Five races, eleven days, three Odermatt wins. The men’s tour opened its speed season in Colorado with a venue that had not held a men’s World Cup race since 1976 and closed the swing on the Birds of Prey. Marco Odermatt left with the super-G, downhill and giant slalom wins, and the lead in four standings.
Copper Mountain, 27–28 November
The archive has twelve World Cup races at Copper Mountain: four in March 1976, four women’s races in 1999 and 2001, and the four held this November. For the men it was a 49-year gap, and only the second time the resort had hosted them.
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time / Gap — super-G, 27 Nov |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Marco OdermattSUI | SUI | 1:07.70 |
| 2 | Vincent KriechmayrAUT | AUT | +0.08 |
| 3 | Raphael HaaserAUT | AUT | +0.13 |
| 4 | Stefan BabinskyAUT | AUT | n/a |
| 24= | Aleksander Aamodt KildeNOR | NOR | +1.25 |
Odermatt won the super-G by 0.08 from Kriechmayr: his 47th World Cup win, his 16th in super-G and his 26th super-G podium, which drew him level with Kjetil Jansrud for third on that list behind Hermann Maier and Aksel Lund Svindal. Three Austrians took the next three places. Odermatt’s own verdict on crossing the line was that it had not been too bad and he hoped the feeling matched the time.
The result that mattered more to the sport was 24th. Aleksander Aamodt Kilde raced for the first time since the Lauberhorn crash of January 2024, roughly 700 days earlier, and finished 1.25 back. Mikaela Shiffrin, his fiancée, was in the crowd and wept when he came through.
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time / Gap — giant slalom, 28 Nov |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stefan BrennsteinerAUT | AUT | 2:30.98 |
| 2 | Henrik KristoffersenNOR | NOR | +0.95 |
| 3 | Filip ZubčićCRO | CRO | n/a |
The giant slalom went to Stefan Brennsteiner, 34, by 0.95: his first World Cup win in his 47th race before a first win on the FIS count, and in his fifth podium. Odermatt skied out in the first run.
Beaver Creek, 4–7 December
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time / Gap — downhill, 4 Dec |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Marco OdermattSUI | SUI | 1:29.84 |
| 2 | Ryan Cochran-SiegleUSA | USA | +0.30 |
| 3 | Adrian Smiseth SejerstedNOR | NOR | +0.69 |
| 4 | Franjo von AllmenSUI | SUI | n/a |
| 5 | Vincent KriechmayrAUT | AUT | n/a |
The downhill was pulled forward to Thursday because of the forecast. Odermatt won it by 0.30 for his 48th World Cup victory and fifth in downhill, having been runner-up on this hill in 2022 and 2024. He had missed the first gate in a training run and reworked his line; he dealt with a side wind on the way down and called it a perfect day. Cochran-Siegle’s second place was the first American podium at Beaver Creek since Steven Nyman’s third in 2014. Sejersted’s third was his first downhill podium.
Kriechmayr won Friday’s weather-shortened super-G by 0.56 from Fredrik Møller. Odermatt then took Sunday’s giant slalom by 0.23 from Alex Vinatzer, with Kristoffersen third.
The swing in numbers
- 49 years: since the men last raced at Copper Mountain.
- 3 of 5: races won by Odermatt, in three different disciplines.
- 34: Brennsteiner’s age at his first win.
- 1.25: Kilde’s deficit on his return, in 24th.
- 25th: World Cup downhills held at Beaver Creek. The first two were in 1988; the Birds of Prey course has hosted them since 1997.
Kilde raced on into December and then sat out the second half of the season and the Olympics.