LAKE PLACID, N.Y. – Either on tracks that he’s very familiar with or on courses that he’s not, U.S. bobsled driver John Napier (Lake Placid, N.Y.) is continuing to enjoy a strong year on the 2009-10 World Cup bobsled tour. Before last weekend, Dec. 11-13, Napier had never slid on the 14-curve Winterberg, Germany bobsled course, but the 23-year-old pilot quickly became comfortable and scored two top-10 series finishes, 10th in the two-man event and fifth in the four-man race.

While Napier had to deal with learning a new track, American biathlete Tim Burke (Paul Smiths, N.Y.) had to deal with heavy snow that made for difficult shooting and a slow track during last week’s 12.5 k pursuit race and 10 k sprint event held in Hochfilzen, Austria. Burke, who had won two World Cup medals in the series opener in Östersund, Sweden, finished 10th in the pursuit and 20th in the sprint race.

Fellow American Lowell Bailey (Lake Placid, N.Y.) also battled through the snow to post strong results. Bailey helped anchor the U.S. team to a 10th place finish in the men’s relay race and also skied to a 53rd place result in the 10 k sprint. Both Burke and Bailey’s teammate, Haley Johnson (Lake Placid, N.Y.) posted an 86th place result in the women’s 7.5 k sprint.

Elsewhere, U.S. alpine skier Andrew Weibrecht (Lake Placid, N.Y.) had his hands full with the always hard, steep, icy and fast course in Val d’Lsere, France. The 23-year-old crashed during both the Super G and Super Combined races, but is gearing up for this weekend’s World Cup stop in Val Gardena – Groeden, Italy.

Finally, Billy Demong (Vermontville, N.Y.) and the rest of the Nordic combined World Cup field packed their bags and gear, and are on their way to this weekend’s tour stop in Ramsau am Dauchstein, Austria, after last weekend’s event in Harrachov, Czech Republic was cancelled. Demong is currently ranked 20th in the overall series standings.