08/01/2012 Ski Sunday

Hello, welcome to a new series of Ski Sunday. We are back in the

mountains to printed the best winter sport action from across the

planet. We are in the hands of Andrea, one of the biggest storms

in the last decade, which means an incredible amount of snow and a

fantastic Ski Sunday 2012. For the next two months, we will give you

the best of the skiing at racing, with the biggest names in the sport.

Nothing is stopping you from going faster. From the longest to the

most terrifying, we will have all of the downhill drama. We will be

catching up with the best of British, the men and women

threatening to take the Olympics in 2014 by storm. What a season we

have ahead, we start in Switzerland with the men's giant slalom. It is

Later, an exclusive look at life on the women's tour. Plus, I catch up

with Jenny Jones, the golden girl of British snowboarding. Here, it

is giant slalom. What can we expect? This is one of the toughest

courses on the World Cup circuit, it changes to rain at the top, and

it drops onto a steep finish, into the arena. With all of the noise

and excitement, and a lot of pressure on the racist as they dive

over. -- pressure on the racers. The race organisers have spent two

nights clearing the snow, and it is back down to the bullet-proof ice.

Put your money where your mouth is. I think Ted Ligeti has got a point

to prove, he has been the best for the pest -- for the past two years,

but he has never won on this course. It is not a risky call, in the form

he is in. He is under pressure, there are two youngsters coming

through, the young Frenchman, he started the season with a second

place, and then there is Marcel Hirscher, he is exciting to watch,

and he is on a winning streak, full of confidence. But never roll-out

Aksel Lund Svindal. We will put it to the test. Here are the few facts

about our Adelboden that you almost certainly did not know. Some of

these facts might be stretching the truth just a little bit!

We love for a fact, and this is the turn of Adelboden. This was the

destination for the first ever skiing package holiday. It was an

entrepreneur who bought but report the first band of British skiers

here, and he founded the travel agents Lunn Poly. Unfortunately,

the fledgling tourist industry took a hit when reports of an aggressive

animal reached the outside world! It is a funny story! It has twice

won the gold medal off would stacking! It is something that the

locals take immense pride in! have never heard of that! I cannot

confirm that! Adelboden is home to the oldest chalet built by the

World Association of Girl Guides and scouts. They have been coming

here to enjoy the resort since the 30s. The focus this week is on the

World Cup. Do you know what you're the first race was held? -- what

year? 56 years ago? That is the wrong answer. The race has been

running for 57 years. The first race was held a 1955. -- held in

1955. This race is a classic, and year after year, all of the big

names are here. They like to do things a little different here. On

the Friday night before the race, the top seeds enter via his

appliance over the ground. This is a tiny crowd in comparison to the

25,000 spectators who will be here tomorrow, guaranteeing an intense

atmosphere. Luckily for the organisers, the sky

cleared last night, and at 4 am, they had taken the new snow off the

piste. Half a metre has fallen in the last couple of days. They then

plugged the water injection Parkin and injected water at a depth of a

fort underneath the piste. That froze hard, and it made for a

challenging first run. Despite his coach's enthusiasm, this was the

first casualty. The German did not fare much better. Not the most

dignified way to cross the finish line! Last year's runner, Cyprien

Richard, putting a strong time. Nobody could top this year's top

two. Ted Ligeti looked well placed to start the second run with the

lead, but Marcel Hirscher pipped him, despite a lost ball. 0.7

seconds celebrating them. France's young hotshot look set for a top-

three placing, only for a big mistake to leave him frustrated in

17th place. Italy's interests were kept alive with a masterclass of

skier and, third place. The Austrian made it big move, putting

himself in contention, in sixth place. The tricky course proved too

much for some of the big names. Bode Miller never really got going.

This year hit the ice in spectacular fashion. The Frenchman

failed to escape -- failed to stay on two skis. Most of the focus was

on the second run, which would cram the winner of the Ardel Boden giant

slalom. -- crowned the winner. The course is set for the second run,

it is a different pattern of gates, but it is equally as tough. It

looks like the snow is coming in. They will not be able to see all of

the bumps. It will be very challenging. I get the feeling that

the skier who makes the least mistakes will win. The atmosphere

is building. Marcel Hirscher leads, but he only has 0.7 seconds on 10

joint winner here 12 months ago. He shared the win with Cyprien Richard.

