Rock star-in-training Rainer Schoenfelder of Austria started first first and finished first, holding off the huge field of 72 world class competitors to win the Men's Slalom at the Chevy Truck America's Opening in Park City.

Pierrick Bourgeat of France started strong with a tenth place in his first run and ended even stronger, with a second place overall. Austria's Benjamin Raich repeated his performance from Friday's GS with another third place podium. Benjamin held sixth place after his first run, but somehow held on to the decaying course for the podium. Raich said he was surprised at his performance here because he usually doesn't do well in the beginning of the season, or in America. If this weekend is any indication, the strong Austrian should be one to watch this season.

It seems that yesterday's women's GS winner Janica Kostelic's tale of how the men sometimes throw themselves down the course any way possible to get to the finish came true. It was not simply a case of racers hucking themselves down the course; however, it was more a case of the course quickly turning into a luge run under the weight of these powerhouses.

The race was held on the same CB's run used for Giant Slalom on Friday and not the Picabo's run used for the Women's Slalom yesterday. The Men's course had more flats and transitions, which proved fatal for many that had to attack the course after it had been dug up by the rest of the field.

Ivica Kostelic, Janica's older brother, took second place in the first run, but slowed over eight seconds on the rutted course in his second run. First to second run lags though were the norm in these difficult conditions. All of the top ten men were at least six seconds slower on their second runs.

Hans-Petter Buraas stuck his first run with a fourth place, but lost his line in the luge and DNFed (did not finish). Only a few skiers, such as Rainer and Raich, managed to hold their positions despite diminishing conditions. Kilian Albrecht maintained eighth position in both runs and France's Jean-Pierre Vidal lost only one spot from fifth to sixth.

"I'm a person who doesn't want to make a mistake a second time. The only mistake that could happen to my second run was to sleep." —Rainer Schoenfelder

Schoenfelder reflected on his win by noting, "I'm a person who doesn't want to make a mistake a second time. The only mistake that could happen to my second run was to sleep. So I was very concentrated on my performance and not what is around or if I get first place or something."

American hopeful Bode Miller had the second start position for his first run, but missed a gate on the steep section and was forced to hike back up, losing all of his time and putting him in last place. His teammates, Erik Schlopy and Chip Knight, took up the slack, placing 20th and 22nd, respectively, after the first run. Schlopy couldn't hold on and was bumped down to 27th, but Knight pulled out his first top ten with an amazing second run vaulting him to seventh.

For all of you waiting for Rainer's rockin' debut, his single and CD will both be released in early December on Warner records. He has four new dancers and does a cover of "Pop Music". Wunderbar!

— Hans Prosl, MountainZone.com correspondent