Rough Conditions in Wengen Slalom

WENGEN, Switzerland (Jan. 17, 2015)—The men were back on the Wengen slalom hill again on Saturday, but this time for a traditional slalom Audi FIS Ski World Cup. David Chodounsky (Crested Butte, CO) took 18th, while Ted Ligety (Park City, CO) finished 27th. Felix Neureuther of Germany claimed his second win of the season.

With Hirscher straddling on the first run, the race seemed like was anyone’s game. Neureuther took first, while Adelboden-winner Stefano Gross of Italy came in second and Henrik Kristofferson of Norway third.

Unlike Friday’s alpine combined, it started to snow—which meant low visibility and varying conditions down the course. Even with the course crew working to clear the 8 inches of new snow, the course quickly rutted up and hindered the later start positions. “There’s only so much you can do today,” said Chodounsky after the first run. “Conditions are not ideal, which makes it really tough, especially for the back of the pack.”

Looking for his first World Cup podium, Chodounsky took some risk on both runs, but did not ski either one clean. He took 13th first run, and 18th overall.

Ligety finishes 27th overall in the Wengen slalom. (Getty Images-AFP/Olivier Morin)

After a fifth place in Friday’s alpine combined, Ligety had a few bobbles on his first run and was 24th. He looked for speed on the second run but couldn’t find it, getting caught up on the second pitch. He finished 27th overall.

Will Brandenburg (Spokane, WA), Tim Kelley (Starksboro, VT), Michael Ankeny (Deephaven, MN) and AJ Ginnis (Waitsfield, VT) did not qualify for a second run.

The Wengen downhill takes place on Sunday, then some of the tech men will head to Kitzbuehel, Austria for another alpine combined, before going to Schladming, Austria for a slalom.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Americans have not won a World Cup in Wengen since 1982.
• Ligety has raced Wengen every year but one since 2005. In the past five years, he has DNFed twice and was DSQed once.
• Chodounsky had only finished the Wengen World Cup once before—19th place in 2011.
• Watch the re-air of the race on Universal Sports at 2:00 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. EST.

QUOTES
David Chodounsky
The snow was actually really good. I’m just upset with myself. I didn’t let it go quite as much as I could have. That one is on me. I got a pretty decent result, and I’ll get some World Cup points. I’ll bring fast skiing to Kitzbuehel.

Starting far back makes it tough. I’m still skiing well first and second run.

Sasha Rearick, men's head coach
First, congrats to Felix. He woke up with some eye issue and could only see out of one eye this morning. Big congrats to him for pulling himself together—especially winning a big race like this with the conditions.

Easy course set second run. You had to go from the top to the bottom. Daver skied just too nice—too much respect for the hill and the course. Wengen is usually not that easy. You have to pin it as hard as you can.

Up top, Ted was OK, but down the pitch where it was easier, he just held on too much. As a group, we have to ski with confidence and trust ourselves. We’re skiing more balanced than ever—especially Daver. 

RESULTS
Official results