Feb 9

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WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS EDITION // DAY 8

TODAY Gates open, 8 a.m., followed by live pre-show, Redtail Finish Stadium, Beaver Creek.

Ladies’ alpine combined, 10 a.m., Redtail Finish Stadium, Beaver Creek.

Medals Ceremony, 6:30 p.m., Championships Plaza (Solaris), Vail.

Barenaked Ladies free concert, following Medals Ceremony, Championships Plaza (Solaris), Vail.

TOWNSEND BESSENT | TOWNSEND@VAILDAILY.COM

Marcel Hirscher bangs down gates as he makes his way through the slalom portion of the 2015 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships men’s alpine combined in Beaver Creek on Sunday. Hirscher’s combined time of 2 minutes, 36.10 seconds was enough to take home a gold medal for the Austrians.

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Hirscher rallies in wacky combined Austrian comes back from 3.16-second deficit to win men’s combined. Norway’s Kjetil Jansrud takes second. A28

DOMINIQUE TAYLOR | SPECIAL TO THE DAILY

Austria’s Marcel Hirscher, center, celebrates winning the 2015 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships men’s combined at the finish line with silver medalist Kjetil Jansrud from Norway, right, and bronze medalist Ted Ligety on Sunday at Beaver Creek.

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COMMENTARY “To suggest that if a man is a terrorist and the terrorist is a Muslim implies that all Muslims are terrorists is a clumsy syllogism.”

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR, A6

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A4 | Monday, February 9, 2015 | The Vail Daily

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VAIL — The future of a possible Interstate 70 underpass is still in limbo, but the project won’t include a noise wall if it’s eventually built.

Town and state officials have long tried to find a way to build the underpass — the north side of which would be at the Simba Run and Savoy Villas condominiums, about halfway between the main and west Vail interchanges. The project is seen as a way to reduce traffic at the roundabouts, help in-town traffic, make the town’s bus routes more efficient and speed response times for emergency-services vehicles.

SURVEY Part of the planning process for the underpass included an environmental study that included the effects of highway noise on residents near the underpass. That noise study triggered a federal requirement that affected neighbors — known as “benefiting receptors” in government-speak — would get to vote on whether or not to include a noise wall with the project. A survey was sent to 203 affected property owners, including the town of Vail, which represents the Timber Ridge property.

Those surveys accounted for a total of 406

FOUR FACTS What: A proposed underpass linking Vail’s north and south frontage roads.

Where: About halfway between the Main Vail and West Vail interchanges.

Estimated cost: About $29 million.

When might it start? If finally approved, then work could start in April, 2016. votes. Of the returned surveys, 59 percent, or 210 votes — opposed the noise wall.

That survey effectively killed a feature that could have added nearly $5 million to the underpass project as a whole.

FUNDING The challenge now is whether the state and town can find money to pay for the project, which has become much more expensive since it was first approved for funding in 2013. The new estimated cost is $29 million, up from the original estimate of just less than $21 million. The town of Vail originally committed to pay $6 million of the project’s cost. If the Colorado Transportation Commission approves funding for the project, then the town’s share would rise to about $8.4 million, assuming the state and town stick to the original cost-sharing formula.

The decision to approve the additional funding is likely to come in April of this year.

Vail Daily Business Editor Scott Miller can be reached at 970-748-2930, smiller@ vaildaily.com and @scottnmiller.

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| Monday, February 9, 2015 | A5

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American Ted Ligety, right, waves to the crowd from the podium Sunday at Solaris in Vail after receiving a bronze medal in the 2015 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships men’s combined behind silver medalist Kjetil Jansrud from Norway, left, and gold medalist Marcel Hirscher from Austria, center.

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A28 | Monday, February 9, 2015 | The Vail Daily

20 15

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

Slalom master Hirscher prevails Sunday Jansrud, Ligety round out podium for Worlds alpine combined

By Melanie Wong mwong@vaildaily.com

BEAVER CREEK — Austrian Marcel Hirscher proved that finesse and technique can overcome pure speed on Sunday at the men’s combined race at the FIS Alpine World Championships in Beaver Creek, bouncing back from a 3.16-second deficit to take home a gold medal.

In a surprise finish, downhill specialist Kjetil Jansrud, of Norway, won silver, showing that even a speed giant could carve some tight turns. American favorite Ted Ligety also overcame a nearly three-second deficit from the downhill with a fast slalom run that snagged him the bronze.

