Oct. 23 training. Ligety, Cochran, Schlopy and Jitloff arrive in Austria on Oct. 15 and will train at least three days on the race hill at Solden before the Oct. 26 race, Rearick says. The coaching staff and athletes will also hold one more simulated race before Sölden to work out any kinks for the opener.

Other news and notes from the Portillo camp and Sölden race prep:

— Rearick observed T.J. Lanning ski and train in his two-week “return to snow” session in Chile after the 24-year-old underwent knee surgery in the spring: “The GS skiing I saw him doing was better than anything I saw last year,” Rearick says. “He needs to continue to progress daily, and he was.”
— Rearick praised the performance of speedster Scott Macartney, who is back training after suffering a nasty concussion at Kitzbuhel that ended his 2008 season. Macartney had some pain in his back early this summer but didn’t have any issues on the bumpy speed track at Portillo. “To see him charging and seeing the way he was attacking was really exciting, a big step in right direction,” Rearick says.
— B Teamer Andrew Weibrecht, who turned heads with a blazing Birds of Prey downhill run last season, continues to progress and Rearick believes he can make a significant move up this year in speed events after making a tactical switch and improving his turn-to-turn transitions. “He’s not going exceptionally fast right now, but he’s in a place where he can turn the gas pedal on here in the next couple months in a serious way. That’s fun to watch,” Rearick says.
— Regarding the Solden opener, Rearick is excited to watch the performances of his top three racers—Ligety, Cochran, and Schlopy—against the world’s best, and he assessed their form heading into the final training bloc. “I’d say Ted’s in a good place, Jimmy is in a better place than he’s been in a long time, and I’d say Schlopy is physically fitter than he’s ever been in the last six, seven, eight years,” he said. “I’d say those three guys going into Sölden are in a better place than they’ve ever been.”

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About the Author: Pete Rugh