Adelboden, Switzerland – Ivica Kostelic of Croatia held the lead after the first run to clinch the Audi FIS Alpine World Cup slalom ski racing victory in Adelboden on Sunday. The Austrian duo of Marcel Hirscher and Reinfried Herbst were second and third, respectively.nWarm temperatures and tough snow conditions, coupled with an extremely challenging hill, proved to be a tough fete for many of the top skiers in the world Sunday. Seventy-eight men pushed out of the start gate first run with 25 of them exiting the course early.
Will Brandenburg, of Spokane, Wash., skied tactically smart on the incredibly difficult hill that eliminated many of the world’s best to finish 24th to earn his first World Cup points.
“That pitch is steep. Adelboden is not an easy place to score your first World Cup points, that’s the really cool part about it,” said Brandenburg. “Today was a big step in the right direction, reaching the finish line and getting that weight off my shoulders. Now I’ll probably ski a little but more free and have more fun with it.”
Brandenburg went into Sunday’s slalom with a game plan of focus and patience, then stuck to his strategy and qualified for the second run.
“The snow conditions were very difficult first run and the course set was pretty tough, so it took out quite a few guys,” said Brandenburg. “I just tried to ski pretty fast up top, get down the pitch and see where I stood. That was my game plan and it worked out.”
“In perfect conditions this is an incredibly challenging slalom hill so it just became even more difficult with the warm temperatures,” explained U.S. Ski Team Men’s Head Technical Coach, Mike Day. “The DNF rate was extremely high and our guys were in it. Fortunately, every one of them showed good intervals on the top section.”
Amongst those DNF’s were Americans Ted Ligety, Bode Miller and David Chodounsky. Nolan Kasper of Warren, Vt., failed to qualify for a second run.
The North American story of the day, however, was Canada’s Michael Janyk, who battled his way to a season best fifth-place finish. The 28-year-old men’s Canadian Alpine Ski Team veteran from Whistler, British Columbia, put together two solid runs.
“The second run was a total battle,” said Janyk, who won bronze in the slalom at the 2009 world championships. “I fought the whole way – nothing came easy. I really liked my push today. I just want to put that in the bank and keep it going.”
Fellow Canadians Brad Spence and Trevor White, both of Calgary, Alberta, also put together solid runs, finishing 17th and 20th overall, respectively.
“I think it was really important for us to come here and throw down the hammer like we knew we could,” said Spence, noting the team endured a disappointing day in the slalom event in Zagreb, Croatia, on Thursday. “Hopefully things are looking up now.”
The men’s World Cup circuit will head to Wengen, Switzerland Jan. 11-16 for the famed Lauberhorn downhill as well as a slalom and super combined. Wengen, a favorite stop on the Tour, is the longest downhill on the circuit with tens of thousands of fans blanketing the base of the Eiger with flags, horns and cowbells in tow.
OFFICIAL RESULTS
Audi FIS World Cup
Adelboden, Switzerland – Jan. 9, 2011
Slalom
1. Ivica Kostelic, Croatia, 1:50.90
2. Marcel Hirscher, Austria, 1:51.16
3. Reinfried Herbst, Austria, 1:52.19