"She was near-perfect the first day," Lee-Gartner explained. "On the second day she made a major mistake and it was almost disastrous, she had her tails of her skis in the net, she was almost sideways and she still won by half a second.

"It's difficult for her to maintain the elite level of focus throughout the season. For Lindsey she is very goal orientated, she feeds off any doubt whatsoever. She says it fuels her fire and makes her go."

Vonn is not alone in her quest, and she points to female golfer Anneka Sorenstam as an inspiration in her battle.

The Swede, who won 72 times on the LPGA Tour and triumphed in ten major championships, took on the men at a PGA Tour event back in 2003.

Prior to the tournament, three-time major winner Vijay Singh said Sorenstam "didn't belong" at the tournament. She eventually shot four-over-par and missed the cut, but tied for first in driving accuracy during her first round.

Vonn had previously told the New York Times: "I'd like to have one chance in my life to race against them. Annika Sorenstam did it in golf and paved the way for women. I'm not asking for World Cup points. I just want the chance to compete."

Lee-Gartner says there are plenty of male competitors on the tour who support Vonn's desire but also some who joke she should be allowed to see how she gets on against them on the notoriously treacherous Kitzbuhel track in Austria.

But, the FIS aside, there is almost total uniformity within the sport that skiing would benefit from the huge media interest any showdown would attract.

"The more I reflect on who she is, what she's done and how great it would be for this sport, in my opinion it is a marketing opportunity that FIS should be taking," Lee-Gartner added.

"I realise in Austria, Switzerland, alpine skiing is one of the premier sports they watch, they don't necessarily have an issue getting people interested in the sport.

"Anytime there's an athlete's presence and profile has surpassed the sport in that nation, which hers has in North America, I think we'd be crazy not to use that opportunity she's handing to us on a platter."

Vonn is already the most successful skier the United States has ever produced, and should she overtake Moser-Proll's record, only one person could claim to have more wins than her -- Sweden's male legend Ingemar Stenmark, on 86.

Of Vonn's quest to cross the gender boundary, Hoedlmoser said: "That's something she really wants, she sees it as the next level of ski racing. She wants to see how far up she is, that's the only goal.

"She can compete with them, it all depends on the snow preparation, what the conditions are. We have situations in training where she trains against men. She's never done it in a race situation and I think that's where she really wants to be."

Vonn is backed by the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association and now seems determined to head down legal avenues to pursue her dream of sharing a slope with the men.

Lee-Gartner added: "I'm not sure if FIS will be able to say yes because they do things in a very old fashioned way. But she's a pioneer and for the first of anything it takes a little bit longer to break the barrier down."