For a skier who over the last five years had been pigeonholed as a speed specialist - excelling in Downhill and Super G - Alcott's form in giant slalom this season has been encouraging.
She has scored world cup points, gained a top 30 result in all six of her giant slalom races, and today improved on her 16th giant slalom in Slovenia in February. Her season has included a further two Top 20 results in giant slalom. With the 16 world cup points gained today Alcott's ranking on the final standings in giant slalom is 21st.
On the steep, hard course she lay 16th after the first run, set to chase the 2.78 seconds deficit she had over Austria's eventual race winner Nicole Hosp. Fifteenth fastest in the second heat she finished 4.76 seconds adrift of Hosp who clinched the overall world cup title.
"I just feel happy I made it here for the first time." said Alcott, enjoying the end of term mood, "I did not appreciate until a couple of days ago that only the top 15 skiers at World Cup Finals get world cup points, so the pressure was on to make the result. It is a very different atmosphere and standard here to usual world cups, just the crème de la crème as you would expect, so making a result is great."
"It was a tough, tough course, very steep at the top, but I skied the bottom well, and then in the second run I was good on the top but made a mistake on the lower part."
Alcott's consistent form this season has been all the more remarkable given that she spent her normal summer training period on crutches after surgery on her feet, missing out on most of her strength and conditioning training.
"Looking at the season as a whole I am just pleased to have been consistent. I kind of figured that having missed the summer I would make one step forward getting back on snow and then it would be three steps back in terms of results, but I feel I got back to where I was. I lost my roll of form in the middle of the season and was overanalysing why. So now I feel I have surpassed all my expectations. I feel like I know what I have to do, what's ahead and am already really looking forward to next season, crunching down this summer and getting into the fitness and strength work I missed."
Results, Audi FIS World Cup Finals Slalom, Lenzerheide, Switzerland:
| 1 | N Hosp (AUT) | 1:03.10 | 1:08.88 | 2:11.98 |
| 2 | K Hoelzl (GER) GER | 1:03.99 | 1:09.41 | 2:13.40 |
| 3 | M Kirchgasser (AUT) | 1:04.25 | 1:09.26 | 2:13.51 |
| 4 | M Moelgg (ITA) | 1:03.96 | 1:10.16 | 2:14.12, |
| 5 | T Poutianainen (FIN) | 1:03.72 | 1:10.65 | 2:14.37 |
| 15 | C Alcott (Twickenham/GBR) | 1:05.88 | 1:10.86 | 2:16.74 |