Mountain of talent

Even in what is considered the lull of a post-Olympic year, the US Alpine ski team is manned with young guns already positioning themselves for the Vancouver Games in 2010.

If the Turin Games were a disappointment for what had been described as the best US team for an Olympics, the guard is already changing. Gone is the country's preeminent speed-skier, Daron Rahlves, who retired at the end of last season after winning his final national title at the championships at Sugarloaf, Maine.

Jeremy Bloom is also gone, now a wide receiver/kick returner for the Philadelphia Eagles -- currently on the injured reserve list.

And this is very likely the last season for Bode Miller, who will retire as one of the greatest US skiers. A perusal of the 29-year-old New Hampshire veteran's record shows, despite his proclivity for crashing off courses (as he did Sunday in Austria), an immensely successful career.

After his heart-in-throat downhill win at Beaver Creek, Colo., two weeks ago (a coach slid across the course in front of him), Miller has 22 World Cup wins (second only to Phil Mahre's 27 among US men), eight US titles, five World Championship medals, and two Olympic medals. He was overall World Cup champion and super-G champion in 2005.

Obviously, Miller's retirement, whenever it comes, will mark the completion of an era. When Rahlves and Miller were competing head to head, they were the most dynamic US duo since the Mahre brothers (Phil and Steve) in the early '80s.

But even with the pair's departure, the team has a remarkable core of skiers both on the male and female sides. Here's a rundown of the top performers:

Ted Ligety. While Miller has shown this season he is far from irrelevant, Ligety, 22, more or less snatched the torch out of Miller's hand at Turin with an Olympic gold medal in the combined, showcasing his well-known talent in slalom with a flair for speed.

Ligety popped into view at Beaver Creek 2004 with a World Cup slalom podium, adding four top-15 finishes that year before maturing into a full-fledged A Team skier in 2005. Along with Olympic gold, he took a Cup win in giant slalom in South Korea last season, helping to further dispel the notion that he's only a slalom skier. He finished off his season at Sugarloaf with US titles in slalom and combined.

Julia Mancuso. At 22, she became Ligety's counterpart as a rising star who stunned the world with a gold medal performance in Turin's giant slalom. Mancuso, of Olympic Valley, Calif., had a bit of a reputation for being ditzy, after losing her boots for several weeks during last year's World Cup season, and skiing with her hair in a bizarre bouffant built around a water bottle.

But on the course, the surfer-girl skis ferociously in the gates, collecting two bronze medals at the World Championships in Bormio, Italy, in 2005, showing her speed by medaling in super-G and giant slalom.

Along with her Olympic gold last year, Mancuso had two Cup silvers -- downhill and super-G in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy -- and a giant slalom bronze in Germany. She opens this season recovering from offseason hip surgery, but claims to be "right on track."

Lindsey Kildow. Another rising star on the women's team, Kildow, 22, forms the kind of rivalry with Mancuso that Rahlves had with Miller. Their off-slope styles could not be more different. But on skis, Kildow, currently leading the Cup downhill standings with 51 points, is just as fierce, and few will forget her doggedness in competing at the Turin Olympics after a training crash made it difficult for her to walk.

At Lake Louise, Alberta, two weeks ago, Kildow had three podiums, placing second and first in back-to-back downhills, and third in the super-G. A native of Bucks Hill, Minn., Kildow now lives in Vail, Colo. Along with Mancuso, she will be 25 heading to Vancouver, and says she hopes to hone her giant slalom to match her dominance in speed events.

Steve Nyman. At 24, this two-time US downhill champion , earned his first World Cup podium two weeks ago with a third place on the challenging Birds of Prey course at Beaver Creek. On a steep course, dealing with winds and whiteouts, Nyman skied his best race since placing fourth in last year's downhill in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.

He came close enough at Beaver Creek to nearly upset Miller and veteran Swiss racer Didier Cuche . Last year, he also had FIS points in super-G and combined, and is considered by the team to be a well-rounded threat on speed and technical courses. Nyman shares Miller's dream of making this the year to win the famed Austrian Kitzbuhel downhill.

Other A Team members to watch:

Bryon Friedman, a 26-year-old who went to Dartmouth, was US downhill and combined champion in 2004. He posted two top-10 finishes in downhill training before injuries from a crash in France in January 2005 kept him on the sideline until late last season. He hopes to work himself into World Cup form.

Scott Macartney, 28, thought about quitting last season after a decade-long, injury-strewn career, but then turned in his best skiing since joining the team. Macartney had a seventh- place Olympic finish in super-G, a 15th in the downhill, and 16th in combined. He made the podium with a second in combined at Garmisch. Still young enough for a full-bore try this season, Macartney also has an economics degree from Dartmouth to fall back on.

Erik Schlopy, at 34 the old man of the team, is a seven-time US champion, still has hopes to ski in his fourth Olympics in 2010. He had three top 10s last season, placing fourth at Beaver Creek despite breaking his hand in the first run of the GS.

Kirsten Clark, the 29-year-old Maine native , has seven national titles, a World Cup win, and a World Championship medal. She says she doesn't feel like the old lady of the team. This year, having come back from injuries in 2004, she hopes to appear on Cup podiums with more consistency. She also hopes to ski with the aim of having more fun.

Stacey Cook, 22, from Mammoth, Calif., burst onto the Cup scene with eighth- and 10th-place finishes. Cook says she wants to use this year to establish her place among the elite skiers.

Libby Ludlow, 25, came into last season recovering from ACL surgery and had three top-10 finishes. A junior at Dartmouth, Ludlow made the Turin Olympic team, finishing 28th in super-G. Her aim this season is to finish consistently in top 20 and win a Cup super-G.

Resi Stiegler, at 21, the youngest A Team member, finished last season with a fourth in the World Cup finals in Are , Sweden. In her Olympic debut in Turin, Stiegler placed 11th in combined and 12th in slalom.