This just in from the U.S. Ski Team:

Bode Miller (Bretton Woods, NH) notched the 31st World Cup podium of his career Friday finishing second in the first of two downhills on the 1994 Olympic hill and extending his lead in the overall World Cup standings. Steven Nyman (Provo, UT) was 14th and Marco Sullivan (Squaw Valley, CA) crashed, but was uninjured. Italian Werner Heel won the race for his career first World Cup podium.

Miller finished a .10 off the victory as Heel posted a winning time of 1:45.73 on the Olympiabakken course. It was a rescheduled downhill cancelled earlier this month from Val d'Isere, France, site of the 2009 FIS Alpine World Championships.

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Covering the World Cup at Whistler last week I compared Bode Miller and Lindsey Vonn, each the best in the world right now at what they do.

Vonn might be seven years younger, but Miller, 30, could learn a lot from her. Vonn is polite and engaging. Miller is brash and, well, imagine Barry Bonds on skis.

Chris Dufresne of the L.A. Times, who was also at the World Cup, had a nice piece on the duo today. Click here to check it out.

Vonn holds court with the press during the Whistler World Cup.

Are women ski jumpers being discriminated against? Here's the IOC's latest defense of it decision to not allow the sport in the 2010 games.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge said Thursday that allowing women ski jumpers into the 2010 Winter Olympics would dilute the medals given to others.
Rogge said there are only about 80 women ski jumpers in the world and the sport has not yet reached the IOC’s standard for being included in an Olympics.

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Lindsey Vonn finished sixth Sunday in the super combined (a super G run followed by slalom), the last event of the Whistler World Cup, to maintain her lead in the overall standings.
Nicole Hosp of Austria closed the gap a bit by finishing fourth. Vonn has 1,103 points for the season and Hosp has 1,049.
“My goal was to fight hard and not lose too much ground to Nicky and I think I did that,” Vonn said.
American Julia Mancuso finished seventh. Germany’s Maria Riesch took first followed by Marlies Schild of Austria and Anja Paerson of Sweden.
Vonn finished her second run .01 seconds off the lead. She was second by .01 seconds in Thursday’s downhill.
“We are getting killed on the hundreds,” said her husband, Thomas Vonn. Vonn has a missed a podium five times this season. “We’re calling for all those hundies back for the Vancouver Olympics.”

Ski reporter Paul Robbins has passed away at the age of 68.

Here's the release from the U.S. Ski Team.

Internationally recognized ski and travel journalist Paul Robbins, a wordsmith and historian for the U.S. Ski Team for 30 years, died Saturday at his home in Vermont. Robbins, whose wit, humor and vast knowledge was legendary, was 68. He died of an apparent heart attack while working on weekend news stories in his home.

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Before today's World Cup race I headed up Blackcomb Mountain with colleagues from the L.A. Times and USA Today to ski the Blackcomb Glacier.

The scenery on the glacier and from the top of Blackcomb Mountain was definitely the highlight of the trip. A short hike is required to access the glacier but once you drop in the skiing is pretty intermediate.

Look for more on skiing the glacier this spring.

Julia Mancuso was second this morning in the Super G, the first event of the Super Combined, which will be the final event of the Whistler World Cup.

Mancuso is 0.42 seconds behind Germany's Maria Riesch. Canada's Emily Brydon is third.

Lindsey Vonn is tied for 10th 1.13 seconds behind Riesch.

Stacey Cook is 31st and Chelsea Marshall is 32nd.

Watch the video below and you'll see why Crystal Mountain's Scott Macartney is lucky to be alive.

We talked to Macartney about his recovery in a story that runs in tomorrow sports section.

Bode Miller just took time out of his busy schedule to rip the Whistler Olympic ski courses.

Here's what the silver medalist had to say:

“I don’t really have a whole lot to say about the courses,” Miller said. “I mean, they're really flat, moderate, very moderate courses. That's not to say they can't be challenging.
“I mean, with the right snow conditions they can be very tough, but with the terrain available here it seems crazy to run the Olympics on these particular hills.”

If you go to Whistler you owe it to yourself to ski the Dave Murray Downhill. This will be the men's course during the 2010 Olympics. How often do you get to ski an Olympic run?

Let me offer one other piece of advice. If it's roped off and ungroomed, don't ski it like you're racing for gold. I made that mistake two years ago when I ducked the rope to ski the run for a story I was writing on Olympic runs.

The result: bloody nose, loose tooth, mild concussion, bruised pride. A passing snowboarder took these shots for me.

If you see no other rock opera about figure skating scandals this year, go to Portland for the Nancy Kerrigan-Tonya Harding story.

Check out video here.

Harding actually left the trailer park long enough to show up to the premiere and said “Wow, did my life really look that bad?” The show reportedly makes Harding the hero.

Three pics from the finish area at today's women's downhill.

Vonn (white cap)meets the press after winning the World Cup downhill.

