Adding a new gear
Rahlves is driving hard for Olympic glory
BEAVER CREEK, Colo. -- In Europe, it is called the ''White Circus." It's the World Cup ski tour, which blows into town with all its noise, hilarity, and top ski racing, then packs up and moves on.
And while the races are always hotly contested, an Olympic season, with most national teams yet to be picked, is especially competitive and every race vital. This week's men's races in Beaver Creek and next week's women's events in Aspen, Colo., are no exception.
Here, on the Birds of Prey courses, the men will compete in all four disciplines, starting with the super-G today, the downhill tomorrow, and two technical races over the weekend.
Last year, Bode Miller won the downhill here on his way to the overall Cup championship (as well as the super-G champ with seven wins), cementing his place as one of the two finest all-around male skiers in United States team history, alongside Olympic gold medalist Phil Mahre. But often lost in the excitement over Miller are the exploits of Californian Daron Rahlves, who is using the pre-Olympic speed races to get ready for his final shot at a medal.
At 32, Rahlves has been dropping some broad hints that this could be his retirement year, and as the ranking US speed skier -- with nine World Cup wins and three World Championship podiums -- he has dedicated this season to winning an Olympic medal as well as the World Cup downhill title.
''I don't want to leave the sport until I know I've done everything I could possibly do," said Rahlves, an avid surfer and motocross rider. ''I think I can win the World Cup downhill title, and if I don't I would be really disappointed to walk away. And if I do have a great year that would be the easiest way to say, 'Thank you, very much, I had a great time,' and walk away."
Despite skiing in Miller's shadow, Rahlves's 13-year career on the US Team has had plenty of luster. He is the all-time winning US speed skier: six Cup downhill wins and three super-Gs. He also claimed silver and bronze medals at the World Championships last season at Bormio, Italy.
Like many ski racers, Rahlves is known for being the life of the party throughout a World Cup winter, something he says breaks the tension of the tour. But this year, he will change his approach and listen to the advice of an old friend and competitor, Stephan Eberharter, who retired two years ago after three consecutive World Cup downhill titles.
His gift to Rahlves was a pair of fast Atomic downhill skis and some advice: If you want to win it all, take it easy on the partying.
''I've always had a lot of fun off the hill," said Rahlves, ''but I plan to tone that down. I've committed to not going out and getting hammered after a race, even though when you have a bunch of friends all coming over from Lake Tahoe it's easy to get dragged into the scene."
Rahlves admits a racer's ability to ''explode down the course" is affected if he's been out partying until the wee hours.
''When I was first on the tour, I'd be going out [partying] two days before race day," he said. ''That can work in your early 20s when you can pull it off. But I probably would have done better if I hadn't [partied near race day]. One thing Eberharter said, 'It's not worth it.' "
If this is Rahlves's swan song, he faces stiff competition in his quest to go out with an Olympic medal and the Cup downhill title. And the competition begins with Miller and extends to Austrians Ben Raich and Hermann Maier, who won the opening downhill of the season at Solden, Austria.
There are two other possible retirees who would like to go out making some noise. Norwegians Kjetil André Aamodt and Lasse Kjus have been with the Norwegian team since the country began getting an Alpine team ready for the 1994 Games in Lillehammer, Norway.
Aamodt and Kjus have always been in the thick of the competition, both in World Cup and the Olympics. Both are 34 years old, have some gray whiskers, and have combined for 35 world championship and Olympic medals.
Another Norwegian to watch is 23-year old Aksel Lund Svindal, who won his first World Cup super-G last weekend at
The Beaver Creek and Aspen races are the only US stops on the White Circus, which visits 11 nations in four months. The races will be televised on NBC and OLN. The next chance for race fans to see the top US skiers compete will be at Sugarloaf, Maine, March 25-30 at the US Alpine Championships. 