Manuel Osborne-Paradis of Canada won today's 2010 Audi FIS Alpine World Cup famed Saslong Classic downhill at Val Gardena, Italy with Mario Scheiber, Austria, second  and T. Ambrosi Hoffmann of Switzerland finishing third.

The men's speed team continued the U.S. Ski Team streak of racking up World Cup points Saturday as  Bode Miller finished 9th and led five Americans into the  top 24 at the famed Saslong Classic downhill. It was just one year ago, the U.S. placed five racers in the top 10 and seven in the top 30. Check the complete results of the Val Gardena, Italy 2010 Audi FIS Alpine WC downhill.

Watch the upcoming men and women's World Cup races  - live on UniversalSports.com.

Related: Vote Lindsey Vonn Female Athlete of the Year | Join the U.S. Ski Team Fan Club

_{Photo Bode Miller in Val Gardena DH Copyright Getty Images}

Lindsey Vonn won Friday's Audi FIS World Cup Alpine Super Combined race in tVal d'Isere, France.  Not only did she have the best overall time - she won both the downhill and slalom portions.

"I definitely had some fast skis today, but I also think I skied really well. I think I made most of my time in the turns today, which I was really happy about," Vonn said. "I still made one mistake in the middle, but in general I was pretty dynamic and generating a lot of speed from the turns. That's what ultimately I wanted to do - have a solid run, and it was a good one."

Lindsey was joined on the podium by Maria Riesch of Germany, second and Elisabeth Goergl of Austria, third.  Four other U.S. women finished in the top 30 with Leanne Smith - 19th, Kaylin Richardson  - 22nd and Stacey Cook - 27th.  Check the complete results of the Audi FIS World Cup Alpine Women's Super Combined.

The women race again in France on Saturday in a downhill. Fans can watch the races live on UniversalSports.com with same-day coverage on Universal Sports TV.

Over in Val Gardena, Italy, Norway's Aksel Lund Svindal won a Men's World Cup Super G race, with Carlo Janka of Switzerland, second and Patrick Staudacher of Italy third. Bode Miller led the U.S. racers with a fifth place finish while  Andrew Weibrech,  Marco Sullivan, Erik Fisher and Jeremy Transue finished in the top 30. Check the results of the Val Gardena Audi FIS World Cup Alpine Men's Super G.

_{Photo Lindsey Vonn in Friday's Super Combined Copyright Getty Images}

The low hanging clouds over Jackson Hole Mountain Resort broke up early today and gave me my first look up the Tram line toward the 10,450' summit of Rendezvous Mountain - and what a pretty sight it is.

It will be a little while more before the snow piles up enough to make the upper terrain accessible for the Tram to run. However, there is more than enough trails open now to work the summer out of the thighs and to tune up the skills we left behind last spring.

I caught up with one group of skiers who are here at Jackson Hole this week participating in the Classic Adult Ski and Race Camp. This 5 day program is designed for intermediate and above skiers looking for early season training and conditioning and wanting to improve their racing skills.

The key to the popularity and success of the Classic Adult Ski and Race Camp is threefold:

• Seasoned instructors who help adults who were weaned on long straight skis and upper body contortion turning adjust to the more efficient potentials provided by shaped skis
• Small groups for greater individual attention
• Individual video taping of running a gate course

Maybe I should say fourfold, because another plus is that  Jackson Hole Mountain Resort Special Ambassador, U.S. Olympic gold and silver medalist Tommy Moe, takes time to ski around with each of the groups. It is pretty obvious, once meeting Tommy, that he enjoys meeting and coaching other skiers of all abilities and, shown here, he was offering pointers and insights to the campers and, of course, demonstrating some awesome gate running.

I really think this early season camp pumps up the muscle memory that took all of last season to perfect - a skill that may have withered over the long summer. Get it corrected this early and there will be a good long ski season to work on improving something else.

Another reason ski camps, and especially early season camps, are so good is that we can all use coaching. Tommy Moe counted off, for me, all his coaches he had during his U.S. Ski Team years and all great skiers have coaches. I've always said that's the fun of being an "advancing" skier.

Jackson Hole has a full schedule of ski and snowboard camps this season for all level skiers  including Steep and Deep Camp, Womens Camps, a Backcountry Camp, a Telemark Camp, an Adaptive Camp, and a Heli Skiing Camp.  In addition, Tommy Moe is available for private sessions with intermediate and expert skiers who are interested in a unique tour of the mountain.

_{JHMR Photo Copyright Mike Doyle
Tommy Moe photo Copyright Mike Doyle}

Who needs skiing lessons? In a word - everybody. When you consider that a ski instructor is, in effect, really a ski coach, does it surprise you that all Olympic ski teams have instructor/coaches? In fact, ski instructors have ski instructors.

What type of ski lessons should you look for? There was a time in the ski industry when there were rival schools of thought on how to teach the art and skill of skiing. Today, with the introduction of the shaped ski, there is an inherent turning capability engineered into the ski, so you're ahead of the game.

Related: Ski Lessons | Professional Ski Instructors of America

_{Photo Copyright Mike Doyle}