Bummed for him after having to have such a long recovery road to begin with. Hope the best for the guy.

Petra Vlhová’s New Beginning: Sölden Return, Hometown Statue Unveiled

...
After almost three years away from World Cup racing, Vlhová says she is healthy and happy with her progress. However, she acknowledges that returning to her previous competitive level will take time.

“I still have it in me to give my maximum, perform as well as possible, and win. But I will definitely need time because, over those nearly three years, I’ve missed the kilometers on snow, the gates, and the racing experience. I’m healthy, and that’s the most important thing. If I didn’t believe it was possible, I wouldn’t be here,” she said.

As she prepares for the World Cup opening weekend in Sölden, she feels more confident in giant slalom than in slalom, although her knee can still occasionally cause discomfort.

“This is our plan. We’ll see how it goes, with full respect for my body,” she explained.
...

Maybe you've already read about the new weight limits for each discipline.

• Men's Downhill Skiing: 10.6 kg
• Women's Downhill Skiing: 10.4 kg
• Men's Super-G: 10.2 kg
• Women's Super-G: 10 kg
• Men's Giant Slalom: 10.2 kg
• Women's Giant Slalom: 9.8 kg
• Men's Slalom: 9.2 kg
• Women's Slalom: 9 kg

The limits are supposed to make racing safer, but there has been a lot of criticism for the lack of evidence and research that went into the new rules. Breezy went into more detail in her Substack (always interesting to read) and it turns out, that she, as a taller and heavier athlete, is the only woman affected by the limits. She has to change her equipment, but no other lady. That already shows how randomly FIS has set the limits. Reminds me of the GS radius nonsense back then.

...
After looking at a graphic highlighting a single top athlete who sat above the proposed limits, the committee chose a weight cap just a couple hundred grams below the weight of my personal skis. Conveniently, this cap sits just above the weight of everyone else’s gear.

I would guess many nations voted for it simply because they had nothing to lose—it didn’t affect a single one of their own athletes. It was an easy move to clip the wings of a competitor at zero cost to themselves.

This rule is the equivalent of NBA owners passing a regulation that bans basketball shoes over a size 20.

Sure, almost every player in the NBA is well below that limit. Most teams would be completely unaffected. Except Victor Wembanyama is a physical outlier—the only player in the league who actually needs a shoe that large. “Wemby” isn’t wearing size 22.5 shoes to unfairly take up more floor space on the court for fun; he wears them because he is a giant.

It is incredibly difficult for me not to view this as a targeted attack. I can think of half a dozen athletes on the World Cup tour whose unique setups could be weaponized with targeted rules. FIS may believe they are acting in the interest of safety, but without requiring scientific research, nations can now propose rules against their competitors’ unique equipment pieces. This stifles innovation and creates a political tit-for-tat, where the country with the most resources and allies can simply legislate away their foes.
...

I was never a fan of how Mikaela Shiffrin's race career was executed. I always felt that she should have done more training with the rest of the tech team. I was never a fan of how Eileen ran the show. I thought Eileen yelling at people for videoing Mikaela's training runs, was out of line.

Granted her results spoke for themselves, but I felt she was being handled like a machine.

Now I find myself excited for the "season of exploration". I commend her for embarking on this journey. I am also excited for her podcasts. As Redditors we know how harsh the internet can be. She seems to be opening up herself, for the world to see.

Mikaela is taking a lot of risks here. I can't wait to see how it unfolds. I will be watching & cheering her on every step of the way.

Fantasy football is huge in the US, but fantasy never really took off in ski racing. So I thought I’d give it a shot myself.
I built a fantasy draft game for the Alpine World Cup (link in the first comment). It runs in your browser and you can install it as an app on your phone. The whole project is completely free and I don’t earn a single cent with it. I just want people to have fun watching ski races and to have racers to root for. :)
If there’s interest, I’d set up a league for everyone interested. Let me know in the comments and I’ll post the link there. Otherwise you can join one of the open leagues in the app or start your own with friends.
I hope you guys enjoy it! :) If you have questions or feedback or find a bug, just comment here or use “Report a bug” in the profile menu. I’ll fix what I can.

How it works:

• Start a league (up to 14 teams) and draft athletes live, snake draft style. Every athlete belongs to only one team.
• Women and men in one squad (8 + 8 by default)
• Each week your best women and men score, automatically or with your own lineup
• Points per race: placing (60 for a win), time gap to the winner, a bonus for the winning margin and +5 for the fastest run
• Transfers for free agents (Wed to Fri) and trades between teams

This old stuff never fails to amaze me. No markings, super bumpy course, hardly any safety measures and 80s equipment. The racing looks out of control for the most part, simply wild and raw ski racing from one of the best ever in DH.

