Downhill ski racers get 1st glimpse of the Sun Valley course in training run at World Cup finals

SUN VALLEY, Idaho (AP) — American ski racer Bryce Bennett had more on his mind Friday than just learning a new World Cup downhill course.

His wife is due Saturday with their first baby. That also happens to be downhill race day. Bennett's plan is to fly down the redesigned World Cup course called “Challenger” and then fly right home to Truckee, California.

Bennett kept his mind occupied Friday for 1 minute, 26.58 seconds in a training session as he tried to figure out the fastest line down a course that's been described as steep and technical.

“It’s a cool downhill,” said Bennett, who finished 23rd in the training run and 2.29 seconds behind the top time posted by Swiss racer Alexis Monney. “It's super fun.”

Four-time overall World Cup winner Marco Odermatt of Switzerland compared the steep sections of the course to the Birds of Prey run in Beaver Creek, Colorado.

“But a downhill turning like this, I've never skied before," said Odermatt, who has an 83-point lead over Swiss teammate Franjo von Allmen in the downhill standings heading into the final race.

The Sun Valley course runs about about 2,459 meters (1 1/2 miles) with plenty of vertical sections to make the heart race. But there are traverses mixed in to mitigate the steep pitches. It's a way to make sure the racers don't get too much speed or air over jumps.

No sense risking injury. Not in the final downhill and super-G of the season. Not with the 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympics on the horizon.

There hasn't been much time to develop a scouting report, either. A scheduled training session Thursday was canceled because of the weather conditions.

“It will really pull the best up,” explained Tom Johnston, the technical adviser for the course. “We were trying to find ways to make it interesting.”

The setup certainly got the attention of Italian racer Federica Brignone, whose mom, former ski racer Maria Rosa Quario, is expected to be in the stands to watch.

“I felt not in the rhythm — too early or too late on the turns,” recounted Brignone, who has a 16-point lead in the season-long downhill standings over Austria's Cornelia Huetter and a 34-point margin over Italian teammate Sofia Goggia. “But the slope is amazing. The place is amazing and I'm having so much fun.

“It's a lot of pressure, I know.”

Bennett feels pressure, too.

“When you're skiing and inspecting, it's fine. You don't think about it,” Bennett said of the baby possibly arriving on race day. “When you go back to the hotel in the afternoon and you're sitting around, it's like, ‘What am I doing here?’”

The last time the World Cup circuit made a stop at Sun Valley was in 1977. One of the winners that week was Phil Mahre, who held off not only Swedish great Ingemar Stenmark in the slalom but also Mahre’s brother, Steve.

“That was a long, long time ago,” Mahre said with a laugh in a phone interview. “It’s not exactly vivid in my memory. I just remember everything fell together. It was a good day."

Two-time Olympic champion and Idaho native Picabo Street remembered trying to peek under the fence that weekend to catch a glimpse of the racing action.

“I never thought that in my lifetime I would see ski racing go back to Sun Valley," Street said.

Street will be part of the action, too, serving as a commentator for NBC Sports. It’s a little nerve-racking being back at the venue that helped launch her career, one that included nine World Cup wins and a gold medal in the super-G at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano.

She’s royalty around these parts, with a run on the mountain named in her honor — Picabo’s Street.

“I was looking at the the course map, and I just kind of zoomed in on it with my fingers and stared at (the run) for a little while and I was like, ’Everyone’s going to see the signs,'" said Street, who will have a statue unveiled in her honor Monday. "I kind of had this moment of excitement but nervous at the same time.

“This is so wild for me. It’s emotional.”

Riley Berman was born in the shadow of the mountains of Sun Valley and grew up racing in the area. Now, he's the chief of course for the race.

He played a pivotal role in the layout after learning the tricks of the trade from Johnston, who's traveled all over the world building courses.

“It’s unique. It’s a sprint-style, in-your-face course,” Berman said. “It’s going to be full throttle from the moment they leave the gate."

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Switzerland's Michelle Gisin skis during a women's downhill training run at the World Cup Finals, Friday, March 21, 2025, in Sun Valley, Idaho. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

Germany's Kira Weidle-Winkelmann skis during a women's downhill training run at the World Cup Finals, Friday, March 21, 2025, in Sun Valley, Idaho. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

Italy's Marta Bassino skis during a women's downhill training run at the World Cup Finals, Friday, March 21, 2025, in Sun Valley, Idaho. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

Austria's Christina Ager skis during a women's downhill training run at the World Cup Finals, Friday, March 21, 2025, in Sun Valley, Idaho. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

New Zealand's Alice Robinson skis during a women's downhill training run at the World Cup Finals, Friday, March 21, 2025, in Sun Valley, Idaho. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

France's Laura Gauche skis during a women's downhill training run at the World Cup Finals, Friday, March 21, 2025, in Sun Valley, Idaho. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

Italy's Marta Bassino skis during a women's downhill training run at the World Cup Finals, Friday, March 21, 2025, in Sun Valley, Idaho. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

