All posts tagged: Alpine

Alpine skiing-Cortina smiles on Johnson after previous pain

Alpine skiing-Cortina smiles on Johnson after previous pain

Published by Sam Flores

CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy, Feb 8 : Cortina d’Ampezzo’s Olimpia della Tofane piste wrecked Breezy Johnson’s Olympic downhill hopes four years ago but made amends on Sunday, even if the gold medal came apart minutes after being hung round her neck. Johnson held up the separated components – the chunky medal, clasp and ribbon – in the post-race press conference after becoming the first U.S. medallist of the Milano Cortina Games in the opening race of the women’s Alpine ski programme. “I was jumping in excitement and it broke. I’m sure somebody will fix it. It’s not like crazy broken but it’s a little broken,” she said.  ‘HEART ACHES’ FOR LINDSEY VONN The pain this time was for others – teammate Lindsey Vonn who was flown to hospital after a horrific crash while attempting to become the oldest Alpine Olympic medallist at the age of 41 and with a severely injured left knee. “My heart aches for her. It’s such a brutal sport sometimes,” said Johnson. Four years ago it was Johnson’s heart that was aching …

Alpine skiing-Relaxed Odermatt keeps his powder dry in downhill training

Alpine skiing-Relaxed Odermatt keeps his powder dry in downhill training

Published by Sam Flores

BORMIO, Italy, Feb 5 : Swiss favourite Marco Odermatt was not hitting the panic button after setting only the 23rd-fastest time in the second training run for the Olympic men’s downhill on Thursday. The 28-year-old had been third fastest on Wednesday in much slower conditions but appeared content to use his second run down the Stelvio as a fact-finding mission. Odermatt is the dominant force in men’s ski racing and leads the World Cup standings in downhill, super-G and giant slalom and is being tipped for multiple golds in Bormio. After Wednesday’s cloud and soft snow conditions, the sun came out on Thursday and the 3.3km track quickened up significantly, with the Italian speed team setting the pace. Odermatt had the brakes on during the closing stages of his run and was relaxed about his day’s work. “They cleaned up the whole track, (there is) less fresh snow from the day before and already a little bit more bumpy – but we know Bormio is usually bumpy like that. It was nice to ski,” Odermatt, …

Alpine skiing-Norway suffer second blow as Moeller injured in training run

Alpine skiing-Norway suffer second blow as Moeller injured in training run

Published by Sam Flores

BORMIO, Italy, Feb 4 : Norway suffered a second blow this week as racer Fredrik Moeller was taken to hospital after crashing in the men’s first downhill training run at the Milano Cortina Olympics on Wednesday. Norway, usually among the leading contenders in men’s alpine skiing, have already lost Aleksander Aamodt Kilde to injury.  The 25-year-old Moeller, with a Bormio gold in super-G under his belt from the 2024 World Cup, dislocated his left shoulder, team doctor Trond Floberghagen said in a statement. He suffered no other injuries and treatment has gone well, but it is still unclear if Moeller will participate in the Games. Kilde, who made his comeback from injury earlier this season after nearly two years on the sidelines, pulled out of the Olympics on Tuesday after failing to regain full fitness. The 33-year-old won a bronze medal in the super-G at the 2022 Beijing Games. The timing of Moeller’s crash was not great for the Norwegian team’s spirit, said racer Adrian Smiseth Sejersted, who was still looking ahead optimistically.  “Now we’re …

Outdoor Vitals Vantage Alpine Puffer Jacket Review: Perfect Spring Puffer

Outdoor Vitals Vantage Alpine Puffer Jacket Review: Perfect Spring Puffer

Published by skeptic

I’ll confess I would have a nerdy admiration for ExpeDry down even if it didn’t work, just for its use of basic chemistry, which even I dimly remember from high school but for some reason never made it into a product until recently. What’s even better is that it does work. I don’t have a lab, and I’m not particularly interested in what happens in one anyway, but I am a backpacker, living in a cold climate, with a deep dislike for being cold. In the real world, where I live, if your jacket loses loft and you get cold, bad things happen. In my testing, the Vantage jacket loses almost no loft throughout the day, even when I am active and sweating in it. Better Than DWR? Photograph: Scott Gilbertson Outdoor Vitals is not the first to use ExpeDry. Marmot, Katabatic Gear, and many others also have various sleeping bags and jackets with ExpeDry down, but the Vantage is the first time I have noticed a real difference. The Vantage has less fill than …

