Odermatt leads GS in Palisades Tahoe

River Radamus: Photo Credit GEPA

For the first time since 1969, the men’s World Cup raced a run of GS on Palisades Tahoe’s Red Dog race slope. Today they also competed on snow they haven’t experienced this season. However, they have the same leader. Switzerland’s Marco Odermatt continues to deliver the fastest runs no matter what the situation.

Odermatt has the best technique and his skiing works well on all types of snow and terrain. He sees the timing of courses better than anyone and executes balanced transitions nearly every turn. It is a privilege to watch him ski.

However, on the shorter-than-usual course, the field is much tighter than normal. France’s Alexis Pinturault was 2nd fastest (+0.25) and in third is bib 17, Norwegian Rasmus Windingstad (+0.29). Notably, after the first fifteen had started, the top ten was separated by (+1.08), but by the end of the race, that spread had shrunk to (+0.74).

Seeing the young Norwegian Alexander Steen Olson produce an impressive run skiing with a higher bib is no longer surprising. Great skiing works in all conditions. Today skiing with bib 26 he finished the first run 8th (+0.67) back. He is among four Norwegian racers in the top ten.

North Americans

The fastest North American after the first run is Vail Valley’s, River Radamus (+1.56). Radamus is undoubtedly comfortable on steep race slopes and loves western US snow. He is known for his attacking approach and today he delivered excitement. Radamus was among the fastest in the first two sectors before he experienced difficulty in the final two. At one point, he hooked a panel on his arm and carried it down the course for several gates.

However, the most exciting US outcome was delivered by New Hampshire’s George Steffey (+1.70). Skiing with bib 38, Steffey qualifies for the final run for the first time. Today was his 17th career World Cup GS. He will start 5th for his first-ever World Cup second run

Canada’s Erik Read is the only other North American to qualify for the final run. Read grew up skiing in the Rocky Mountains and has had considerable prior success on softer snow. He finished 24th (+1.66)

After a massive snowstorm, the FIS and Palisades Tahoe race crew have produced a miracle. It would be mind-boggling to know how many tons of new snow they had to remove to get to the racing surface they prepared before the recent snow. A testament to their efforts is that five skiers from outside the top 30 qualified for the second run including bib 44 Italy’s Simon Maurberger.

First Run top 30 results and Analysis of the fastest three and North Americans in the top 30

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