Industry News
It has been a fantastic start to the races at Beaver Creek, Colorado, for Marco Odermatt, who claimed his first 2024-25 season victory today, December 7, ahead of France’s Cyrpien Sarazzin. Yesterday, Odermatt had been relegated to second place by his teammate Justin Murisier and had recorded a DNF at the Giant Slalom season opener in Sölden. Austria. He has the chance to make it three-for-three podiums tomorrow with a Giant Slalom race scheduled for Sunday, December 8.
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It was a rather dramatic day today at Beaver Creek, with a staggering 18 DNFs. It started off uneventfully, with Italy’s Mattia Casse in bib 1 first out of the gate. Casse finished the Birds of Prey Super-G course in 1:10.70 minutes—overall, it was a good time for Beaver Creek, but it is always hard to gauge your standing as a first skier without any time as a benchmark.
The slew of DNFs started with Austria’s Stefan Babinsky in bib 2, who recorded a DNF after skidding out on the top section of the course. Thankfully, he managed to regain control and did not fly at speed into the nets, but he managed to stop himself before reaching them. Norway’s Adrian Smiseth Sejersted in bib 3 was the next DNF candidate. He had picked up 0.67 seconds on Casse but missed a gate after a turn by heading in the wrong direction and ended his bid for the podium prematurely. Next up was Switzerland’s Gino Caviziel in bib 4, who managed a clean run and took the lead, 0.46 seconds ahead of Casse.
The slew of DNFs, however, continued straight after, with Canada’s James Crawford, who clipped his skis,which caused him to straddle a gate. This sent the Canadian skier flying into the b-nets with one ski still attached and the other hurtling in dramatic fashion across the course. After yesterday’s fourth place and the fast time Crawford was putting down, 0.58 seconds ahead of Caviziel, the crash came as a huge frustration for Crawford, who loudly yelled a certain swear-word we cannot print at the top of his voice when he was back on his feet. Thankfully, this meant that his airbag had done what it was meant to do, and Crawford was unharmed after the rather high-speed crash.
Raphael Haaser in bib 6 was the subsequent DNF after the Austrian missed a gate on the top section, and the series of bad luck continued with France’s Nils Allegre in bib 7, who, after leading by 0.29 seconds, missed the same gate. After seven athletes, only two had finished the race, causing some frantic radio calls from coaches to their athletes at the top to warn them of the tricky course setting by Switzerland’s Reto Nydegger. Switzerland’s Loic Meillard in bib 8 had better luck, finishing without crashes or mistakes, but may not have been aggressive enough in light of the slew of DNFs and finished 0.66 seconds behind his teammate and 0.20 seconds behind Casse. Italy’s Dominik Paris in bib 9 also managed a clean run, finishing 0.45 seconds behind Caviziel but 0.01 seconds ahead of teammate Casse.
Anyone who thought the slew of DNFs was over would have been mistaken. Canada’s Jeffrey Read in bib 10 looked strong out of the gates and was 0.19 seconds faster on the top section, but the tight course setting also caught out this Canadian, who missed the gate that had ended several other competitors’ bid for glory this Saturday as well.
With only four of the first 10 skiers finishing the race, it looked like it could be an unusual day at Beaver Creek. Thankfully, we had a respite with the following nine skiers finishing the race without any hiccups; in fact, skiers 11 to 19 were when things started to get really interesting. France’s Cyprien Sarazzing almost crashed on the second gate but showed just why he had such a great season last year, snatching the lead from Caviziel by 0.65 seconds. The French man could not believe his luck and was shaking his head in the finish that despite the shaky start he had taken the lead.
Austria’s Kriechmayr could not best Sarrazin’s time despite a smooth and effortless-looking run, finishing 0.63 seconds behind Sarrazin. Switzerland’s Stefan Rogentin, in bib 14, skied in 1.31 seconds behind Sarrazin, but next up was teammate Marco Odermatt, the Overall World Cup title winner and yesterday’s second-ranked Downhill skier.
Odermatt did not disappoint, putting down a fantastic run with a lot of aggression and agility. He eeked out 0.20 seconds on the top section, but some struggles in the mid-section put him milliseconds behind Sarrazin again. However, Odermatt has the great ability to gain momentum into the bottom slide, and the Swiss skier did not disappoint today on Birds of Prey, finishing 0.18 seconds ahead of his French competitor and taking home the victory for Switzerland.
Ryan Cochran-Siegle, in bib 19, struggled on the top section of the course after he hit one of the top gates with his head. The collision moved his goggles, forcing the Team USA skier to try to adjust them mid-race, putting him at a disadvantage by 1.08 seconds on the Russi Slide section of the course. Cochran-Siegle, however, did not let this deter him, and he battled on, finishing 1.14 seconds behind Odermatt in what was ultimately 11th place. Sam Morse in bib 21 finished just outside the top 30 in 31st place, 1.60 seconds behind Odermatt. Kyle Negomir in bib 23 skied into 19th place, 1.32 seconds behind Odermatt.
The best skier on Team USA, however, was River Radamus in bib 29, who finished in eighth place—his personal best in Super-G, which he has previously achieved in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, in January 2024. Erik Arvidsson and Wiley Maple unfortunately also were among the many DNFs of the day, Arvidsson most spectacularly skiing underneath one of the gate flags.
It was a tough day for Alpine Canada, with only one out of its five ski racers finishing the Super-G event, with Brodie Seger in bib 54, finishing in 21st place, 1.36 seconds behind Odermatt. Canada’s Cameron Alexander, in bib 20, unfortunately, joined the slew of DNFs when he missed a gate at the bottom section of the course. His brother Kyle Alexander in bib 41 also recorded a DNF, missing the exact same gate.
Rounding out the podium on Saturday with Odermatt and Sarazzin was Austria’s Lukas Feuerstein. The 23-year-old skier claimed his first career World Cup podium, relegating teammate Kriechmayr into what was ultimately sixth place.
Special mention also has to go to Italy’s Giovanni Franzoni in bib 39 and Norway’s Fredrik Moeller in bib 32, who skied into equal fourth place, 0.60 seconds behind Odermatt. Neither Moeller nor Franzoni had ever made a top 20 position in a World Cup before, an incredible performance by those two young skiers.
The races at Beaver Creek continue tomorrow with a Giant Slalom event.
