Australian alpine stars ready to get back into the starting gate

Australia’s top alpine skiers are about to get back into competition mode with Greta Small racing in the women’s speed events in Lake Louise, CAN, whilst Harry Laidlaw and Louis Muhlen will take on Europa Cup GS events in Gurgl, AUT. 

Small will make her season World Cup debut in Lake Louise, where two women’s Downhill and a Super-G are scheduled from Dec 2-4. The three-time Olympian is currently wrapping up her training block in Nakiska, Canada, ahead of next week’s races.

“Greta has had a fantastic lead-in to her season and she’s feeling as good as she’s ever had,” said Snow Australia Alpine Director, Shawn Fleming. 

Prior to travelling to Canada, Small had been training in South America in September. She then flew to Europe to compete in the speed races in Zermatt/Cervinia, going through another solid block of training during the second half of October and November after their cancellation. 

“She’s had a good amount of time on the snow and some good training opportunities, also working very well with her new tech and ski team, so everything is going very well,” continued Fleming.

After making his own season debut in Soelden at the end of October, Harry Laidlaw will compete in two Giant Slalom events in Gurgl, Austria on December 1-2, alongside National Alpine Ski Team teammate Louis Muhlen. Muhlen has been racing mostly in FIS slalom events in Austria and Switzerland in November to start the European winter season, with a fifth place in slalom at Diavolezza as his best result.

Despite the challenges posed by the weather and snow conditions in the Alps, Fleming said getting good quality training hasn’t been too much of an issue for the two skiers.

“From all accounts I am getting from their coaches, it’s been challenging, but the quality of the training has been very good. So they’re both in a good place at this stage of the season,” Fleming confirmed.

Laidlaw comes from his second best FIS World Cup result in Soelden, where he put down a clean first run for a 42nd place in the GS. 
“I'm feeling good, I have been skiing fast against some strong skiers in training and I think with my new world rank I have a good opportunity to do something cool this season,” Laidlaw said.

“I've figured out my race day mindset and the headspace I need to be in to do well.” 

After racing in Gurgl, Laidlaw will continue focusing on GS, competing in World Cup events in Val d’Isere and Alta Badia in December as well as Europa Cup races in Zinai (SUI). 

Muhlen - who’s been balancing his training between slalom and GS - will take part in the World Cup slalom in Val d’Isere before joining his teammate in Zinai. He will then travel to Obereggen and Val di Fassa for two Europa Cup slaloms and wrap up the pre-Christmas period with the World Cup slalom in Madonna di Campiglio.

“Right now our focus is on building momentum and getting the athletes’ confidence up,” Fleming said, referring to the two skiers’ goals for the first part of the season. 

“Of course both athletes are capable of skiing at a very high level, so at this stage it’s just about putting all the right pieces together.” 

“They are both in a good place. Harry especially will approach his Europa Cup races with a lot of confidence after competing in Soelden, given the quality of the field at that race and the difficulty of that slope,” Fleming concluded.