Photo. Aamodt Kilde. Lake Louise Downhill. 2021. GEPA pictures.

The day following the postponement due to weather challenges, reports are no wind and a hard racing surface—an excellent day for a great event. “The Lake” does it again. Lake Louise continues to add to its amazing history.

It is no surprise that the reigning World Cup downhill champion has won the season’s opening event. Norwegian Alexsander Aamodt Kilde will most likely be a factor in every speed event this season. Nor is it a surprise to see the Overall World Cup champion, Swiss skier Marco Odermatt, among the fastest. 

They are simply among the very best. 

It is, however, exciting to see Austrian Daniel Hemetsberger earn his second World Cup podium. Hemetberger finished with the second-fastest run of the day, 0.06 seconds behind Kilde’s winning time. 

Only 0.10 seconds separated the top three. 

Today represents Kilde’s 7th World Cup downhill victory. It is also his first in Lake Louise. However, it represents his second in North America due to his win in Beaver Creek in December last season. 

Right behind the top three were two more standouts, Olympic two-time medalist in downhill Matthias Mayer and Current Olympic downhill champion Beat Fuez. Fuez was only 0.63 behind Kilde’s winning time. 

Unfortunately, Canadian Jack Crawford, who finished third in the last training run, crossed his tips and went onto his hip at the top of the course. Being a true competitor, he dramatically regained his feet and continued his battle to the bottom.

Two US skiers finished inside among the top 15 today. The leading North American is Olympic Super-G medalist Ryan Cochran-Siegle. RCS finished 9th. Travis Ganong of Palisades Tahoe also finished in the top 15 in 13th place. 

Two young Canadians showed well today and finished with World Cup points. Brodie Seger in 25th and Jeff Read in 26th revealed they have world-class ability.

Notably, Slovenian Miha Hrobat showed his recent improvement by finishing 16th starting with bib 52. US athlete Jared Goldberg missed scoring in 32nd only 0.22 seconds behind 30th place. Also, US Erik Arvidsson finished just 0.47 from 30th in 38th skiing with bib 63. Certainly, a legitimate effort considering the condition of the course and the level of daylight on the hill.

Analysis of the top three and North Americans in the top 30

Click to enlarge image

Top 30 results from the Lake Louise 11/26/22

This is a developing story, stay tuned for updates.