Wind was the biggest factor at Coronet Peak yesterday, with 71 of the 142 competitors from the men's and women's slalom unable to finish the course and move into their second rounds.
However, the tough conditions were no barrier for Will Brandenburg of the US and Slovakia's Veronika Zuzulova, who won their events convincingly.
While Zuzulova finished up as No 1 with ease in both rounds with times of 43.94sec and 46.64sec, the men's event went down to the wire.
One of the seniors of the event at 34, Austria's Rainer Schoenfelder looked the favourite after a challenging first round as he was the only competitor under 45sec.
"My run was OK despite the very difficult conditions," said Schoenfelder, who booked his ticket to fly over only 10 days before the event.
"I decided not to come in May, then I was very spontaneous to come here and now I'm glad I did."
It was not Schoenfelder's day though, as he was pipped by only 0.47sec by Brandenburg.
The American top-scored in his second attempt with 46.86sec down the Race Arena Rocky Gully.
Ecstatic after his victory, he said he had not expected to win the gold medal.
"I feel great. This is huge for me to take this home and I just want to learn from this and keep improving."
Zuzulova was a stand-out in her field, with Norway's Kristine Gjelsten Haugen and Switzerland's Priska Nufer following in second and third.
Ranked fifth in the world in the women's slalom, Zuzulova said she was using yesterday's event as a training run for November's world cup in Finland.
She has yet to win a world cup after coming strikingly close as runner-up more than once in the slalom.
"This is more like a training run for me. The season starts in three months so I am relaxed," she said before taking to the slope for her second run.
Despite 16 of the 34 women competitors dipping out after the morning's run, she said she was satisfied with the windy and cold conditions on the mountain.
"The slope here is perfect. It's difficult, but it is good to have this challenge."
