Featured Image: Mt. Hutt in New Zealand. Photo courtesy of Mt. Hutt.
Stifel U.S. Ski Team athletes Elisabeth Bocock and Liv Moritz earned victories, teammate Jevin Palmquist reached the podium and Great Britain’s Molly Butler took the early overall lead.
Ski racing is back.
The 2026-27 Australia New Zealand Cup season opened Aug. 17-21 at Mt Hutt, New Zealand, with six races across giant slalom and slalom. World Cup athletes lined up alongside some of the sport’s rising talent, while difficult conditions added another challenge to the opening week.
For the North Americans, there was plenty to take away from the first series. Stifel U.S. Ski Team athletes Elisabeth Bocock and Liv Moritz each earned a victory, while teammate Jevin Palmquist landed on the men’s slalom podium. Canadians Arianne Forget and Amelia Smart also produced top-five finishes.
Great Britain’s Molly Butler was another standout. She reached the podium in all three women’s races, including a slalom victory, to take the early lead in the women’s overall ANC standings.
All results and standings are from official FIS records.
Bocock opens the season with dominant GS victory
Monday, Aug. 17 — Women’s giant slalom
Elisabeth Bocock wasted little time making her mark on the new season. The 20-year-old American won both runs of the opening women’s giant slalom, finishing with a combined time of 2:19.37 and a 1.33-second advantage over Great Britain’s Molly Butler.
Bocock, a Stifel U.S. Ski Team athlete and Rowmark Ski Academy alum, has earned four World Junior Championship medals and seven World Cup top-30 finishes over the past three seasons.
Butler took second, while fellow Brit Victoria Palla finished another 0.29 seconds back in third.
Canadian Arianne Forget narrowly missed the podium, finishing fourth and 2.02 seconds behind Bocock. Moritz placed sixth.
Women’s giant slalom: Top six
1st — 🇺🇸 Elisabeth Bocock — 2:19.37
2nd — 🇬🇧 Molly Butler — +1.33
3rd — 🇬🇧 Victoria Palla — +1.62
4th — 🇨🇦 Arianne Forget — +2.02
5th — 🇨🇭 Faye Buff — +3.24
6th — 🇺🇸 Liv Moritz — +3.29
Hagen prevails in two-day men’s GS
Monday, Aug. 17-Tuesday, Aug. 18 — Men’s giant slalom
The opening men’s giant slalom required a little more patience. After challenging conditions delayed the race Monday, organizers stopped the competition following the first run as darkness approached and the resort neared closing time.
Norwegian teenager Storm Andre Hagen held the lead overnight before the field returned Tuesday morning. Hagen remained on top, winning with a combined time of 2:13.44.
Denmark’s Christian Borgnaes finished 0.61 seconds back in second, while Italy’s Francesco Riccardo Zucchini completed the podium, 1.00 second behind Hagen.
Slovakia’s Adam Zampa, who sat third after the opening run, slipped to fourth and missed the podium by 0.09 seconds. Francesco Santacroce led the Americans in 10th.
Men’s giant slalom: Top five
1st — 🇳🇴 Storm Andre Hagen — 2:13.44
2nd — 🇩🇰 Christian Borgnaes — +0.61
3rd — 🇮🇹 Francesco Riccardo Zucchini — +1.00
4th — 🇸🇰 Adam Zampa — +1.09
5th — 🇳🇴 Magnus Brevik — +2.16
The second men’s and women’s giant slalom races were canceled because of the conditions.
Moritz gives the U.S. another victory
Thursday, Aug. 20 — Women’s slalom
After finishing sixth in the opening GS, Liv Moritz moved to the top of the results sheet when racing switched to slalom.
The 21-year-old Stifel U.S. Ski Team athlete, who also races for the University of Denver, won in 1:16.13, beating Swiss World Cup slalom skier Aline Danioth by 0.33 seconds. Moritz is coming off a season that included a career-best 13th-place World Cup finish in Špindlerův Mlýn, Czechia.
Butler continued her strong week in third, finishing 0.79 seconds behind Moritz and earning her second podium in as many races. Canadian Amelia Smart placed fifth, 1.21 seconds off the winning time.
Women’s slalom: Top five
1st — 🇺🇸 Liv Moritz — 1:16.13
2nd — 🇨🇭 Aline Danioth — +0.33
3rd — 🇬🇧 Molly Butler — +0.79
4th — 🇨🇭 Amelie Klopfenstein — +1.13
5th — 🇨🇦 Amelia Smart — +1.21
Palmquist lands on the podium
Thursday, Aug. 20 — Men’s slalom
Austria’s Christoph Meissl led after the first run and held on to win the opening men’s slalom, but American Jevin Palmquist kept it close.
