River Radamus earns first World Cup podium
The 26-year-old Edwards skier continued his best season ever with a third-place GS finish at Palisades Tahoe

John Locher/AP photo
River Radamus took another step in his promising young career by stepping onto the World Cup podium for the first time on Saturday.
“It’s been a long time coming,” the Edwards skier told FIS media after finishing third in the giant slalom at Palisades Tahoe.
“I’ve wanted to feel what this moment feels like for so long and I’ve just kept working and working and working. And sometimes I thought it would never come.”
The best part? It happened in the U.S.
“Doing it on home soil in front of all my friends and family — it’s such an amazing American crowd,” Radamus continued. “It just means everything to me.”

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Radamus bolted down the 386-meter Red Dog course in 1 minute, 7.26 seconds in the first run, the third-best split. Marco Odermatt — who came into the race leading every season standing except slalom — held a 0.15-second advantage over Norway’s Henrik Kristoffersen and was 0.78 in front of the American.
Halfway to his first career podium, Radamus wasn’t about to abandon the all-out approach which has defined his career to this point.
“I was in a good position — better position than I think I’ve ever been after a first run. I just kept telling myself you can’t go easy,” said the former Ski and Snowboard Club Vail athlete, who placed fourth in the GS at the 2022 Olympics and was also one spot off the podium at last year’s World Championships in the Alpine Combined. He was also fourth in the Adelboden GS on Jan. 6.
“There were 15 guys right on my neck going behind me and two guys I wanted to chase down in front of me, so I had to approach it the same way. Attack it the same way and live with the results regardless.”
Odermatt cruised to his 10th-straight victory, sealing up his third-straight overall crystal globe as well. The Swiss star, who has won all seven GS events this season, said the national team’s strength and depth has been key to his consistently dominant performance.
“I think you saw it today — we have such a cool and strong team,” he said of the Swiss squad, which put four skiers into the top six. “We push each other in the training, everywhere, every day. We try to get better day by day and at the moment, yeah, everything is just perfect.”
Odermatt told reporters after the first run that the Red Dog course was more challenging than what he’s used to in Europe. The 26-year-old also said warming temperatures made the snow “less grippy” and turned the second run into a “different race” compared to the first.
“You have to ski smooth and take a higher line and also ski smart some gates,” he said. “I was able to push until the finish line even if I had a little bit of luck.”
Kristoffersen knifed into the Swiss star’s lead by a mere 0.03 seconds in the second run to take silver and Radamus held off Thomas Tumler by 0.13 to grab the final spot on the podium.
Finally.
Could he have drawn it up any better?
“I guess if I had won,” answered Radamus, who now sits ninth in the GS standings and 29th in the overall.
“Knowing that I left everything on the line, I think I would have been able to sleep well regardless, but coming home with the podium makes it even better.”
