Petra Haltmayer was enjoying her beer and the country music Tuesday night in the Pub of the Chateau Lake Louise Hotel in company of some colleagues. "Isn't it cool here? I wish we would stay longer in this place, I feel so relaxed," she said.

And she was still relaxed enough two days later while cruising at high speed on the demanding Olympic course at Lake Louise.

At the end of a flawless run, the 25-year-old Haltmayer clocked the fastest time, beating by 10/100 the Italian Isolde Kostner who dominated all the training runs held earlier in the week. A great day for the Bavarian who celebrated her very first World Cup win in a event in which she basically doesn't feel too comfortable even though she clinched a 2nd place in Lenzerheide, Switzerland, at the end of last season.

"She bet her brothers that if she won a race this month, they'd have to get drunk the next night."

Starting in 28th position, Haltmayer skied fast and with abandon down the downhill course setting new best times at the intermediate checkpoints. Kostner was watching her rival from the finish line looking tense, and she could only shake her head as Petra improved her leading time by one tenth of a second.

"I was hoping to be fast enough at the end to retain the lead but Petra had a great run until the finish line," the Italian bomber said. "I didn't ski so well at the top because of the low visibility. I couldn't attack as much as I wanted yet I have to be satisfied. A year ago, I would have been even slower because of that problem. A victory in the early part of the season is a great boost for the morale, but I know I'm in good shape. This season I aim to be more consistent than I have in the past."

Last winter, Isolde won three downhill races but lost the Crystal Cup to Germany's Regina Haeusl, who accumulated five 2nd places before injuring herself badly at Bormio after a crash at the finish line. It was a cruel lesson for Kostner who has never conquered a World Cup title after winning two gold medals in super G in past World Championships.

It was crucial to be relaxed and confident at the start of this first downhill of the season and to let the skis run smoothly. And this was the case for Petra today: she was not thinking about a top-10 result after slow training runs and she was looking more just to have a great time on the course.

"My goal in the downhills was to get some practice for the super G which is my best event so far," she said. "I have never been so serene than this week. I feel incredible peace in myself here."

Haltmayer is also doing fine in GS racing, with this downhill only her third event. Her 2nd place at Lenzerheide was also a total surprise for her. "It's seems that it's much better not to be expecting too much before a race," she says. Yet Petra was confident enough before leaving home for these North American races. She bet her brothers that if she won a race this month, they'd have to get drunk the next night.

This first downhill of the season was also marked by the return to the podium of Austria's Renate Goetschl, the defending Overall World Cup champion who had struggled in the previous races. This result reinforces her momentum and her confidence in her new equipment. Last summer, she switched to Salomon skis and today was using a super G ski that is also used by her teammate Fritz Strobl. This apparently was a very good idea.

France's Regine Cavagnoud was also pleased by her result. She came in 4th despite a few mistakes in the upper part of the course and she feels that she can soon win a speed race. She was a close 2nd last week at Aspen in super G.

Germany's Martina Ertl only finished 34th after a major mistake in the last big turn before the last long gliding section. She does though retain the lead in the Overall standings and will likely rebound soon.

With two skiers among the top-10, the US team achieved a strong team performance, the best in this event since the days of Picabo Street and Hilary Lindh. Today marked a strong comeback for Megan Gerety who suffered a series of injuries last year. The 29-year-old veteran of the Us team now wants more now and hopes it will happen here since she is using the same fast Atomic skis as Haltmayer.

"I feel ready for a place on the podium, I was quite confident today," said Gerety, of Anchorage, who obtained her fourth best World Cup placing of her career today. She was 5th here in the super G in 1993 and also twice took 5th in downhills, at Vail in 1991 and 1997. "This could be a fine season," she said.

The US's Jonna Mendes, too, has a good feeling when skiing in Lake Louise. She had some good results in training and was pleased to carry them over to the race. "I scored my first World Cup points here a few years ago, then I cracked the top-20 here and finally my first top-10, it's definitely a great place for me. It's good to feel that you're improving."

— Patrick Lang, World Cup Correspondent

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