At the top of Copper Mountain, somewhere around 12,000 feet, Mikaela Shiffrin and the rest of the U.S. Ski Team have blown into Colorado for some training,
“Every November we get to come back home and train,” Shiffrin said.
This year's warm and dry November has made Copper about the only spot in North America with enough snow for racers like Travis Ganong to make turns on.
Powderfull training for @MikaelaShiffrin and the @usskiteam overcoming warm temps to keep training on the snow @CopperMtn @9NEWS pic.twitter.com/2WLWYwFZAP
— Matt Renoux (@MattRenoux) November 16, 2016
“For how warm it’s been in Colorado this year, they have been able to make enough snow,” Ganong said.
On one of their last days of training, just before heading out onto the World Cup racing circuit, U.S. racers like Steven Nyman learned their upcoming World Cup race at Lake Louise was canceled due to a lack of snow.
Now, their first real World Cup test is on Beaver Creeks Birds of Prey Course, one of the world's hardest to race.
“Lake Louise you can ease into; there’s no easing into Beaver Creek," Nyman said. "It’s like a slap in the face. It’s a highly demanding course."
Which makes any early season training they can in very important and for Shiffrin, and a great chance to run the course on her home Colorado snow.