This is good work, he is covering it up nicely. He has picked up a

lot of speed, but it is too much speed. He could not make the right

footed term, and he skids out into block. He shot to fourth place in

the standings. He has form, winning the World Junior Championships in

team made up. -- over his team-mate. Full attack at the top. Half-French,

half Norwegian. He got airborne there. He managed to control the

landing. He is looking for the tuck position. He has a huge lead it. --

huge lead. A little late over the last couple of turns, but he will

good first run, but he made a big mistake. The second run was as

close to the fences as you can get. He has thrown down the gauntlet to

the top. It goes relatively flat afterwards for a little while. He

was third here 12 months ago. A couple of emergency manoeuvres. He

has paid the price for the mistakes. He trails by just over a quarter of

a second. No sunshine to show the way, it is flap like all the way. -

- it is flat light. You just have to anticipate the best you can, and

take a gamble. He is coming towards the conclusion. He is all over the

place. Age huge jump. He went through the middle of the gate

He has got the breaks on. He has run out of gas. He might just sneak

into second. The house. -- he has. He is exhausted.

Ivica Kostelic comes from a family of skiers, and he had a spectacular

season last year, his titles built upon a series of blistering winds

in January, and he will do everything he can to stop this year

in similar fashion. -- to start this year.

He had a good first run. Despite all of his achievements, he has

never won a World Cup giant slalom race. Slalom has always been his

speciality. Last year, he won the overall title. But this is the

discipline that eludes him. He should be when ink. -- he should be

coming into the pitch. A nice early turn. Is it too conservative? He is

only third. He holds his head. As he came on to the finish, he

wiped his goggles, because it is almost rain in, it is almost

snowing. He had an eye on the overall World Cup, he was not

really pushing it. He was just had a few injury problems at the

start of the season, but he is back to full fitness now. He is keen to

start the year on his success followed. -- on a successful note.

Tay lost a bit of time. But he is couple of tents, has to harness

that speed now as he approaches the final quarter and this face down

towards the finish, which catches so many of them out - a little

check sideways, might have lost a little bit of his speed. Next split,

2.26.14 for the Frenchman. Baumann is just ahead - only 15/100. Can't

afford any mistakes on the final steep pitch. Loads of Austrians

here watching on, and Baumann is skiing it cleanly. He gets it, not

by much, but enough, 8 1/100 of a second in front. What I

particularly like about him is he's so smooth on his edges. He doesn't

get that whip of some of the lighter, more aggressive skiers,

but particularly there these conditions when the course is bad,

he's so smooth and so loose and took the lead off Pinturault -

way here. He's tasted plenty of success here - three times he has

been the champion of this classic giant slalom. He thrives in these

conditions. Look at him pushing at the start, terrific speed from

Bennie Raich, who missed most of last season with a terrible injury.

He's really going - now half a second up, Baumann, Pinturault,

Fanara, the one-two-three. Raich is hungry for more success. He's

getting quicker - .64 up, a master class so far from Bennie Raich. Now,

then, he knows this hill better than just about anybody as he

ploughs through the middle of that gate. Didn't affect his

concentration, wonderful mental strength to ignore what just went

on. And he focuses on the final steep section, and what focus from

Raich, 1.33 seconds ahead. He's miles away from everybody else -

lovely turns, wonderful carved turns from Ben Raich. He'll cruise

into first position - 1.2 seconds better than Baumann - we have a new

leader. APPLAUSE

Benjamin Raich is officially now back. He's on the comeback from

injury, but that run was truly superb. He's a big race skier, and

he responds well to a crowd like this.

