At Valle Nevado, Pinheiro Braathen is back in super-G mode, while Suter and Flury work on the same snow

Lucas Pinheiro Braathen has been back on the snow at Valle Nevado since last weekend.

The Brazilian ace, who ended last season triumphantly—having begun it with the first historic World Cup victory for the nation he chose in 2024, in the Levi slalom, and finished it with Olympic gold and the giant slalom crystal globe—has chosen the Chilean slopes to work on his super-G.

Yes, because after the first camp in Ushuaia, focused exclusively on the technical disciplines for much of August, speed is now on the agenda for the 2000-born racer who developed as a competitor in Norway. Pinheiro Braathen wants to return consistently to a discipline in which he reached the junior world podium in Val di Fassa in 2019, before postponing his World Cup debut—mainly because of his early-2021 injury in the Adelboden giant slalom—until December 2022, when he produced a sensational seventh place at Beaver Creek, fighting for the podium until the final gates. It should be said, however, that the race on “Birds of Prey” is always a particular one and is also very well suited to giant slalom specialists.

In contention for the 2022/23 slalom cup, which he ultimately won, and following the sensational announcement of his retirement that led him to miss the entire 2023/24 season before changing nationality, the 2000-born racer set aside the third discipline for quite some time, undertaking just one race test last November at Copper Mountain, where he finished a long way from the leaders.

To even think about challenging King Odermatt, it is clear that he would need to be a high-level “Pinheiro” in super-G for almost an entire season; Valle Nevado can certainly provide a solid foundation.

Speaking of the dominant figure in the Alpine skiing world over the last five seasons, he is also heading directly to the Chilean resort, together with his national-team teammates (von Allmen, Monney, Rogentin, Miggiano, Kohler, Murisier), after recovering from the muscle problem that emerged in August. “Odi” will therefore also find the members of Switzerland’s women’s World Cup speed team at Valle Nevado.

In the first South American camp without Lara Gut-Behrami, one month after the announcement of the Ticinese champion’s retirement, Corinne Suter, Jasmine Flury and their teammates have already been working well together for several days. However, the approach of the Cortina 2021 world champion (and Olympic champion the following year in Beijing) and the 2023 Méribel world champion is decidedly different. Corinne ended last winter superbly, quite literally being reborn after the Games, returning to victory after more than three years and achieving considerable consistency in terms of podium finishes.

Jasmine, on the other hand, continued to suffer the consequences of the very long layoff caused by problems with her right knee that began in early 2024, with a new setback—this time involving the joint in her left leg—after she sustained collateral-ligament damage during training at the Olympics. She returned again in Val di Fassa in March, recording a solid 12th place in the second downhill, which was also the former discipline world champion’s second-best result in 2025/26, after her 11th-place finish in the opening race at Sankt Moritz.

That “race two” at Passo San Pellegrino earned Flury the 25th and final available ticket to the downhill finals in Kvitfjell, where the Swiss racer finished 20th. This training block—almost four weeks on the Chilean snow—therefore represents a genuine new beginning for her.