STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK

Norway’s Henrik Kristoffersen held off Swiss racer Loic Meillard to clinch the World Cup overall slalom title at the 2025 World Cup Finals in Sun Valley on Thursday.

But it was his teammate Timon Haugan who won the last World Cup race of the season.

With 150 accredited journalists looking on-–most of them from overseas—the men zigzagged down the course leaving slalom gates waving in their wake as a drone following them from above provided pictures of the race around the world.

Photographers trained their cameras on the awards ceremony.

Haugen, like Mikaela Shiffrin before him, soared to first place during the first men’s slalom run that started a little below the top of Greyhawk and ran to the bottom.

Then he bested Clement Noel of France in a nailbiter, winning by 0.03 seconds with a combined time of 1 minute, 43.61 seconds.

“It was a race to the end,” said Haugen, who said he would celebrate that night on the town wearing a cowboy hat and belt and buckle he bought to take home as souvenirs.

Linus Strasser of Germany was a little disgruntled when he talked with reporters at the finish line, and he had a right to be after a course worker walked across the course right as he was racing down it.

Shane Kelsey shows off one side of his racing bib full of autographs. “I really liked seeing Mikaela get first place,” he said.

But American Benjamin Ritchie was happy with a good second run that placed him third with a handful of skiers left to race. He ended up in seventh, far above his 15th place ranking after run one.

“I will look back on this when I’m done with gratitude,” said Kristoffersen. “Days like this are hell, to be honest. I don’t know how long I keep going like this. It takes a toll on everything—my mind, my family, everyone around me. It takes a toll to work this hard…it doesn’t get any easier.”

Croatian fans had their flags out in full force for dynamo Zrinka Ljutic and others like Flip Zubcic and Samuel Kolega.

US Ski Team member Isaiah Nelson signed autographs between races.