Alpine ANC Round Up
Published Thu 12 Sep 2019
Australia’s Alpine Skiers have been mixing it with the best on-snow as part of ANC events staged in Australia and New Zealand in recent weeks.
Beginning at Hotham on 22 August, Aussie women joined 30 athletes from New Zealand, France, USA, Switzerland, Germany, Denmark and Great Britain for two days of racing.
The men’s competition consisted of a Giant Slalom only (due to weather) and boasted 70 athletes from 17 nations.
Aussie Results – Hotham ANC
Women
Slalom Race 1
Zoe Michael – sixth
Sophie Mahon – 10th
Rebecca Brown – 12th
Slalom Race 2
Zoe Michael – fifth
Sophine Mahon – 10th
Rebecca Brown – 12th
Giant Slalom
Rebecca Brown – 7th
Zoe Michael – 8th
Sophie Mahon – 9th
Bridget Lennon – 11th
Men
Giant Slalom
Louis Muhulen-Schulte – 11th
Theo Coates – 40th
Harry Laidlaw 42rd
Jack Adams 43rd
Racing continued at Cardrona on 4-5 September as cancelled Hotham events were hosted across the Tasman.
Aussie Results
Women’s
Slalom
Rebecca Brown – 4th
Zac Teen – 20th
Giant Slalom
Rebecca Brown – 8th
Men’s
Slalom
Theodore Coates – 23rd
Hugh McAdam – 25th
Jack Adams – DNF
Giant Slalom
Harry Laidlaw – 26th
Theodore Coates – 30th
Hugh McAdam – 31st
Jack Adams – 32nd
From 26 August – 2 September, the New Zealand Winter Games at Coronet Peak hosted ANC events with a number of Australian athletes in attendance.
Women’s
Super G Race 1
Rebecca Brown – 10th
Super G Race 2
Rebecca Brown – 13th
Giant Slalom Race 1
Lily Tomkinson – 19th
Rebecca Brown – 24th
Sophie Mahon – 27th
Giant Slalom Race 2
Rebecca Brown – 16th
Lily Tomkinson – DNF
Sophie Mahon – DNF
Slalom Race 1
Rebecca Brown – 17th
Lily Tomkinson – 10th
Sophie Mahon – DNF
Slalom Race 2
Rebecca Brown – 13th
Sophie Mahon – DNF
Men’s
Super G Race 1
Harry Laidlaw – DNF
Super G Race 2
Harry Laidlaw – 14th
Giant Slalom Race 1
Harry Laidlaw – 36th
Theodore Coates – 42nd
Hugh McAdam – 49th
Jack Adams – 50th
Harrison Daines – Did not qualify for second run
Giant Slalom Race 2
Harry Laidlaw – 25th
Theodore Coates – 34nd
Hugh McAdam – 31st
Jack Adams – DNF
Harrison Daines – 47th
Slalom Race 1
Theodore Coates – 32nd
Hugh McAdam – DNF
Jack Adams – DNF
Harrison Daines – DNF
Slalom Race 2
Theodore Coates – 30th
Hugh McAdam – DNF
Jack Adams – 28th
Super-G
The series kicked off with both men’s and women’s super-G races taking place under sunny skies. A total of 17 athletes competed for the women and 25 for the men.
Giant Slalom
Day One
Set on the same course as the Super G events held earlier in the week, 36 women and 86 men made the most of the morning’s firm snow conditions on The Hurdle to set up a thrilling showdown between some of the world’s best technical ski racers on the first of two days of Giant Slalom racing which contributed to the overall standings for the Australia New Zealand (ANC) Cup.
The depth of the men’s field was apparent with the top sixteen being within one second of each other.
Day Two
If the first run was about consistency and finding flow, the second run with a straighter course following a full-length reset was one of survival with the second run taking a high number of casualties across both fields.
A double salting of the piste to assist in keeping the snow as hard as possible kept the course as firm as could be expected, but it was clear that the snow conditions and straighter course set were playing havoc with the field as multiple men exited the course on the bottom section of the below ‘Coaches Corner’.
Slalom
Day One
The first day of spring brought another day of blue skies to the slopes of Coronet Peak as the Winter Games NZ Alpine Skiing program shifted gears to the short quick turns of slalom.
A shift of the course from Race Arena back to the Hurdle was made by officials to maximise the firmer snow conditions of the higher altitude terrain giving course setters the opportunity to utilize the steep pitch and natural rollers to set two fast-running courses to entice athletes to open it up and charge the hill.
The challenge of managing the piste quality throughout the duration of the day called for two separate course sets for both the men’s and women’s first and second runs to ensure the best possible snow quality for the large international fields that the Winter Games NZ Alpine race series has attracted.
Disruption from the planned schedule saw the women’s second run delayed until after the men’s second run due to parts of the course needing to be repositioned due to variable snow depth on the left-hand side of the course.
Day Two
In a change from usual running order, the men ran before the women, but it didn’t stop over half of the 76 strong men’s field from finishing. The fast running, open course made the most of snow conditions on the Hurdle course with the piste holding superbly as the temperatures rose throughout the day signifying the preparation and efforts made by the Coronet Peak race crews.
The final day of racing saw a tight battle in the men’s field with the top ten separated by less than one second and a mere 0.36 seconds separating the podium.
Like the men, the women’s field was challenged by the course set and terrain with a high number of non-finishers.