Wengen Village salutes Ivica Kostelic of Croatia, winning the World Cup Slalom

The Vancouver Sun reports:  Ivica Kostelic of Croatia proved the master of Wengen yet again Sunday, winning a World Cup slalom to close the gap on overall standings leader Marcel Hirscher, who was disqualified for straddling a gate.

Kostelic was almost flawless in the second run to finish 0.85 seconds ahead of Andre Myhrer of Sweden. Fritz Dopfer of Germany was third.

Bode Miller was the only American of six to complete the first run. However, Miller did not qualify for a second run after his time trailed Matt by 2.39 and finished outside the top 30.

Teammate Ted Ligety, who attempted to move from fourth in the overall race, skied out at the fourth gate.

Kostelic has won five of the last seven World Cup events raced at the storied Swiss venue since January 2010. His 22nd career World Cup victory cut Hirscher's lead to 30 points.

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/Ivica+Kostelic+wins+WCup+slalom+Hirscher+gets/6000247/story.html#ixzz1jwRnEzqP

The party in the village was an excellent way to end a fabulous three days of sun and snow.

Sunday afternoon awards ceremony for the FIS World Cup Slalom in Wengen

2012 Lauberhorn Super-Combined Race Ends in an Exciting Finish

Olympic super-combined champion Bode Miller today opened the 82nd Lauberhorn weekend in Wengen, Switzerland, with a third-place finish in the discipline that brought him a gold medal at the Vancouver Winter Olympics in 2010.

Miller, second in the downhill portion, held on to the podium as Croatian Ivica Kostelic earned his third win of the season.

Ivica Kostelic had been nearly three seconds behind after the downhill leg of the super combined, the kick-off event of the 82nd Lauberhorn at Wengen Friday (Jan. 13). It didn't matter. When they moved to the slalom hill he was in his element and it showed as he powered from the 22nd position to take and hold the lead.

Swiss Downhill winner Beat Feuz was more than three seconds back in the slalom to cinch second by a two run margin of two tenths.

4 of the 6 jets zoom over the Jungfrau

The day has kicked off in Wengen with a spectacular show from the Swiss Air Team, riding shotgun up the Lauberhorn downhill slope in an amazing display.  For more information about the Patrouille Suisse click here.

Swiss Air Force jets swoop over the Lauberhorn downhill run

The Lauberhorn downhill is set to begin as another crystal clear, cold day provides fantastic conditions for participants and fans.

2012 Lauberhorn Race in Wengen Kicks Off

The 2012 Lauberhorn Race kicked off with the traditional street party in Wengen on Thursday 12 January.  According to the Associated Press, Hannes Reichelt of Austria was fastest in a training run Thursday in World Cup downhill on the Lauberhorn course.  Reichelt clocked 2 minutes, 37.46 seconds down the 2.75-mile track, the longest on tour. Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway fought a cold to be 0.16 seconds back.

Spirits are high in the Wengen village awaiting the race order for Friday

The weather in Wengen is picture-perfect as blue skies and cold temperatures await competitors and visitors.  A healthy base of snow from recent snowfalls means that the conditions should be much better than last year.

The 82nd International Lauberhorn Race, the longest downhill race, will see over CHF 100,000 in prize money distributed across the Super- combined, Downhill and Slalom races.

The Swiss Air Force will be back in force again, practicing yesterday and today for the spectacular finale flypast on Saturday.

The Swiss Air Force practicing in front of the Eiger

Over 30,000 visitors are expected in the village over the weekend.

For an excellent article on Wengen and the race visit Doug Lewis' article published this week.