Wind and snow cancel a super G before Tessa Worley grabs her second
giant slalom of the season BY ERIC WILLIAMS PHOTOS BY GEPA
Swiss Hit and Miss
St. Moritz may have been the world’s first winter resort,
but in mid-December, it was not the most hospitable place.
First, fog and wind canceled the freeski session planned for
Dec. 10.
And then came the super G on Dec. 11. After an initial hour-
long course-hold, the wind let up and the first racer headed
down the fierce Corviglia/Suvretta piste. A mid-course roller
before a tight right-hand turn raised some eyebrows when
the second racer down, Slovenia’s Marusa Ferk, sailed off
it and took a tough, high-speed crash. After being checked
out by coaches and medical staff, she skied down under her
own power.
Then, two more racers failed to navigate the same tricky
section in the hazy conditions and officials put on the brakes
on yet again. Following a 20-minute wind hold, the race was
officially canceled. Only six skiers ever made it out of the
start gate.
“It was a combination of weather and safety because the
course turned out to be faster than they expected,” said U.S.
alpine women’s head coach Alex Hoedlmoser, who said the
course set, though technical, was fair. “We knew [it was a
difficult set] from inspection and the people that missed the
gate or fell, just didn’t do the right things. We were all fired
up to rip this thing up but unfortunately we couldn’t.”
Tessa Worley grabs her second GS
win of the season in St. Moritz.
The race was rescheduled for a week later in Val d’Isere,
France, where it would be canceled yet again — by heavy
snowfall.
Giant Slalom, Dec. 12
Day 2 brought similar weather to St. Moritz, and afternoon
gusts forced officials to postpone the second run for an
hour.
Racing resumed with a bang as the first run’s 30th finisher,
Austrian Marlies Schild, hammered down with the fastest
run of the day (1:04.05). She stayed the leader through the
next 14 racers and salvaged a 12th-place finish.
With a ripping second run of her own, France’s Tessa Wor-
ley locked down her second World Cup GS in as many at-
tempts (she also won two weeks earlier in the Apsen GS).
The 21-year-old was 0.63 seconds off the lead in fifth after
the first run and then put down the fifth fastest second-run
time for her fourth career World Cup victory (all the last two
calendar years). She has never been on a World Cup po-
dium any lower then the top step.
Still, Worley remained humble. “It was a good run, I made
a lot of mistakes but not as many as my other racer friends,”
she said of her second run. “It was a big battle but it ended
nice for me.”