The 19-year-old Stifel U.S. Ski Team athlete finished only 0.19 seconds behind Meissl to take second. France’s Jonas Skabar rounded out the podium, while Mt Hutt local Alec Jackson missed third by just 0.05 seconds.
World Junior slalom silver medalist Freddy Carrick-Smith led the British contingent in eighth.
Men’s slalom: Top five
1st — 🇦🇹 Christoph Meissl — 1:30.41
2nd — 🇺🇸 Jevin Palmquist — +0.19
3rd — 🇫🇷 Jonas Skabar — +0.39
4th — 🇳🇿 Alec Jackson — +0.44
5th — 🇯🇵 Seigo Kato — +0.66
Butler caps a strong week with a victory
Friday, Aug. 21 — Women’s slalom
Molly Butler had been close all week. On Friday, she got the win.
Moritz led after the first run but did not finish the second, opening the door for Butler. The 20-year-old Brit won in 1:16.10, finishing 0.45 seconds ahead of Danioth. Amelie Klopfenstein took third.
Canada’s Amelia Smart came within 0.07 seconds of the podium, placing fourth and 0.70 seconds behind Butler.
The victory completed an impressive three-race stretch for Butler. She finished second in the GS, third in Thursday’s slalom and first in Friday’s slalom.
Women’s slalom: Top five
1st — 🇬🇧 Molly Butler — 1:16.10
2nd — 🇨🇭 Aline Danioth — +0.45
3rd — 🇨🇭 Amelie Klopfenstein — +0.63
4th — 🇨🇦 Amelia Smart — +0.70
5th — 🇦🇺 Phoebe Heaydon — +1.06
Skabar takes control in the final men’s race
Friday, Aug. 21 — Men’s slalom
Jonas Skabar closed the Mt Hutt series with the most convincing men’s slalom victory of the week. The Frenchman set the fastest opening-run time before pulling away to win by 1.14 seconds over Thursday’s winner, Christoph Meissl.
Great Britain’s Luca Carrick-Smith put together a strong second run to climb into third, giving Britain its first men’s podium of the series. Australia’s Henry Heaydon finished fourth, more than a second behind Carrick-Smith.
Freddy Carrick-Smith took fifth, putting both brothers inside the top five.
Men’s slalom: Top five
1st — 🇫🇷 Jonas Skabar — 1:26.72
2nd — 🇦🇹 Christoph Meissl — +1.14
3rd — 🇬🇧 Luca Carrick-Smith — +1.35
4th — 🇦🇺 Henry Heaydon — +2.42
5th — 🇬🇧 Freddy Carrick-Smith — +2.63
Butler and Meissl leave Mt Hutt with the overall leads
After the opening series, Butler leads the women’s overall ANC standings with 240 points. Danioth sits second with 160, followed by Klopfenstein with 146.
Moritz is the top American in fourth with 140 points, while Bocock sits fifth with 124. Smart is the leading Canadian in eighth with 95.
Women’s overall ANC standings
1st — 🇬🇧 Molly Butler — 240 points
2nd — 🇨🇭 Aline Danioth — 160 points
3rd — 🇨🇭 Amelie Klopfenstein — 146 points
4th — 🇺🇸 Liv Moritz — 140 points
5th — 🇺🇸 Elisabeth Bocock — 124 points
T-6th — 🇬🇧 Victoria Palla — 106 points
T-6th — 🇨🇭 Faye Buff — 106 points
8th — 🇨🇦 Amelia Smart — 95 points
On the men’s side, Meissl leads with 192 points after a win and second-place finish in slalom. Skabar sits only 16 points back with 176, while GS winner Hagen is third with 122.
Men’s overall ANC standings
1st — 🇦🇹 Christoph Meissl — 192 points
2nd — 🇫🇷 Jonas Skabar — 176 points
3rd — 🇳🇴 Storm Andre Hagen — 122 points
4th — 🇯🇵 Seigo Kato — 103 points
5th — 🇮🇹 Francesco Riccardo Zucchini — 97 points
What’s next for the Australia New Zealand Cup
The Australia New Zealand Cup was scheduled to continue Aug. 24-27 in Thredbo, Australia, but FIS lists all eight men’s and women’s races as canceled.
The circuit will now return to New Zealand, where Coronet Peak is scheduled to host giant slalom and slalom races Sept. 4-7.
For Bocock and Moritz, the opening week brought victories. Palmquist earned an early podium against an experienced international field. Meanwhile, Butler’s three podiums in three starts put her firmly at the top of the standings.
After a long Northern Hemisphere summer, ski racing is officially underway again.
About the Author: Matt Garcka
