Queenstown skier Alice Robinson is in some sort of form.
Robinson backed up her giant slalom victory in the opening round of the world cup series with another successful performance at Tremblant, in Canada, yesterday.
It was a sixth career world cup victory for the red-hot 24-year-old skier.
“That was such a testing race,’’ Robinson said.
"It felt like the complete opposite of Copper last weekend.
"I’m so excited and I’m so glad I was able to hold on after the lead in the first run and build on it. It’s awesome."
But Robinson was unfazed, putting down a clean and swift first run to lead by 0.33sec.
She pushed out of the start gate for her second run, delivering a dynamic top-to-bottom ski, managing the terrain well, leaving nothing to chance and claiming the win by almost a full second.
“The speed was faster [in the second run]. I think the snow got colder.
"It stopped snowing as much and it froze so the tempo was up a bit, and it was definitely just working top to bottom.
"It’s a flat hill, but it’s not easy. It has got so much terrain, so you have to be tactically smart where you push and where you hold back a bit."
Her nearest competitor, Croatian skier Zrinka Ljutic, finished 0.94sec behind Robinson, and Canadian Valerie Grenier was third on home snow in front of a roaring crowd.
Comparing the Tremblant event with last week’s race at Copper Mountain, Robinson said the slope was different.
"Copper was steep and really fast the whole time, and today was really grindy and had so much micro terrain. It definitely tested different skills than we tested in Copper.
"I’m really proud of myself and the team. We did a lot of work this summer with terrain as it’s been a weakness of mine, so I am really glad it’s paid off.’’
Another podium finish
The Tremblant round of the giant slalom world cup is a double-header and Robinson followed up her giant slalom win with a third place finish on the same course today (NZ time).
It marked her 20th world cup podium of her career and her third in four rounds this season.
She remains top of the giant slalom standings, eight points ahead of Austrian Julia Scheib, who won Monday's race.
Robinson was quickest after the first run but a tiny error on the second run meant she was a second slower than Scheib and finished 0.78 seconds behind the Austrian, with Sara Hector of Sweden second.
Robinson leads the giant slalom standings with 292 points, with Scheib in second with 280 points and Croatia's Zrinka Ljutic in third with 178 points.
The Giant Slalom World Cup Tour takes a break until December 27.
Robinson now turns her attention to World Cup speed events, starting with the Downhill and Super G races in St Moritz, Switzerland, next weekend.
The Winter Olympics are in Italy in February 2026.
- Allied Media and RNZ
