Living in New England, skiing is a common activity during the winter. Especially with nearby Wachusett Mountain, many people enjoy hitting the slopes in their free time. Though ski resorts in the East don’t always get as much hype as the big names in the West, there are a bunch of fun activities that resorts offer. For one resort in Vermont, Thanksgiving weekend was an exciting one.
Killington Ski Resort, dubbed the “Beast of the East”, hosted the Stifel Killington Cup for the seventh time. Located in Rutland Country, Vermont, Killington is the largest ski resort in the East and has 155 trails.
The Breakdown
The Stifel Killington Cup is a stop on the Women’s Audi FIS Alpine Ski World Cup. The World Cup is a series of alpine ski races spanning from October to March, with professional alpine skiers traveling around the world, trying to earn points. There are four main events in which the skiers can compete: slalom, giant slalom, super-G, and downhill. These skiers are the best there is; many of them have won Olympic medals.
Killington hosted two events: slalom and giant slalom. Slalom and giant slalom are the more technical events in alpine racing. Both involve skiers turning down a course of “gates” (poles with a flag in between them) as fast as they can. Giant slalom is a bit quicker and the gates are farther apart, while slalom is the shortest course and has sharper turns. In both events, there are two different runs, and only the top 30 skiers from the first run qualify for the second.
The race and my experience
At Killington, giant slalom took place on Saturday, and slalom took place on Sunday. I was fortunate enough to go to Killington on Saturday with two of my friends. The energy was incredible, as people were dying to watch American Mikaela Shiffrin a two-time Olympic gold medalist and the most decorated female skier in World Cup history. Shiffrin specializes in slalom, though she makes the podium regularly in all events.
It was cold, but it was absolutely worth it. Despite the fact that there were 65 skiers, I didn’t get bored for a minute! Right after each skier crossed the line, a time would flash onto a big board, keeping everyone in excitement. The second run was intense: just because a skier had the best time on the first run didn’t mean they would win the event.
Swiss skier and Olympic gold medalist Lara Gut-Behrami won the giant slalom event at Killington for the second year in a row, with a time of 1:53.05. Alice Robinson of New Zealand placed second (1:53.67), and Mikaela Shiffrin placed third (1:53.86). As for the slalom event the next day, Shiffrin made a comeback and took first with a time of 1:42.02, which marked her 90th World Cup victory. Petra Volhova of Slovakia took second (1:42.35), and Wendy Holdener of Switzerland got third (1:43.39).
Overall, watching these women ski was truly an inspiring experience for me. As I skier myself, I know how hard it is to make it down a steep trail, let alone race down it at top speed. I have a lot of respect for what professional skiers do, and I wish all of them the best as the World Cup continues. One thing’s for sure: I have a new sport to follow!
