Olympic medalist Chris Klug (Aspen, CO) led three American's in the finals Sunday, finishing seventh in the opening FIS World Cup PGS in Soelden. Phillip Schoch of Switzerland took the win as the Swiss swept the top four places.

While the Americans missed the podium in Soelden, it was a reasonably strong opener to get three into the finals. Joining Klug were Ryan McDonald (Entiat, WA) and Peter Thorndike (Meredith, NH), who finished 15th and 16th respectively.

Klug qualified eighth and dispatched Harald Waldner of Austria to win his opening heat in the finals. But that put him up against qualifying leader, Gilles Jaquet of Switzerland, who won the heat and went on to finish second. Klug was just off the pace in the first run against Gillet. He turned the heat up in the second, but fell, giving the Swiss the win. In the consolation round, Canada's Jasey Jay Anderson knocked off Klug, who finished the day beating Austrian Lukas Gruener to take seventh.

"It was a pretty decent start with three guys in the finals," said Head U.S. Alpine Coach Jan Wengelin. "But we can for sure do more."

Adam Smith (Tangent, OR) was the only American to not make the finals. Smith, who has been suffering from a pulled hamstring, was surprisingly strong in the first qualifying run, finishing 12th, but didn't finish the second to miss the cut.

"Overall it was a pretty good weekend for us," said Wengelin, who had coached the U.S. going into the Olympics but took two seasons off from coaching. "This is actually my first camp with the guys, and I think we're coming together really well as a team. But we can do more and I'm going to keep pushing." The World Cup now heads to Landgraaf, The Netherlands for an indoor parallel slalom next Sunday, an event won by Smith a year ago. The U.S. team will train a final day on the glacier in Soelden Monday, before driving 12 hours to Landgraaf for indoor training beginning Wednesday morning.

"We joked with Adam that if he's going to fall like that (second run of qualifying), he should wax his stomach," joked Wengelin. "It was actually his first day back riding after injuring a hamstring Monday. The men's alpine ski team trainer Paul Meier was really helpful in working with Adam to get him back 100%. Having won in Landgraaf last year, I think he has a great chance there next Sunday."

Men's PGS
1. Philipp Schoch, Switzerland
2. Gilles Jaquet, Switzerland
3. Urs Eiselin, Switzerland
4. Heinz Inniger, Switzerland
5. Jasey Jay Anderson, Canada

U.S. Riders
7. Chris Klug, Aspen
15. Peter Thorndike, Meredith, NH
16. Ryan McDonald, Entiat, WA
26. Adam Smith, Tangent, OR
37. Eric Warren, Bennington, VT