U S Skiing

What do you do if you get kicked out of a neighborhood pickup game? Go start another one with another team. That's just about what veteran snowboarder Chris Klug did after he was dropped from the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Assn.'s program last year. He formed a team with four others. It's a do-it-yourself parallel giant slalom team. "I still wanted to continue," Klug said this week. "I had some unfinished business. It turned out to be a real blessing in disguise."

There is no easy way down. There's not supposed to be. Just over the edge of my ski tips was Silverton Mountain, North America's first new ski area in almost two decades and arguably one of its most thrilling. With more than 3,000 vertical feet of the steepest in-bounds slopes in the country, neck-deep powder and wide-open bowls, it has what expert skiers and snowboarders dream of. For $99 a day you get nearly unfettered access to this 1,600-acre ski mountain in southwest Colorado.

Diann Roffe-Steinrotter wasn't the only U.S. surprise in women's skiing here Tuesday. There were two others. Donna Weinbrecht, the Olympic gold medalist in women's moguls two years ago at Albertville, France, and the heavy favorite here, bobbled a bit on her run in the moguls eliminations--the medal runs are scheduled today--and finished an unhappy sixth. But Liz McIntyre, her teammate, surprised the field by placing first.

Diann Roffe-Steinrotter can go off and ride her horses now, on summer days along the Raquette River near Potsdam, N.Y. She can stand in the stirrups and catch warm breezes. She can know contentment. She can carry with her Tuesday's Olympic victory in the women's super-giant slalom at Kvitfjell, the latest American success on the slopes here. Russia's Svetlana Gladischeva won the silver, Italy's Isolde Kostner the bronze.

What's good for Bode Miller is good for America. What? Ridiculous as that reads, four years after his enfant terrible turn at the 2006 Turin Olympics, there may be a ski tip of truth to it. With the Vancouver Olympics fast approaching, we'd like to report Miller is reciting acts of contrition while negotiating a couch summit with Oprah to explain his boorish behavior in Italy, where he failed to win anything or anybody over --...

Lindsey Vonn won a World Cup downhill for the second straight day, giving her seven victories on the Lake Louise, Canada, course since 2004. Saturday's victory marked the first time the 25-year-old Vonn has won two downhills in two days at Lake Louise. The U.S. Ski Team said it was the best overall showing for American women in a World Cup downhill since March 16, 1991, at Vail, Colo. Alice McKennis -- a 20-year-old in her third career World Cup race -- finished 10th, Stacey Cook 11th, Julia Mancuso 12th, Leanne Smith 23rd and Chelsea Marshall 25th.

Felix McGrath of Norwich, Vt., an easy winner in both runs, won the men's giant slalom at the U.S. Alpine skiing meet at Copper Mountain, Colo. Tiger Shaw of Stowe, Vt., seeking a third straight national giant slalom title, was third.

The U.S. Olympic Committee's executive committee will take no action against Executive Director Harvey Schiller after receiving an independent counsel's report this week concluding that he used poor judgment on several occasions that resulted in violations of the USOC's statement of principles. "Throughout this process, we felt that some instances involved errors of judgment," USOC President William Hybl said in a statement released Thursday. "But we continue to have confidence in Dr.

If Picabo Street wants to diversify her portfolio and race in all four events, U.S. Skiing will support her efforts, but Alpine Director Paul Major said this week it might be better if she waited another year. "It would mean a big change in her training routine," he said from Park City, Utah. "I think she could manage it, given enough time to make the necessary adjustments. Maybe it would be more appropriate for her to do this in the 1996-97 season."