Officials at Killington Ski Resort in Vermont estimated Saturday's crowd for the Audi FIS Women's Ski World Cup race at 18,000 -- which would be the "largest ever for such a World Cup event," according to Alan Keays of VTDIGGER.org. The estimated crowd "topped last year’s figure of 16,000 spectators attending the Saturday competition." The ski racing fans were "treated Saturday to temperatures reaching into the mid-40s and sunny skies before light rain began to trickle down for some of the final runs of the day." Killington officials estimated yesterday's crowd at 16,000, "higher than last year’s Sunday figure of about 14,000." Those attending yesterday had to "stick out cold weather mixed in with occasional flurries." The event last year in Killington "marked a return of World Cup racing to the East Coast after a 25-year absence." The most recent previous competition took place in '91 in Waterville Valley in New Hampshire. The wait in Vermont had been "even longer, stretching back nearly 40 years to a World Cup race" at Stratton Mountain (VTDIGGER.org, 11/26). In Boston, Matt Pepin noted Mikaela Shiffrin's victory in the slalom yesterday gave another Killington crowd "exactly what it wanted." Her "aggressive approach, her fluid turns ... and her poise electrified the crowd and had US Ski Team officials slapping high-fives and embracing after her winning time flashed on the video board" (BOSTON.com, 11/26).
