Lake Louise, Alberta (Ski Press)-In what promises to be a scintillating and super fast start to the World Cup speed season, the alpine circus drops into Lake Louise this weekend for a men’s downhill and Super G.

 
In a race that has been won in the past by Canadians such as Jon Kucera and Jan Hudec, as well as recently retired World Cup icon Hermann Maier, the Americans are looking to push early for results.
 
That’s because while Lindsey Vonn has enjoyed some spectacular successes in Lake Louise of late, it’s been since 2004 that an American male last climbed the podium. That was the year Bode Miller won both the Super G and the Downhill in a strong season start that eventually saw him claim the overall World Cup Title.
 
That season, Bode became the first American in 22 years to win the overall title, since Phil Mahre and Tamara McKinney in 1983. Earlier during his championship season, with a victory on November 28, 2004, he became only the fifth man to win World Cup races in all five disciplines: slalom, giant slalom, Super-G, downhill, and combined. With 31 World Cup victories, he is the most successful American alpine skier of all time.
 
Miller is also a four-time World Champion in four different disciplines and has a pair of silver medals from the 2002 Winter Olympics. On May 12, 2007, Miller announced that he would be leaving the U.S. Ski Team[1][2] and race independently for his newly formed Team America. But in October 2009 Miller announced he would rejoin the US Ski Team.
  

 

Image credit: Bode Miller at the Birds of Prey Downhill race at Beaver Creek, Colorado, Dec 1, 2006.
Jonathan Selkowitz / Selko Photo 2007