Marcel Hirscher was bitterly disappointed to discover he would not be skiing on his favorite French slope but going to the icy-cold Sweden mountains instead.
The switch worked out perfectly.
The Austrian won Sunday's World Cup slalom to add to his crushing victory in Friday's giant slalom, mastering the conditions on the rock-hard Olympia course to perfection and moving top of the overall rankings.
He overcame a first-leg deficit of .25 seconds to edge out German skier Felix Neureuther by .10 for his 26th career victory — moving him level with Austrian great Franz Klammer.
The two races were initially scheduled to take place in Val d'Isere, France — where Hirscher has won two GS races before — but were moved to freezing northern Sweden due to a lack of snow in the French Alps.