January 14, 2006

King of the Mountain: : USA's Daron Rahlves added another prestigious downhill win to his resume as he won the 76th annual Lauberhorn downhill in Wengen, Switzerland, by a hefty .4 second margin over runner-up Michael Walchhofer of Austria. In his career, Rahlves has victories on nearly all of the great classic downhill courses, with wins on the Hahnenkamm in Kitzbuhel, Austria, Birds of Prey in Beaver Creak, CO, and Bormio in Italy. The win and his performance so far this season (four races, three wins, one second) make Rahlves The Man To Beat in the upcoming Winter Olympics.

posted by lil_brown_bat to other at 03:29 PM - 5 comments

Addendum:

  1. Although most people love the Hahnenkamm the best, the Lauberhorn is my personal favorite downhill course: hairy, scary, absolutely nutty. I'm not sure where/when this one will be televised, but if you get a chance to see it, do watch this. it's an amazing race.
  2. Rahlves is really something to admire. After years as a talented but marginally motivated athlete, he got fired up when teammate Bode Miller, historically not a big speed-event threat, started eating his lunch in the '05 season speed events. Talk is that Rahlves worked his tail off this past off-season, resolved that if anything limited him this year, it wouldn't be his physical conditioning. Sounds like it's playing off in spades.
  3. In an event where mass conveys an advantage, Rahlves also has something of a natural disadvantage: as downhillers go, he's quite small, only 5' 9" and 185 pounds.

posted by lil_brown_bat at 03:43 PM on January 14, 2006

That (three wins and a second) is very impressive indeed in an event like the downhill, where there is so much random chance at work. He really must be a dominant skier. How is the course in Turin expected to play (or not) to Rahlves' style?

posted by Amateur at 11:02 PM on January 14, 2006

Rahlves is a great skier, that's for sure. Americans (I'm Canadian) still fondly remember the Mahres (who still must be ranked as the best men in US history) and Billy D Johnson, but the current crop of Rahlves and Miller certainly have to be considered the golden age of Men's alpine racing. Since when is the Beaver Creek track a classic? ;-> Aspen, sure! Whistler, definitely. Lake Louise - when the headwall off the top before hitting the treeline is nice and icy, sure.

posted by mikelbyl at 11:21 PM on January 14, 2006

While I love ripping up the groomers at The King, nothing beats waist deep powder at Grand Targhee or better yet the headwall, Tram runs(anyone), or the Hobacks of Jackson Hole Mountain Resort(even though it's run by and for douchebags) long as yer havin fun in the snow, its all good.

posted by GoBirds at 05:59 AM on January 15, 2006

Amateur: How is the course in Turin expected to play (or not) to Rahlves' style? The Torino course, at Sestriere, is the Kandahar Banchetta course, and it sounds like it's very technical, meaning relatively narrow and twisty after the first drop. A course that is more wide open and straightforward favors the bigger guys: they put that bigger mass in a tuck and go. On a technical course, a little guy like Rahlves should do quite well. Also, he won the World Cup downhill on this course in 2004. mikebyl: Since when is the Beaver Creek track a classic? ;-> Aspen, sure! Whistler, definitely. Lake Louise - when the headwall off the top before hitting the treeline is nice and icy, sure. Eh, well, I'm playing a little fast and loose with the word "classic". It's brand-new compared to the Lauberhorn course and the Hahnenkamm course. But it is definitely one of the great courses on the tour, the one that racers really want to win on. I'd say the one great-course win that Rahlves doesn't have yet in his career is the Kandahar at Chamonix.

posted by lil_brown_bat at 06:12 PM on January 15, 2006

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