Cyprien Richard surprised everyone last year with a surprising second

run at Adelboden that catapulted him into first place. It was his

first and ever win, though he did record a credible second at the

World Championships in Garnish. Cyprien Richard from France, fifth

after the first run, just after 2/10, from Ben Raich. He's still

pushing where he can with the ski pulls against some of the early

turns. The upper body is a little bit wild, but look at his speed

across the snow. He really wants this one today. He's a little late

there, and some of his speed was wiped out, and as a result, his

lead is down to just 3 1/100 of a second. An early mistake from

Cyprien Richard. Can he claw some of that back? It's a wild,

unorthodox technique that he employs, and the early mistakes

have caught up with him - almost half a second slower than Benjamin

Raich, who, you may remember, was supremely quick on the bottom

second. He may not finish. That's it. It's gone. He had to put the

hand brake on and make sure of the last turn, and as a result, his

chance has slipped away. There will be no defence of the giant slalom

he won alongside Aksel Lund Svindal and Slindal a year ago. He'll be

happy to finish after a catalogue of errors. Benjamin Raich's lead is

secure. He's nearly a full second off the pace. That mistake, hooking

his hand inside the gate, getting spun around, shoulders twisted out,

has cost him the chance to win this race again. It's looking pretty

strong for Raich though. Another Frenchman, Steve Missillier

is next, a sensational first run from him, but what a way to start

his second leg with a dreadful error - five gates in. He began

with 4/10 advantage, he'll be well behind Bennie Raich at the next

intermediate here after that dreadful error at the top. 6/10

down. He has no chance now but to put his foot to the floor and try

to close down some of the time he's lost, but it's a thankless task in

deteriorating conditions. The visibility for him is just about as

bad as it has been all afternoon. A second-and-a-half down now. There

is an air of silence in the Finnish error as they watch him come down.

Everybody saw the mistake he made at the top of the hill on the big

screen. He'll get some sympathetic applause as he comes over the rise

into the steep pitch, but it's a blown opportunity for Steve

Messillier from France. Making sure of the finish now,

Raich is happy. Raich remains in first position, and he's way down

the list in sixth. This is where he blew his chance,

got his skis sideways and had to come in like a beginning.

Max Blardone is Italy's specialist racer. He won back in 2005 on his

way to six GCS titles in his career. He started on home snow, but in

recent years, he hasn't done too well outside of Italy.

Max Blardone is in the start with an advantage over Bennie Raich of

three-quarters of a second. Will that be enough? The winner of the

most recent giant slalom on the Tuesday, round four, held just

before the new year, his first win for awhile - he doesn't get that

much of an opportunity to race because he only takes part in giant

slalom competitions, and there are only about eight or nine each year,

so outings for Max Blardone are few and far between. He's lost a couple

of 10ths, then loses a load of speed. That was a huge mistake.

That might just be the end of his challenge here in Switzerland, and

the red light is on. He's 3/10 down. He, at times, can be very effective

when it's particularly steep. Unfortunately for him, the steepest

section of this course comes right at the end when he'll be on the

edge of his stamina. It's beginning to show. Can he pull something out

of the bag and try and recover the lost ground? .37 - it's going the

wrong way for him. He's drifting further beyond the reach of Bennie

Raich. Now, then, on to the steep, nice turns - he's gone a little bit

left in the tank, and Blardone is leaving it all on the hill. Oh,

what a fight-back, 2/100 of a second behind Bennie Raich. He's

shattered. Max Blardone is absolutely superb

on the steep sections of a giant slalom, and he proved it there,

coming on to the finish pitch. The line that he took through that

double gate turn was just absolutely perfect, and then he

carried that speed all the way down the pitch and only just behind

Benjamin Raich. If he hadn't made that mistake on the middle flat

part of the course, he'd have taken the lead.

Ted Ligety, the giant slalom specialist and world champion,

should be the man to beat in Adelboden, having dominated GS in

recent years, but this hill is his nemesis. He's never won here,

blowing a big lead last year. His team will be hoping he can shred it

up this time around. Ted Ligety - 1.04 seconds is his

advantage over Benjamin Raich. Will that be enough to see him through

to the lead in Adelboden? The snow that's falling is more like rain

now, fine rain at the bottom of the course. Conditions aren't great,

but Ligety is really flying at the top. A mistake just before that red.

Some of his time has gone, but enough - .93 up. The leader in the

World Cup giant slalom standings for this season with two wins - the

opener in October and then on home snow in Colorado in Beaver creek.

Those are the races in which he's triumphed so far, but this is

beginning to move away from him - half a second down, and Ted Ligety

has lost his rhythm. The racing line is way over to the right. He's

off the ideal course, and I think Raich is safe - next split, 2.24.86

for Raich, and Ted Ligety is now behind, 2 1,100 of a second down.

The steep section - can he told it together? Ted Ligety with a lot of

support. Goes or for the line, goes for the lead - just outside - 6

/100 outside. It's only good for third, which means the worst place

Raich can finish is second. Ted Ligety, one mistake on that

gate with the roller in it on the flatter part of the course comes

across the line only 6/100 behind, but in third place, a massive grown

from Ted Ligety, but he was pushing really hard, but just that one

mistake cost him. Marcel Hirscher is the great young

hope of the Austrian ski team and the man to watch the season. He's

currently second in the GS standings and the overall leader.

