Hotsheet: Vonn wins, White acts, Aspen adopts tourists & more
Lindsey Vonn is bringing home even more World Cup titles, Shaun White has a dead sexy role in the new Black Keys video, and Aspen has started adopting tourists. All that, plus how two big name resorts are fighting public battles on Facebook.
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Sidelined with a concussion just a few short weeks ago, Lindsey Vonn took a clear focus on wrapping up another phenomenal World Cup season by taking just three days to grab three separate titles during a win-filled weekend in Tarvisio, Italy.
Beginning Friday, March 4th, 2011, Vonn began her hat trick by securing her second straight super combined trophy. Saturday, the Olympic gold medalist in downhill locked up the fourth World Cup downhill title of her career. Then Sunday, she left no doubt by taking the top spot on the podium on the way to hoisting her third consecutive World Cup title in the super G.
The win was the 41st of Vonn’s career, marking a great day for the US as Julia Mancuso was second in the race, and World Cup rookie Laurenne Ross of Klamath Falls, Oregon, finished fourth. Despite the individual titles, Vonn still trails Germany’s Maria Riesch by 96 points for the overall globe.
“I made some good points toward the overall title today too, but it’s still Maria’s title to lose,” Vonn said. “It makes things easier for me. All I have to do is try and win each day and keep that mentality going.”
The weekend capped with six podiums for the U.S. Ski Team with Vonn earning three, Mancuso adding one and men’s athletes Ted Ligety and Nolan Kasper landing in the Kranjska Gora, Slovenia top three. Ligety extended his Audi FIS Alpine World Cup giant slalom lead to 77 points over Norwegian Aksel Lund Svindal with third Saturday. The World Cup moves to the Czech Republic for gs and slalom races this weekend, then concludes March 14-20 at the World Cup finals.
Shaun White gets lucky, then lynched in Black Keys video
Shaun White’s acting career is off and running with a pulp worthy performance in the Black Keys’ official new video for the movie “Howlin’ for You.” The two-time Olympic gold medalist, who makes his big screen acting debut with Woody Harrelson and Justin Timberlake in the movie “Friends With Benefits,” this summer, gets downright steamy in the video. White beds Alexa Wolf, “a sexy assassin with a troubled past,” then gets strung up by a chain by the femme fatale herself. If you dare, here’s the link: Shaun White
Aspen asks locals to ‘Adopt A Tourist’
The City of Aspen is offering an Adopt a Tourist program as a way of bringing locals and tourists together. The homepage advertises itself as being a way for travelers to “be adopted” by Aspen locals while visiting the town, and adds that “Ideally, they then leave with more than a photograph; they leave with a friend and an even better reason to come back to Aspen.”
Both locals and tourists are offered special deals and discounts while they hit the Glitter Town streets. But waivers are required for both adopters and adoptees, and the disclaimer at the end of the homepage clearly reads: The City of Aspen will not be performing background checks for participation in the Adopt A Tourist program. Participation is at your own choice and at your own risk.
In other news…
Squaw Valley USA reversed course on its decision to keep the popular Silverado Chair closed on weekdays. Locals quickly vented their anger on the area’s Facebook page, and by March 3rd, 2011, management announced they would fire the chair back up on the following morning, a Friday. In the announcement, one Squaw employee posted on the page, “we realize that we took too long to jump into the dialogue about the Silverado lift and for that we apologize.”…In the meantime, Canada’s Sunshine Village has apparently suspended their Facebook page following the firestorm over the decision to fire four longtime employees shortly after they caught Thomas Scurfield, owner Ralph Scurfield’s son, skiing out of bounds. The four have filed a wrongful dismissal suit against the area. In response, Sunshine has claimed the four were fired for, among other things, “sexual harassment, fraud, soliciting gifts, and insurbordination.” A support page for the four former employees is now the highest search listing for Sunshine Village on Facebook, with more than 8,000 fans.
—Peter Kray
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