The Audi FIS World Cup Finals wrapped on Thursday with an electric finish as Mikaela Shirffrin won the slalom in front of a huge crowd in Idaho.
This week-long event provided so many memories with the unbelievable comeback of Lindsey Vonn who finished second in the Super G setting a new record for the oldest podium finish at 40-years old.
Sun Valley legend Picabo Street had a statue unveiled in Champions Meadow; Street won a gold medal in the Super G in 1998.
We also had Mikaela Shiffrin's comeback as her season was in jeopardy after a horrific crash back in November at Killington, Vermont, that punctured a hole in her oblique.
Shiffrin led the pack after the first heat of the slalom and you could feel the energy building down in the grandstands near the finish line. Then Shiffrin brought the house down winning the slalom by 1.13 seconds on her own home soil.
"Amazing, I could hear the crowd down here from the start and also the people who were cheering at the start," said Shiffrin. "It feels good to ski it with power and intensity, and I can thank the crowd for giving me that energy."
I talked with some locals in Sun Valley to get reactions from the World Cup Finals and what it was like to have the best skiers in the world in their own backyard.
"Absolutely amazing, the energy has been great and the athletes are phenomenal," said Annie Vandenburg, who we caught up with on the slopes next to the course. "Watching Mikaela race this morning was amazing."
The event also brought an international flair to Sun Valley as the racers we talked to praised the area for its hospitality, energy, and the beauty in Idaho. The locals also enjoyed meeting some of these skiers from Europe and also Brazil.
"The Brazilian, oh my gosh, what a funny guy," said Vandenburg. "He was at Sun Valley last night during the bib draw, what an entertainer."
This also provided the youth in Sun Valley to witness and watch the best skiers in the world. That's a huge deal for the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation which lives and breathes winter sports.
"Yeah, it is really surreal," said Zach Quesnel, a nordic skier with the foundation. "I’ve heard all my friends talking to them and I got autographs on my hat, it is super sweet."
The team at Sun Valley didn't have a lot of time to prepare for this event as the work started in June.
During the event, the downhill race got canceled because of wind, a bummer for the course designer as that section was installed over the past few months.
The event went smoothly otherwise, and Sun Valley has positioned itself as one of the best ski racing destinations in the western United States.
"I’m so glad we are doing this, Sun Valley needs this," said a woman who I failed to record her name, but she was at the last World Cup Finals in Sun Valley in 1977. "I think part of the crowd wanted to avoid it because it was going to be insane and then we caught the spirit because we are so lucky to have this here."
Swiss skier Marco Odermatt and Italian racer Federica Brignone were named the overall World Cup champions and all this leads to the Olympics in Italy next year.
