Racing the World Cup with your own fan club

As each American racer descends the steep Birds of Prey course, the T-shirt wearers - Dana Tibbs, Timi Cruz and Shelley De Alth - are unabashed with their vocal support. But when Bryon Friedman or Scott Macartney, who also go to Dartmouth, hit the course, they get downright out of control.

Those would be the two men featured on the t-shirts.

They've had a lot to cheer about this week, as Friedman had two career days, finishing 23rd in Friday's downhill race, and 24th in Saturday's.

The two top-30 finishes gain Friedman valuable World Cup points and solidifies his position on the U.S. Ski Team World Cup squad.

As long as he continues skiing well, he should be a familiar face on the tour for the rest of the winter, he said.

"I'm pretty fired up," Friedman said. "I was looking for speed everywhere. I've never scored World Cup points before. It's great to get that monkey off my back."

The 23-year-old Park City native has been skiing since he was 3 years old and started racing when he was 10. "I loved it," he said. "I can't say enough about it."

About the same time he started racing, he met Boomer Lemons, an avid skier and military brat who moved to Europe shortly after the two met playing in a youth flag-football league.

Since Friedman's parents worked in the travel industry, he was able to stay in touch with Lemons and visited him overseas.

"He got a taste of skiing in Europe before he was on the team with me and my family," said Lemons, a vocal member of the T-shirt wearing fan club, though he chose not to don the shirt himself.

Friedman and Macartney met when they both began racing together eight years ago. For the last six years, they have been roommates at Dartmouth College. As they've slowly worked their way through college, they can only fit one quarter of studying in every year during the racing schedule.

A two-time NORAM champion in the super-G (1999, 2003), Macartney looks to be a force in today's World Cup super-G at Beaver Creek.

As for the fan club, keep on eye out for them at today's event.

"We'll be here," Cruz said.

Fiala Watch

When Frisco's Jake Fiala finished Friday's downhill in 35th place, he wasn't happy.

"Downhill is not going very well. It's embarrassing," he said Friday after the race. "I'd really like to do well here someday."

The finish cost him his top-30 starting position, forcing him to start in the 46 spot in Saturday's downhill. As such, his start was well into the afternoon, when conditions on the race course had started to deteriorate after 45 other skiers had come through.

His time of 1 minute, 43.43 seconds was good for 40th, and Fiala was no less hard on himself.

"I don't know what to say," he said, as a handful of children asked him for his autograph. "I'm turning well, I just need to figure out some equipment issues."

He didn't specify what the equipment issues were, but he did say he was ready to try again in tomorrow's super-G.

"It's a different event," he said. "Hopefully I'll be rolling."