"I just excel at skiing new courses," said Mancuso, who will compete in the season-opening World Cup downhill Friday on the new Beaver Creek course. "If it's somewhere new and everyone is not quite used to it and if you add the pressure of the Olympics or a world championships it for some reason takes the pressure off and makes it more about skiing."
Mancuso doesn't mean to get all mushy or anything, but she prefers her race courses that way.
Seriously, the warmer and slushier the conditions are, the more Mancuso flourishes. She's even charted this trend.
Those balmy conditions just may exist in Sochi or so she hopes.
"That's my comfort zone, she said.
For years, Mancuso has resided in the shadow of Vonn. Their relationship cooled, not so much out of jealousy as distance. With Vonn married back then and training on her own, they didn't hang out.
After Vonn's divorce two years ago, the four-time overall World Cup champion began spending more time with the speed team, getting reacquainted with everyone. That began thawing any chilliness that may have existed between the two stars of the squad.
"It's definitely made a big difference that she's more integrated with the team," the 29-year-old Mancuso said. "We're all great friends. We've all grown up together.
"It's more when you're not training with the team, you don't see people as much and you're kind of in your own world. It's been really good having our training group the past year."
Lately, that's been interrupted.
Vonn hasn't raced since tearing ligaments in her right knee during a high-speed accident at the world championships in February. She re-aggravated that knee last week in a training mishap and her return to the World Cup circuit remains unclear. Vonn did some freeskiing on Thursday and hasn't ruled out a return for races in Lake Louise, Alberta, next week.
To Mancuso, Vonn has become a valuable resource.
"It's always good to have a benchmark of someone faster," Mancuso said. "It's almost like when you're the fastest all the time, it's easy to get complacent. When everyone is skiing fast the rest of the girls, too there's always someone who's really fast and that always helps. It definitely pushes everyone to try harder and be faster and check your own limits."
As for her breakup with Svindal, Mancuso said it was more of a "geographical thing" and they remain "great friends."
"We're still there for each other," she said. "He's still there to help me with my skiing. He's always been a great support.
"I'm just in a good place and happy, enjoying my time on the road."
Even bad results on the hill are rolling right off of her.
"I'm trying to just be in the moment enjoy every up and down," Mancuso said. "That's the biggest thing I've learned. There's no real rush to do anything.
"Next week, I'll be somewhere else and have another chance. You have to move on. It's always about looking to be better but also accepting every moment, knowing you always have next week."