Italy's Nicol Delago skis during a women's downhill training run at the World Cup Finals, Friday, March 21, 2025, in Sun Valley, Idaho. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

United States' Lindsey Vonn skis during a women's downhill training run at the World Cup Finals, Friday, March 21, 2025, in Sun Valley, Idaho. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Italy's Dominik Paris skis in a men's downhill training run at the World Cup Finals, Friday, March 21, 2025, in Sun Valley, Idaho. (AP Photo by Robert F. Bukaty)

Austria's Stefan Eichberger skis in a men's downhill training run at the World Cup Finals, Friday, March 21, 2025, in Sun Valley, Idaho. (AP Photo by Robert F. Bukaty)

Switzerland's Stefan Rogentin skis in a men's downhill training run at the World Cup Finals, Friday, March 21, 2025, in Sun Valley, Idaho. (AP Photo by Robert F. Bukaty)

Switzerland's Justin Murisier skis in a men's downhill training run at the World Cup Finals, Friday, March 21, 2025, in Sun Valley, Idaho. (AP Photo by Robert F. Bukaty)

Austria's Otmar Striedinger skis in a men's downhill training run at the World Cup Finals, Friday, March 21, 2025, in Sun Valley, Idaho. (AP Photo by Robert F. Bukaty)

Switzerland's Loic Meillard skis in a men's downhill training run at the World Cup Finals, Friday, March 21, 2025, in Sun Valley, Idaho. (AP Photo by Robert F. Bukaty)

Germany's Felix Roesle skis during a men's downhill training run at the World Cup Finals, Friday, March 21, 2025, in Sun Valley, Idaho. (AP Photo by Robert F. Bukaty)

United States' Bryce Bennett skis during a men's downhill training run at the World Cup Finals, Friday, March 21, 2025, in Sun Valley, Idaho. (AP Photo/John Locher)

United States' Bryce Bennett skis in a men's downhill training run at the World Cup Finals, Friday, March 21, 2025, in Sun Valley, Idaho. (AP Photo by Robert F. Bukaty)

ALEPPO, Syria (AP) — First responders on Sunday entered a contested neighborhood in Syria’ s northern city of Aleppo after days of deadly clashes between government forces and Kurdish-led forces. Syrian state media said the military was deployed in large numbers.

The clashes broke out Tuesday in the predominantly Kurdish neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud, Achrafieh and Bani Zaid after the government and the Syrian Democratic Forces, the main Kurdish-led force in the country, failed to make progress on how to merge the SDF into the national army. Security forces captured Achrafieh and Bani Zaid.

The fighting between the two sides was the most intense since the fall of then-President Bashar Assad to insurgents in December 2024. At least 23 people were killed in five days of clashes and more than 140,000 were displaced amid shelling and drone strikes.

The U.S.-backed SDF, which have played a key role in combating the Islamic State group in large swaths of eastern Syria, are the largest force yet to be absorbed into Syria's national army. Some of the factions that make up the army, however, were previously Turkish-backed insurgent groups that have a long history of clashing with Kurdish forces.

The Kurdish fighters have now evacuated from the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood to northeastern Syria, which is under the control of the SDF. However, they said in a statement they will continue to fight now that the wounded and civilians have been evacuated, in what they called a “partial ceasefire.”

The neighborhood appeared calm Sunday. The United Nations said it was trying to dispatch more convoys to the neighborhoods with food, fuel, blankets and other urgent supplies.

Government security forces brought journalists to tour the devastated area, showing them the damaged Khalid al-Fajer Hospital and a military position belonging to the SDF’s security forces that government forces had targeted.

The SDF statement accused the government of targeting the hospital “dozens of times” before patients were evacuated. Damascus accused the Kurdish-led group of using the hospital and other civilian facilities as military positions.

On one street, Syrian Red Crescent first responders spoke to a resident surrounded by charred cars and badly damaged residential buildings.

Some residents told The Associated Press that SDF forces did not allow their cars through checkpoints to leave.

“We lived a night of horror. I still cannot believe that I am right here standing on my own two feet,” said Ahmad Shaikho. “So far the situation has been calm. There hasn’t been any gunfire.”

Syrian Civil Defense first responders have been disarming improvised mines that they say were left by the Kurdish forces as booby traps.

Residents who fled are not being allowed back into the neighborhood until all the mines are cleared. Some were reminded of the displacement during Syria’s long civil war.

“I want to go back to my home, I beg you,” said Hoda Alnasiri.

Associated Press journalist Kareem Chehayeb in Beirut contributed to this report.

Sandbag barriers used as fighting positions by Kurdish fighters, left inside a destroyed mosque in the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

Burned vehicles at one of the Kurdish fighters positions at the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

People flee the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

A Syrian military police convoy enters the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

Burned vehicles and ammunitions left at one of the Kurdish fighters positions at the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)