At the alpine combined — spectators saw the best of both the downhill and slalom worlds. They also saw the worst — or at least the very rusty — as evidenced by the number of skiers who did not finish the race, or lost leads of several seconds in between the slalom gates.

The morning’s downhill run on the Birds of Prey course tested the technical skiers and brought several surprises, including an early lead by American Jared Goldberg, who sat in third place after the downhill portion. At the beginning of the slalom, the title seemed up for grabs, with the better slalom skiers such as Hirscher and Ligety far behind on time.

“I skied horrible,” Ligety said after the downhill run. “I really didn’t make any mistakes — I just skied horrible.”

Of course, both Ligety and Hirscher went on to more than make up that lost time in the slalom, and the downhill specialists struggled to keep up as the course deteriorated under the hot sun for the later skiers.

Hirscher, who finished just behind Ligety on the downhill, took a different attitude toward his time deficit. He nearly didn’t enter the alpine combined race after he trailed the leaders by margins of 5 seconds during downhill training.

“We were not sure if it made sense for me to start the super combined, but in the end, my technicians made an awesome set up, and I skied 2 seconds faster than in the training runs,” he said. “You have to always push as hard as you can and take your chances, and I took my chances.”

PRIME POSITION FOR HIRSCHER Hirscher, who is the three-time defending World Cup slalom champion, finished 30th after the downhill, a spot that put him into the best starting position for the slalom portion — first. (In alpine combined, after the first run the top 30 racers go in reverse order for the slalom.)

The prime spot, which became more of an advantage as the warm afternoon sun softened the slalom course for later competitors, was partially due to the fact that the Czech Republic’s Ondrej Bank was disqualified and unable to start the slalom portion. Bank crashed out dramatically in the final jump of the downhill, suffering a concussion, facial lacerations and leg contusions. He was disqualified for missing a final gate, bumping Hirscher up a spot in

JUSTIN Q. MCCARTY | SPECIAL TO THE DAILY

Marcel Hirscher, of Austria, looks ahead to his next gate while on the slalom course of the men’s combined during the 2015 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships on Sunday at Beaver Creek. Hirscher finished in first place with a combined time of 2 minutes, 36.10 seconds.

FIS ALPINE WORLD SKI CHAMPIONSHIPS MEDALS COUNT Gold Silver Bronze TOTAL Austria

3

1

0

4

Switzerland 1

0

2

3

U.S.A.

0

1

2

3

Slovenia

1

1

0

2

Canada

0

1

0

1

Norway

0

1

0

1

France

0

0

1

1

the standings.

With the advantageous starting spot, Hirscher showed he was the reigning champion, only making one notable mistake at the beginning of the course.

“Today, I don’t think I would have won with bib No. 31 — no,” he said. “But you always need luck to be in the first position.”

Ligety had a near miss as well, nearly missing a gate and sliding his knuckles on the snow to stay upright. He called the bronze a surprise, and like Hirscher, attributed his podium finish the luck of being one of the first racers to ski down the slalom course.

“It was just dumb luck and good strategy that (Hirscher and I) started first. It was so

TOWNSEND BESSENT | TOWNSEND@VAILDAILY.COM

Ted Ligety makes quick work of the men’s slalom course on Sunday during the 2015 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships men’s combined race at Beaver Creek. Ligety was 30th going into the slalom, but with skill and luck he was able to finish third overall with the second fastest slalom time of 50.36 seconds. hot, and Jansrud probably lost four-tenths on the bottom part just because it was so sticky,” he said. “If I was half a second faster in the downhill, I don’t think I would have gotten a medal at all, because I wouldn’t have gone in the beginning. I think it cost you a huge difference starting first and 31st. The course was really rutted. With that much sun on it, it was just like a suction cup.”

FIRST MEDAL FOR NORWAY Jansrud’s silver was the first medal of the World Championships for the Norwegians this year, as well as the first ever World Championships medal for Jansrud himself.

“It’s my first World Championship medal, which I rate very high,” he said. “Winning feels like winning a silver medal in a discipline where I was an outsider at best. It feels way better getting on the plane with a medal than without a medal.”

Jansrud finished first in the downhill portion, a welcome redemption after he fell short of expectations on Saturday’s downhill race.

“Having a bad day and being able to kick back today means that my skiing shape is OK, I didn’t lose it overnight,” he said.

“There are still some races left in the World Cup, so that’s a good thing.”

The Vail Daily

20 15

| Monday, February 9, 2015 | A29

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

With equal skill and luck, Ligety wins bronze Americans get third podium

By Chris Freud cfreud@vaildaily.com

BEAVER CREEK — Ted was done like dinner. He said it himself.