Alpine Skier Ryan Cochran-Siegle’s Starter Pack: Winter Olympics 2026

Alpine Skier Ryan Cochran-Siegle’s Starter Pack: Winter Olympics 2026

Published by skeptic

Ryan Cochran-Siegle was practically born on skis. He started sliding around Vermont snow at age 2 and grew up in one of the most storied families in American alpine racing. His grandparents built a nonprofit ski area in 1961, and his mother, Barbara Ann Cochran, won Olympic gold in Sapporo in 1972. When Cochran-Siegle made the US national alpine team in 2011, he joined his cousin, two-time Olympian Jimmy Cochran. But Cochran-Siegle’s career hasn’t been an inheritance story. It’s been shaped by catastrophic injuries, long rehabs, and a steady belief that his best skiing was still ahead of him. Cochran-Siegle is no longer the wide-eyed rookie who debuted in Pyeongchang or the comeback story who won silver in the super-G at Beijing 2022 and was the only US alpine skier to medal at those Games. “I’m more established as a skier,” Cochran-Siegle tells WIRED. “There’s some confidence to take into it.” Before a race, Cochran-Siegle looks for a warm-up slope, practicing movement patterns and “getting all the wheels greased.” He wants to feel like the …

Alpine skiing-Blanc wins home super-G in Crans-Montana as Olympics approach

Alpine skiing-Blanc wins home super-G in Crans-Montana as Olympics approach

Published by Sam Flores

CRANS-MONTANA, Switzerland, Jan 31 : Swiss racer Malorie Blanc won a super-G on home snow in Crans-Montana on Saturday for her first World Cup success in the last women’s event before the Milano Cortina Olympics start next week. Italy’s super-G World Cup leader Sofia Goggia and downhill world champion Breezy Johnson of the United States finished second and third in a race with a sombre backdrop after a bar fire claimed 40 lives in the Swiss resort this month. The words “Our thoughts are with you” were written in white lettering on a black background across the front of the start hut and at the finish where sponsor branding would normally feature.     “To bring something like this to Crans-Montana, it means so much to me,” said Blanc. U.S. great Lindsey Vonn, who was taken to hospital on Friday after crashing and injuring her left knee in a downhill that was later called off, did not start. Blanc, 22, had only one previous podium finish – a second in downhill in St Anton a year ago …

Alpine skiing-Vonn misses final super-G before Olympics after downhill crash

Alpine skiing-Vonn misses final super-G before Olympics after downhill crash

Published by Sam Flores

CRANS-MONTANA, Switzerland, Jan 31 : U.S. Alpine ski great Lindsey Vonn has ruled herself out of the final women’s World Cup super-G before the Milano Cortina Olympics on Saturday after injuring her knee in a downhill crash. The 41-year-old was taken to hospital on Friday after falling in a race that was then cancelled due to the weather conditions. The 2010 gold medallist said afterwards that her dream of an Olympic comeback was not over. “Unfortunately I won’t be able to race today…wishing all my teammates a great race,” Vonn posted on Instagram. “Thank you for all of the love and support I have received. Means the world to me. Doing my best right now…” The first training run for the February 8 women’s Olympic downhill is scheduled for Wednesday. Vonn had been on the start list for Saturday’s super-G with bib number 15. Source link

Alpine skiing-Vonn launches social media search mission after ski pole goes missing

Alpine skiing-Vonn launches social media search mission after ski pole goes missing

Published by Sam Flores

Jan 15 : Lindsey Vonn may be dominating World Cup downhills at 41, but even the U.S. speed queen is not immune to missing equipment. Vonn took to social media on Thursday with an unusual plea after losing a ski pole in Tarvisio, Italy, ahead of this weekend’s World Cup event. “Someone took my pole in the parking lot today in Tarvisio. If you have seen it please respond to this. Thank you,” Vonn wrote on X, posting a photo of the matching pole complete with her initials on the hand strap. Vonn, a favourite for the speed events at next month’s Milano-Cortina Olympics, retired from the sport in 2019 and had a partial knee replacement in April 2024 but returned to competition later that year and has been enjoying a fairy-tale comeback that has defied age and expectation. Already the oldest World Cup winner of all time, Vonn continued her astonishing, age-defying form with a downhill victory in Zauchensee, Austria last week. That triumph marked Vonn’s fourth podium from four downhills this season, cementing her …

Switzerland Honors the Victims of the Deadly Alpine Bar Fire in a National Day of Mourning

Switzerland Honors the Victims of the Deadly Alpine Bar Fire in a National Day of Mourning

Published by Sam Flores

An additional 116 people were injured, many of them seriously, when the fire broke out less than two hours after midnight at the Le Constellation bar on Jan. 1. Investigators have said they believe sparkling candles atop Champagne bottles ignited the fire in the resort town of Crans-Montana when they came too close to the ceiling. Authorities are looking into whether soundproofing material on the ceiling conformed with regulations and whether the candles were permitted for use in the bar. Fire safety inspections hadn’t been carried out since 2019. The severity of burns made it difficult to identify some victims, requiring families to supply authorities with DNA samples. Police have said many of the victims were in their teens to mid-20s. Swiss authorities have opened a criminal investigation into the bar managers. The two are suspected of involuntary homicide, involuntary bodily harm and involuntarily causing a fire, according to the Valais region’s chief prosecutor. As part of the national day of mourning, church bells across Switzerland will ring for five minutes, beginning at 2 p.m. …