Sofia Goggia has a chance, IMO her best ever, to win the WAWC Overall title. With Fede and Lara out, and Mikaela focusing on Tech, Sofia is the most prominent 3+-discipline competitor. It would be a season “for the ages.”    Pulling it off hinges upon three things : stamina and Giant Slalom results; Shiffrin’s Super G points. Sofia can control her own affairs, not Mikaela’s. And she cannot control luck. But luck runs good or bad, for anyone—luck is a null factor until it’s s

Alice Robinson - Lenzerheide GS 21 March 2021 Run 2 - Full Tilt Boogie For me, GS 2 nd  run at Lenzerheide, 21 March 2021 , is as good as Tech gets. Ski racing’s greatest competitor duking it out with two brilliant youngsters, one just nineteen. The run--and the race—pivoted on youthful heroics challenging masterful tactics. The Master split the difference.     2020-21 was a trying season: Full Covid restrictio

Zrinka Ljutic - 1st run Flachau 2025     I participate in the World Cup fantasy racing site propheski.com . It’s fun—a great way to engage the sport by assembling teams of four for each discipline, and predicting the races' first 5 positions. I get pretty invested as the season progresses. It’s interesting how even a vicarious connection to a competitive activity hooks you, prompting anxiety/satisfaction/regret.     You have a $100,000 budget for each discipline at the beginn

First WAWC win--dominant, clean, confident--sinking in for Julia Scheib ...or maybe not quite yet. This was an excellent race, I think. Temperatures 17-26 degrees Fahrenheit, so the track was solid. Flat light. Occasional wind gusts at the top of the piste, which didn’t seem to significantly affect the event—though some racers may have been irked. Par for the course in ski racing.     Julia Scheib , 2025 EOS GS 9 th

Mikaela Shiffrin or Lara Gut-Behrami will win the 2025-26 Overall title. I give LG-B the edge. For the past three seasons, her combined GS , SG, DH EOS standings averages are 2025 4 th ; 2024 1 st (1.3); 2023 3d. I think she’ll retain that three-discipline consistency. Only Shiffrin can challenge her, and that’s if Mikaela dominates SL, goes top-2/3 GS, and has significant SG points finishes. (Shiffrin has said she won’t run DH this year, and SG will be sporadic.) Lara is a

I begin the season with how brutally engaging the mountains can be, for those who lose loved ones on the heights. These four young people’s deaths are neither more or less significant than another four. Within the context of this site, however, they are necessary to recognize. No other formalized sport’s contestants are so vulnerable to grave injury—not even auto sport, IMO. (Jockeys, if you consider horse racing. And motor cycle racers…those folks are gravely eccentric.) Tho

First post-season evaluation installment. Circa April for the most part; emotional immobilization stymied the project. I pecked away...

Saalbach Downhill - 23 March 2024 - 2nd place by +0.17 This is my first post since March because my post-season evaluation sprawls and...

26-28 January. 2xDH & SG A subjective, fairly mushy commentary on Cortina’s recent carnage. I considered discussing the ethics of track...

Valerie Grenier - Cortina DH - 26 January CORTINA  2xDH & SG 26-28 January 2024 Real-time notes I took during the races, with some...

Lara Gut-Behrami NOTE: Kronplatz’s 30 January GS widened LG-B’s lead to 85 points over Fede, from 25 before the race. This GS discussion...

Paula Moltzan mid-recovery - Kranjska Gora Giant Slalom Run 2 Once in early 1971, my friend Robert and I visited Brodie, a now-defunct...

This is why I'm content to just speculate about ski racing. Two WAWC racers back on track after injury and rehab. Their physical tenacity...

Federica Brignone - Mt. Tremblant GS 28 December Note Aggregation Past six weeks were a major drag. Arrived home 14 November from UK...

SOLDEN GS  28 October – Meet 1 Lara Gut-Behrami - Solden GS run 2 The cream’s at the top, but before the obvious: WTFG Paula! 28th after...

American bison (Bison bison) IMO, more than any other nation, USA WAWC 2024 team success will be determined by a few key B squad racers....

Swiss cow Switzerland’s WAWC Equipe is, IMO, equal to Italy’s for the sport’s strongest roster. Required to choose based upon the top...

Swedish moose (Alces alces) Two first-class Tech veterans and a super-exciting Tech youngster. That’s it for 2024 Sweden. Like Canada,...

Carniolan honey bee It’s a pleasure composing the Slovenian WAWC team notes. This gang’s charm and subtle swagger, fortified by what I...

Norwegian moose (Alces alces) Norway’s got a tight, stoically flamboyant team. They seem merry and grounded; confident and on guard....