n World Cup Update — The U.S. Olympic Team selections aren’t quite complete, so every result is critical as we come down to the wire. The past week was all about speed events, and both the men and women continue into another speed weekend coming up. The ladies were at Bad Kleinkircherheim, Austria where the snow conditions were rough and treacherous due to a warm and unpredictable winter. Lindsey Vonn posted a 9th in Super G and 27th in Downhill. Laurenne Ross, recovering from a serious injury last year, led our downhillers with a 13th place finish. Stacey Cook was 22nd and Breezy Johnson 26th.

The men were at Wengen, Switzerland on the famed Lauberhorn track, a brutal course of nearly two minutes. Ryan Cochran-Siegle was 6th in the Downhill, followed closely by Bryce Bennett and Jared Goldberg in 7th and 8th, an impressive feat putting three in the top 10. After the slalom, Bennet was 9th in Alpine Combined, followed by Ted Ligety in 11th, with Cochran-Siegle and Goldberg in 18th and 19th respectively.

n Junior Race Series — Despite a powdery week, the second night of youth racing came off without a hitch. Thanks to the coaches and staff for many slips down the course. The fastest boys this week were: Klein Fragoso, Cadin Billstin and Crosby Schmidt — it looks like these three will be going at it for the entire series.

On the girls’ side, Sydnie Knepper edged out her sister Angelina for fastest, followed by Fiona MacDonald. The Rut Monsters took an early lead in the team competition, however the other teams are right there nipping at their heals. Racing resumes at 5:30 p.m. on Friday night.

n Northwest Cup Opener — The Edge is far from perfect, as can be attested by my better half. Last week we failed to report one local racer who competed in the tough conditions at Mount Spokane. Morgan Wohlaib completed all three races over the weekend, a feat not done by many of the competitors. She posted 29th in Giant Slalom, then stepped it up to an impressive 7th place Slalom finish, which also lowered her points. She finished 23rd in the second slalom. As explained in earlier editions here, at the older age groups it’s all about battling ruts and tough fields to lower one’s points. Any “score” is a successful weekend. The path to the top does not include lots of medals, just hard work.

n EEYSL Race #1 — The Schweitzer Alpine Racing School will host two days of U14 racing on Loop Hole this weekend. Watch here for a full report next weekend.

n FIS Elite — Selected athletes from SARS will be traveling to Utah this week for four days of high level Regional qualifiers. We’ll also report on this next week.

n Winter Trails Day — The 20th Schweitzer offers free access to all of the Nordic trails. Check with the Activity Center at 255-3081 for details.

n Potpourri — The Banff Film Festival comes to town this weekend and is nearly sold out. If you haven’t experienced this incredible film festival, get your tickets now. Any comments, recommendations or contributions to this column may be sent to Shep Snow by e-mail at shep@thesnowschool.com. Negative feedback should be sent to someone else.

The Inside Edge runs every Thursday during ski season in the Daily Bee.