The defending world champion in the combined skied a “horrible” — Ligety’s word for it — downhill on Sunday morning during the 2015 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships men’s combined at Beaver Creek.

“Realistically, it’s out of reach,” Ligety said of his medal chances between runs. “I need a big buffer on (Austrian Marcel) Hirscher in a slalom run and a buffer on (France’s Alexis) Pinturault and not be 3 seconds off everyone else.

It’s not a good place to be in.”

Not as bad as you think, Ted. Yes, Ligety was 3.03 seconds behind the first-run leader, Norway’s Kjetil Jansrud, but being in 29th place going into the slalom apparently had its advantages on Sunday.

Ligety was the second to run when it came to the gates, and having a firm course on a warm afternoon was a huge bonus.

Hirscher, the first to run, won.

Jansrud needed all of his 3.16-second advantage over Hirscher to survive for second, and Ligety ended up with bronze.

“It was dumb luck to run one and two with the soft snow,” Ligety said. “Jansrud probably lost tenths on the bottom gates because it was so sticky. … It was cool, for sure. Whenever you win a medal, it’s awesome. It’s not the way I’d want my race to go, a notgood downhill and an amazing slalom besides the mistake.”

Ligety did get back in the seat a bit on the upper part of the course, and that may have cost him a differently colored medal.

But as he said, he was playing with house money on Sunday.

And that would be the U.S.A.’s third medal of the Championships, which would be precisely three more than the red, white and blue won in 1999, the last time they were hosts here.

HEARTBREAK FOR GOLDBERG Utah’s Jared Goldberg simply nailed the downhill in the morning with a time of 1 minute, 43.69 seconds, 0.91 seconds faster then his downhill run on Saturday.

“I didn’t ski exactly where I wanted to yesterday, and today, I really tightened the rope,” Goldberg said between runs. “I was able to come off line and ski straighter and be more aggressive.

It’s a more fun way to ski.”

That left Goldberg in third place, and 28th to leave the gate for the slalom. With only five days

TOWNSEND BESSENT | TOWNSEND@VAILDAILY.COM

Steven Nyman drops into The Brink during the 2015 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships men’s combined race in Beaver Creek on Sunday.

Nyman, despite a lack of recent slalom experience, finished 21st on Sunday.

TOWNSEND BESSENT | TOWNSEND@VAILDAILY.COM

Ted Ligety handles The Brink during the downhill portion of the 2015 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships men’s combined race in Beaver Creek on Sunday. Much to his surprise, Ligety won the bronze medal. of slalom practice this season, the slalom was a tall order for Goldberg, and he missed the second gate.

Nonetheless, he turned around to stay on course and ski the rest of the way receiving a warm welcome from the crowd for his efforts. He finished 29th.

“I was pretty bummed — instantly,” Goldberg said when it was all done. “I was feeling really confident and ready to send it to the bottom. I didn’t have any nerves and then to have something funky like that happen definitely sucks.”

SUNDAY FUN DAY The last time Steve Nyman skied in a combined was 2009 in Kitzbuehel. He threw his back out and that was that for combineds.

For Nyman and Andrew Weibrecht to have any chance — even before the slalom course turned to slush — they had to crush the downhill.

Neither did. Weibrecht was eighth and Nyman 12th after the downhill. So Sunday turned into an exercise of remembering how to slalom.

“I told myself to go to the top of the turn. You’ve got to drive to

JUSTIN Q. MCCARTY | SPECIAL TO THE DAILY

Jared Goldberg, of the United States, fights to keep his balance after making a slip at the top of the slalom course during the men’s combined of the 2015 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships on Sunday in Beaver Creek. Goldberg was third after the downhill, but he fell to 29th overall after the slalom. the outside and give myself room.

I forgot the top-of-the-turn part,” joked Nyman, who finished the day 21st.

Meanwhile, Weibrecht was 22nd.

“I felt like I was killing it, but I was a little bit slower,” he joked.

“I think I looked like I made good turns. That’s what matters.”

Tim Jitloff, of Reno, Nevada, ended up 17th. As a giant-slalom skier, he was caught between the disciplines, but it was a good

result.

“I had nothing to lose today,” Jitloff said. “I was just trying to do the best job I could for me. I had a lot of fun. Now it’s my opportunity to do the giant slalom, where I can be a medal threat, is coming up Friday, and I am fired up for that.”

Sports Editor Chris Freud can be reached at 970-748-2934, cfreud@vaildaily.com and @cfreud.

