KIRSTEN CLARK BACK ON SNOW

August 6 2004

Mt. Hood, Ore. (Ski Press)-Three-time Olympian Kirsten Clark completes her first mini-camp on snow today since tearing ligaments in both knees and breaking a wrist last season.

She’s pleased with her progress after just two days of skiing. Head Coach Patrick Riml agrees, calling it “outstanding.”

“It’s been good all the way. I skied with her Monday and she had 13 runs, and it went well…really, outstanding,” he reported Wednesday night. “She took Tuesday off and was back on snow today. I’m very pleased. Kirsten’s such a hard worker, such a leader, and she was careful but she got right at it.”

Clark, heading into her 10th season on the Ski Team, echoed, “My knees felt good. It was good to be back on snow…At the top of the [first] run, it was ‘Okay, let’s get this run out of the way.’ I wanted to get that first run under my belt and I just went down however I felt comfortable. But I started right off, laying it over…and it felt good. Obviously, my balance is a little off and I’m not ready to jump into a World Cup now, but it’s fun to be back on snow.”

The Europa Cup women’s team is training at Timberline Ski Area, with coaches Jim Tracy - her longtime World Cup speed coach before stepping down a year ago - and Stever Bartlett. “It’s great because I can just free-ski in their lane; it’s salted so the snow holds up a little longer than the public skiing lane,” she said. “I was arcing some big GS turns.”

Clark, 27, who had been married in September 2003, injured both knees and her wrist in a crash Jan. 30 in Haus, Austria, when she crashed into safety netting at the top of a World Cup downhill. It was the first major injury of her stellar career, which has included capturing the silver medal in super G at the 2003 World Championships, winning a downhill in Lenzerheide, Switzerland, in 2001 and producing a top-3 finish in three different disciplines - DH, super G and giant slalom - on the World Cup. She’s also the only skier to win four consecutive U.S. downhill titles.

FISCHER Introduces New World Cup GS & SL    

Concord NH March. 2, 2004

New FISCHER GS Ski     New for 2004-05 is Fischer’s GS ski. With an improved sidecut and construction based on winning runs from this seasons WorldCup athletes like Kirsten Clark in Lienz Austria and Manfred Moelgg in Adelboden Switzerland, this ski has already proved its merits. Because GS technique has evolved in the last three years, Fischer has also. With this new ski we have gradually increased the width of the forebody while keeping the tip, waist and tail at the dimensions of 104-65-89.5. In regards to construction we have torsionally softened the area under the foot. With these adjustments it allows the athlete for the new technique “to drift” while approaching the apex of the turn and then applying full pressure when they find their line. The results are cleaner linking arcs with no chatter under foot. This new GS ski, as in our previous skis, is FIS legal with radius >21m in our 173cm through 193cm. 

New FISCHER SL Ski     Fischer’s new SL ski, which continues to be the benchmark, has new changes as well. The FIS along with USSA mandates the minimum length for men at 165cm(-1cm tolerance) and women at 155cm(-1cm tolerance). As athletes ski SL with greater speed by having their ski more in the fall line it’s a challenge to design a ski the proper length and radius. Our new 166cm for men is a ski with the overall length complying with the 165cm rule but has the running length and turning radius of our previous 161cm which was R13m. Improving the turn radius of this ski is also impacted by its waist being moved back 3cm allowing the ski to be quicker exiting the turn. Fischer athlete Rainer Schoenfelder racing on this new 166cm, leads the overall SL standings with one race remaining.

                            TOM ROTHROCK SIGNS WITH FISCHER SKIS

May 5, 2005 Concord, NH

 Mike Day, Fischer Alpine Race Director, has announced that US Ski Team member Tom Rothrock has just signed with Fischer skis and bindings. A-Team member Rothrock is the #2 US ranked Slalom skier on the Team.

“Tom is a great addition to the Fischer Team”, said Day, “he’s a tremendous athlete with a promising future. I expect this to be  the    beginning of a long and successful partnership.”

 Rothrock is currently ranked 23rd in the world in Slalom. Fischer President Dave Auer compares Rothrock to Bode Miller;  “When  Bode started with Fischer, he was ranked 31st in GS, and he grew with us through World Cup standings to his medals at the Salt Lake Olympics. I believe we’re going to see Tom move up in a similar manner.”

LIBBY LUDLOW SIGNS WITH FISCHER SKIS

June 24, 2004