10:30 | Good morning from Gardena-Gröden.
10:31 | The www.saslong.org team is moving into the Finish area as we write and will start commenting at 12:00 noon.
10:40 | As a reminder: last year's Super-G was won by Aksel Lund Svindal followed by Carla Janka and Patrick Staudacher.
11:58 | The World Cup Super-G in Gardena-Gröden will kick off in 15 minutes.
11:59 | Two Super-Gs have taken place so far this season, both overseas. Tobias Grünenfelder won in Lake Louise and Georg Streitberger in Beaver Creek.
12:00 | The race will be opened by Romed Baumann.
12:01 | Another Austrian skier might not be at the start: Mario Scheiber has injured his knee during the first practice run here in Gardena-Gröden. He is on the start list. Let's see if he will be able to start. We certainly hope so!
12:02 | Christof Innerhofer is celebrating his birthday today. "Inner" is turning 26. Will he be able to score his first World Cup points on this special day?
12:03 | Hansi Knauss from the Austrian TV channel ORF has completed his video run.
12:05 | Also Norbert Rier, front man of the ever so popular Kastelruther Spatzen music band is at the Finish. He is rooting for his nephew Peter Fill.
12:07 | The weather in Gardena-Gröden is cloudy and therefore visibility on the course could be mixed.
12:09 | Today's course setter is Canadian J.Mcbride. He has set 40 gates.
12:10 | Aksel Lund Svindal is the current World Cup Overall leader. He also captured gold in last year's Super-G edition here in Gardena-Gröden.
12:12 | The Super-G World Cup, on the other hand, is lead by Georg Streitberger.
12:13 | Twitter brings it to you: current pictures from Gardena-Gröden by Brian Pinelli
12:14 | But let's turn back to the race: Romed Baumann will open it shortly
12:14 | Do not underestimate Baumann. He placed 3rd in Lake Louise.
12:15 | Baumann has started.
12:16 | Baumann looks relaxed and without making any significant mistakes.
12:16 | He crosses the finish line with a benchmark time of 1:35.58 minutes.
12:17 | The next racer is Patrick Küng from Switzerland.
12:17 | Küng placed twice in the top ten in Lake Louise. Today his time is already lagging.
12:18 | He is over half a second behind at the intermediary time.
12:18 | Big mistake for Küng.
12:18 | At the finish with almost 2 seconds delay due to another slip on the second half of the race.
12:19 | Will Andrew Weibrecht be better than his predecessor?
12:20 | Looks like he can't compete with Baumann either. He is already behind by 1 second.
12:21 | Weibrecht almost falls in Ciaslat section.
12:22 | His makes an error at the very same spot as Küng's. Weibrecht reaches the Finish with almost 3 seconds delay.
12:22 | Jansrud from Norway is on the way.
12:23 | He also is lagging Baumann at the first intermediate time.
12:24 | 0.9 second delay already at the top of the course.
12:24 | He is not able to catch up and clocks a time with 1.55 seconds delay.
12:24 | It looks like Baumann has had quite a run!
12:24 | Robbie Dixon has started.
12:24 | But the race is over for Dixon. He had problems with a gate.
12:24 | Marco Sullivan has taken off.
12:25 | Sullivan is taking a wide path in Ciaslat.
12:26 | The wavy section in the second half of the course seems to be where the race is decided.
12:26 | Sullivan lags by 1.68 seconds at the Finish.
12:28 | Finally, a good run. Stefan Keppler from Germany is leading by 27/100 seconds at the second intermediate time.
12:28 | He is building on his advantage.
12:29 | Keppler at the Finish: leading 56/100 over Romed Baumann!
12:30 | Now to our local favorite: Christof Innerhofer!
12:30 | Will he be able to place a good result on his 26th birthday?
12:30 | But the intermediate time is not too strong... he is lagging behind.
12:31 | He misses his ideal line.
12:31 | Innerhofer is lagging by 2 seconds. Gardena-Gröden just doesn't seem to be cut for this athlete - despite his excellent practice run results.
12:31 | At the finish with 2 and 5/100 seconds delay.
12:31 | Benni Raich has started.
12:32 | Raich gives a good and strong impression on the top.
12:32 | He is suffering from some pains as well.
12:32 | Similarly to Cuche, he is having back problems.
12:32 | Ciaslat is taking Raich on a wide course.
12:33 | He is taking a big risk at the entry of Ciaslat and reaches the Finish on place 2 with 0.3 seconds delay.
12:33 | Bode Miller is next. The Finish area is getting alive!
12:33 | Miller makes a big mistake at the wall. His hand is touching the snow - over a second of delay.
12:34 | Miller has almost 2 seconds delay at the intermediate time.
12:34 | This was not Miller's race. Final time is 1.43 seconds on place 4 - for now.
12:35 | Georg Streitberg - current leader of the Super-G World Cup - has kicked off.
12:35 | Long jump at the wall!
12:36 | But a long jump doesn't necessarily translate into a fast time: Streitberger lags by half a second.
12:36 | Streitberger is skiing today with the Austrian team's red tricot - he is the current best skier in the team.
12:37 | His delay is expanding.
12:37 | Streitberger places 4th at the Finish.
12:37 | This is news in Ski World Cup: a German is leading ahead of three Austrians.
12:38 | But this is maybe about to change: Hannes Reichelt is having a strong race.
12:38 | Oh no: Reichelt misses a gate!
