It's a familiar, frustrating story.

A year ago, U.S. alpine skiers, led by Bode Miller, hoped to win as many as eight medals at the Turin Winter Olympics. Instead, they left with two, one of the most disappointing performances by a U.S. team at the 2006 Games.

This season, they recorded nine podium finishes in six days in World Cup events, an unprecedented achievement for American skiers, but picked up only three medals at the World Championships, the most important event next to the Olympics.

Miller was a bust again at the Worlds, but no more so than the rest of the medalless men's team. Miller hasn't won a race at a major event since he captured both the super-G and downhill at the 2005 Worlds.

"It's an alarming trend for a guy that should be having big results," U.S. men's coach Phil McNichol said.

The American women are a different story, with Julia Mancuso winning a World Championships silver in super-combined to go with her Olympic gold medal.

Going into the season-ending World Cup finals starting today in Switzerland, Mancuso has a shot at becoming the first American woman to win the overall title since Tamara McKinney in 1983.

Lindsey Kildow, of Vail, whose Olympic hopes ended with a horrific training-run accident, made a major breakthrough with two silver medals at the World Championships before suffering a season-ending knee injury during a training run for her next event.

What does it mean for the Olympics, the only event in which American skiers can earn mainstream recognition?

The 2010 Vancouver Games are practically on home soil, and the best racers are also the youngest ones, including Kildow, 22; Mancuso, 23; and 2006 Olympic gold medalist Ted Ligety, 22.

Moreover, Steve Nyman, a 25-year-old Utah native, won his first World Cup downhill this season and finished third in another; and Resi Stiegler, 21, made a run at her first World Cup podiums with fourth- and fifth-place finishes in super-combined.

Although Miller finished only two slalom races this season, he ranks fourth in the World Cup overall standings, first in super-G and seventh in downhill.

"I don't really pay that much attention to that stuff," Miller said when asked about his chances of recapturing the super-G World Cup title he won in 2005.

"Right now, I'm focused on not hurting myself. And kind of have fun, enjoying it."

Miller will be 32 at the Vancouver Games, which is old for a technical racer (slalom and giant slalom) but not for the speed events (downhill and super-G).

Can he hang around long enough for Vancouver? Don't bet on it, unless he can reverse some recent trends.

Although slalom was once one of Miller's strongest events, the American star won his most recent World Cup race in that discipline in December 2004.

During his long dry run, Miller has tested about 50 different pairs of skis, hoping to find a solution. He ranks 55th in World Cup standings in the slalom.

One explanation: In recent years, Miller has shifted his focus to the speed events, packing on extra pounds to go faster, which hurts his chances in the slalom.

"Right now, slalom is a personal struggle for him," McNichol said. "I've never seen him come up against something in skiing that's been such a challenge for him. It's his Gordian knot. He just can't seem to get this one solved."

The RV chronicles

The idea seemed pretty simple: travel from event to event in your own recreational vehicle. Park near the course, eat home-cooked meals and sleep in your own bed. But the road wasn't as smooth as it seemed.

• 2003: Bode Miller starts traveling in a personal motor home and hires a longtime buddy to serve as both driver and cook.

• 2005: Daron Rahlves, one of the best American speed racers ever, acquires his own RV.

• 2006: Julia Mancuso follows suit.

• 2006: At the Turin Olympics, Miller is criticized for showing up at late-night parties and for living in his RV. Under fire from team supporters, U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association chief Bill Marolt introduces a code of conduct to clamp down on partying. Skiers must live in the team hotel.

• 2006-07 season: Miller complains the new U.S. team rule is affecting his sleep, leaving him tired and irritable on race day. He said he averages about 5 1/2 hours of sleep in a hotel and about eight in the RV. "It's terrible. I've been in a terrible mood every day," Miller said.

Highs, lows of World Cup season

HIGHS

Chasing McKinney

Gold medalist Julia Mancuso, an Italian-American who says her grandfather was a rum runner in Chicago who might have known mobster Al Capone, has been piling up World Cup ski racing wins this season the way Tony Soprano stacks up bodies.

