It was a wonderful weekend on the 2024 Stifel Killington Cup as temperatures and Mom Nature joined forces as soon as once more offering excellent circumstances and a few post-Thanksgiving sunshine leap beginning one more epic ski season.
On the first occasion underneath new possession Killington now has the excellence of being the biggest independently operated ski resort within the nation.
Swiss and Swede racers dominated this 12 months’s occasion, however it was Mikaela Shiffrin’s crash on her second run of the Big Slalom that made headline information.
The U.S. Ski Group went into the weekend with excessive hopes as Shiffrin pursued her a hundredth podium end. On her second run on Saturday after a commanding lead on her first, charging down Famous person towards the lip of Preston’s pitch, she careened laterally, then crashed and tumbled in the direction of the protecting fencing as the group gasped in silence.
Because the sled took her down Famous person the G.S. winners had been introduced, nationwide anthems performed, and the rostrum backdrop was readied in celebration of victors Sara Hector of Sweden, Zrinka Ljuticof Croatia, and Camille Rast of Switzerland. A hushed silence adopted because the winners celebrated with cups held excessive and Vermont teddy bears in tow.
U.S. Ski Group member Nina O’Brien and Paula Moltzan posted their finest World Cup G.S. finishes inserting fifth and sixth. 19-year-old Elisabeth Bocock positioned eighth after her first run and ended the day on the twenty third slot incomes her first World Cup factors.
Federica Brignone from Italy, who has been dominating the occasion to this point this 12 months, had issues on the icy steeps of Famous person falling on one in every of her runs.
Moltzan, who now has an IPA named after her from Lawsons Best Liquids in Waitsfield, Vermont (the identical place that makes Sip of Sunshine) referred to as Paula’s World IPA, was the only real consultant of Group USA on Sunday to make it to the second run however crashed.
With Shiffrin out of the image and Olympic champion Petra Vlhova not taking part on this 12 months’s occasion, Sunday’s podium spots had been up for grabs.
Camille Rast of Switzerland who completed ninth within the 2023-24 season in slalom took first place with Anna Swenn-Larsen of Sweden and Wendy Holdener of Switzerland tieing for second on Sunday. In an fascinating flip of occasions, they shared the profitable spots at Killington Cup Slalom occasion in 2022.
NBC, Peacock and Outdoors TV offered worldwide protection for the athletes from 19 international locations placing the Beast of the East on the world stage for the eighth time. The occasion was attended by 3,900 for the 3-day occasion together with Fridays bib drawing and the two-day slalom occasions.
Fireworks and musical performances by Fitz and the Tantrums, Matt Quinn of Mt. Pleasure, and Eve Six saved the group entertained and shuffling of their boots between races.
Protection on the mountain was high to backside permitting skiers to view the festivities as they raced down the mountain themselves on Highline alongside the world’s most interesting, a complete of 64 athletes in G.S. and 66 in Slalom. Cheers to a different effective World Cup occasion at Killington and a speedy restoration to Mikaela who took on a puncture wound to the stomach and extreme muscle trauma however no broken ligaments.
Subsequent cease of the Girls’s FIS Ski World Cup race schedule will likely be at Beaver Creek on December 14th attributable to Mount Tremblant’s cancellation for lack of snow. Extra cowbell please!