Crystal Mountain's Libby Ludlow, who is battling back and knee problems, after finishing 44th today.

If this woman hands you a cup, look out.

I got to ski the women's downhill course this morning before the race. It was during pre-race inspection and skiing is a bit of an overstatement. Really those of us who were on the course - coaches, officials, athletes and media - were slipping the course checking out the features.

Some athletes were getting last minutes coaching and others where trying to visualize the runs.

The course was icy - just the way the skiers like it. I bit it just a few seconds after entering the course thanks to a pair of skis in major need of a tune. I had no problems the rest of the course, but if some the pictures and video below look a little blurry it's because of the snow in my camera.

Lindsey Vonn finished second by a hundredth of a second to Nadia Styger of Switzerland a few minutes ago in the Whistler World Cup. The finish locked up the season World Cup downhill title for Vonn. Vonn also took sole possession of first place in the Overall standings.

"It will come down to the last week," Vonn said of the overall title.

A slip near the end of the run cost Vonn the win.

Julia Mancuso was third.

Libby Ludlow finished 44th.

A few pictures from the Whistler World Cup.

Check out pictures of the skiing on the rest of the hill on our Adventure Blog.

The timing flats that will be the finishing area for all of this week's race and all the Olympic races in 2010.

One of the first finishers Thursday.

Even UK fans love Bode Miller.

This is as close as us media stiffs were allowed to get to Bode Miller after he failed to finish the super G. He did, however, tell ESPN he injured his wrist during the race. Miller is the dude in the green helmet.

And here's some video shot by a fan higher on the course:

I think I parked next to the janitor at the Whistler World Cup today.

Jason Larway's team beat Tyler George's Minnesota team 8-2 in a tiebreaker tonight to advance to the 4-team page playoff of the National Championships. Larway plays Greg Romaniuk in a playoff game Friday morning with the winner advancing to the semifinals.

Here is the release from Tom FitzGerald:

Jason Larway (Lynnwood, Wash.) and teammates Colin Hufman (Seattle), Joel Larway (Lynnwood, Wash.) Greg Persinger (Fairbanks, AK) and Steve Demlow (Bothell, Wash.) won a tiebreaker game 8-2 vs. Minnesota's Tyler George team on Thursday night at the 2008 USA Curling National Championships at the Hibbing Curling Club in Hibbing, Minnesota.

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The local teams each lost their only match today. Here's a press release from the Tom FitzGerald:

Two teams have separated from the pack after Tuesday afternoon's men's action at the 2008 USA Curling National Championships at the Hibbing Curling Club.

They have the same first name and both scored eight points today but the similarities probably end there. Craig Brown's team from Wisconsin handed Jason Larway's team its third straight loss, 8-4, while Craig Disher's North Dakota rink defeated Greg Romaniuk's Washington team, 8-3. Larway and Romaniuk both curl out of Seatle's Granite Curling Club (www.curlingseattle.org)

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Jason Larway's team won his third match to stay a top the standings at the national curling championship today. He is 3-0 and has two more matches Monday.
Larway's team beat Jeremy Roe's team from Wisconsin, 11-6.

Read more about Larway in tomorrow's Sport Section.

While Larway is the top seed in the tournament, Greg Romaniuk's might be making the most noise.
After upsetting the defending national champs, Romaniuk came from behind to beat Tyler George's Minnesota team 6-5 in the 10th end.
Romaniuk trailed 2-0 early and was down 5-4 after eight ends before scoring one in each of the final two ends for its first lead and the win. Romaniuk is 2-1.

Two teams from Seattle's granite curling club traveled all the way to Minnesota to play Sunday morning.

Jason Larway's rink scored three points in the seventh end to pull ahead of Greg Romaniuk's rink and improve to 2-0 in the 9-match National Championship round robin.

Both teams play again at noon.

Todd Birr's rink, the defending national champs, dropped to 0-2 Sunday morning.

Two local teams are off to a good starts at the Curling National Championships in Minnesota.

Jason Larway's rink beat Willie Wilberg's rink 10-3.

However, the biggest win of the day came from Greg Romaniuk's rink, which beat Todd Birr's defending national championship team 8-2.

Both Larway and Romaniuk team with their brothers and are based out of Seattle's Granite Curling Club.

The teams are 1-0 in the nine-game round-robin tournament.

Larway and Romaniuk face off in the first of two draws Sunday at 7 a.m. Their second match of the day is at noon. The championship match is Feb. 23.

Click below to read the press release from Tom FitzGerald.

=> Read more!

The Vancouver Organizing Committee announced today that 10,500 people have already registered to volunteer for the 2010 Olympics. Organizer launched the call for volunteers Tuesday morning. They need 25,000 volunteers and plan to accept applications for at least six weeks.

I’ve got to say, you guys are pretty amazing.

In my 12 years at The News Tribune I’ve written hundreds of stories about hundreds of interesting people and received all kinds of feedback from the readers – some of it even good.

