KITZBUEHEL: To race or not to race, that is the question American veteran Bode Miller is posing himself just eight weeks out of back surgery.
That question is complicated because the 37-year-old is talking about the toughest, scariest piste on the World Cup circuit: Kitzbuehel's infamous Hahnenkamm.
A technically demanding, strength-sapping, icy piste that snakes more than three kilometres through the tranquil forested Tyrolean mountain that more than sorts the wheat from the chaff of alpine speed skiing.
Miller, with perhaps one eye on achieving true race fitness for next month's World Ski Championships on home snow, opted out of racing the downhill in Wengen last week despite having completed a training run down the longest course on the circuit.
The American finished sixth in Thursday's second training run in Austria, having also finished Tuesday's first session, but he immediately cast doubt on whether he would actually take part in Saturday's lucrative race.
"The skiing is coming, the equipment is coming, it's just a matter of making sure I don't make any backward steps for my back," said Miller, twice a runner-up in the Kitzbuehel downhill.
"The problem is there's a reason why everyone calls it the toughest race in the world, there's no margin for error. You make one small mistake and you end up in hospital."
He added: "I have to be smart about it. I'm sure there's a discussion to have because I was fast today and I felt my fitness was fine.
"It's just the risk management and how that factors into where I'm at. Obviously I do want to try and be safe, but I want to win, too."
The final decision, Miller said, would be made by himself and his staff who, he added, "all sort of defer to me".
"They know me well enough that I would do it if I could. That's not the normally the problem for me, they're not usually trying to get me out there, they're usually trying to hold me from getting out there.
"It's tough to make that kind of call. I would say it's not likely I race just because the risk is still high.
"I'm only eight weeks and a couple of days out of surgery for my back. You ask any doctor whether it's a good idea to run the Hahnenkamm eight weeks out of surgery on a blown out disc and they'll pretty much unanimously tell you the same thing: it's not a good idea.
"I do sometimes defy the doctors but in this case it might be a good idea to listen to them."
Given his time away from snow, six-time Olympic medallist and former four-time world champion Miller added that a lot of time has been spent garnering invaluable information on his equipment.
"Today the equipment worked really well," he said Thursday. "We've been trying to get through a season's worth of testing in a matter of a few runs.
"The other (first) training run I went out the gate and by the time I went off the Mausfalle (jump high up the course) I was like 'Argh, this is going to be a long run!'.
"I had no grip, no balance, I felt really awkward and on this hill that's not how you want to feel. But today I felt it right away that I had a little better grip and the balance was good but I still have to back off in some places because the risk is so high.
"If you just get caught on an edge a little bit, the compression forces here are so big on your body because the snow is so hard.
"It's unbelievable, you hit one bump and your ski sticks and it's like having a car dropped on your back. But the parts where I pushed, I pushed hard and skied well."
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