Switzerland’s Marco Odermatt competes during a World Cup men’s super-G on Thursday, Nov. 27, 2025, at Copper Mountain.
Robert F. Bukaty/AP
If John Madden were still around, he would have undoubtedly handed the turkey leg to Marco Odermatt after the first day of racing at the Copper Cup.
“In Switzerland, we don’t really celebrate Thanksgiving,” the Swiss star said with a laugh when asked if pumpkin pie was in the plans for Thursday night.
Odermatt — who has won four crystal globes each of the past two seasons — claimed his 47th World Cup win in super-G on the first of four days of World Cup ski racing at Copper Mountain. The 28-year-old shredded the 531-meter West Encore course in a time of 1 minute, 7.70 seconds.
“Perfect start into the speed season,” Odermatt said. “I had a good plan in my mind for the super-G and I could ski it from top to bottom. … It was just important to stay on the line.”
Vincent Kriechmayr finished 0.08 seconds back in second place, leading four Austrians into the top-six positions. Raphael Haaser (1:07.83) rounded out the podium while Stefan Babinsky (1:08.09) and Lukas Feurstein finished fourth and sixth, respectively.
“I’m pretty happy with my skiing today,” said Kriechmayr, the 2021 world champion in the event. “We knew this slope pretty well, training (here) every year. It was a pretty nice race. Changed a little bit with the visibility. I think in the beginning we had some better light than the athletes behind us.”
Wearing bib 1, American Ryan Cochran-Siegle put together a scintillating run in front of the home crowd before a hip-skidding final turn on Rosi’s Face nearly sent him off course. The 2022 Olympic silver medalist managed to recover, and even with the 65th-slowest final sector, slid into 10th.
“Honestly, I thought I was about to ski out and I was a little bummed and luckily just found the tail of my ski to catch it and get back to the next gate,” said Cochran-Siegle, who was in second overall after three sectors and third — actually 0.05 ahead of Odermatt — after the fourth split. “It always pulls down there. It was nothing we didn’t know, but just needed to execute a little better.”
Given his speed up top, it was somewhat surprising to hear the 33-year-old say he didn’t feel great about his skiing until Bear Flats.
“And then I feel like I started feeling my feet underneath me, starting building the turn a little better,” Cochran-Siegle continued. “And still to be competitive until that last (left) footer — I think there’s definitely something to be taken from it.”
Former Ski and Snowboard Club Vail athletes River Radamus and Kyle Negomir were the only other Americans to score World Cup points.
“Seeing such a spectacle out here in Copper, so many people come out to the place where I grew up skiing and still partner with is super special,” said Negomir, who finished 24th. “You’ve skied this hill so many times and you know what to expect and it’s difficult to not shift those expectations a little bit just because it’s a World Cup.”
River Radamus competes during a World Cup men’s super-G on Thursday, Nov. 27, 2025, at Copper Mountain.Robert F. Bukaty/AP
Both teammates acknowledged the deceiving difficulty of the final pitch.
“We’ve skied this hill a lot of times, and no matter how they set this hill, that last tail turn always pulls hard,” Negomir said.
“Everybody knows how fine the margins are right now; everybody is skiing so well, so we’re all pushing right to the absolute limit and there’s a couple gotcha turns at the bottom that were taking some names today,” Radamus said. The Edwards native was in 31st after three sectors but moved up nine places by the end.
“You sort of have of give the respect to the turns above (the finish) so you can carry speed through there,” he said regarding his approach. “I think I gave them just a little bit too much respect, but you know, I came home healthy and with a decent result but I wish I could have had more.”
Unlike Odermatt, Negomir planned to celebrate Thanksgiving with his parents and brother right in Copper Village.
“That will be super special to have right after a race,” he said before stating what he’s most thankful for.
“I’m thankful to be here,” he continued. “You know, 27 years after I grew up not having a dream in the world that this could be a reality and now — to be able to get paid to ski, do what I love and do it with all my best friends.”
