In 2002, I wrote in Tahoe Weekly about the U.S. Alpine Nationals being held at Palisades Tahoe and how the events there and at Sugar Bowl Resort were a big success. In 2017, a flawless women’s World Cup event was pulled off at Palisades Tahoe and was magnified by the dominance of Mikaela Shiffrin’s season of victories including a slalom win here.
Now in 2023, Tahoe takes center stage as the best group of slalom and giant slalom skiers on the planet will be arriving at Palisades Tahoe to put on a weekend show of skiing mastery. The men’s World Cup appearance on Feb. 25 and 26 will establish our region as a legitimate tour stop, something that hasn’t taken place since Heavenly hosted the great Ingemar Stenmark in 1986.
We have been largely ignored by the international alpine racing world in spite of having great mountains, being home to the 1960 Winter Olympics and turning out, in my estimation, the most Olympians per capita in America.
We have been largely ignored by the international alpine racing world in spite of having great mountains, being home to the 1960 Winter Olympics and turning out, in my estimation, the most Olympians per capita in America.
Managing the logistics
Putting on the Stifel Palisades Tahoe Cup is an enormous task that ultimately funnels down to one man: Phil GilanFarr, chief of race. He has the final say on race day, making him one of the busiest people at Tahoe these days. Recently, on top of everything else on his plate, he must field calls from every country’s ski coaches to give them a preview of the snow conditions their athletes will potentially be facing.
Prepping a World Cup venue for elite skiers alone is daunting as everyone expects a perfectly consistent course. Phil and his team are striving to provide not only the best course conditions but a challenging course that will earn us some international respect. That is a job in itself, but, he must also manage installing the television camera stands, fencing, miles of cables, banners, hundreds of volunteers and much more.
Setting challenging courses
Phil and his team have set a course that maximizes the face of Red Dog as the slalom will have the maximum allowable vertical drop for the F.I.S. at 220 meters, making it a long and tiring course for the racers, especially since the face is also steeper than your average World Cup slope.
The giant slalom will have a vertical drop of 386 meters, a bit below the maximum of 400 meters, so again, steep and challenging. The most critical, non-engineered component of the races is nature’s snow and organizers worldwide routinely turn their race venue into a sheet of ice that will withstand 100 racers at a time with little variation from one racer to the next.
Phil, an architect by trade and race chief by sacrifice (a labor of love), explained how he must build a slope that is basically 65 percent ice. That hardness will support the racers throughout the event — a bigger challenge this year with the men as opposed to the women’s event held at Palisades Tahoe in 2017 because the men are almost 100 pounds heavier than the women on average, dictating that a harder snow surface must be created to sustain the added weight. Hopefully, on top of all that meticulous surface preparation, it doesn’t snow too close to the event, which would necessitate a re-do of the entire slope.
American skiers to watch
Although the races are held here on our turf, America’s chances for a top-three finish in either event are slim, so brace for the typical European parade on the podium. We do have a few American skiers to watch and cheer on to possible victory. Ryan Cochran-Siegle has been a surprise, whether finishing high or crashing — a possible Bode Miller on the rise. Veterans Tommy Ford and Jared Goldberg will race and they are due for a big win on U.S. soil.
Local and former Palisades Tahoe team member Erik Arvidsson might come here to race, as well. He knows the mountain better than any of the other racers since Red Dog was his training ground when he came here from Bear Valley’s team. Luke Winters and River Radamus are the slalom experts that will hope to shine here and make it to the podium.
America is hungry for a men’s World Cup slalom champion to follow in the footsteps of Jimmie Heuga, Billy Kidd and Phil and Steve Mahre. Personally, I wish local speed skiers Bryce Bennett and Travis Ganong could be entered to race and give it their all here on their home turf. When I saw Bryce best me big time with a sixth place finish here in the Pain McShlonkey Hot Dog Downhill, I knew he could win anything on skis.
A big congratulations to Travis Ganong and his achievement of a third-place finish at the Hahnenkamm in Austria last month. Way to go, Travis.
Read details on World Cup events & transit in this edition
