1.   Also consider the resistence that Alpine skiers had to snowboarders, not that that war zone is totally quiet these days.

2.   Alpine skiers might also be best equipped.

3.   Alpine skiers might face the biggest risks.

4.   And Alpine skiers have become more accepting of their more acrobatic counterparts.

5.   A dark-haired, charismatic Italian Alpine skier who trains alone and is more popular at home than any other athlete won another Olympic gold medal Friday.

6.   Aamodt has won seven medals, a record for an Alpine skier, in four Olympics.

7.   But even if the American Alpine skiers do not make a major comeback, both Miller and Koznick should take their bows on the medal podium.

8.   But it does not hide the performance of the Alpine skiers, who seemed to shrink from the major competition on the world stage.

9.   Deborah Compagnoni, the Italian ace, saw her chances to become the first Alpine skier to win three gold medals in consecutive Olympics come down to mere survival.

10.   Even in territory well above the Mason-Dixon Line, our top alpine skiers are less heralded than the dimwits who drive monster trucks around dirt tracks.