The 34th World Cup season begins this weekend on the Grande Motte glacier above Tignes, in the French Alps. A demanding season awaits the best skiers in the world — a total of 80 events will be jammed into five months, culminating at the World Cup finals in Bormio, Italy on March 14-19, 2000.

With no medal (Olympic or World Championship) events this winter, the International Ski Federation (FIS), the governing body of the World Cup, filled up almost every weekend schedule until spring. The skiers will travel to 12 countries, including a stop in Korea for two men's races.

Top Skiers Return

	Alexandra Meissnitzer

All the top female skiers are returning to the World Cup tour this year, except Italy's Deborah Compagnoni (the winner at Tignes in 1997), Germany's Katja Seizinger — both of whom decided to retire at the end of last season — and Switzerland's Karin Roten, who is pregnant.

Austria's veteran and the defending slalom World Cup champion Thomas Stangassinger, 33, decided to keep on racing, as did many other older stars like Norway's Finn Christian Jagge, the 1992 Olympic Champion. Jagge has his sights on keeping the slalom Crystal Globe out of Stangassinger's hands.

"The Herminator has reached all of ski racing's summits in the last two years — four gold medals at the '98 Olympics and Ski World Championships, one Overall World Cup title and 20 World Cup successes..."

Thomas Sykora, the 1998 slalom World Cup champion, re-injured his knee and his chances for a comeback look slim. Most of the other skiers plan to compete at least until the 2001 Ski World Championships at St. Anton in Austria and hopefully the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics.

Who can beat the Austrian teams?
The well trained and determined Austrian team is expected to dominate the scene again this year. The women's group, led by the great dominator of past seasons, Alexandra Meissnitzer, will try to clinch all the World Cup trophies again. Renate Goetschl, Michaela Dorfmeister, Sabine Egger and veteran Anita Wachter – racing in her 16th World Cup season – will also compete for the Crystal globes awarded in their specific disciplines and for overall standings.

In fact, the Austrians will face only a handful of serious contenders. Among them are Germany's Hilde Gerg; Sweden's young star Anja Paerson and Norway's very consistent GS specialist Andrine Flemmen. Sweden's Pernilla Wiberg, the only active skier to have celebrated wins in all disciplines, will also compete, as will German Martina Ertl, despite her disappointing record last season.

The Slalom Field
In slalom, which is not dominated as heavily by the Austrians, Slovenia's Spela Pretnar and Urska Hrovat, American Kristin Koznick, and Zali Steggall, the reigning slalom world champion from Australia, have a strong chance for top positions. A runner-up in the 1998 slalom World Cup, Koznick had an inconsistent '98-'99 season. She reached the podium once at Semmering, Austria but made a very poor showing at the Ski Worlds at Vail.

Fortunately "Koz" is young. She'll celebrate her 24th birthday during the races at Park City. This US star has the talent and the determination to come back at the top. So far, Kristina is the only serious US woman contender for victories this season since her teammate Picabo Street, who moved to Park City this summer, has not yet fully recovered from a crash in March 1998 in Switzerland's Crans Montana the in which she broke her left femur and tore her right knee. But the 1998 super G Olympic Champion is planning to get on her skis again this winter.

"The Herminator" is Back!

	Hermann Maier

The scene should not change much on the men's tour, either: Hermann Maier and his Austrian pals Stephan Eberharter, Hans Knauss, Andreas Schifferer, Thomas Stangassinger, Christian Mayer, newcomer Benjamin Raich are all aiming for a triumphant winter. Last season the Norwegian team was the only group able to beat the Austrians at Vail and in the overall World Cup. With three gold medals, Lasse Kjus and Kjetil Aamodt, did better than Maier & Co in Vail.

Kjus clinched both the downhill World Cup title and the overall trophy — only Switzerland's Michael von Grünigen, the best GS skier in recent years, could interfere in this tough duel by winning the GS World Cup trophy.

"The Herminator" has reached all of ski racing's summits in the last two years — four gold medals at the '98 Olympics and Ski World Championships, one Overall World Cup title and 20 World Cup successes. And as he explained during a press conference at Soelden, he feels ready for another great season.

"I'm still very motivated despite all my wonderful wins and I trained well this summer," said the Austrian who also admitted that his PR-schedule has again been very busy. Maier is a wealthy man now but ski racing is still excites him. The Austrian, who turns 27 on December 7, also wants to meet some goal in improving his downhill technique.

"There are more downhill races this winter than in the other specialties, so it will be important for me to raise my potential there." So far, Maier has only won three downhill races since 1997.

As in the past, Maier wants to give his best as soon as the start-gate opens and he wants to do so without thinking about World Cup points.

"It's only when I race 100 or even 110% than I really have fun," he said.

The Viking Attack

	Lasse Kjus

Lasse Kjus, who had to share the gold and glory with Maier in the super G at Vail last year, does not share this attitude. Having lost two months of training last year with a pain in his left knee, the 28-old-year Norwegian only started to train on snow in September. In fact, Kjur considered sitting out for the entire upcoming season.

"I feel sorry about this because I was hoping to repeat my great past season," he said at Soelden. "I should be able to remain competitive in downhill because it's more a mental sport, but in the technical events it can be difficult for me. But the most important thing is to remain healthy." He also suffered from bouts of bronchitis and influenza last winter, forcing him to give up five races. Kjur is already planning to rest in early December while his rivals compete in Canada's Lake Louise.

His teammate Kjetil Aamodt feels fine so far. The 1994 Overall World Cup champion twice lost the crystal globe in previous races — in 1997 against France's Luc Alphand and last March at Sierra Nevada, Spain. Aamodt, who has won 13 medals at Olympics and Ski World Championships, dreams of another overall World Cup victory.

"I have been very consistent in all specialties in recent years, but I'm not winning enough," he said. In fact, the skier from Oslo has not won a single race since his win at Adelboden, Switzerland, in January 1997. Later on, he had to be content with successes in combined at Kitzbühel, Austria, and at Vail. Last winter, he stood on the podium in downhill, slalom and giant slalom but not in super G — his best event in the past.

"I like to ski everything, but it's really hard," he said. "Maybe I should focus on two or three disciplines."

Two US Hopefuls
Only one or two other nations stand a chance against the Autrians and Norwegians. The Swiss can count on Von Grünigen in giant slalom, the Slovenians on Jure Kosir in slalom, the Italians on Kristian Ghedina in downhill and the French on Pierrick Bourgeat in slalom. They are all experienced athletes.

Some others hoping to do as well are Finland's Kalle Palander, the surprising winner of the slalom world championships in Vail, or Marco Buechel, of Liechtenstein, who was runner up in the GS at Vail. American Chad Fleischer, who took second in the last regular season downhill in Sierra Nevada, is another strong contender. Fleischer has fought hard to attain his place among the elite in the speed events and his win gave him great momentum. No US skier has won a major downhill since 1995 when Kyle Rasmussen won in Kvitfjell, Norway. Fleischer's teammate, Bode Miller, who last season took two 4th places in slalom, is also looking for a top result this season.

The countdown to Salt Lake City in 2002 has already started.

— Patrick Lange, MountainZone.com World Cup Correspondent