The World Cup According to Grande: Eliasch and Head buy a team
First, in response to all the critics of my last blog…that was it, the last I will say on the subject of J3 racing. Please withhold personal criticism on this subject. Please do not email me, Facebook me or otherwise contact me on J3 racing.
I am not personally criticizing Mikaela or any other athlete. I think Mikaela (I don’t think I know how to spell your name) is an excellent skier and has done very well, but I just don’t think it is a viable measuring stick for the rest of her career. I am proud of these athletes and what they achieve but it simply is not an automatic indicator of great World Cup success. I am sure Mikaela will do all that she can to do great things, I just don’t want to comment on it and I should not have opened this can yesterday. Mikaela, if you read this blog: go out, kick ass, work hard and do great things. You are good, get it done. No more comments on J3 ever again on this blog.
I want to address something totally different. It is World Cup racing and a mass exodus to one company from all corners of the earth. The last time we saw something like this; it was from Atomic in 2004-06 as they amassed what ended up being the very best athletes from all the major nations. Going into the 04-05 season, Atomic had Svindal, Jaerbyn, Cuche, Rocca, Raich, Maier, Miller, Rahlves, Neureuther, Deneriaz, Minagawa, Walchhofer, Albrecht, Berthod. And there were more. But their strategy was clear. They had cleared budget room by dumping all but the best Austrians that summer and spent that money getting the likes of Miller, Rocca, Albrecht, Berthod, etc. onto their product. That season, in 2005 at the Bormio World Championships, Atomic won 14 of 15 men’s medals. The only medal they did not win was the silver in slalom, won by Rainer Schoenfelder on Fischer. In the 2006 Olympics, Atomic only won 6 medals of the 15 available but that was still TWICE as many as the next highest men’s manufacturer total. Since that time, Atomic has been dismantling the stable of athletes they acquired in those days. Cutting their salary burden and moving on to rebuilding from a grass-roots program. Finding younger, up and coming athletes on the lower end of National Teams and getting them on their product for only the cost of product.
So the other side of the equation is the Head Ski program. They had struggled for years for respect and results on the men’s tour. We saw them grow in the past few years by signing great athletes. But look at the list from post-2006. Miller signed on Head. As did Paerson, Cuche and Larsson. Maria Riesch was already there. So then last year they add Lindsey Vonn and put their best service-man, Heinz Hammerle on her staff. This summer they have picked up: Aksel Lund Svindal, Kjietl Jansrud, Werner Heel and Anne-Sophie Barthet. If you start looking at that list, it becomes an amazing read. Miller, Cuche, Svindal, Vonn, Riesch, Paerson and even Jansrud are overall globe contenders. Heel is certainly talented and so is Anne-Sophie. From last year, and I am not sure on movement on these athletes, they still have the likes of: Anna Goodman, Sarka Zahrobska, Marco Buechel, Liz Goergl, Susanne Riesch, Hans Olsson and at least 5 more full-time World Cuppers who score regularly. When you start doing the math on paying all of these fine athletes, let alone supplying them with product, support and service, the bill will be staggering. I am impressed with the dedication that Race Director Rainer Salzgeber shown in pursuing these athletes. He had to set up testing, meetings and discussions. He has dealt with egos and opinions. He had to win their confidence. But most of all, he had to have the budget to get it done. And that means Johan Eliasch was pulling the strings. Eliasch is the CEO/Chairman and reportedly is the controlling share-holder. Mr. Eliasch is a passionate racer and fan of ski racing. He has even fore-run the Hahnenkamm as well as other World Cup races. To me, it looks like the New York Yankees of the World Cup. And that is not really a criticism, just an observation.
Any criticism or wariness from me would be in supply and sustainability. I would be very worried if I were one of the skiers lower on the food-chain at Head. You know that your choice in ski model, flex, construction type, quality, etc. will flow down the hill to you. You will get what you get and likely will have very little say in what you actually get to use. If you are someone like Andreas Buder, middle of the road Downhiller, and you have to wait to get your quiver straight based on Miller, Cuche, Svindal, etc. it can be highly frustrating. So keeping everyone happy with high-quality and fast gear is always a challenge.
I know that most people who have not witnessed this first-hand on the World Cup will not believe me, but a shortage of what people consider World Cup winning skis does exist. And a battle to control them does happen, every year. More importantly, does Head have the infrastructure in place to produce that quality of ski for all of their Europa Cup and junior athletes throughout the world? Is there a predictable trickle-down of skis through their system? Or is all the money so focused on obtaining and retaining a World Cup stable of athletes that they cannot possibly do a good job with the rest of the racing world?
I do not know the answer to that. I like Johan, I like his company and his product. I have no doubt that they want to do it all, top to bottom. I hope that they can be all to everyone as I am sure they want to be. Rainer is as good as it gets as an international race director. Good luck boys, and get it done at the highest level.
Click here to go to Alpine Race Consulting
Greg “Grande” Needell grew up ski racing at Stratton Mountain,
Vermont. After graduating from SMS he skied for NCAA Division 1 St.
Lawrence University in Canton, NY where he was co-captain in 1986. Greg
returned to SMS to coach there for five years serving as the Head
Women’s Coach as well as the Head J2 Men’s Coach. He then moved to
Mission Ridge in Wenatchee, Washington in 1992 to become the Program
Director and Head Coach of the Mission Ridge Ski Club. In 1997, Greg
became the Head Coach at Mammoth Mountain, California.
In 2002 Needell was asked to join the U.S. Ski Team staff as a World
Cup SL and GS coach. From 2002 to 2008 Needell helped lead the U.S. Ski
Team Men to 43 wins, 105 podiums and 264 top ten finishes. Now at the
helm of Alpine Race Consulting, Needell offers his knowledge and
experience to clubs nationwide.
About the Author: Eric Williams