But I’ve never seen reaction like what followed Monday’s feature on John Kircher. Kircher runs Crystal Mountain and the Summit at Snoqualmie and is battling liver disease. He needs a liver transplant.

Two readers, neither of whom have ever met Kircher, called me to say they’d like to donate a portion of their liver to Kircher.

Amazing.

I’ve passed along their contact info to John Kircher.

According to a source at Crystal, Kircher was back in the hospital earlier this week. Kircher hopes to get a liver transplant from his brother-in-law in the next few weeks.

Photo by Peter Haley

The Olympics are coming to Vancouver in two years and 25,000 volunteers are needed to pull off the festivities. If you want to volunteer, you have just six weeks to get your application in.

Organizers launched their call for volunteers today.

Click here to apply.

Here are the requirements according to the organizers:

Volunteer qualifications:
* Enthusiastic, dedicated and committed individuals who enjoy social, collaborative, team-oriented environments
* Individuals who believe, and are committed to, the Vancouver 2010 values of team, trust, excellence, sustainability and creativity
* Experienced and novice volunteers who want to add a peak experience to their volunteer resumé
* Volunteers who are at least 19 years old as of September 1, 2008 (opportunities for youth under the age of 19 are in development and will be announced in the future)
* Individuals who are available for the duration of one or both of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and/or Paralympic Winter Games (Shifts are expected to be 8 to 10 hours long with meals provided. Many volunteers from previous Olympic and Paralympic Games have chosen to take their annual vacation during the Games period so as to ensure they have the opportunity to participate in the experience.)
* Those who are prepared to arrange for their own local accommodation and participate in orientation and training sessions leading up to the Games
* Individuals who are prepared to participate in a standard Games selection process, including screening, interviews and a security check.

This weekend marks the two-year countdown to the Vancouver Olympics. A World Cup freestyle event will be held at Cypress Mountain today and tomorrow.

John Kircher of Bellevue operates Cypress along with Crystal Mountain and the Summit at Snoqualmie. We'd hoped to run a feature on Kircher yesterday but the story had to be moved to Monday.

Here's another story about Kircher to tide you over until then.

Big Sky Resort manager Taylor Middleton has seen John Kircher stiff-arm death before.
In the early 1990s, the men were researching one of Kircher’s ideas. Kircher wanted to run a tram to the top of 11,166-foot Lone Peak, the highest point at Big Sky Resort. Today, the tram is one of the United States’ most famous lifts, but on the day a helicopter dropped Kircher and Middleton off on the peak Middleton wasn’t so sure.
After Middleton and some ski patrol directors skied the mountain’s steep upper slopes, it was Kircher’s turn.
“John jumped in and kicked off this huge avalanche,” Middleton said. “He’s a great skier and he was able to ski out of it just before it would have taken him over a cliff.”

We are running a feature on John Kircher this week. The feature is tentatively planned to be on our front page Friday morning.

Kircher is the most influential man in Washington’s ski industry as he runs the state’s first (Summit at Snoqualmie) and third (Crystal Mountain) most visited ski areas. He’s also hosting a World Cup this weekend at his B.C. ski area, Cypress. Cypress will host freestyle events at the Olympics two years from this weekend.

Kircher, 49, is also in need of a liver transplant. Read more Friday.

Until then, here are some thoughts on Kircher from the legendary Warren Miller.

On Kircher’s background:
“He pretty much grew up in the base lodge at Boyne Mountain and learned the industry from his dad. He has done a marvelous job at Crystal and Big Sky. He is a bright guy and a scratch golfer.”

On Kircher’s down-to-earth style:
“A lot of other people might play the socialite roll. He could. But he knows those people fade as fast as they rise. John is from a different mold.”

“I remember one time we were having lunch and he said he decided to build a new lodge at one of the resorts. I said you’re just going to make a $2-4 million decision over a hamburger. He said, ‘I think it will work.’
“He says it like it is. He’s not a Harvard business school guy, he just knows what skiers want and he gives it to them.”

I'm skiing in the Okanagan Valley right now and bumped into to some Canadian curlers at my hotel. They were in town for the British Columbia Men's Curling Championships in Penticton.

We chatted as we stood around the waffle iron and they suggested that if you want to follow U.S. curling you should be keeping an eye on Seattle's Jason Larway.

We've covered Larway a bit here on this blog and will have stories on him in the paper in the future.

Larway skippered his Granite Curling Club team to the national semifinals last year.

Click here to read a release put out by VANOC today. It says "Top Minds Gather for 2010 Winter Games Ceremonies Symposia." This, I highly doubt, considering I wasn't invited.

Just in from the U.S. Skeleton team:

Defending World Cup Champion Katie Uhlaender (Breckenridge, Colo.) denied the Germans a sweep of the podium by claiming her third consecutive victory today in the women's skeleton World Cup competition in Koenigssee, Germany. After today's win, Uhlaender is 96 points ahead of the field in World Cup standings.

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