Featured Image: Women’s podium in Ushuaia. Photo: U.S. Ski & Snowboard
Katie Rowekamp, Kjersti Moritz and Viktoria Zaytseva earned victories as Stifel U.S. Ski Team women took control of the early South American Cup standings.
While the Australia New Zealand Cup got underway at Mt Hutt, another deep international field was racing on the other side of the Southern Hemisphere.
The 2026-27 South American Cup season opened Aug. 17-20 at Cerro Castor in Ushuaia, Argentina, with four days of giant slalom and slalom racing. The fields included World Cup athletes, World Junior medalists and a strong group of young Americans getting an early look at international competition.
And the Stifel U.S. Ski Team women made the most of it.
Katie Rowekamp, Kjersti Moritz and Viktoria Zaytseva earned victories, while Annika Hunt finished the series with two slalom podiums. After four races, Stifel U.S. Ski Team athletes occupy the top four positions in the women’s overall South American Cup standings.
All results and standings are from official FIS records.
Rowekamp leads Stifel U.S. one-two in opening GS
Monday, Aug. 17 — Women’s giant slalom
The South American Cup season started with an American one-two.
Sixteen-year-old Stifel U.S. Ski Team athlete Katie Rowekamp won the opening giant slalom, edging teammate Kjersti Moritz in a tight race. The Burke Mountain Academy skier finished with a combined time of 1:40.53, only 0.15 seconds ahead of Moritz.
Germany’s Fabiana Dorigo completed the podium, followed by teammates Romy Ertl and Jana Fritz as Germany put three athletes inside the top five.
For Rowekamp, who was newly named to the Stifel U.S. Ski Team for the 2026-27 season, it was an impressive way to open the series against a field that included athletes with significant World Cup experience.
Women’s giant slalom: Top five
1st — 🇺🇸 Katie Rowekamp — 1:40.53
2nd — 🇺🇸 Kjersti Moritz — +0.15
3rd — 🇩🇪 Fabiana Dorigo — +0.29
4th — 🇩🇪 Romy Ertl — +1.41
5th — 🇩🇪 Jana Fritz — +1.56
Palamaras opens with a victory
Monday, Aug. 17 — Men’s giant slalom
Germany’s Nickco Palamaras controlled the opening men’s race, winning by 0.85 seconds. Palamaras, who represented the United States earlier in his career before switching to Germany, finished ahead of a tie for second between Swiss World Junior slalom champion Giuliano Fux and Germany’s Jonas Stockinger.
Spain’s Aleix Aubert Serracanta took fourth, while Finland’s Eduard Hallberg and Spain’s Albert Ortega Fornesa tied for fifth.
Men’s giant slalom: Top six
1st — 🇩🇪 Nickco Palamaras — 1:37.91
T-2nd — 🇨🇭 Giuliano Fux — +0.85
T-2nd — 🇩🇪 Jonas Stockinger — +0.85
4th — 🇪🇸 Aleix Aubert Serracanta — +1.37
T-5th — 🇫🇮 Eduard Hallberg — +1.42
T-5th — 🇪🇸 Albert Ortega Fornesa — +1.42
Moritz takes her turn on top
Tuesday, Aug. 18 — Women’s giant slalom
One day after finishing second to Rowekamp, Kjersti Moritz moved to the top step of the podium.
The Stifel U.S. Ski Team and Middlebury College skier won the second GS in 1:41.86, finishing more than a second ahead of the field. Her victory gave the U.S. back-to-back wins to open the series.
Dorigo earned her second podium in as many days, finishing 1.05 seconds back. Andorra’s Iria Medina Girones climbed onto the podium in third.
Stifel U.S. Ski Team athlete Mary Bocock gave the Americans a second skier inside the top five, finishing fifth.
Women’s giant slalom: Top five
1st — 🇺🇸 Kjersti Moritz — 1:41.86
2nd — 🇩🇪 Fabiana Dorigo — +1.05
3rd — 🇦🇩 Iria Medina Girones — +1.34
4th — 🇩🇪 Jana Fritz — +1.38
5th — 🇺🇸 Mary Bocock — +1.84
Palamaras completes the GS sweep
Tuesday, Aug. 18 — Men’s giant slalom
Palamaras made it two wins in two starts Tuesday, again taking control of the men’s giant slalom.
Fux continued his consistent start to the series with another second-place finish, while Stockinger earned his second podium in third. Italy’s Lorenzo Thomas Bini finished fourth, with Slovenia’s Miha Oserban rounding out the top five.
Men’s giant slalom: Top five
1st — 🇩🇪 Nickco Palamaras — 1:38.82
2nd — 🇨🇭 Giuliano Fux — +0.56
3rd — 🇩🇪 Jonas Stockinger — +0.90
4th — 🇮🇹 Lorenzo Thomas Bini — +1.13
5th — 🇸🇮 Miha Oserban — +1.18
Four Americans crack the top five in opening slalom
Wednesday, Aug. 19 — Women’s slalom
When the series shifted to slalom, Andorra’s Carla Mijares Ruf broke the American winning streak. However, the depth of the Stifel U.S. Ski Team women was hard to miss.
Mijares Ruf, who scored her first World Cup points during the 2025-26 season, won in 1:54.45. Stifel U.S. Ski Team athlete Annika Hunt finished 0.37 seconds back in second, while teammate Annika Johansson joined her on the podium in third.
Zaytseva finished fourth and Carissa Cassidy took fifth, putting four Americans inside the top five. Rowekamp added a seventh-place finish, giving the U.S. five racers inside the top seven.
