Under the stars and stadium lights, Mikaela Shiffrin (USA) delivered yet another masterclass performance, this time in Courchevel, France, winning her fourth straight World Cup slalom race to open the 2025-26 season (1:42.50). It was her all-time leading 105th Cup victory and 68th in the discipline.

Shiffrin dominated the night from the moment her skis touched the snow, picking up the fastest splits of every sector in Run 1 to jump out to a commanding advantage. As the final racer in Run 2, she stumbled while curling around a gate about midway through, but what separates Shiffrin from the pack is her ability to not just recover, but to recover quickly and achieve optimal velocity again. 

“You have to be really active and kind of let the mistakes pass,” she said post-race. “Because no run is perfect. You just have to find speed where you can and push, push, push. So I felt really happy with my skiing, because it was quite bumpy in some spots, and I handled it.”

Tuesday was an emphatic bounce back from just a few days ago when Shiffrin DNF’d in St. Moritz in her first super-G since December 2023.

There are six remaining slalom races on the 2025-26 World Cup calendar. The great Vreni Schneider (SUI) is the only athlete, man or woman, to have won every slalom race in a single Cup season (of course, there were only five when she did it in 1989), but the way Shiffrin is skiing, a modern day version of the astounding achievement is very much in play.

If you’re not convinced, consider this: her margin of victory in all four slalom events this season is over one second, and on average, is 1.50 seconds. For context, 1.50 seconds separated the second-place finisher from the eighth-place finisher on Tuesday. That type of dominance is, for lack of better phrasing, not normal.

Camille Rast (SUI) secured second place at Courchevel (+1.55), her second podium of the season and sixth career. The 26-year-old has finished within the top five in five out of her last six races during the 2025-26 campaign. No one can replace the injured Lara Gut-Behrami, but the three-time Olympic medalist’s fellow countrywoman Rast is offering her best imitation. 

Three days after winning the downhill in St. Moritz, Emma Aicher (GER) finished in third (+1.71) at Courchevel, demonstrating her elite capabilities across disciplines.

Meanwhile, Paula Moltzan (USA) unleashed a phenomenal second run, propelling her to fifth (+1.82). A top-five result has become characteristic of Moltzan and top 10 basically is a given, as she’s racked up four and six, respectively, out of her eight races this season. 

The 31-year-old’s consistency continues to impress, but what’s really stood out is her speedy second runs. In every event she’s finished (seven), Moltzan has increased her own position (or stayed even) from the first run to the second, which you can look at in two ways: either she saves her best skiing for when it’s needed most, or, if she can find a way to put together an equally elite first run, she very well could be mentioned in the same breath as a Shiffrin or Petra Vlhova (when healthy).

In general, the Courchevel course proved to be a difficult one, taking out skiers left and right. 15 posted DNFs in Run 1 and six more did the same in Run 2, meaning that roughly one-third of the field did not finish. Lara Colturi (ALB), Lena Duerr (GER) and Sara Hector (SWE), all top 10 in slalom Cup points this season, skied out, making the performances of those who did find success on race day all the more commendable.

Women’s Alpine Cup action returns Saturday with a downhill. Lindsey Vonn (USA) is expected to start.