12:38 | The lead stays remains: Stephan Keppler at the top.
12:39 | Adrien Theaux makes a mistake at the start.
12:39 | He almost falls bringing back memories of Fritz "the cat" Strobl...
12:39 | Theaux already lagging my almost a second.
12:40 | He will not be able to compete with Keppler
12:40 | It looks like Keppler’s has performed quite the race.
12:41 | This is probably about to change...
12:41 | Theaux at the Finish. A 5th place with one second delay.
12:42 | He also lags by almost half a second.
12:42 | He places 6th at the Finish with 1.3 seconds delay.
12:43 | And off to our next local favourite: Peter Fill from nearby Kastelruth!
12:44 | He placed sixth in Beaver Creek.
12:44 | Fill is very fast at the top so far.
12:45 | But his second intermediate time shows a delay of 0.71 seconds.
12:45 | Could the light snow fall have changed this course this dramatically?
12:45 | Peter Fill is at the Finish with a 6th place with 1.24 seconds.
12:46 | Now on to the top favourites.
12:46 | Didier Cuche is opening this selective group of leading athletes.
12:45 | Cuche has a great track-record: he has placed top ten in all speed disciplines - except when not finishing the race.
12:47 | The snow fall is getting heavier at the top.
12:47 | As always, Cuche takes huge risks.
12:48 | The clock at the Finish shows a 93/100 delay for Didier Cuche.
12:48 | What will Lake Louise's winner Tobias Grünenfelder be able to achieve!
12:49 | He is also lagging.
12:49 | He is behind.
12:50 | Grünenfelder places 7th.
12:50 | The visibility is deteriorating.
12:51 | Are we witnessing the making of a sensation?
12:52 | Kepplers time seems to be untouchable.
12:52 | Carlo Janka is on the course and so far very fast.
12:52 | He is leading by 0.01 seconds.
12:53 | But a few mistakes in the bottom part and lost 77/100 seconds by the time he reached the Finish.
12:53 | Snow has started to fall at the Finish as well.
12:54 | Mario Schreiber has started so hopefully his knee injury is not as serious.
12:54 | Or maybe it is? He gave up after a bump. Let's hope that it is not his knee that is causing the trouble.
12:55 | By the way Keppler's first top ten ranking dates back to 2006.
12:55 | Where? Obviously in Gardena-Gröden. He placed 8th in th 2006 Super-G.
12:56 | Eric Guay is next and has started.
12:56 | He won the Super-G World Cup in 2010.
12:57 | But he is also behind.
12:57 | Guay runs a great race with only 14/100 delay and a 2nd place.
12:58 | So there is still hope on this course.
12:58 | What are the conditions for Michi Walchhofer who is next.
12:58 | He is ahead, this old big man!
12:59 | 0.22 second ahead at the intermediate time.
12:59 | And he is ahead Keppler at the Finish with 0.67 seconds.
12:59 | Aksel Lund Svindal has started. He has won last year's editionl.
13:00 | He is behind Walchhofer at the top.
13:00 | Svindal is thrown off the course. Will he be able to keep running.
13:00 | Svindal is down!
13:00 | Ciaslat has taken its toll on Svindal who has taken a gate too narrowly risking too much.
13:00 | But Svindal is back on his feet. That is the most important thing.
13:01 | Benni Raich, currently 4th: I am happy to have concluded the race and be able to leave for Alta Badia.
13:02 | These were difficult conditions: the visibility was constantly deteriorating.
13:03 | Who is left to claim Walchhofer's fourth victory on the Saslong?
13:03 | Veteran Patrick Jaerbyn is starting next.
13:05 | Jaerbyn on place 14.
13:07 | Will Werner Heel be able to change the standings?
13:09 | Let's remember, he won the Super-G two years ago.
13:10 | But Heel is showing some delay attacking the gates.
13:10 | But Heel can't really mess with the best placing a good 6th spot.
13:10 | Heel has done a fantastic race given these conditions.
13:11 | What will Patrick Staudacher be able to capture? He placed third last year.
13:12 | His delay is 66/100 at the top of the course.
13:12 | Staudacher continues to lose and reaches the Finish with 2.53 seconds delay and a 17th place.
13:14 | Strong race by Sylvain Zurbriggen: 6th rank.
13:15 | He has pushed Werner Heel to 7th spot. Despite the bad visibility, the race is not over yet.
13:15 | Klaus Kröll has left a strong impression these last few days. Will he be able to work the magic on the course?
13:17 | Tenth place for Klaus Kröll. That means that the first 30 racers have reached the Finish.
13:19 | The top favourites are at the Finish, but there are another 40 racers who could potentially claim teh gold. We'll be here for you to give you all the details as facts unfold.
14:00 | 11 skiers left at the start.
14:00 | Michael Walchhofer's victory looks safe.
14:00 | Current conditions make a surprise almost impossible.
14:01 | Walchhofer has the possibility to set the absolute record for total victory's on the Saslong at tomorrow's Downhill. We are totally confident that he can do it. His practice runs show as much...
14:14 | The race is decided!
14:14 |Michael Walchhofer's victory is definite.
14:14 |We thank you all for following and hope to see you tomorrow. Same place, same time for the Men's Downhill.
14:14 |The Downhill is starting at 12:15 pm and the www.saslong.org team will be here to comment on it live witih the news-ticker.
14:15 |See you tomorrow!