A30 | Monday, February 9, 2015 | The Vail Daily

20 15

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

Art of combined, dearth of true all-arounder Being great on long skis and short skis is something few can do

By Shauna Farnell Special to the Daily

BEAVER CREEK — At one point in professional alpine skiing, all of the top dogs were all-arounders, that is, competing successfully in every discipline.

Bode Miller, Lindsey Vonn, Anja Paerson, Lasse Kjus, name the event — downhill, super-G, giant slalom, slalom or combined — those athletes could win any kind of race.

These days, you see fewer and fewer racers on the World Cup circuit attempting all five disciplines. Tina Maze, the obvious favorite in today’s alpine combined race, is the only racer in these 2015 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships who stands a real chance at medaling in every event.

But being able to do so takes a huge amount of time and energy.

Even after her gold medal in the downhill and silver in super-G, the Slovenian champion thought about making a break for it to focus more time on her marquee events, such as the token home race in Maribor that follows these World Championships.

“I was thinking, if I do downhill and super-G well, I should just go home and get ready for Maribor.

But that’s just not me,” Maze said.

“I think I have a chance to win

more medals here so I’ll just stay to the end and take the program that it is. Of course, it’s exhausting. Other girls will have more of a chance to train slalom and GS, but I trained GS in the morning (before the downhill race and trainings), so I think I can (be competitive) in every event.”

VAST DIFFERENCE IN SKIS Ted Ligety is one racer who also competes in the full discipline program on the World Cup circuit. Although he has yet to shine as an all-arounder like Maze does, the appeal of earning enough points to one day win the overall title is what keeps him at it. When he’s able to tap into his jack-ofall-trades skills as he did to land the bronze medal in Sunday’s alpine combined race, it seems to pay off.

“The overall title is the main reason for (racing in all disciplines). Skiing in all the events helps your overall skiing,” Ligety said. “It can detract from some of your training and in-season stuff, but it’s more exciting that way.

It’s too bad that the scheduling is made up so much to specialize for downhill skiers or slalom skiers. It’s not really made for somebody playing the middle, since I have five less races in my specialty than somebody like Hirscher or Jansrud. I have really fast runs here and there that keeps me in slalom … same thing in speed. It’s hard to justify not doing it.”

Even though alpine athletes are still often classified as “speed specialists” or “tech specialists,” not

JUSTIN Q. MCCARTY | SPECIAL TO THE DAILY

Ted Ligety is one of few on the men’s World Cup circuit to compete in every discipline on the tour. The American veteran believes it’s the best path to an overall championship title. long ago, slalom skiers were also GS skiers and downhillers were super-G skiers. Now there is more crossover in GS and super-G and slalom is an island unto itself.

Andrew Weibrecht, who gained new respect for slalom after his 22nd-place finish in the combined race on Sunday, attributes this phenomenon to changes in ski lengths.

“Slalom skis used to be 200 (centimeters). GS skis used to be 210s. Now slalom skis are 165s

and GS skis are 195s. That’s a big gap. It’s a very different type of turn,” Weibrecht said. “The amount of time you need to put in to be really good at slalom … you’ve got to train all the time.

Slalom is such a different event than all the others.”

Nowhere is this more obvious than in the alpine combined event. But, as Kjetil Jansrud proved with his silver medal performance Sunday, not nearly as floundering in his slalom run as

many of the speed specialists, the non-slalom skiers can still make it happen. Lara Gut, disappointed in her World Championships performance so far, in spite of her bronze medal in the downhill, has high hopes for today’s combined race, even though slalom is also not her strong suit.

“I love skiing slalom but you need to work and work and work (at) it, and I already have

ALL-AROUND RACERS, A33

Bank adds one more serious injury to his long list Czech skier OK after ugly crash in combined race

By Shauna Farnell Special to the Daily

BEAVER CREEK — After a horrendous crash in the downhill portion of Sunday’s combined race, Czech skier Ondrej Bank was taken to Vail Valley Medical Center with a gash on his face and a serious concussion. According to race organizers, Bank was conscious and moving en route to the hospital and was answering questions.

After an unbelievable 14-yearlong litany of injuries and illness, the Czech veteran was in the midst of the best season of his World Cup career, having just landed a podium in the Kitzbuehel, Austria, combined race, only his second after a 2007 podium in the Beaver Creek combined event.

Before Sunday’s race, Bank rode

up the chairlift with friend and teammate Martin Vrablik, with whom he shared some tips about skiing the downhill course. Bank finished seventh in Saturday’s downhill race.

