The Inside Edge

n Shiffrin, Shiffrin, Shiffrin, again — She’s still on a roll, and putting on a show like no other. This week Mikaela Shiffrim notched World Cup wins 39-41. She was the only American in the points while winning the Giant Slalom and Slalom at Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, then moved on to take the Slalom at Flauchau, Austria Tuesday. Resi Steigler was the only other American in the points, finishing 26th.

n Junior Race Series – Opening night for the series went smoothly, with excellent snow conditions and moderate temperatures. A drizzle drove the kids off the mountain a little early, but not until they’d all had at least two trips through the course. Since most awards are based upon improvement, which requires two nights of competition, we’ll only report the three fastest in each gender this week.

The fastest boys were: Cadin Billstin (21.50), Klein Fragoso (21-78 and Crosby Schmidt (21.91). On the girls’ side, Josie Buoy (25.72), Fiona MacDonald (25.82) and Lila Kadzejs (27.56) led the field. The hero of the night was Gus Penrose. He and Bode Demmons raced into the lift line a little late to join their coach and Bode failed to get solid seating. When Coach Jamie Emmer looked over Gus had Bode by the hood, suspending him in the air until the chair stopped and the lift operator pushed Bode back up into the chair. According to the coach, both boys acted like this was perfectly normal. Racing resumes this Friday at 5:30 p.m.

n Northwest Cup Opener — Mt. Spokane hosted the opening Northwest Cup races for 15-18 year olds last weekend under challenging conditions. The ruts were deep Friday and Saturday, knocking large portions of the field. Local athletes from SARS and Independence competed. Farli Boden skied consistently into 11th for Giant Slalom, and 4th and 6th in Slalom. Addison McNamara didn’t finish the Giant Slalom or final Slalom, and hiked a long way just to stay in the race the first Slalom, yielding a disappointing 42d. But the edge likes hikers — that shows grit and the desire to compete. Wesley Simko likewise spent some time hiking uphill. He didn’t finish the Giant Slalom or first Slalom, but ended the weekend with 52d on the final Slalom.

n Fireworks at Schweitzer — Come to the mountain and enjoy the show Saturday night.

n Potpourri — Any comments, recommendations or contributions to this column may be sent to Shep Snow by email at shep@thesnowschool.com.

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