Do the Swiss have better team culture then the Austrians?

I feel like the Swiss is more relaxed, calmer, nice to be around because there bench is so deep. Any person on the bench can win not just all the pressure on one person to win all the time.

Austrians are not as relaxed, intense, harsher, exact, precise, almost military like.

The teams have been announced or in other words: may the speculation on a Vonn comeback without ACL commence. 😂

• Federica Brignone will miss the race in Sölden on October 24. After undergoing another surgery on her severely injured left leg, she will focus on her recovery for the time being.
• Brignone plans to get back on her skis in November to test her condition. The two-time Olympic champion will also sit out the North American tour in late November and early December.
• Sofia Goggia will also miss the race in Sölden after suffering from two viral illnesses. Although the acute phase is over, she is not yet ready to compete due to persistent fatigue and exhaustion.

Top Italian duo Brignone and Goggia to miss the season opener in Sölden

I'm sure that we will see Goggia at some point, but hopefully Fede will be pain-free, otherwise she probably won't race anymore.

Luckily, they are saving snow over the summer, otherwise things could get complicated even on a glacier.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3N0EFlHziQ

Mikaela is going into an “exploration season” and plans to race less slalom.

She’s not quitting slalom or taking it less seriously. She simply wants to put more focus into GS and Super-G, follow her curiosity, and give herself more room for recovery and focused training.

She’ll also skip the early-season European races and is currently planning to make her first race of the season at Killington.

I mean like Atomic Media Day at the factory.

Head has the Solden Press Conference and end of season World Cup Finals Party.

Everything you wanted to know about WC but we're too afraid to ask!

21/22 -Old biometric standard 28 page passport (2015-22)
22/23-Old next gen 50 page passport (22-25)
23/24
24/25
25/26 -Current next gen b 50 page passport (25-28)
26/27
27/28

Passport Facts: Everyone on the alpine World Cup goes through a large 50 page passport every 3 years. We can fill a 26 page book in 1-2 seasons. 6 stamps per season + US entry stamps. You get an entry/exit stamp from Schengen Zone. A Schengen stamp is good for 90 days. We have a Schengen Type D Visa to stay longer than 90 days + work permit. Each NSA takes care of the visas/permits.

In 2021, the next gen passport went from 28 to 26 and 52 to 50 page, merging two information pages into one.

The US State Department are getting rid of the 26 page and 50 page book into one size at 38 pages in 2028. The department collected data and made decision.

The average international traveler will not completely fill a standard 26 page passport over its 10-year lifespan.

I bet you have heard of Shiffrin renewing her passport and visas because it’s filled with stamps early.

In my 6 seasons on WC as staff + international summer vacation travel, I have gone through 3 passports. Living in the US on a US passport. Schengen Type D visa is for December-March via US embassy. Works permits and work entry visa by each nation if needed via embassy. Every World Cup racer/staff has atleast 2 visas or permits for the US or Schengen. European passports have a P1S or B1 visa to the US.

At the border, the officer can see all your active arrest/search warrants, flags, watchlists, missing persons via interpol, all you past exit/entry for 3-5 years in Schengen or until the passport expires. US CBP is 10 year history. That’s how much they travel.

They do FedEx stuff that they do not need immediately upon landing to the team hotel. May vary by team.
Alpine World Cup Staff and racers live out of 4-7 bags each for 6 months on the road depending on job title. 13-14 bags each if your coming home from World Champs or OLY.

Considered lucky if you get to go home after a month, 6 weeks or 100 days on the road. You may get a max of 5-10 days at home during the season. Race trip is 10 days-6 weeks, 100 days or full season.