“I think he was sure that he’d take the medal today,” Vrablik said of Bank, noting his teammate’s many comebacks following terrible injures. “In his head, (he) is unbelievably strong. After, I don’t know ... four horrible accidents — he was always strong to get back and this season for him was amazing. He was absolutely focused on the best run here. He was happy and he was ready.”

Bank caught an edge after Harrier Jump and had just corrected when he lost a ski just before launching off of Redtail Jump. He landed, tumbled and slid across the finish line on his side, where he laid motionless for several minutes as ski patrol ran to his aid and course crew obscured him with a curtain.

Vrablik witnessed the crash and could not shake it from his

memory before or after his own run down the course.

“It was quite terrible for me to start after this accident especially when I saw it with my own eyes,” Vrablik said. “Anyway, I was already a little scared of this downhill, Birds of Prey. For me, this is the most technical downhill. I’m glad to be here, for sure. I’m glad also that I’m healthy here but I couldn’t think about anything, just Ondrej. I wish the best recovery for him.”

‘HE IS WHOLE’ The small Czech team, which had just three men racing in Sunday’s race, had also received word that Bank had regained consciousness. On Bank’s Facebook page, his sponsor Team Vagus posted a photo of Bank in the hospital post-race with a bloodied face with the comment “Ondrej doesn’t have an ideal color but he is whole — he has hands, legs and a head. Ugh.” Bank’s brother and coach, Tomas Bank, posted that “Ondrej says hello and is OK.” The Vail Valley Medical Center

DOMINIQUE TAYLOR | SPECIAL TO THE DAILY

Ondrej Bank, of the Czech Republic, is loaded onto a backboard and then a toboggan by Beaver Creek ski patrol and taken to Vail Valley Medical Center after a horrific crash above the finish line of the 2015 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships men’s combined downhill on Sunday at Beaver Creek. sent a statement confirming Bank’s concussion, face laceration and a leg contusion. He underwent a CT head scan, which was

clear. The hospital and Czech team had not yet determined if Bank would stay overnight for observation.

The Vail Daily

20 15

| Monday, February 9, 2015 | A31

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

Women’s combined preview: aka ‘We’ve got no clue’

376’ | 115m 2,007’ | 612m 19% | 10.8° 23% | 12.8°

Start Elevation: 11,283’ | 3,440 m Finish Elevation: 8,954‘ | 2,730 m Vertical Drop: 2,329’ | 710m Distance: 8,069’ | 2,460m Avg. Slope: 30% | 16.7° Max. Slope 59% | 30.5°

+

The Apex

Vertical Drop: Distance: Avg. Slope: Max. Slope:

308’ | 94m 745’ | 227m 45% | 24.4° 51% | 32.2°

Goshawk Conne ctor

The Gauntlet

Vertical Drop: Distance: Avg. Slope: Max. Slope:

255’ | 78m 606’ | 185m 46% | 24.9° 53% | 28.0°

Vertical Drop: Distance: Avg. Slope: Max. Slope:

335’ | 102m 926’ | 282m 39% | 21.3° 57% | 29.5°

Start Elevation: 10,890’ | 3,320 m Finish Elevation: 8,954‘ | 2,730 m Vertical Drop: 1,935’ | 590m Distance: 6,002’ | 1,830m Avg. Slope: 34% | 19.0° Max. Slope: 57% | 30.0°

+

Lech-Zuers Schuss

Vertical Drop: Distance: Avg. Slope: Max. Slope:

Ladies’ Weather Downhill & Super-G Start

249’ | 76m 865’ | 264m 30% | 16.9° 51% | 26.9°

P

+

+

Predator Corner

Ladies’ GIANT SLALOM Start

Kestrel

Screech Owl Jump We s tfall

Banshee Bank

Vertical Drop: Distance: Avg. Slope: Max. Slope:

444’ | 136m 1,669’ | 508m 28% | 15.5° 52% | 27.3°

Road

461’ | 141m 1,945’ | 593m 25% | 13.8° 42% | 22.8 °

+

Heckle Jump

H

Jeckle Jump

The Abyss

Golden Eagle Jump

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Peregrine Runout

Ladies’ Slalom Start

394’ | 120m 1,989’ | 606m 20% | 11.5° 39% | 21.2°

Harrier Jump

Mo unt ain

Lift

Vertical Drop: Distance: Avg. Slope: Max. Slope:

