World champion Kate Pace of Canada picked an early number and it paid off as she won the first women's World Cup downhill race of the season Saturday, edging Katja Seizinger of Germany.
Pace was timed in 1 minute, 16.56 seconds, on the 6,438-foot course with a drop of 1,886 feet.Seizinger, who has won the past two World Cup season downhill titles, was second at 1:16.70. Regina Haeusl of Germany was third at 1:16.77.
Pace was the eighth skier down the course. The top skiers can pick an early number from 1 to 30. Seizinger had the first choice and took No. 20.
"I finally made it to the top seeded group," Pace said. "It took a long time to get out of the 20s. I didn't feel like going back."
Seizinger said she didn't know whether an earlier start number would have helped her. She came down more than 30 minutes after Pace.
"I felt the course wasn't that difficult," Seizinger said. " . . . But it was too short."
It was cold overnight, before the sun broke through and raised the temperature above freezing, changing the course as the snow melted.
"I was expecting a harder course because they were icing it down last night," Pace said. "But it was smooth.
"Some of the difficult turns in training were built up overnight and that made it a lot smoother."
The top American was Megan Gerety of Anchorage, Alaska, 17th in 1:17.41. Picabo Street of Triumph, Idaho, the top U.S. downhiller, missed a gate near the end of the course and was disqualified after posting fast times in the upper part.
"I had too much speed and I couldn't anticipate the last gates," said Street, who was in the top four at the first three checkpoints. "I expected to be fast on top."
In Stoneham, Quebec, a World Cup men's giant slalom was called off Saturday because of thick fog.
The race was called just as big-name skiers Alberto Tomba of Italy, Kjetil Andre Aamodt of Norway and Marc Girardelli of Luxembourg were getting ready to run the course.