ADVENTURE SPORTS BY WINA STURGEON 1/15/08
BODE TIES PHIL MAHRE WITH 27 WORLD CUP WINS
Bode Miller won his second World Cup downhill of the season at the fabled Lauberhorn, the race featured in the Robert Redford classic, "Downhill Racer." Miller pumped it out for 2:30.40 to win his 27th race in Wengen, Switzerland.
Miller will now be the most winning ski racer in U. S. history.
He has won nine giant slaloms, six downhills, five slaloms, five super G's, two combined races, and is still going. Mahre retired in 1984 with 27 wins.
Next up is the spine-tingling Hahnenkamm in Kitzbuhuel, Austria. The steep and turny downhill course is considered the gnarliest on the World Cup circuit. From the start house, racers look down at a near vertical pitch, which goes into a sharply angled right turn next to a grove of trees. Downhillers say they can sometimes feel their boot buckles snicking on the protective nets at that first turn, where they are already hitting 70-80 miles an hour.
The Hahnenkamm starts with a super G on Friday, Jan. 18. The downhill starts at 11:30 on Saturday, and the event wraps up with a slalom on Sunday. It's a rich race this year. Total prize money is more than three quarters of a million dollars, or 500,000 Euros. The Euro is currently worth one and a half times the U. S. dollar. If Bode wins the DH, he will get 175,000 Euros. The slalom winner receives the same. The super G champion gets 130,000 Euros. The combined winner, determined by who has the best combined results from the slalom and downhill, wins $170,000.
There will be a live webcam of each race. To watch the chills and spills, go to: http://www.hahnenkamm.com
UPDATE ON TARA LLANES
Tara Llanes is the mountainbike/supercross champion who was paralyzed from the waist down when she crashed in the Jeep King of the Mountain finals on September 1. She was hospitalized until two weeks ago, and is now back in her California home.
Jeep is giving a new, specially adapted vehicle to Tara; so major props to them. She is still doing heavy physical therapy to regain as much movement as possible, but knows that her injury is "life altering."
However, in a recent PT session, Tara had braces put on her legs and stood up between parallel bars, moving her hips to "walk" her paralyzed legs. She was overwhelmed, laughing and crying at the same time.
For an in-depth and personal look at how a world champion athlete deals with suddenly being paralyzed, visit Tara's MySpace blog. It will make you laugh, cry, and be deeply moved.
OLYMPIC CHAMP TRISTAN GALE TRIES COMEBACK
A familiar face lay face down on a skeleton sled in the weekend's Intercontinental Cup at Park City's Olympic Park. Tristan Gale, who won Olympic gold here in 2002, was one of the racers.
Gale had been coaching the Italian skeleton team, heartily denying that she had any intentions of returning to the sport. Last year, she spent the season attending college, majoring in art.
The Oly champ must still have it in her heart, though. She has been working at the Athlete's Desk at the Park---and now she is racing again. In Saturday's competition, she was .05 seconds behind the top U. S. woman, coming in 7th in her first skeleton race in over a year. In Sunday's race, Gale was also 7th, a bit more than one second behind the winner.
PIBS CROWD PARK CITY STREETS
They are called "PIB's"---People In Black---and they are filling Park City's hotels, restaurants, bars and streets.
Yes, it's time for the Sundance Film Festival again, and the Ninja-dressed crowd take over the town and cause the most horrendous traffic jams you could ever imagine. But there are two good things that are for sure: Britney Spears won't be attending, and none of the PIB's go skiing or snowboarding. In fact, the slopes are nearly empty during Sundance!
Locals stay home because the crowds and traffic are so horrible. Tourists who come to town line up for movie tickets, not lift tickets.
The only problem is getting to the resorts through the packed streets once the 10-day event begins Jan. 17. Here's a local's secret: don't exit the I-80 at Kimball Junction, the regular off ramp to the resorts. Instead, go one exit beyond, to Hwy 40. Exit to the right, keep going until you see the sign for the off ramp to Park City. That will bring you to the other end of town, closer to the ski areas, bypassing the cars and PIB's.
HARD FACTS ABOUT SOFT GOGGLE LENSES
Do your goggles seem to get scratched no matter what you do? Here are some tips to keep your vision clear:
Of course you know never to put your goggles down on the lens side. They should always be placed frame side down. Never use tissue to clean them; all paper towels and tissues contain minute wood chips that will scratch plastic goggle and sunglass lenses. Keep a bit of cotton or chamois in your pocket to clean lenses. When you fall, use your shirt to clean the snow away, not your bare or even gloved finger. Glove seams can be rough, and fingernails can accidentally scratch a lens.
Never put your goggles in a backpack or toss them in the back seat. Keep the little sack that comes with your goggles and always store them in it, even if they are wet.
However, if your lenses get scratched to the point of bothering you, they can often be replaced. Go to your local shop and ask if they have a new lens that fits your goggles.