After ending his season last year with a broken ankle, he recovered

in startling form with a GS and two slalom wins under his belt this

season. The last man on the mountain is

Marcel Hirscher, with more than a second advantage over Benjamin

Raich. A couple of years ago he had posters of Benjamin Raich all over

his wall. Now he's racing to beat him in Adelboden. He's just off the

back of a slalom midweek in Zagreb that put him on the top of the

overall standings - a good start, three-quarters of a second up on

Raich, who leads Max Blardone, with Ted Ligety currently in third

position. He's giving it everything - nice turn, .34 up. His advantage

has been reduced again. Now, then, can he hold it together? Will it be

the Austrian veteran, or will it be the youngster? Lovely turn through

the middle of that panel - spectacular - then a mistake, and

he had to recover. Some emergency manoeuvres being deployed by Marcel

Hirscher to keep his challenge alive here in Adelboden. At the

last intermediate, he was just 15/100 in front. Will that be

enough? Raich can barely watch as he comes home to take the win in

Adelboden by 8/100 of a second. He doesn't know yet. He hasn't seen it

yet. He is asking the question. Is it me? Yes, it is! He's the winner

here on the. They're calling him the new Benjamin Raich. The two of

them can only be separated by 8/100 today.

Marcel Hirscher said he came on to the slope with a really big skid.

It looked like his legs were starting to give way, but he just

had enough strength to hang on and carry that speed across the line.

It's Austria, one and two. What a great race in Adelboden, and

the victory goes to Marcel Hirscher would be Obi-Wan Kenobi. What is it

like to be the master with someone so young and promising coming

through? He's younger, but he's very strong, and he's much older in

his mind than in his age. Yeah, I think he's really strong and the

man of the future. I learned a lot from Bennie. He was always my

biggest idol, so it's - it was pretty strange at the beginning

when I came into the World Cup team sitting next to the big gladiator.

You always look up to him, so sitting next to him is pretty

strange, but it's a good, good thing, and I'm pretty proud to beat

him today. He's a good guy. Sunday is on at the later time of

Pritam's Shelley Bradman took bronze in the women's skeleton at

the European Championships in Germany. Amy Williams finished 20th.

Congratulations to Marcel Hirscher, a tight race, 0.1 seconds

separating first and third. For the women, it is just as tight. Chemmy

Alcott is not racing, she is still recovering from a horrendous

accident sustained last year in training. She has been back on tour,

catching up with the friends who have supported her through the

toughest year of her life. 12 months on from my worst career

crash ever, I am back in the mountains, and I am Super excited

to be here amongst my friends are. But I am here to beat somebody who

is really special to me, and was there through my journey. We have

been on this journey together for over a decade. It is a lot over a

decade! We first met in New Zealand, we were at the Golden girls. We

were quite jealous of each other. thought, this British girl is the

best, I need to beat her! I thought, this American kid, she is really

hot, I want to beat her! Unbeknown to us, we were kissing the same boy.

We have good taste! That is why we get along so well! We are really

similar people, you have excelled in the World Cup, more than me, but

I am still going to break through! Yes! I am here because I am getting

my boot fitted four-minute lead, and I want to talk about my crash.

When I crashed, you came to the hospital pretty much every day. I

crashed on a hill you were racing on, so how did you change your mind

set, no link that there was a term that I had fallen on? I am

concerned for the well-being of my friend, but in general, it is

mostly thinking about myself and being safe. The race goes on. You

have to be able to calm -- compartmentalised. You are such an

over-rich Shiva! -- over achiever! I had a tough childhood. I focused

my energy on skiing. That is what I brought with me through the years.

And also, this fearless attitude, I just wanted to go fast, to beat my

older sister, I wanted to be fearless. When you won the Olympics,

the weather was horrendous. You Skeet like it was perfect

conditions. He did not stir the day before. -- it did not know the day

before. Is that your best ever victory? The Olympics is the

pinnacle, it was exciting also in Vancouver, to be on the podium.

Twice. That was a lot of fun. went into the Olympics with not

much confidence and evidence that you were going to be on the podium,

but you turned it around. I had to be like, I know it is possible, and

I have the training, so now it is about doing that and forgetting

about everybody else. That is a big part of skiing, being clearly

confident in yourself. It is not just self-confidence, believing in

your own will, it is shutting out the negativity. Not letting

anything affect how you feel. Being on the podium is amazing, but there

is definitely a difference between being on the podium and winning. To

win a race, everything has to be perfect. You have to think, I am

going to win this race. You have to want to win. How will you win this

year? It is tough, Linsey is skiing so fast. Winning a race is so

different from being on a podium. She has won so many times, it

becomes routine. When it becomes a habit, it is that much easier. She

has a mental advantage by knowing what it takes to win. Look at this!

