Injury Update, the Kvitfjell Course and developing into a Speed skier

The American Downhillers caught up with Norwegian Speed Demon Aleks Kilde in a Hospital in Innsbruck for this week’s podcast ahead of Kilde’s home Downhill Kvitfjell. They first got the inside scoop on his injuries from his crash in Wengen and his honest prognosis going forward. They then talked about his skiing development from a kid who was lucky enough to ski out his door growing up to making the Team as a Downhiller next to legends Svindal and Jansrud. Finally they break down in detail the Olympiabakken Course in Kvitfjell which crowned Tommy Moe Olympic Champion, but has been dominated by Norwegians over the years! All of the boys describe it as a fun, flowy and “easy” track that you need to be perfect on as the times are always tight!

The Podcast covers a ton of excellent nuggets for Fans, Coaches, Parents and Athletes! A must listen! Here is what is covered;

-             Aleks updates us on his injuries from Wengen

-             Growing up a technical skier and then transitioned to Speed later

-             The importance of GS training for a technical base, but also training it as much as possible as a speed skier

-             How Aleks inspects DH & SG differently

-             Having Svindal & Jansrud as Mentors

-             What Aleks likes to hear in a course report and what he says to himself at the Start

-             Kvitfjell Course breakdown from the Start to Moe’s Turn into the finish straight

-             The most fun parts of this Legendary DH

-             Finally – predictions on who will win and they are interesting…

The American Downhiller Podcast is sponsored by Skiracing.com, ADL Ski Club, Wend Wax, ELITEAM and American Downhillers speed camps!

You can find the Podcast for FREE on Apple, Spotify and the ELITEAM Youtube channel.

This week on the American Downhiller Podcast we turn our attention to Cortina - the Women’s Favorite Course and interview the Stifel US Ski Team’s newest speed star – Lauren Macuga! “Cougs” is coming off a career-best 10th place in the Super-G in Altenmarkt and sets her sights on the 2026 Olympic Course this week in Italy.

Cougs is part of the US Women’s speed team which is re-building and has been having some good results lately with Keely Cashman, Tricia Mangan along with the return of Jacky Wiles and Alice Merryweather.

We talk to Lauren about her development as a speed skier from an “average” junior to her first Downhill race to her 10th place in the Altenmarkt World Cup. She shares with us her thoughts on training GS to help her speed as well as her start routine.

Other topics covered;

-             How to stay focused with the course is gnarly

-             How a focus on GS is helping her speed evolve

-             Why it’s OK to train speed with your clothes on sometimes

-             How she learns new courses

-             What she learned about herself from her injuries

-             Advice for junior racers on feeding off the success of Teammates

-             Who she watches on video

-             And advice for young ski racers who may be struggling

Thanks to Ski Racing Media for Sponsoring our American Downhiller Podcast and please listen on Apple or Spotify or watch it on the ELITEAM Youtube channel!

The King of Kitz, Didier Cuche joins Daron, AJ, Marco and LEW for a super interesting and revealing breakdown of the most famous and dangerous Downhill on the World Cup circuit. Didier won on the Streif a record FIVE times with his first coming in 1998 and the last three coming in in 2010, 2011 & 2012! He shares his thoughts and secrets to this iconic track and lets us inside his head as he preps for the race, races the course and receives the Trophy in front of thousands!

Daron Rahlves, the only American Downhiller winner on the Hahnenkamm stood on top of the podium beating Didier by just 5 hundies back in 2003 and they share what they remember of that day!

This Podcast is loaded with great insight on the course and how to watch it, as well as nuggets for Athletes, Coaches and Parents on how to train and ski and be a successful speed skier.

Topics covered;

-      Their first impressions of the iconic course

-      The importance of knowing your limits

-      How the start house at Kitz is totally different

-      The course from the Start to the Zielsprung

-      Cuche’s secret to winning on the Streif

-      The traditions of Kitz from arrival to the Londoner

-      Why Cuche was so successful on the Streif

This year’s Kitzbuhel races are Jan 19 & 20!

Thanks for listening!