Start Elevation: 10,093’ | 3,077 m Finish Elevation: 8,935‘ | 2,724 m Vertical Drop: 1,158’ | 353m Distance: 4,280’ | 1,305m Avg. Slope: 29% | 16.1° Max. Slope: 50% | 26.7°

RUSSI’s Ride

Vertical Drop: Distance: Avg. Slope: Max. Slope:

Liberty Jump

Redtail Jump

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use

Birds of Prey Lift

However, we got a very graphic illustration on Sunday during the men’s combined of how crazy ski racing can be. Marcel Hirscher was 3.16 seconds back and Ted Ligety (3.03 behind) after the downhill got the good break of skiing first in slalom on an unseasonably warm afternoon, took advantage of what was a firmer track at the time and finished first and third, respectively. Kjetil Jansrud led both of those guys by more than 3 seconds, and barely sloshed into silver.

Slalom is not his strength, but the course, for Jansrud as the 30th racer, was tracked out. In

The format: Downhill at 10 a.m. and slalom at 2:15 p.m. Best combined time wins.

The downhill: The women’s downhill starts at 11,283 feet and drops 2,329 feet during 1.52 miles.

The slalom: Again, this is a shorter course than the slalom we’ll see in the tech events.

It drops 607 feet during 0.37 miles.

The podium at 2013 Worlds: 1.

Maria Hoefl-Riesch (retired); 2.

Maze (17); 3. Nicole Hosp (21).

The podium at the 2014 Olympics: 1. Hoefl-Riesch (still retired); 2. Hosp (still wearing 21); 3. Julia Mancuso (18).

Americans: Jacqueline Wiles (3); Laurenne Ross (14); Mancuso (18) and Vonn (19).

Favorite: Yes, It’s singular — Maze (17).

Dark horses: The rest of the field?

The picks: No one had Hirscher for Sunday. Hirscher probably didn’t have himself winning on Sunday after his downhill. We are bound to run into a winner one of these days.

Shauna Farnell, Vail Daily: Mancuso.

Chris Freud, Vail Daily: Maze.

Pat Graham, AP Denver: Maze.

Vertical Drop: Distance: Avg. Slope: Max. Slope:

Ladies’ Downhill & Downhill Combined Start

Gro

WITHER THE WEATHER

THE NUMBERS AND NAMES

+

The RUNway

Lift

BEAVER CREEK — This was going to be the space where we would tell you that Slovenia’s Tina Maze is the prohibitive favorite to win today’s FIS Alpine World Ski Championships women’s combined.

Unlike the men, who have speedsters and tech skiers, and nobody who does both well, the women have a true all-around racer. Maze does all four disciplines, and does them well. In racking up 985 points during the World Cup season for the overall lead, the Slovenian is fourth in the downhill points, fifth in super-G, fifth in giant slalom and third in slalom.

More particularly, in the downhill, the first leg of today’s combined at 10 a.m., the three racers ahead of her in the points, Lindsey Vonn, Anna Fenninger and Viktoria Rebensburg, have no slalom points. Vonn, obviously, has focused on the speed events and not even contested a slalom this year. Rebensburg isn’t racing today.

Both Frida Hansdotter and Mikaela Shiffrin, who are ahead of Maze in the slalom standings, are not competing today.

And though the Championships don’t count toward these standings, Maze has steamed into Beaver Creek, taking silver in the super-G and gold in the downhill.

By every rational analysis, Maze, wearing bib No. 17, should win this.

2015 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships Ladies’ Course Map - Beaver Creek

Exp res s

cfreud@vaildaily.com

ch

By Chris Freud

fairness to all those who tend the course at Beaver Creek, it’s not their fault. It’s not meant to be 51 degrees in February. A course crew can prepare for a lot, but not that.

Do we have a repeat of this scenario? Today’s forecast is for a high of 49 degrees at Beaver Creek, according to weather.com.

That’s two degrees cooler than Sunday, so that’s not much help.

On the other hand, there are just 32 starters today, as opposed to 47 for the men.

Does a racer want to finish 30th today? Can a racer calculate his or her finish to be 30th? No, that certainly wasn’t Hirscher’s game plan. Ligety said he had no shot at a medal after his downhill on Sunday.

Both said luck played into their medals, and bad luck played into Jansrud’s as well.

So will it be skill or luck?

Cin

Maze? But after Sunday’s race?

