The comeback of the American ski racer Bode Miller will continue Friday as the World Cup circuit moves to Val d'Isere, France, for three races. But at last weekend's races at Beaver Creek, Colo., Miller did two things that signaled his competitive progress and revealed a somewhat new, relaxed mind-set. For one, he spoke with reporters and even entertained a few questions about Winter Olympics past and future. He did not express regret about anything related to the 2006 Turin Games, but neither did he sound irritated about the public and news media perception of his performance, in which he failed to win a medal. Second, Miller's race results at Beaver Creek may have provided a glimpse into what his ski racing season will look like this winter. Perhaps more telling, that is how some of his competitors were assessing the results. Miller's conversations last week with reporters were brief affairs at the finish area, but because he has avoided sit-down interviews this year, they were at least a bit enlightening. For example, Miller does not think he presently has the stamina to dominate races as he once did, but he believes he still could, and still might, if he regains the conditioning lost during his quasi retirement last spring and summer. Meanwhile, his elder status on the World Cup tour has not affected his attitude on the race course. Do not expect a more prudent or calculating Miller. He vowed to continue to charge and be highly aggressive. Asked if he was more ready to be a role model to younger skiers heading into the 2010 Vancouver Games, Miller, 32, shrugged and said: 'It's all the same for me. The training and racing has been fun. I get along with everybody.' Because he is somewhat out of the spotlight this season, at least compared with four years ago, Miller was asked if he found that situation a more comfortable way to approach the build-up to the Olympics. 'It's just different,' he said. 'Every season is different.' And when asked if he had any goals for the season or had set expectations for himself, Miller leaned on his ski poles and smiled. 'Not really,' he said. 'You can make some up if you want.' In an appearance at a grammar school last week down the road from Beaver Creek in Edwards, Colo., Miller was tactful in his answers to questions about his career posed by the children. Tact is not usually Miller's strong suit. But he conceded that he liked being back with the U.S. ski team after a couple of years competing on his own. And he even allowed himself to ponder his legacy, something he is often loath to do. 'The U.S. team hadn't really been successful in the world,' Miller said, reflecting on his early days with the American team more than a decade ago. 'We didn't win a lot of World Cups. I wanted to make us a little bit feared, a little well-known to the Austrians, the Germans and the Swiss.' That mission has been accomplished and it was evident at Beaver Creek, where Miller's competitors were clearly taking stock of Miller's production, or lack thereof at times. Miller narrowly missed reaching the podium in Saturday's downhill, finishing fourth with a scintillating run. A day earlier, he was leading the super-combined -- albeit before the other top skiers had their final cracks at the course -- when he took a sudden hard fall. On Sunday, in the last race of the event, the giant slalom, he skied out on his first run and was off the mountain several hours before the race ended. 'It could be that kind of a year for Bode,' Norway's Aksel Lund Svindal, the reigning overall World Cup champion, said afterward. 'He's amazingly gifted and I'm sure we'll see some great runs from him as the season goes on. But at the same time, I'm not sure we'll know what to expect from him week to week. He took off all that time, and he hasn't been skiing much. That may mean an up-and-down kind of journey for him. 'But for sure, he'll be someone that people will watch because you never know with him.' The veteran Didier Cuche of Switzerland, who has watched Miller's entire career, agreed. 'He's such a talent you can never look the other way when he races,' Cuche said, then laughed and added, 'I have also read that he is not fit.' Cuche made a face that seemed to indicate he was not so convinced. 'He looks fit to me,' he said. The American women will try to ride the momentum of Lindsey Vonn's two victories and a second-place finish last weekend in Canada when they compete in two technical events, the giant slalom and the slalom, Saturday and Sunday in Are, Sweden. Vonn, the two-time defending overall World Cup champion, has a 26-point lead in the current overall standings. Giant slalom has been her weakest event in recent seasons -- something she has tried to correct this year -- and she greatly improved her slalom results last year. 