While the women were taking their first training runs on the course in Beaver Creek, Colo., on Wednesday, Lindsey Vonn was working out in a gym a few miles away.
"I'd love to be up at Beaver Creek for downhill training today," Vonn wrote on her Facebook page. "But instead I'm working hard in therapy. Things are going well."
Vonn, the reigning Olympic downhill champion and four-time World Cup champion, crashed during a training run at Copper Mountain, Colo., last week, partially tearing a reconstructed ligament in her right knee. But the 29-year-old hasn't ruled out competing in Lake Louise, Alberta, Dec. 6.
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''If things go well, you know, I'll be racing next week,'' Vonn said during an interview on NBC's "Today" show, also on Wednesday. ''If they don't, then I'm going to have to reassess and kind of see where I stand and if I can make a comeback for this season.''
Vonn's surgeon, Bill Sterrett, has only said that she is "progressing well while not losing any of the strength she worked so hard to achieve."
Vonn originally tore ligaments in the knee in a high-speed accident at the world championships in February. She'd been well ahead of schedule in her return, and doesn't believe she was pushing too hard to make it back to the slopes.
''I was skiing really fast. I was skiing confident. I was very strong,'' Vonn said. ''It just was unfortunately a fluke accident. That's the risk you take when you're going 80, 90 miles per hour down a mountain. That's just part of the job. But I picked myself back up and I'm trying as hard as I can to keep going.
''Unfortunately, it was really bad timing for me. I'm still confident. I still feel like I have a lot left to achieve this season . . . I still have time before Sochi.''
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Bode Miller on course
The men's World Cup circuit races at Beaver Creek's "Birds of Prey" course Dec. 6-8. After a year off to rehab his injured left knee, Bode Miller of Franconia, N.H., will lead the United States charge on a course on which he has won three times . . . In an attempt to make sure kids wear helmets on the slopes, many ski areas and agencies have helped make them affordable. And this season, a New Hampshire hospital has taken the effort a step further. Some 200 kids in the Mount Washington Valley region will receive free ski helmets from Memorial Hospital in Conway. The program is affiliated with the National Ski Areas Association, which started "Lids for Kids" several years ago. The NSAA estimates that helmets can limit 20-50 percent of head injuries in the event of crashes. To qualify for the program, a student must be enrolled in their school's free or reduced food program.
Different view
One of skiing's newest crazes is the helmet cam. The device allows skiers and riders to record their runs and those skiing with them, including sound.
According to the Rutland (Vt.) Herald, a teen center at the Hermitage Club at Haystack Mountain will even feature indoor video booths where helmet-cam users can edit their footage and put it on a screen for anyone willing to watch.
But the helmet cam isn't for kids only. Jim Barnes, 47, and sponsor of the screening room, reports skiers and riders of all ages are showing up with footage of their runs, including a 40-year-old who brought in 47 runs he shot last season.
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"Each generation pushes other generations to do it," Kelly Davis, a spokeswoman for Snowsports Industries of America, told the Rutland Herald. "The cameras seem to be driving people to do more adventurous things."
The GoPro helmet cam costs approximately $400.
Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.