Held every evening the day before a race, the coaches from all the competing nations meet to confirm the times for the next day’s events. The most important thing is to determine the start order for the next day’s race.

"That’s quite a game within itself," said Dan Conway, chief of racing for the women’s events. "If coaches think it’s going to snow a lot, they will pick a start number later in the field so that other racers can pack out the track. But for tomorrow’s race, the Austrians have a lot of confidence that we’ll get the course in shape."

Giant slalom favorite Alexandra Meissnitzer picked to race in the number three spot, a good position for a giant slalom course which can rutted out as racers rip down the course. The top-15 ranked skiers in each discipline can pick their start number, a big advantage in ski racing.

The four Americans weren’t so lucky. Kristina Koznick, a favorite for Saturday’s slalom, was the top American seed and will start in 31st position.

Champs from 1989
Swiss skier Paul Accola, winner of the bronze medal in the men’s combined Tuesday, is a bridge to the Vail Worlds of 1989.

A decade has slipped by since the Worlds barnstormed through Colorado, and Accola is one of the few people who was skiing in those days. Champions Tamara McKinney, Vreni Schneider, Purmin Zurbriggen and Marc Giradelli are all retired. Tommy Moe and Hilary Lindh, young American skiers competing in their earliest World Championship races, finished well back in the standings 1989 only to go on to win Olympic medals and retire.

Uli Maier, a gold medalist in the super-G in 1989, later died in a ski racing accident.

Accola, 32, and Austrian skier Anita Wachter, expected to race in today’s giant slalom, are among the few contemporary skiers to be in both Vail Worlds.

"It’s a great accomplishment to win this medal 10 years after I won in Vail," said Accola, a silver medalist in the ’89 combined. "I had some back luck with injuries and it took me a long time to fight back to this top level. It means more to me."

Sushi, and Good for You Too
The Japanese love America, but they don’t love American food.

At least that’s what the four-man Japanese ski team says after bringing its own chef among its roster of team managers and tuners.

Yasuyuki Takishita, a 22-year-old downhiller who finished 18th in the men’s combined, said the team dines on Japanese culinary delights nightly.

"I have very very good time in Vail. I like hamburger," he said in broken English. But not enough, apparently, to give up sushi in favor of pizza and burritos. He said there’s not much of a post Nagano buzz in Japan following the Olympics. Only a handful of Japanese journalists are on hand to cover the Worlds.

"In Japan, skiing popular but not ski racing," Takishita said. "After Olympics, ski racing not so popular."

— Andrew Hood, Mountain Zone Correspondent