SOELDEN, Austria (Oct. 12) - U.S. women will have a time trial Friday to help fill two remaining giant slalom spots for the opening World Cup race Oct. 22 on the Rettenbach Glacier above this mountain community southwest of Innsbruck.

Women's slalom/GS Head Coach Trevor Wagner said the U.S. Ski Team has 10 start spots for the GS, including a half-dozen from the top-60 finishers a year ago plus two-time NorAm GS champion Jessica Kelley (Starksboro, VT) and Kristen Mielke (Dillon, CO), who finished 1-2 in the 2005 NorAm giant slalom points.

"We'll train on the race hill Thursday and Friday, and we'll have a time trial Friday for the two open spots" in the first World Cup race of the Olympic season, Wagner said.

The U.S. women came to Soelden after a training camp on the Pitztal Glacier. They skied Monday, took Tuesday off and were back running gates Wednesday. "It's been really good; the snow's in good condition...and getting better," Wagner said.

"Some of the girls took seven runs today in GS...and they had four runs of slalom. It was perfect, always sunny but cold when you were in the shade. We're moving on to winter."

In Pitztal, conditions got better by the day, he said. "We skied last Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, and it was good. Then Friday, Saturday and Sunday and those days were very good. It got better and better. The first days were rough with the fresh snow, but Pitztal did an amazing job of getting their people going and getting the [training] lanes ready for everyone. It's amazing how the conditions were," he said, "because when we were in Pitztal, we had trainable conditions but we were just across the valley, looking at Soelden, and they couldn't train because of the fog."

Automatic start spots for the first World Cup race of this Olympic season will go to Julia Mancuso (Olympic Valley, CA), double medalist - including bronze in GS - at the 2005 World Championships, as well as Sarah Schleper (Vail, CO), Kristina Koznick (Eagan, MN), Caroline Lalive (Steamboat Springs, CO), Resi Stiegler (Jackson Hole, WY) and Lindsey Kildow (also Vail). Kelley and Mielke make eight with two spots to be filled.

In addition, Wagner said Kildow would be on hand Thursday and Friday – driving over from the women’s speed camp in Pitztal – for GS training.