North American Males Present Grit in Big Slalom Regardless of Setbacks
From early accidents to late breakthroughs, the 2024–25 World Cup large slalom season challenged the highest North American males—but additionally proved that podium potential stays heading into the 2026 Olympic season.
Odermatt Wins Once more, Radamus Leads North People
Switzerland’s Marco Odermatt claimed his fourth straight large slalom title, regardless of not ending the season’s first two races. The Stöckli skier nonetheless pulled away from the sector, a testomony to his continued dominance.
River Radamus as soon as once more led North America, scoring 212 factors in a single fewer race than final season and ending twelfth within the last standings, simply 5 factors shy of his 2024 whole.
Radamus, who positioned fourth in GS on the 2022 Olympics, continues to show that he thrives in huge moments. He delivered two seventh-place finishes—at Beaver Creek and Hafjell—and stays the continent’s finest hope for a males’s GS Olympic medal in Bormio.
Ford Falls to Damage
Veteran Tommy Ford, the final North American man to win a World Cup large slalom, confirmed promise within the 2025 season. He completed twenty first within the Sölden opener and 18th in Val d’Isère however didn’t end the three different large slaloms he competed in. A coaching crash in Adelboden in mid-January ended his season.
Ford scored 23 factors and ranked thirty sixth within the last GS standings. Although he couldn’t match his stronger 2024 marketing campaign, he remained the second-highest scoring North American man in GS.
Kenney Climbs Rankings, Makes U.S. Staff
Patrick Kenney, racing independently on Völkl skis with International Racing, made probably the most of his possibilities. The previous College of New Hampshire All-American scored World Cup factors in two races and completed the season with 17 factors—good for forty first within the standings.
Kenney, 26, additionally earned a fourth-place end result within the Europa Cup GS in Turnau and has now met Stifel U.S. Ski Staff standards for 2025–26. His emergence provides much-needed depth to the American males’s GS roster.
Gile Scores First World Cup Factors
Bridger Gile, a longtime prospect hampered by again accidents, lastly broke by means of on the World Cup degree. The 25-year-old scored his first factors with a Twenty fourth-place end in Kranjska Gora and completed the season ranked 51st in GS.
Gile additionally posted two top-ten finishes on the Europa Cup circuit. With improved well being, he might proceed climbing the GS ranks and problem for a spot on the Olympic group.
Steffey Returns to the Battle for Begins
George Steffey, snowboarding independently with International Racing in Austria, returns after lacking all of 2024 with a backbone concern. Though he created a Nation World Cup begin spot final season, he couldn’t use it and should now compete for entry to the U.S. fundamental quota. A 3-time World Cup scorer with a finest end of twenty first in Palisades Tahoe, Steffey brings invaluable expertise to a aggressive U.S. GS pool.
Learn Carries the Torch for Canada
Two-time Olympian Erik Learn, a former All-American on the College of Denver, was the one Canadian man to attain GS factors this season. The veteran Atomic skier prolonged his streak to 9 straight seasons, scoring factors in large slalom, and stays Canada’s most constant technical racer.
Learn completed the season with 11 factors and ranked forty seventh within the GS standings. Although his whole dropped from 30 factors in 2024, he stays Canada’s high Olympic hopeful within the self-discipline. He has 5 profession top-10 World Cup GS finishes and has positioned eleventh and thirteenth within the final two Olympic Video games.
Constructing Towards Bormio
The 2025 season examined North America’s males’s large slalom athletes and revealed actual potential heading into the Olympics. As soon as once more, River Radamus proved he belongs among the many world’s finest, reinforcing final season’s breakout efficiency with one other top-15 end within the standings. He stays the continent’s strongest males’s large slalom medal contender for Bormio 2026.
Following shut behind, a number of athletes consider they’ll earn a spot on their nation’s Olympic group. Canadian unbiased Erik Learn has proven world-class skill, scoring GS factors for the ninth straight season. Patrick Kenney broke by means of and earned his method again onto the Stifel U.S. Ski Staff. Bridger Gile scored his first World Cup factors and delivered high Europa Cup outcomes. They’ll all be combating for Olympic choice and momentum going into the 2026 season.