Hey guys, not exactly on topic but non-racer reviews are all over the place and I dont trust them. Looking for the best carver freeride skis. Basically I want to be able to do moguls and charge the groomers in the same day. I don’t want a wide ski, already have a pair for powder days.
My research brings me to the Mantra 84 (that is the width I want). Anyone here has pushed them hard on packed/icy conditions?
Thanks a lot

1. LTAD & Maturation Dynamics

• Differential Growth Patterns (Legs vs. Trunk): Clinical reviews on Developmental Changes in the Youth Athlete highlight that adolescent growth is not uniform; peak leg length velocity precedes peak trunk velocity in over 75% of adolescent boys and girls. This temporarily shifts the athlete's center of mass upward and alters femur-to-torso lever ratios, directly impacting stance width, angulation mechanics, and eccentric quad/hip loading.
• Managing Transition Windows: As outlined in longitudinal athlete tracking models such as Developing Multi-Directional Speed in Adolescent Athletes, growth rate surges frequently coincide with seasonal breaks and school calendar shifts. Spikes in training volume layered on top of rapid skeletal changes represent the highest risk window for apophysitis (e.g., Osgood-Schlatter) and non-contact ligament strain.

2. Sports Science & Neuromuscular Testing

• Reliability of Youth Force Testing: A comparative study on the Reliability of the Isometric Mid-Thigh Pull (IMTP) Across Youth Maturity Stages demonstrated that Peak Force (PF) is a highly reliable, stable monitoring metric across U12, U15, and U18 age brackets. In contrast, early Rate of Force Development (RFD < 100–150 ms) exhibits high session-to-session variability in adolescents and should not be used in isolation to dictate load readiness without extensive familiarization.
• Jump Landing & ACL Strain in Skiers: Biomechanical investigations into Physical and Technical Factors Associated with ACL Injuries in Alpine Skiing emphasize that peak ligament strain occurs during off-balance jump landings and terrain compressions characterized by shallow knee flexion combined with dynamic valgus and tibial rotation. Pre-season dryland must prioritize deep eccentric knee flexion control, multi-planar plyometric landing absorption, and gluteus medius recruitment to counter valgus collapse.

3. Sports Psychology & Coaching Pedagogy

• Optimizing Video Feedback for Motor Learning: Research on Digital Video Feedback in Motor Skill Acquisition confirms that pairing short video clips with peer observation and self-guided evaluation accelerates skill mastery compared to coach-led lecturing. Prompting athletes to identify their own apex position or pressure point builds an accurate internal sensory model rather than creating passive dependency on coach commentary.
• Instructional vs. Motivational Self-Talk: Experimental findings in Self-Talk and Motor Performance indicate that for high-precision technical movements (such as turn initiation and line transitions), specific instructional cues (e.g., "drive the knee", "square to your tip", "early weight transfer") yield higher execution consistency and lower anxiety than generalized motivational cues (e.g., "charge", "go hard").

October Coaching Action Items

1. Pre-Season Stance & Lever Audit: Check binding setups and boot cuff alignments for athletes who experienced notable late-summer height increases, as changes in leg-to-torso ratios alter natural joint stacking.
2. Implement Peer-Led Video Reviews: During dryland agility or early on-snow glacier/camp video sessions, have athletes review footage in pairs and articulate 1 technical success and 1 tactical adjustment before the coach offers input.
3. Calibrate Pre-Run Cueing: Work with each athlete to establish a single, two-word instructional trigger (e.g., "feet back") to focus on in the start gate during high-intensity training runs.

Hi,

I’m looking for feedback on whether I should consider a junior spec GS (looking at the Dynastar speed team GS or Rossi Hero athlete gs pro on a 171cm length or a non-FIS Course GS/Hero LT ski for GS races. I can more easily get a jnr ski where I live compared to anything else.

I’m 162/62kg female, pretty strong but have very much preferred the flex in the Rossi over anything else. Have tried Fischer, Salomon and Stockli and they are way too stiff for my liking.

My slalom skis are Rossi Hero’s. I’ve skied the Hero elite LT for GS before, rented but I want my own now .

Thanks!

I’m in the US. Outside of select events on Peacock, how do I watch the races for the upcoming season?

I know that she said, that she will have surgery this November, which would definitely prevent her from racing anytime soon, but hear me out. She was in Chile last week as she posted in her Insta stories and she also posted a pic a few minutes ago. Usually, there is only one reason why ski racers head to Chile this time of the year and that is training or in her case testing how the knee feels.

On top of that, she was on GMA this week and said, that something is left undone and that there is a chance, when she is strong, didn't mention surgery any longer and in the press text for her new medication partner Journavx she is quoted to have surgery next year.

It's a long shot and I might be dead wrong, but these facts along with her posting nothing recent on Insta like working out in the gym or showing what she is doing, like she usually does, gives me a strong gut feeling that she is working on her comeback on a mountain somewhere, just like she did 2 years ago and there are almost 3 months left until the first speed races or she could start her season later. Wouldn't be the first to race without ACL.