Soelden, Austria – All eyes are focused on defending Soelden champions Lindsey Vonn and Ted Ligety this weekend when the Audi FIS Alpine World Cup ski season opens with a pair of giant slalom races high on the Rettenbach glacier in Austria.

The duo combined to sweep the top of the podium last October with Vonn, of Vail, Colo., picking up the first World Cup giant slalom win of her career to join the rarefied air of elite racers who have won in all five alpine disciplines.

“Winning in Soelden last season was incredibly special. It set the tone for my year and I went on to score more giant slalom points than I did in the last three seasons combined. That was a huge factor in winning the back the overall and nearly breaking the World Cup points record,” said Vonn. “It’s a new year and we all start with zero points, but I’m stronger than I ever have been, I’ve put in all the work that I know it will take to win titles.

“On Saturday, we’ll see where we all stand and learn a lot about what we need to do before the season really gets going.”

Park City, Utah’s Ligety, who has been on the Soelden podium in four straight races on the glacier, has scored more World Cup points in Soelden than any World Cup athlete. The U.S. Ski Team has been in Soelden, their European Training Base, since mid-month prepping for the season opener.

Women’s giant slalom opens the season on Saturday, followed by a men’s giant slalom on Sunday. With the race start at 10,000 feet, the Soelden race hill opens with a gradual pitch then takes a diving turn over the glacier knuckle onto a notoriously icy pitch into the glacier stadium. Olympic giant slalom gold medalist Julia Mancuso, of Squaw Valley, Calif., has a Soelden podium to her credit and will also be in the gate along with Soelden rookies Robby Kelley, a member of Vermont’s famed “skiing Cochran family” in his first World Cup start, and 17-year-old Mikaela Shiffrin, of Eagle, Colo., who scored giant slalom points during her rookie year on tour and had a slalom podium last winter. Saturday will be her first World Cup start in Soelden.

“I feel like I should have more jitters than I actually do,” said a relaxed Shiffrin. “We’ve been training in Soelden for a few weeks and so I’ve seen all of my heroes out on the hill. I think if I’d just shown up a day before the race and seen them, I’d be pretty nervous right now.

“More than anything, I can’t wait to race,” she added. “I think as athletes we all feel that. We’ve done so much training and worked so hard since last season that we just want to race.”

Park City, Utah’s Megan McJames will round out the start list for U.S. women, as will Tim Jitloff, of Reno, Nev., and Gilford, N.H.’s Warner Nickerson for the men. Notably absent from the Soelden start list is New Hampshire’s Bode Miller, who is still recovering from spring knee surgery.

This weekend’s GS will also be the first World Cup race on new race skis after the International Ski Federation (FIS) instituted a change in the minimum radius for a giant slalom ski from 27 to 35 meters.

“It’s going to take a lot more strength to turn the new skis, that’s for sure,” Ligety acknowledged. “But we knew that and so I spent more time in the gym this summer than I ever have. I’ve been fast on the new skis in training and they perform well on hard snow conditions, but they are not as responsive in soft snow. How will they perform this season? We’ll find out Sunday.”