World-class ski racing returns to Copper Mountain as fans pack Stifel Copper Cup over Thanksgiving weekend
A member of the U.S. Alpine ski team skirts around a gate during a training day ahead of the Stifel Copper Cup.
Copper Mountain Resort/Courtesy photo
Thanksgiving Day is usually not known for its winter sports.
While people living in the High Country may get the opportunity to get a few runs in before the infamous meal, most people spend their days off watching football, playing games and enjoying company.
This Thanksgiving weekend from Thursday, Nov. 27 through Sunday, Nov. 30, skiing enthusiasts got the chance to watch world-class Alpine skiers at the Stifel Copper Cup.
Marking the first Alpine World Cup hosted at Copper since 2001, people packed the stands to the right of the Super Bee Lift to watch the competitive action.
The four-day competition officially got underway in the late morning hours on Thursday with the men’s super-G competition. Helping to excite the crowd at the bottom of the venue, Ryan Cochran-Siegle cruised down the mountain as the first skier of the competition, digging his skis into the icy slope.
Cochran-Siegle had a slight bobble down the bottom pitch of the venue — Rosi’s Face. Despite the error, Cochran-Siegle maintained the lead for several more runs, highlighting the difficulty of the course.
With a decent amount of cloud cover, the course continued to be a challenge for the vast majority of the field. One of the highlights of the competition was Aleksander Aamodt Kilde of Norway returning to Alpine ski racing after spending nearly two years recovering from a major injury.
As the fiancee of two-time Olympic gold medalist Mikaela Shiffrin, the crowd went into a frenzy when Kilde began powering his way down the venue. Kilde finished his run in a time of 1:08.95 (tie for 24th), receiving a hug from a teary-eyed Shiffrin at the base of East Village.
After he let the emotions of returning to ski racing wash fully over him, Kilde reflected on his first competition run since his crash in Wengen in January of 2024.
“The emotions were overwhelming,” Kilde said. “There has been a lot of thinking over the last few months — thinking about different scenarios in my head. And honestly, the feeling that I had when I was skiing was amazing. I had the best time. I was under control. I could ski the way I wanted to. Of course, not as fast as I wanted to, but that is going to come later.”
A conglomerate of Switzerland fans cheer to Marco Odermatt as he makes his way down the mountain during the giant slalom competition on Friday, Nov. 28, 2025. Cody Jones/Summit Daily News
Even after several weeks of training to regain racing form, the 2020 overall World Cup champion still had to steady his nerves in the start gate on Thursday. But, like any true champion, Kilde turned that tension into fuel as he attacked the super-G course.
“My knees were just shaking,” Kilde said. “I kind of like that feeling because it brings me to focus that is hard to find without it. Honestly, I love the feeling of working through it. It is not fun when you are in it, in the moment, but after — the relief — the feeling of actually executing is just awesome.”
In an extremely tight race, Switzerland’s Marco Odermatt topped the 70-man field with a time of 1:07.70. Odermatt was joined on the podium by two Austrian skiers in Vincent Kriechmayr (1:07.78) and Raphael Haaser (1:07.83).
Cochran-Siegle finished as the top American in 10th with a time of 1:08.53 while Edward’s River Radamus was the second American in 22nd (1:08.85). Not far behind Radamus was Copper Mountain’s own Kyle Negomir, who tied with Kilde in 24th place (1:08.95).
Regardless of which racer topped results, the energetic crowd was just happy to watch world-class ski racing ahead of the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics in February. For Susan Whitakar who owns a place in Summit County with her husband, the weekend provided the opportunity to see professional Alpine ski racers before the Olympics.
“We have tickets for Saturday and Sunday, but we thought we would just come out,” Whitakar said. “We have a place down here. We just love it. We are looking forward to seeing the women too, Mikaela.”
Mikaela Shiffrin trains at Copper Mountain Resort prior to the Stifel Copper Cup from Nov. 27-30. Copper Mountain Resort/Courtesy photo
Avid fans did not only drive from the Summit County area or the Front Range to spectate at the monumental event, but people also came from overseas to watch the races.
Mark Deter came all the way from Zurich, Switzerland in order to cheer on professional Schwiizers alongside his friend John Edin. With a Swiss flag held tightly in his grasp, Deter looked up the mountain and watched as a total of three skiers from Switzerland finished within the top 10. The duo was most excited to watch Odermatt secure his 47th World-Cup win.
“We love that Odermatt is the winner,” Deter said. “We have had a great experience and are so happy that we get to see Odermatt. This is our first ski race here in the U.S. It is just an amazing life here with my American friends.”
“It will be a good weekend,” Edin said. “The women have been producing very well, so seeing Paula (Moltzan) and seeing Mikaela maybe have a one, two finish.”
Instead of spending the day cashing in on Black Friday deals, people once again showed up to Copper to watch the men’s giant slalom competition. Similar to the first day, Alpine skiing fans spent the day enjoying the races, snagging autographs and partaking in the festivities.
With East Village decorated in flags from every country and the venue meticulously put together, Copper made it look like it hosts a World Cup Alpine event every year.
“They are really showing their stuff,” Whitakar said. “Especailly today. It is amazing. We ski this run a lot, and it is so fun to see the professionals on it.”
Coming off his win in the super-G the day before, Odermatt returned to the slope prepared to secure another race win in the giant slalom. Although he was one of the favorites to win the race, Odermatt skied too aggressively around a gate, resulting in him slipping out and off the course.
Out of the 65 athletes listed on the start list, only 29 athletes completed both runs. With Odermatt out of the race, Austria’s Stefan Brennsteiner won the race with a combined time of 2:30.98.
Norway’s Henrik Kristoffersen took second (2:31.93) and Croatia’s Filip Zubcic finished in third (2:31.98). Radamus was the sole American to finish the race, taking 15th place (2:32.83).
The Stifel Copper Cup will come to a triumphant conclusion with the women’s giant slalom and slalom competition on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.
Spearheading the races will be two Colorado locals in Shiffrin and Lindsey Vonn. As the two most decorated skiers in the history of the sport, the skiers will look to put on a show for the holiday weekend crowd.
Shiffrin is coming off two World-Cup wins in Europe, including claiming her ninth reindeer in Levi, Finland on Nov. 15.
For a full schedule of events, visit CopperColorado.com. The Summit Daily News will publish race coverage from Saturday and Sunday’s events, provided by our sister paper, the Vail Daily.