H

Start Elevation: 9,548’ | 2,911 m Finish Elevation: 8,935‘ | 2,724 m Vertical Drop: 613’ | 187m Distance: 2,099’ | 640m Avg. Slope: 34% | 18.9° Max. Slope: 46% | 24.8°

Ladies’ Combined SLALOM Start

Start Elevation: 9,548’ | 2,911 m Finish Elevation: 8,941‘ | 2,726 m Vertical Drop: 607’ | 185m Distance: 1,968’ | 600m Avg. Slope: 34% | 18.9° Max. Slope: 46% | 24.8°

Vertical Drop: Distance: Avg. Slope: Max. Slope:

697’ | 212m 2,224’ | 678m 33% | 18.4° 50% | 26.7°

LEGEND Men’s FIS Alpine Course LADIEs’ FIS Alpine Course

+ Medical Point H Helicopter Landing Zone P

Pumphouse

Finish +

Sports Editor Chris Freud can be reached at 970-748-2934, cfreud@vaildaily.com and @cfreud.

The starting list for today’s women’s combined race Daily staff report newsroom@vaildaily.com 1 BARAHONA Noelle 2 BAILET Margot 3 WILES Jacqueline 4 CURTONI Elena

CHI FRA USA ITA

5 MIKLOS Edit HUN 6 BRODNIK Vanja SLO 7 BUCIK Ana SLO 8 HRONEK Veronique GER 9 ZETTEL Kathrin AUT 10 MARSAGLIA Francesca ITA 11 SMALL Greta AUS

12 GUT Lara 13 NUFER Priska 14 ROSS Laurenne 15 KIRCHGASSER Michaela 16 GAGNON Marie-Michele 17 MAZE Tina 18 MANCUSO Julia

SUI SUI USA AUT CAN SLO USA

19 VONN Lindsey 20 FENNINGER Anna 21 HOSP Nicole 22 MOWINCKEL Ragnhild 23 SCHNARF Johanna 24 TVIBERG Maria Therese 25 KOMSIC Andrea

USA AUT AUT NOR ITA NOR CRO

26 KRIZOVA Klara 27SIMARI BIRKNER M. 28 GRENIER Valerie 29 FANCHINI Elena 30 STUHEC Ilka 31 POPOVIC Leona 32 COLETTI Alexandra

CZE ARG CAN ITA SLO CRO MON

A32 | Monday, February 9, 2015 | The Vail Daily

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Kjetil Jansrud accelerates around a turn on The Brink during the 2015 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships men’s combined race in Beaver Creek on Sunday. Jansrud finished second.

TOWNSEND BESSENT TOWNSEND@VAILDAILY.COM

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Daily staff report

19 ZAMPA Adam SVK 2:38.34 20 CATER Martin SLO 2:38.37 21 NYMAN Steven USA 2:38.53 22 WEIBRECHT A. USA 2:38.57 23 SANDER Andreas GER 2:39.29 24 TRIKHICHEV P. RUS 2:39.33 25 FERSTL Josef GER 2:39.55 26 KRYZL Krystof CZE 2:39.76 27 BYDLINSKI Maciej POL 2:40.54 28 ULLRICH Max CRO 2:41.28 29 GOLDBERG Jared USA 2:41.32 30VRABLIK Martin CZE 2:42.04 31 FAARUP C. DAN 2:42.97 32 VON APPEN H. CHI 2:43.23 32 MARSAGLIA M. ITA 2:43.23 34 ALESSANDRIA A. MON 2:43.48 35SIMARI B. C. J. ARG 2:43.96 36 RODES Istok CRO 2:44.29 37 FEASEY Willis NZL 2:44.74 38 MUZATON M. FRA 2:45.33 39 ZAMPA Andreas SVK 2:45.49

newsroom@vaildaily.com 1 HIRSCHER Marcel AUT 2:36.10 2 JANSRUD Kjetil NOR 2:36.29 3 LIGETY Ted USA 2:36.40 4 BAUMANN Romed 2:36.48 5 PINTURAULT Alexis FRA 2:36.51 6 JANKA Carlo SUI 2:36.80 7 ROMAR Andreas FIN 2:36.93 8 KILDE A. A. NOR 2:36.96 9 MERMILLOD B. T. FRA 2:36.99 10 PARIS Dominik ITA 2:37.13 11 MAYER Matthias AUT 2:37.14 12 KOSTELIC Ivica CRO 2:37.15 13 CAVIEZEL Mauro SUI 2:37.17 14 FEUZ Beat SUI 2:37.27 15 ZURBRIGGEN S. SUI 2:37.29 16 KOSI Klemen SLO 2:37.76 17 JITLOFF Tim USA 2:38.13 18 INNERHOFER C. ITA 2:38.30

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FIS ALPINE WORLD SKI CHAMPIONSHIPS Austria’s Marcel Hirscher, who won Sunday’s men’s alpine combined at the 2015 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships at Beaver Creek, is a firm believer in specialization. He focuses on the giant slalom and slalom, and it has led him to three consecutive overall World Cup titles.

