The defending World Cup giant slalom champion, 35-year old Swiss Didier Cuche demonstrated why he wins with an error-free first run on the Rettenbach Glacier above Soelden as the men's half of the 2009/2010 World Cup season kicked off.

Tight behind him by .36 with a couple of errors but exceptionally fast skiing sits American Ted Ligety.

Ligety touched down to a hip and arm high on the steep middle portion of the course, a spot, he said, where the snow was "Peeley."

"It was kind of hard to get a full length good groove in it and I almost went out down on the pitch. ... And then a small mistake in the flats, which makes you pay hard."

Still, sitting second with another run to come, he figured "Not a bad day so far."

Swiss Carlo Janka is third and Massimiliano Blaredone fourth. Austrian Benjamin Raich having finished fourth here the last three consecutive seasons, was fifth after the first run three quarters of a second off the pace.

Canadian Jean-Philippe Roy surprised even himself in blasting the seventh place. He was the lone skier to finish in the single digit spots that didn't also start there.

"I didn't feel that great," he said. But after watching the troubles many skiers were having on TV at the top, he said he solidified his gameplan. "I just tried to keep fighting the whole way down."

A second Canadian, Francois Bourque, also made the cut for the second run in 20th place and a third, Robbie Dixon in 28th. Norwegian skier Leif Kristian Haugen, a racer for the University of Denver ski team last season, will get a second run as the 25th finisher.

Two additional Americans were a bit frustrated in results that left them a breath from earning a chance at World Cup points. Tim Jitloff finished in 31st and Tommy Ford 32, twenty places better than his start position.

"I skied okay," he said, "but not like I have been."