Ritchie Finds His Stride; 13th in Schladming Night Slalom

Stifel U.S. Ski Team’s Ben Ritchie delivered another strong performance under the lights in Schladming, Austria, finishing 13th in the men’s night slalom. This is notably his best result of the season and comes off his previous 15th-place finish last weekend in Kitzbühel, Austria. 

“It felt good to make some good turns, with one race left in the season I am going to keep pushing,” said Ritchie. 

Ritchie attacked the Planai course with intent and composure from the opening run, skiing aggressively yet in control to put himself just inside the top 30. But he was given a great opportunity to hammer down run two and make himself a move.  In front of the chaotic Austrian crowd, Ritchie did just that. He skied to the second fastest second run and moved up from 30th to 13th place. A very solid effort on the technically demanding course. 

“It was a really hard course and the surface was super slick as well,” said Ritchie. “You really had to move and fight the whole way.” 

Also posting a notable result for the Stifel U.S. Ski Team was Luke Winters, who finished 19th to earn his first World Cup slalom points since 2023. Winters has been working extremely hard the past couple of seasons to find his way back in the top 30 slalom skiers, and this race was a great moment for him. 

The winner of the race was Norwegian Viking Henrik Kristoffersen, in second was fellow Norwegian Atle Lie McGrath and in third was Frenchman Clement Noel. 

The men’s slalom tour only has one more stop before it ends at finals in Kranjska Gora in late February. 

RESULTS
men's slalom