Former two-time World Cup downhill champion Picabo Street (Park City, UT), whose first World Cup came at Lake Louise seven years ago, nailed the bottom Thursday and hung-up her best World Cup result since 1998, finishing 6th in the opening DH of the season. She led three other teammates into the top 20 while Isolde Kostner of Italy won her third race at the Canadian Rockies ski area.

"I made a few mistakes, definitely, but bottom line was I had a good time running that downhill," Street, who started 8th, beamed after finishing in 1:37.61. She credited "a quick, powerful report" from Caroline Lalive (Steamboat Springs, CO), who skied No. 1, for helping set the stage for her and Jonna Mendes (Heavenly, CA), who started right behind in No. 9.

"Good day...good, not great, but a good, solid start by everybody," said downhill Head Coach (and birthday boy) Jim Tracy. "They gave me a nice present. I'm pleased with all of them; a big step back for Peek and Jonna [Mendes] and Katie [Monahan], really big steps, and good steps for Clarky [Kirsten Clark] and 'Liner' [Caroline Lalive] and the young ones, who're paying their dues. We've got things to clean up, but right now they're all moving forward."

Lalive course report sets stage for success
Kostner, in collecting her third win -- and seventh top-3 -- at Lake Louise, finished with a time of 1:36.75. Overall, it's her 10th victory, all in downhill; she won here last season wearing bib No. 22, the same number she wore Thursday. Austrian Michaela Dorfmeister, the defending downhill world champion who won the season-opening giant slalom at Soelden, Austria, a month ago, was runnerup in 1:37.08 and Corinne Rey Bellet of Switzerland was third in 1:37.26.

Close behind Street were Kirsten Clark (Raymond, ME) in 11th, Mendes -- rebounding from a broken bone in her right ankle -- in 13th and Lalive in 19th. Katie Monahan (Aspen, CO), returning after two years on the sidelines with knee injuries, was 33rd, just .05 away from the top 30.

Street gave Lalive a hug in the finish and thanked her for the course report. "She said, 'The light is great. You'll be able to see more but don't let that change your plan. The course is faster. It's going to come at you a little bit more, so be ready for that, and just grab your tuck whenever you can. It's race day, so let's race this thing.' It was nice, precise, to the point, exactly what Jonna and I needed to hear. We both looked at each other afterwards and kind of gave each other a nod and a big high-five in the start...

"It's been really fun having my team, and that's something I'm really relying on a lot right now, the support of the team and the camaraderie we have and the support we give one another. We genuinely hope everybody does well and I hope the coaches have a heckuva time trying to pick an Olympic Team in February," a buoyant Street said.

She had a couple of mistakes at the top, she told reporters in the finish, "I got off line a couple of times but pulled it back in and that's what downhill's all about. Thank God for the flat bottom because I can still glide...whhhewwwww...

Street: "I took advantage..."
"I nailed the bottom and I knew I had to, so I really skied aggressive and assertive. I was a little bit angry when I got into the bottom. I have a sore spot on my elbow right now because I got real close to a couple of gates and hit 'em. Downhill's a minute and 40 seconds long, and I took advantage of the whole dang thing. I messed up the top and hit the bottom, and who knows? Maybe tomorrow I'll do the opposite," the 1998 Olympic super-G and 1996 world downhill champion said.

Clark, who earned her first World Cup win a year ago in Lenzerheide with Street seventh, overcame two mistakes high on the course, she said, costing her speed as she headed into the flats at mid-race. So, she said, she was "psyched" for her result.

"You've got to be able to ski those technical sections and especially me I've got to be able to nail those sections to be able to carry my speed across the flats," she said, noting the 11th in downhill and her ninth in the giant slalom at the Chevy Truck Women's World Challenge in Copper Mountain, Colo., a week ago give her two solid results to start the season.

Mendes echoed her teammates about being glad to finally have a race. She didn't get to spend much time on snow during the preseason but Lake Louise -- where she got her first World Cup points (en route to the 1998 Olympics), her first top-20 ('99) and her first top-10 (a year ago) provides a comfort factor as she eases back into racing.

"After you've been injured, there's a coming-back period that you just have to kind of see how it's going to go. I needed this first race to say, 'Okay, I can get a top-15, no problem. Now, here's what I'm going to do, this is what I'm capable of. I know it. I needed to get this race under my belt," she said, "and now that I've got it, I don't see why I can't get a top-10 again this year."

Monahan glad to be back...and healthy
Lalive said the good weather, which followed two training days in fog and overcast conditions, was fortunate, so she was able to attack as much as possible from the No. 1 start. "I'm happy. I made it down. I skied well and I'm happy," she said. "I made a little mistake on the top, which I wasn't too pleased with, but that's okay..."

It was a relieved Monahan -- a 1998 Olympian who injured her right knee in the first race of the '00 season -- in the finish, conceding she was glad to be racing and glad to finish. After two seasons out of action, she noted, "This is a good start and it's only going to get better," she said. "When I get nervous, I just think of how lucky I am to even be here and be doing it...and get things in perspective."

Women's Head Coach Marjan Cernigoj agreed with Tracy. "There were a lot of positives today. Peek, Jonna, Katie -- all really good...and they all know they can do better," he said. "we'll attack again [Friday]. There are such small margins and you have to pay attention all the way. This was good for the start of the season."

The women race downhill again today and super-G tomorrow. They will stick around next week for Nor Am Cup races at Lake Louise. Two downhills and super Gs are scheduled before the team head to Europe.

— Courtesy, US Ski Team