Shiffrin Wins Stifel Copper Cup presented by United Airlines Slalom
Mikaela Shiffrin of the Stifel U.S. Ski Team pulled off yet another home win over Thanksgiving weekend, this time at Copper Mountain, Colorado at the Stifel Copper Cup presented by United Airlines. Just 30 minutes away from her home in Edwards and in front of thousands of screaming fans, Shiffrin took her 104th World Cup win by more than 1.5 seconds. Paula Moltzan finished in eighth place.
It was Shiffrin’s 67th slalom win, and her fourth straight slalom race—having won in Sun Valley at the 2025 Stifel Sun Valley Finals in March, then Levi, Finland and Gurgl, Austria. Out of the 17 domestic slalom World Cup races that Shiffrin has competed in since 2011, she has won 12 of them.
“With the home crowd, there's some extra pressure that comes with it. But I'm also trying to enjoy myself,” said Shiffrin. “Every race is a different new mentality and a new way to practice and I think the best thing that I can do is just get the exposure and keep working on it. It all came together today.”
The course was exhausting with two, nearly minute-long slalom runs at more than 10,000 feet above sea level. Plus, the women had shipped over from Europe, with only a few days to adjust to the altitude and the Rocky Mountain time zone.
“It was really challenging because of the fatigue from traveling on Monday, arriving at midnight, training this week,” said Shiffrin. “And all the excitement around a home race and racing GS yesterday. It’s the first double race series of the weekend of the season and then a really long slalom course. It was all of these factors, but my skiing on the second run was so much fun.”
Moltzan also nailed a top 10—an impressive feat given a hard fall she took in Saturday’s giant slalom race. Battling a swollen elbow and an aching neck, she skied to eighth place with the fourth-fastest second run, and was pleased with her result.
“I have some whiplash from hitting that gate pretty hard,” said Moltzan, who considered not racing in the slalom. “I think when I crashed yesterday, I was like, there's no chance. And then as the day progressed, I was like, you know what? I've raced in a lot more pain than this, so I'll be fine.”
Nina O’Brien also qualified for a second run, finishing 26th. She was pleased to take home some World Cup points and race just a couple of hours from her home in Denver.
Annika Hunt and Kjersti Moritz did not qualify for a second run. Elisabeth Bocock and Liv Moritz were well on their way to qualify for second runs with very fast first runs, but both had trouble right near the finish line and DNFed.
Behind Shiffrin, Lena Duerr of Germany took second place and Lara Colturi of Albania third. Duerr also won the Stifel HERoic Cup—a $10,000 prize for the top woman between all U.S. World Cups, provided by Stifel Financial. Between Duerr’s sixth-place finish in the Stifel Copper Cup giant slalom and second place in the slalom, she beat Shiffrin by just two points. Lara Gut Behrami won the 2024-25 Stifel HERoic Cup, having accumulated the most World Cup points between Killington, Beaver Creek and Sun Valley.
Copper Mountain was an excellent host of their first World Cup in 24 years, running four seamless back-to-back races, bib draws, concerts and more to thrill the packed U.S. crowd. The Stifel U.S. Ski Team athletes signed autographs and posed for pictures for hours, making sure they inspired every kid watching the race. The men are expected to be back at Copper in 2026, with the women likely returning to Killington, pending FIS calendar confirmation.
Next in the 2025-26 season, the women head to Tremblant, Canada, for a pair of tech races. But first? “The best celebration would be to go home, maybe watch a movie tonight with my family. I think Aleks is going to be able to hang out for a bit,” said Shiffrin. “Just like some hot tea and a burger.”
RESULTS
Women’s slalom
