Oldberg, Robideaux shine at Masters
• World Cup Update — The big news week was about Lindsey Vonn being hauled off the hill in a toboggan during the first Super G at Soldeu-Tarter, Andora. She was assessed with a stress fracture to the kneecap. Sounds like a day for Ibuprofen! She was back the next day to take 13th in the Super Combined and Gold in the final Super G. These results moved her into first in the Super G standings, a three-way tie for first in Super Combined to add to her Downhill crown. She also holds a slim, 27 point lead in the overall.
Other significant US finishers were Laurenne Ross taking Silver in the first Super G Mikaela Shiffrin taking 8th in the combined and Stacey Cook taking 13th in the final Super G. Steve Nyman was the top male finisher this week with 18th in Super G at Hinterstoder, Austria.
• Masters Week — Each year the Schweitzer Alpine Racing School hosts a week long Masters event. This year featured three training days, then three days of competition. The racers participated in three Super Gs’, one Giant Slalom and one Slalom.
Masters racers are an interesting bunch. Most of them raced as youths, then spent years in college, starting careers and raising families. But the passion for this sport never dies, and they eventually show back up on the course. The beauty of Masters racing is the lack of ego and the genuine camaraderie shared by the competitors. The field ranged from 34-77 years of age, and the younger folks weren’t always the fastest.
For instance, Knute Oldberg, age 73, beat the entire field in Slalom and was amongst the top finishers in every other event. Obviously, he swept his division.
Top local finishers were: Tom Robideaux was third for Class II in all three Super G’s; Anna Nystrom was second in Class 6 in all three Super G’s, and won the Slalom; George Frazier won every race for Class 8 men; Pat Murphy was third in one Class 9 Super G, then 5th and 6th in the other two; David Lee, in the same division, was 4th in all three Super Gs and fifth in Slalom; John Day was second across the board for Class 7; Don Walde was in a Super G battle for Class 6 men, taking 1st, then two close 2nd place finishes. He came back to win Giant Slalom.
n Starlight Race Series — The final week of racing didn’t change the standings. Competition was followed by the traditional costume and awards party in taps. The winning team was Donald Trunk (Making Starlight great again) followed by Runnin’ Outta Steam and the Evergreen Realty Fallen Egos. Individual overall leaders were: Alpine Skiing, Scott Barksdale and Courtney Nova; Telemark, Gary Quinn and Dig Chrismer; Snowboard, David Sanborn and Tracy Tuttle.
• Western Region Junior Championships — Top talent from the Rockies to the Pacific, plus Alaska, will converge on Schweitzer for Super G, GS and Slalom competition starting Saturday. This will be for the top U19 athletes, so come watch the show. If you read the past few weeks of articles you are now aware of the work required to host these events. SARS is welcoming volunteers, especially during the weekdays. Call 946-7859 for additional information. • Potpourri — The Vertical Express for MS is coming up this Saturday. Any comments, recommendations or contributions to this column may be sent to Shep Snow by email at shep@thesnowschool.com. Negative feedback should be sent to someone else.
The Inside Edge runs every Thursday during ski season in the Daily Bee.