What It’s Like to Compete in the Super Bowl of Skiing
The World Cup alpine ski race in Kitzbühel, Austria, is one of the most dangerous competitions in the world. Winter-sport athletes have gathered here annually since 1931 to barrel down the steep mountain trail at top speeds of roughly 87 mph—all fighting for the fastest time within milliseconds of their fellow competitors. Though Kitzbühel is just one of a dozen events held during the season before the World Cup Finals in March, it is the most sought-after title in the sport of alpine ski racing. For 24-year-old phenom Lucas Pinheiro Braathen, there is also no other challenge more exciting.
“As an alpine skier, this is really where you can put your names in the history books,” Braathen told me just before race weekend began. “Technically speaking, [Kitzbühel] is the most demanding slope on the World Cup. The terrain constantly changes. The slope freezes like an ice rink. So it’s a mixture of all these things—let alone the fact that the prize money is double as much as any other race on the World Cup tour.”
Braathen was one of the favorites to win the men’s slalom this year. The Norwegian-born Brazilian skier has already earned two podium finishes at Kitzbühel in his racing career for Norway, which is no easy feat at his age. Still, he has not competed here in Austria since 2023. Following an emotional press conference last year, he briefly stepped away from ski racing to find his passion for the sport once again.
Like any long-standing sport, alpine skiing had a tough time adjusting to a talented young star known for breaking with tradition. And at his young age, the attention was a lot for Braathen to handle. “I found myself in a situation and in an organization [in Norway] where I was so limited in expressing who I am and how I approach my success in my own way,” Braathen reflects now. When he eventually returned to racing, he championed a new mission to represent his mother’s home country of Brazil. “Representing Brazil allows me to come back to the sport on my own terms,” he explains. “Who I am, my personality, how I choose to dress.… People will still serve their opinions, and I’m more than happy for people to do so, but no one can [penalize] me for that. That’s when I realized that this is the path that is meant for me.”
Braathen arrived at Kitzbühel this year to cheers from its hundreds of thousands of fans. “You got all the F1 drivers, Arnold Schwarzenegger, the models,” Braathen says of the crowd. “It’s a different type of audience here. It’s kind of like performing in front of your crush.” He also has a major sponsor backing his return to alpine skiing. Braathen is the latest global brand ambassador for Moncler Grenoble. “For me, there’s no brand like Moncler,” he says. “It’s a dream come true.”
When we catch up after the race, the Brazilian skier is beaming from another podium placement. Braathen finished in third place, just 19 hundredths of a second behind the victor, French Olympic champion Clement Noel. Obviously, he wanted the win. But Braathen’s head is held high as he takes home the second-ever podium for Brazil in alpine ski racing.
“This goes beyond other podiums,” he tells me. “It’s our Super Bowl. It represents so much more than just ski racing. It’s broadcast to so many more people. So to be able to bring the Brazilian flag to such a respected race and such a big stage, it’s the pinnacle of ski racing.”
Below, Braathen discusses his goals for the sport moving forward, his partnership with Moncler, and his commitment to compete for Brazil in the 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan.
On being named global brand ambassador for Moncler
“Growing up, I absolutely resented skiing. I grew to love it at a later age, but my introduction to sports was football [aka soccer]. Being half Brazilian, it was the Brazilian teams and the players that inspired me. Ronaldinho, especially, was so expressive as an individual.
“When I was introduced to skiing, I obviously saw a very different scene. It’s somewhat more conservative. You have the very established brands that can make these technical fabrics needed to perform in the literal winter storms and all the conditions that we face. But Moncler stood out to me because they had poppy colors, and they experimented with the silhouettes. For me, it’s been a career-long dream that I could be the one to bring them back into the world of professional sports.”
On preparing for a difficult race like Kitzbühel
“This is an individual sport. Every single athlete has their own way. Sometimes you have athletes that want to distance themselves as much as possible from the scene and the race. I’m the type of athlete that likes to indulge in it. I try to get in the zone of how spectacular it is. With Kitzbühel, you're dealing with a lot of elegance, extravagance, and exclusivity. So I really try to embrace that and meld into this beautiful atmosphere until I feel like I’m very much at home. That’s what brings me the biggest advantage for success, mentally and spiritually.”
On breaking with tradition in alpine skiing
“First and foremost, it’s an age and a generation thing. We’re bringing a bit of a Gen Z mentality and mindset. It’s not as scary to be different for us. Personally speaking, I’m a half-Brazilian World Cup ski racer. I wasn’t even supposed to be here. But I owe it to myself to just remain who I am. My sources of inspiration are so outside of this own niche. It’s creative directors, fashion labels, and designers. If we’re talking athletes, it’s Michael Jordan to Dennis Rodman. To achieve success, it helps me to bring in different perspectives.”
On his plans to represent Brazil in the upcoming 2026 Olympic Winter Games
“It’s an indescribable feeling, but it’s very much what I intend to create. It’s a new source of inspiration. You can watch a World Cup ski race, which is one of the very biggest winter sports in the world, and now you can see a Brazilian flag on the podium. It makes me so proud, and I hope it represents my mission of encouraging people to pursue their dream. No matter what the community around you thinks, and no matter how unpopular it is in the country where you’re from, you can become whatever you want. And what’s so special about the Olympics is that it’s universal. It will be broadcast everywhere. It is truly the biggest stage, where I can bring the Brazilian flag to the top of a new sport.
On his goal to one day take home first place at Kitzbühel
“It is the race that I dream of winning. We’re talking the first-ever victory for Brazil in the sport of World Cup ski racing. In fact, it would be the first World Cup win for any winter sport for Brazil. It would be the greatest achievement of my life.”
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