OWI skier AJ Bear has failed to finish in the first of two downhill races in Vail/Beaver Creek. Bear missed a gate in the final section of the course after a difficult journey down the testing Birds of Prey course.

It was a disappointing outcome for the NSW skier after an impressive 27th place in super G last weekend in Lake Louise. SAL/NSWIA skier Craig Branch also failed to finish. The event was won by United States skier Daron Rahlves from Austrian Stefan Enerharter and Norwegian Bjarne Solbakken. it was the American's fifth World Cup downhill victory.

Bear started towards the rear of the field after training was limited to just one run, denying him a chance to secure a better start position by posting a good training time. With the light very flat when he began his run, and the artificial snow very grippy, he made several mistakes on his line and skied out towards the end of the 2.7km journey.

“I didn’t ski that great on the way down.” Bear said. “The snow was really grabbing at the skis, and I made some mistakes in the bumps. Then I got off line on one of the jumps and wasn’t in the right position for the next turn.”

“It was a real shame we missed out on the extra training run, because if there are two of them your start position is determined by training time, not your FIS points. As a result I was back in 56th start position and will be back there again tomorrow.”

Tomorrow’s second downhill will be followed by a super G on Monday morning AEST.