Maple 17th in Saalbach "Real-Deal Downhill"

SAALBACH-HINTERGLEMM (Feb. 21, 2015)—The rarely-used Schneekristall-Zwolfer track is non-stop from top to bottom. A high-speed signature course, racers question whether this track is more challenging than the famed Kitzbuehel one. On a day where the light was flat, the terrain sharp and the wind blowing, the Americans were put to the test, with just two racers finishing—Wiley Maple (Aspen, CO) was 17th and Marco Sullivan (Squaw Valley, CA) was 19th.

The Austrians—who trained on this hill after World Championships—seemed to have had the track figured out, as they dominated with a full podium sweep. Matthias Mayer finished first, Max Franz second by just .02, and Hannes Reichelt in third.

As Marco Sullivan took on the Schneekristall, it was apparent very early on that it was going to be a bumpy ride. He was wild, out of control; his upper body was twisting as he soared in the air over the rollers. "It’s a bleak day for the team,” said Sullivan after the race. “I actually feel like everyone is skiing well and had good sections, but it’s just a really tough course. Guys were really trying to push hard, and light was bad…there were lots of bumps and it just didn’t work out for us."

Wiley Maple had a different perspective than most about the track and conditions. “It was a pretty fun track. It's been awesome all week...a little dark today, which kind of made it a little more fun,” said Maple. “I just kind of let ‘er go, and barely held on. I thought we all liked this track a lot, it’s kind of our style—lots of jumps, in the air a lot, kind of no-brakes downhill—which is where it’s at.”

The racers jumped over an Audi TT in Saalbach. (Chris Beckmann) 

Six American skiers competed in the downhill. Steven Nyman (Sundance, UT), Jared Goldberg (Holladay, UT), Andrew Weibrecht (Lake Placid, NY) were marked with DNFs. Travis Ganong (Squaw Valley, CA), who recently earned second place in the downhill at the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships, is suffering from a stomach bug and small fever and decided not to start today.

The speed men race again in Saalbach on Sunday with a super G.

HIGHLIGHTS

• This was Matthias Mayer's first win of the 2014/2015 season, and second World Cup win of his career.
• Max Franz had never finished better than seventh during the 2014/2015 season.
• Downhill number seven of the 2014/2015 season at Saalbach was described as a "a real-deal downhill.”
• Kjetil Jansrud only snagged 22 points with his 12th place finish, yet still stays at the top of the downhill standings as Italy’s Dominik Paris DNFed.
• The final jump—which launched athletes 60 meters—featured a cutout housing a red Audi TT that faced the Saalbach crowd. 
• Saalbach-Hinterglemm is one of three resorts in the 2021 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships bid.

QUOTES
Wiley Maple
It was a pretty fun track. It's been awesome all week...a little dark today, which kind of made it a little more fun. I just kind of let ‘er go, and barely held on. I thought we all liked this track a lot, it’s kind of our style—lots of jumps, in the air a lot, kind of no-brakes downhill—which is where it’s at.

Steven Nyman
There are some bright spots. Marco was actually the fastest guy on top, which is really cool. It’s good to see him picking up his pace and starting to throw down and feel comfortable. Jared, myself, Andrew—all out. I’m glad with my crash that everything is fine. I was just kind of a little out of control right from the start. And with the light getting dark like this, it just makes this course that much more tough. Lots of terrain, the snow is so compact and aggressive that you gotta really know what you’re doing and know how to move over the terrain and be really confident in what you’re doing or else it will eat you up.

It’s definitely a full new track to most people, but the Austrians, Norwegians, Germans, Finnish—they were here training before the event, and obviously it paid off. But there’re not a lot of excuses because the guy who won—Matthias—didn’t really get a chance to train here. There’s definitely an advantage to having a lot of miles on the course and being comfortable, and I think I could learn a lot from it. Races like this you just gotta take what you get out of it and move forward. There are some bright spots and the bright spot right now is Sullivan and his ability to attack.

Marco Sullivan
It’s a bleak day for the team…I actually feel like everyone is skiing well and had good sections, but it’s just a really tough course. Guys were really trying to push hard, and light was bad…there were lots of bumps and it just didn’t work out for us. The Austrians just built a lot of terrain into the course and even on the training days lots of gates were being missed, there’s fallaway turns with a lot of bumps and it’s just tough. Today with the light being not-so-good, it makes it even harder. There are really no tricks; it’s just tough. I feel like after two training runs everyone coming into today was pretty confident that they knew the line they wanted to ski, and obviously not everyone was able to pull that off. Maybe one more year here and we’ll be feeling better about it.

RESULTS
Men's downhill results

VIDEO