Go to Admin » Appearance » Widgets » and move Gabfire Widget: Social into that MastheadOverlay zone
Editor’s note 1: One of these predictions already came true, albeit on the high side. Vail was reporting 8 new at 6 this morning and it’s still snowing hard at 9:30 a.m., Tuesday, meaning we have to have surpassed 10 inches and be on the way to a foot of fresh. That should allow crews to get a helluva lot more of Vail’s front side open this week.
Because Real Vail readers demanded it – and my election endorsements, in Colorado at least, proved so spot-on — I’m going to go ahead and make some bold sports predictions for what’s left of 2024:
That last prediction is the one I’m least certain about, but don’t tell Deion. I don’t want to land on his media shit list. The Real Vail crew went to the game on Saturday and absolutely loved the hype and hysteria in a stadium not really built for those kinds of numbers (fourth largest crowd in school history) as the Buffs stampeded the Utes 49-24 and Leslie Jones danced with Chip.
I’m a little worried about Kansas on Saturday in Lawrence because, even though it’s a basketball school, the Jayhawks are 3-1 in their last four football games, including knocking off formerly unbeaten BYU in Provo – CU’s likely foe in the Big 12 championship game in Arlington, Texas, Dec. 7.
First thing’s first, the Buffs need to beat KU in football (good luck in basketball) and then handle Oklahoma State in the regular-season finale in Boulder on Nov. 20. Both of those games are imminently winnable.
My other predictions I’m a little more solid on. Shiffrin, an Edwards resident who was born in Vail, has five chances to get to 100 wins by the Beaver Creek super-G on Dec. 15: A slalom in Gurgl, Austria, on Nov. 23; a giant slalom Nov. 30 and a slalom Dec. 1 on her home-away-from-home hill (she went to nearby Burke Mountain Academy) at Killington, Vermont; and a pair of GS races at Tremblant, Canada, Dec. 7-8.
Now Shiffrin’s GS may not be quite up to her slalom standard at this point, but it will come around. In the World Cup opener in Soelden, Austria, on Oct. 26, Shiffrin was leading a GS after the first run but wound up off the podium in fifth after losing a ton of time her second run:
“Amazing way to start the slalom season, I’m super happy,” Shiffrin told the Associated Press after Saturday’s slalom win. The AP story noted she led the season-opening giant slalom in Austria three weeks ago but squandered that advantage in the second run. “From this weekend, I am racing every single weekend until world championships (in Saalbach, Austria, in February), for sure. So it’s going be a really big push now, and I was a little bit off on my mentality in Soelden, so hopefully I can bring the GS under control. But it was very important to start with a good place in slalom.”
Word on the ski-racing street was Shiffrin was looking to the race the super-G in Beaver Creek, even though at the beginning of the season she said she wouldn’t be doing the other speed event of downhill. But by saying she’s racing every weekend until worlds, that means she’ll race the Beaver Creek World Cup, which features a downhill on Saturday, Dec. 14, and super-G Sunday, Dec. 15.
Bonus prediction: Former Vail resident Lindsey Vonn, who for a while held the women’s all-time record with 82 World Cup wins, mostly in downhill and super-G, will forerun the women’s downhill on Dec. 14 after coming out of retirement at age 40 and fully recovering from knee surgery. Vonn won a super-G bronze in Beaver Creek at those 2015 worlds.
As for it snowing by then, you can take that one to Vegas (not sure if they allow weather bets). It’s supposed to start tonight, then be dry for a few days, then dump next holiday week ahead of Beaver Creek’s opening to the public on Wednesday, Nov. 27, aka Turkey Day Eve.
“Monday will be dry for most of the day, then a storm will bring 2-6+ inches of snow from Monday night through Tuesday,” Opensnow.com meteorologist Joel Gratz wrote Monday morning. “The latest models increased snow totals for this storm, so Tuesday could be a low-to-mid-end powder day. After that, Wednesday through Saturday will be dry, and then a stormy pattern will likely bring multiple days of snow to Colorado during Thanksgiving week.”
There are currently 10 ski areas up and running for the season in Colorado, including Vail (Real Vail hit a very fun opening day there Friday). Several more ski areas join the fray this week, with Powderhorn opening Friday and Aspen Mountain and Snowmass opening for the season Saturday, five days ahead of their originally scheduled opening. Steamboat also opens Saturday.
Conditions at Vail are ahead of the curve, with skiing out of both villages and Chairs 2 and 4 up and running. Look for more frontside runs and lifts to start opening this coming week, especially with new snow in the forecast. Quick reminder: Prices went up again Sunday, but you can still get an Epic Pass for the coming season up until the Dec. 2 deadline.
Editor’s note 2: The O. Zone is a recurring opinion column by RealVail.com publisher David O. Williams. Please read how you can help support this site by considering a donation or signing up for news alerts … or both.
Tom Boyd
November 18, 2024 at 3:02 pm
Sko Buffs, Go Mikaela, Go Broncos! What’s your prediction for Lindsey Vonn?
David O. Williams
November 18, 2024 at 3:31 pm
Safe forerunner that inspires all of us over 40 (and pushing 60). Years old, not mph.
David O. Williams
November 18, 2024 at 3:33 pm
Also think Bo Nix wins offensive Rookie of the Year, Jamal Murray gains a little more motivation every month he plays (peaking in June with Ship No. 2) and the Avs trade for a goalie.