Following a great weekend in Park City, the World Cup men's circuit moved to Lake Louise in Alberta, Canada for the first Downhill and Super-G of the season, and Austria's Stephan Eberharter once again dominated the action.

The women's tour moves into Lake Louise for two downhill races and a giant slalom this weekend. Germany's Hilde Gerg, fresh from a GS victory last week in Aspen, is one of the favorites.

The week was not without controversy, as FIS re-instituted a rule by which times in the final training run were used to determine start positions for the race itself. Many racers, including Eberharter and American Daron Rahlves, spoke out against the procedure, which had not been used since 1991.

During a 1991 training run for the downhill at Wengen, Austrian Gernot Reinstadler was killed in a fall while trying to improve his qualifying position. Critics blamed the qualifying procedure, in part, for his death. However, FIS officials defended the decision to bring the rule back, stating that it will increase interest in the sport and pointing to Reinstadler's death as an isolated incident.

FIS' decision to determine start positions by final training times met with resistance from top racers.

Once on the race course, Eberharter proved his supremacy with scintillating runs in both the Downhill and Super-G. Bode Miller claimed 7th in both races to finish as the top American racer. Eberharter now leads the WC points with 332, nearly double the total of second place Kjetil Andre Aamodt of Norway, who has 172.

Next up on the World Cup Circuit is the Downhill at Beaver Creek, Colorado on December 7th.

— MountainZone.com news services