Hahnenkamm Slalom

The weekend of racing in Kitzbühel finished up yesterday with a slalom on the Ganslernhang, just to the skier's left of the downhill's Zielschuss.

The fact that the trail is next to the downhill is no mere coincidence because the terrain is just as treacherous. It also falls away constantly to the left and even offers an uphill section late in the second run. And that's not even mentioning the 30,000 people who line the hill and pack the finish area.

To top it off, yesterday's two courses were among the toughest in recent memory on the World Cup. The first run had 8 combinations, including a nasty sidehill flush, and the second run featured turns that were exceedingly tight and unforgiving the whole way down.

As a result, I was quite happy with my 20th-place performance. I skied well both runs, technically and tactically, and was pleased with my execution through such tough conditions.

It was also cool to see JP Vidal win again, for the first time since the 2002 Olympics. When he's skiing well he exudes a lot of enthusiasm in his style, almost as though he's floating from gate to gate. It was also refreshing to see Reinfried Herbst finish 2nd because he's been an outsider on the Austrian team this year, paying for his own training, and now he has very nearly qualified for their Olympic team!