DOMINIQUE TAYLOR SPECIAL TO THE DAILY

ALL-AROUND RACERS

From page A30

enough to do in GS, super-G and downhill,� Gut said after her bronze medal downhill race. “I’m never going to be happy with third place. I’m really not going to be happy with 25th place. So I’m not going to start in slalom to barely be in the points.�

BECOMING BETTER SKIERS? For all-around skiers, sometimes doing slalom isn’t about getting points, but simply about becoming better skiers. Many argue that any experience in one discipline can help you somehow, some way, with all of the others.

Take it from U.S. skier Tim Jitloff, who finished 17th in Sunday’s combined race but has lopped slalom off of his World Cup program to focus on super-G and GS. He will be the first to say that his experience in the tight gates has helped his speed in other events and thinks of three-time World

Cup downhill champion Michael Walchhofer of Austria as the ultimate example of how this can happen. “Michael Walchhofer used to be an unbelievable slalom skier, then he turned into the downhill champion of the world,�

Jitloff said. “I learned a lot from slalom and always will. It helps me a lot with quickness across the board.�

Marcel Hirscher has the opposite sentiment. A classic tech specialist, Hirscher was thrilled to be crowned alpine combined champion on Sunday. But as “super cool� as he said it is to ski on long skis, particularly on the Birds of Prey downhill course, he wouldn’t want to add downhill to his overall program. He essentially believes that being a jack of all trades amounts to being a master of none. “If you ski in all disciplines, you can never be good in all disciplines,� Hirscher said after his gold medal win on Sunday. “To be part of every race, maybe to be once on a podium, for me it’s better to be really good in two disciplines.�

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A34 | Monday, February 9, 2015 | The Vail Daily

SPORTS

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WINNIPEG, Manitoba — With one sorely needed victory, Mathieu Perreault thinks the Winnipeg Jets are back on track.

Perreault had a goal and two assists as the Jets snapped a six-game slide with a 5-3 win over the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday night.

“Teams are catching up to us, so those points were huge tonight,” Perreault said. “We played like it was and thankfully we played well enough to win.”

Perreault, playing on a line with Dustin Byfuglien — who scored a goal and added two assists of his own — and Mark Scheifele, who added two assists, combined for eight points.

Perreault’s goal was his 18th of the season, tying a career high set last year in Anaheim as a member of the Ducks.

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“It’s been a great year,” he said. “I’ve been having a lot of fun and the team is starting to do well again and did well for a while.”

Ben Chiarot, Bryan Little and Jacob Trouba also scored for the Jets.

“It seems like every game is huge right now,” said Little, who also added an assist. “It’s nice to finally get out of this hole and hopefully we can kind of

generate something now.”

Tyson Barrie, Matt Duchene and Alex Tanguay scored for the Avalanche, who are winless in their past three outings.

Michael Hutchinson picked up his 15th win of the season with a 25-save performance for Winnipeg, while Semyon Varlamov fell to 14-13-7 for Colorado.

“The last push here is on,” Jets coach Paul Maurice said. “We got back to our game.”

Barrie opened the scoring for the Avalanche at 10:56 of the first period.

The Jets were already scrambling on a delayed penalty call when Barrie scored his sixth from the high slot.

“We were very happy with the start of the game,” Avalanche coach Patrick Roy said. “It was our second game in less than 22 hours, so we were pleased with the first period. The rest of the game, the second and third, we had too many turnovers and giveaways and they scored on their power play.”

Barrie’s score ended Colorado’s goal drought at 136:16. Barrie was also the last Avalanche player to score in a 3-2 shootout win over the Dallas Stars last Tuesday.

The Jets responded in the second, scoring four straight goals.

Perreault tied the game at 1 with 2:04 gone, shoveling home his 18th after some good work by Byfuglien

AP PHOTO

Winnipeg Jets’ Mathieu Perreault celebrates his goal against the Colorado Avalanche during the second period of Sunday night’s game in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Jets topped the Avalanche, 5-3. and Scheifele to create the scoring chance.

Byfuglien’s efforts paid off a few minutes later as he got a stick on a point blast from Little on the power play. Byfuglien’s 13th of the season gave the Jets a 2-1 lead at the 5:42 mark.

Chiarot made it 3-1 on his second career NHL goal.

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