Great Britain also placed two athletes inside the top eight, with Giselle Gorringe sixth and Olivia Howeson eighth.
Women’s slalom: Top eight
1st — 🇦🇩 Carla Mijares Ruf — 1:54.45
2nd — 🇺🇸 Annika Hunt — +0.37
3rd — 🇺🇸 Annika Johansson — +0.83
4th — 🇺🇸 Viktoria Zaytseva — +3.30
5th — 🇺🇸 Carissa Cassidy — +3.97
6th — 🇬🇧 Giselle Gorringe — +4.46
7th — 🇺🇸 Katie Rowekamp — +5.38
8th — 🇬🇧 Olivia Howeson — +5.67
Fux gets his victory
Wednesday, Aug. 19 — Men’s slalom
After finishing second in both giant slaloms, Fux took his turn on the top step in Wednesday’s slalom.
The reigning World Junior slalom champion won in 1:54.37, finishing 0.70 seconds ahead of Finland’s Jesper Pohjolainen.
Switzerland put two athletes on the podium, with Reto Maechler finishing third. He held off Germany’s Marinus Sennhofer by 0.09 seconds.
Men’s slalom: Top five
1st — 🇨🇭 Giuliano Fux — 1:54.37
2nd — 🇫🇮 Jesper Pohjolainen — +0.70
3rd — 🇨🇭 Reto Maechler — +1.52
4th — 🇩🇪 Marinus Sennhofer — +1.61
5th — 🇩🇪 Lukas Krauss — +1.86
Zaytseva gives Stifel U.S. women their third win
Thursday, Aug. 20 — Women’s slalom
The Americans were back on top Thursday.
Viktoria Zaytseva, an 18-year-old Stifel U.S. Ski Team athlete from Ski & Snowboard Club Vail, won the second slalom in 1:52.23. She finished 0.43 seconds ahead of Argentina’s Francesca Baruzzi Farriol.
For the home nation, Baruzzi Farriol’s runner-up finish delivered Argentina its first podium of the series. Hunt followed her second-place result from Wednesday with another podium, finishing third.
Switzerland’s Anuk Braendli took fourth, while Wednesday’s winner, Mijares Ruf, finished fifth.
Zaytseva’s victory gave the Stifel U.S. Ski Team women three wins in four races at Cerro Castor, with a different athlete earning each one.
Women’s slalom: Top five
1st — 🇺🇸 Viktoria Zaytseva — 1:52.23
2nd — 🇦🇷 Francesca Baruzzi Farriol — +0.43
3rd — 🇺🇸 Annika Hunt — +1.18
4th — 🇨🇭 Anuk Braendli — +1.48
5th — 🇦🇩 Carla Mijares Ruf — +1.75
Salarich wins a tight finale
Thursday, Aug. 20 — Men’s slalom
The final race of the Cerro Castor series was also one of the closest.
Spain’s Joaquim Salarich edged Pohjolainen by 0.09 seconds to take the victory. Germany’s Fabian Himmelsbach finished another 0.05 seconds back in third.
Only 0.29 seconds separated the top five, while the top nine finished within 0.70 seconds of Salarich’s winning time.
Men’s slalom: Top five
1st — 🇪🇸 Joaquim Salarich — 1:53.12
2nd — 🇫🇮 Jesper Pohjolainen — +0.09
3rd — 🇩🇪 Fabian Himmelsbach — +0.14
4th — 🇩🇪 Dominik Zerhoch — +0.23
5th — 🇯🇵 Shiro Aihara — +0.29
Stifel U.S. women take control of the standings
The biggest takeaway from the opening South American Cup series was the depth shown by the Stifel U.S. Ski Team women. Four teammates occupy the top four positions in the overall standings after the first four races.
Hunt leads with 186 points after reaching the podium in both slaloms. Moritz is only six points behind, followed by Rowekamp in third with 160. Zaytseva ranks fourth with 150.
Women’s overall South American Cup standings
1st — 🇺🇸 Annika Hunt — 186 points
2nd — 🇺🇸 Kjersti Moritz — 180 points
3rd — 🇺🇸 Katie Rowekamp — 160 points
4th — 🇺🇸 Viktoria Zaytseva — 150 points
5th — 🇦🇩 Carla Mijares Ruf — 145 points
Moritz leads the women’s GS standings with 180 points, while Zaytseva holds a five-point advantage over Mijares Ruf in slalom.
On the men’s side, Fux’s three consecutive podiums to begin the series helped him leave Ushuaia with the overall lead. He has 260 points, 34 more than two-time GS winner Palamaras.
Men’s overall South American Cup standings
1st — 🇨🇭 Giuliano Fux — 260 points
2nd — 🇩🇪 Nickco Palamaras — 226 points
3rd — 🇫🇮 Jesper Pohjolainen — 186 points
4th — 🇩🇪 Jonas Stockinger — 140 points
5th — 🇪🇸 Joaquim Salarich — 129 points
What’s next for the South American Cup
The strength of the fields in Ushuaia showed the value of the South American Cup for athletes seeking quality racing and early-season points.
For the Stifel U.S. Ski Team women, the opening series brought three wins from three different athletes, six podiums and control of the top four positions in the overall standings.
The South American Cup now moves to Chile. El Colorado is scheduled to host women’s giant slalom Aug. 28 and men’s giant slalom Aug. 29, followed by men’s and women’s slalom at La Parva on Aug. 30.
About the Author: Matt Garcka