You have officially made it, you have a dressing down with your name

on it! It is weird, you can be such good friends with somebody to race

against. It is like a family, we travelled the world, that is what

keeps me doing the sport. It is tough to be away from home, but I

love travelling. It is fun to have It is two years until the winter

Olympics, and we wish Chemmy Alcott all the best, and we hope she can

recover in time. There will be a new event, and us British are good

at it. Could we be about to win our first ever gold medal on the snow?

I look at her as they could influence and as a great stone

border. She was one of the goals from the get go, hitting the big

jumps. I like that. To stand out for as long -- he has is amazing.

She has made me better at snowboarding. I grew up in Bristol.

An average family. I did other sports, gymnastics, athletics,

swimming, and I liked them, but this, the adrenalin rush, the speed,

it was always so exciting. I said, how can I do this more? What

decision did you come to? I thought, I have finished my A-levels, I

applied for university, and I told my parents I would like to take a

year out and be a chalet maid! I have worked in a small chalet, but

after 20 guests, cooked breakfast every day, changed the beds, clean

the toilets, and every day I went to the mountains and enjoyed

snowboarding. I met professionals, they watched me, they said, you

should come to the British championships, and I said, I do not

know how to get there. I went along, and that was it. That was one of my

first pick contexts -- contests. For the next two years, it was

going smoothly, and I got invited to the next Games. -- X Games. I

started to practise, and that is when things went wrong. I was

training at, and I've had a huge crash, and I hurt my knee. I never

got to compete. At that point, I was about to break into America,

and it was cut short. Did you think it was over? No. The invitation

list is doggedly the most prestigious in snowboarding. You

made at 21, how long did it take to get back on the list? It was not

for another four or five years. I thought, I will go back to that. I

will get an invite, I will go. I did not care about what would

happen, I just wanted to go again. It was funny, because I eventually

got the invite. I was thinking, I will go next year. What happened

with the first one? That was the best competitive moment of my life!

I was in second place, I had one more run cannot afford, I have got

nothing to lose. I looked up, I could see the gold,... I was such a

loser, I started crying! Afford, no, I am the person who cries! You have

sustained that level throughout. was happy to come back again and do

well again. In Europe, that was amazing, because it was the resort

that I had been a chalet maid at, 10 years ago! There were a few

people around that time you. To get the gold medal, I am British, I am

here, I might not have been through the conventional channels, but I am

just as capable as the European girls. How did you feel when you

found out this was going to be in the Olympics? I tried not to think

about it until I got the official confirmation. I got the phone call,

and I was excited! It is positive for snowboarding that it is in

there. I cannot expect too much at this stage, because I am doing well

right now, but I do not know where I will be then. I did love to

represent my country, but if I am not at that level, it is OK. As

long as I have tried. We would love to see Jenny Jones on

the podium, but in your heart of hearts, can she do it? I am an

optimist, and I will say yes. She is our most consistently successful

winter sport athlete. If it does not workout, she is training kit

with another really strong that talent, so if she does not make it,

I think her colleague well. For the men, we have Jamie Nichols. A lot

of people are calling him the best all-round competition snowboarder

in the world. That is issued call, very exciting. Anybody else

commensurate? Billy Morgan, he exploded onto the international

scene in December. This is why. It is pretty scary! There are four

or five other people doing triples. It is pretty cool to join them. It

was claimed on a couple of websites that I was the first one to do it.

I do not know if somebody has done it before. I looked on YouTube

defined videos, but there are no snowboarders who have done it. I

thought about it a couple of times, but I think about a lot of tricks.

A lot of the time, you never think you will do them, because you never

get the opportunity. I do trampolining, so why have done

triple backlit -- I have done trouble back flips. I thought it

was realistic. I had a good bunch of days, riding. I did some double

radios. The jump was pick, I was going well. A Ford, today is the

day. I just did it. -- I thought, I suppose I got more hits on that

video in the last day than any other video I have put up. It is

obviously being looked at, which is amazing. Getting this done and

training properly will help me push towards the Winter Olympics. I did

not think it was relisted until the last couple of weeks. I have been

going well recently. That is it for this week. If you

pressed the red button at the end of the show, you can watch

highlights of the men's slalom from Adelboden. Also, you can keep in

touch via the website, and follow us on Twitter. Next week, the