Inside Edge: World Cup North American swing underway

Shiffrin buries the field — Mikaela Shiffrin won the World Cup Slalom at Killington, Vermont by a whopping 2.29 seconds last weekend. Nina O’Brien at 28th was the only other U.S. lady in the points.

Shiffrin was the only U.S. racer in the giant slalom points, taking the bronze by finishing .29 seconds off the winning pace. She then flew to Lake Louise, changed skis and finished second in the first downhill training run. A truly amazing talent.

Speed at Lake Louise — Lake Louise hosted two men’s speed events last week. Steven Nyman and Travis Ganong tied for 10th in the downhill, leading a record five U.S. men into the points. Bryce Bennett placed 23rd, and Jared Goldberg and Ryan Cochran-Siegle tied for 30th.

Travis Ganong finished 12th in the Super G. Cochran-Siegle placed 21st closely followed by Nyman in 22nd. The men now head to Beaver Creek for the fabled Birds of Prey.

Junior Race Series sign-up — Fliers for the January Independence Junior Race Series are at the local ski shops. This popular series features free coaching, lots of prizes, lots of kids and lots of fun! Racers meet four Friday evenings in January from 5:30-7 p.m. No excuses — come join the fun!

Historically we get an 80 percent participant return rate, so you better register now.

Forms are at the Alpine Shop and Sandpoint Sports, or can be downloaded at independenceracing.com.

Potpourri — The Nice Turns free trial is this coming Sunday. Contact the Learning Center for further information. An inch here, an inch there ... soon you’re talking real snow. Keep on dancin! Any comments, recommendations or contributions to this column may be sent to Shep Snow by email at shep@thesnowschool.com. Negative feedback should be sent to someone else.