Karbon leads opening run of giant slalom

Denise Karbon and fellow Italian Manuela Moelgg were first and second after the opening run of a World Cup giant slalom race to start the ski season Saturday.

Two-time defending overall champion Lindsey Vonn of the United States was eighth, 1.78 seconds off Karbon's pace. This marked her first race since switching from Rossignol to Head skis in the offseason.

"They were good," Vonn said of her new skis. "I just was really nervous, so I made a couple of mistakes. But in general, I'm happy with it. I just have to ski a little bit more relaxed next run and hopefully make up some of that time."

Vonn's teammate Julia Mancuso, the Olympic giant slalom champion, qualified for the second run in 21st position.

Karbon, who won five consecutive giant slalom races to start the 2007-08 season, clocked 1 minute, 11.52 seconds on the Rettenbach glacier. Moelgg was 0.24 seconds behind, and defending World Cup giant slalom winner Tanja Poutiainen of Finland was third, 0.62 seconds back.

"I skied well on the top pitch, but there are still some things I can improve," Karbon said.

Former overall winner Nicole Hosp of Austria fell and was airlifted to an Innsbruck hospital with a right knee injury. She lost control on the upper section of the course and slid downhill headfirst for about 54 yards before coming to a stop.

The Rettenbach is one of the steepest courses on the women's circuit. It begins with a sharp pitch, then flattens out down the glacier to the finish arena, where 11,000 fans awaited the skiers.

The start was pushed back 30 minutes so organizers could clear four inches of freshly fallen snow off the course. Underneath that fresh snow, conditions were challenging, although visibility was good. There was fog down in the valley, but skies were clear up on the glacier.

"I think everyone had a difficult go at it this morning," Vonn said. "It was pretty rough conditions. It was going from grippy ice to sheer ice to big ice chunks. It was hard to get the feeling for the snow and the terrain."