The 23-year-old's success - her four wins are the most by an American woman since Picabo Street won six downhills in 1995 - has put her in the running for the overall title. If she pulls it off, Mancuso's would be the first title by a U.S. woman since Tamara McKinney did it in 1983, and only the second ever.

Kildow comes through

Vail's Lindsey Kildow, a favorite headed into the 2006 Olympics, crashed spectacularly in training at last year's Games and rallied to race, but she came away empty-handed in the medal hunt. But in February, Kildow exorcised a few of those big-event demons at the World Championships in Sweden with a pair of silver medals in the downhill and super-G.

Nyman steps up

Steve Nyman, 25, of Provo, Utah, proved a couple of things this season: there is life beyond Bode Miller and Daron Rahlves (retired from the team) for American speed skiers. And his first World Cup win (a downhill on Dec. 16 in Italy) also proved that Nyman can become known for something more than being Mancuso's boyfriend.

Record streak for U.S.

Nyman's first victory and the first regular-season World Cup win for Mancuso (a downhill on Dec. 19 at Val d'Isere, France) were part of an American record run of nine World Cup podiums (top-three finishes) by five U.S. racers in six days. The previous record was a podium on four straight days in 1983.

Miller bounces back

Miller, the enigmatic superstar from New Hampshire, showed no signs of an Olympic hangover this season - at least early on. Despite coming close in a couple of events at the Winter Games, the heavy medal favorite left Italy empty-handed. But this season, he chalked up four wins in December and January and, with 25 career wins, the 29-year-old appeared poised to pass Phil Mahre's all-time U.S. record of 27 victories.

LOWS

Miller cools off

During a news conference in Vail before his first win of the season at Beaver Creek, Miller said he was aiming at 86-time World Cup winner Ingemar Stenmark's single-season mark of 13 wins, which would have easily pushed Miller past Mahre for the American record.

But Miller has not won since a downhill on Jan. 13 in Switzerland. He even came up short in his stated bid to become the first racer with a World Championships gold in all five racing disciplines. All he lacked was a slalom win, but he failed to medal in Sweden in February and watched as Anja Paerson pulled off the feat.

Now Miller can salvage the season with a strong showing in the finals. He leads the super-G overall title hunt but stands fourth in a bid for his second World Cup overall title and is all but out of that race.

Ligety lags

Ted Ligety, 22, of Park City, Utah, shocked the world last season with his combined gold medal at the Olympics, but a broken hand in preseason training cost him momentum headed into this World Cup season and he's never quite bounced back. He's winless this season, although he does have two podiums (third in GS at Beaver Creek and second in a slalom in Alta Badia, Italy).

Championship shutout

American men failed to grab any World Championship medals for the first time since the U.S. squad was blanked when Vail/Beaver Creek hosted the Worlds in 1999.

Weather worries

Ligety and other U.S. racers such as Nyman and Miller expressed concern for their sport in the wake of more than 15 postponements or cancellations of men's World Cup races in Europe due to the lack of snow. Ligety made headlines by saying more needs to be done to combat global climate change.

Bittersweet season

While Vail's Kildow somewhat eased the pain of her Olympic disappointment and two fourth-place near misses at the 2005 World Championships in Bormio, Italy, by taking home two silvers from Are, Sweden, in February, she later injured her knee training for the slalom at Worlds and ultimately had to end her season.

In the hunt for the super-G title and with an outside shot at the overall, Kildow tried to put the injury into perspective on the U.S. Ski Team Web site: "I'm very disappointed because everything had been going so well this season. . . . I'm young, and this is the first serious injury of my career. I guess I'll have my time some other time."

The Next Suzy Chapstick

As attractive as she is talented -"You can be feminine and fast," she told USA Today - Julia Mancuso is rapidly becoming the face of American skiing. She signed deals with Visa, Rossignol, Roxy and Rip It energy drinks. The endorsements are worth more than $1 million a year.

latimerc@RockyMountainNews.com The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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