Dave Ryding turbocharged his Olympic season with his second-best slalom result since 2018 in Val D'Isere.
The Rocket, aiming at a fourth Games in Beijing, took the wraps off his World Cup campaign with an excellent 45.51 first run down the Face de Bellevarde piste.
It left him ninth, a second off the pace set by home favourite Clement Noel.
Ryding then rode a searing 46.91 in deteriorating second-run conditions to go into gold medal position with eight rivals to come, letting out a mighty roar in the finish area.
The 35-year-old was edged out of a fourth career World Cup medal by a margin of 0.05 seconds, but collected 45 Cup points and a whole heap of confidence.
"Some way to start the season!" the slalom stalwart told his Instagram followers.
It is clear the British training group, self-styled as the 'Queen's Men', that Ryding now leads alongside Laurie Taylor and Billy Major is bringing the best out of him.
Taylor failed to finish the first run in France, a trend that he is working hard to address ahead of a potential second Games.
Over in Copper Mountain, Zoe Atkin shook off the competitive dust with eighth place in freeski halfpipe.
Atkin scored 81.75 to place sixth in qualifying and reach the final, where she placed eighth.
It was a first World Cup run in nine months for the 18-year-old, who took bronze at March's World Championships.
She reflected: "I didn’t ski my best yesterday but happy with eighth and excited for the season ahead!"
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It was a more challenging return to the powder for Gus Kenworthy, who came out of his first run and decided to forego his second in Colorado.
Meanwhile, James Clugnet enjoyed an eventful return to cross-country sprinting in Davos, Switzerland.
The Scot time-trialled 2:28.20 in qualifying to make the top 30 and the quarter-finals, placed in a heat with Norway's Haavard Taugboel and Italy's Federico Pellegrino.
Clugnet's right ski came off in the quarter-final, however, leaving him stranded despite picking up his first World Cup points of the season.
The following day's 15km freestyle in Davos was a tough day at the office for the British contingent, with Andrew Young finishing 30th and Andrew Musgrave 32nd.
Britain was again among the medals in World Cup sliding and snowboard cross this weekend.
They were led by Charlotte Bankes, who looked every inch a snowboard cross world champion in scooping World Cup gold in Montafon.
READ MORE: The story of Bankes's first World Cup win
Elsewhere, Brad Hall and Britain's 4-man sled delivered once again and surged to silver in Winterberg. It is the team's second global medal of the season and Hall's fourth.
READ MORE: Greg Cackett - "Today felt like a bit of a dress rehearsal for the Olympics"
It is crunch time for Eve Muirhead and her rink who are battling to qualify for Beijing 2022 in Leeuwarden, Netherlands at curling's Olympic Qualification Event.
They began with a confidence-boosting 7-5 win over Czech Republic, who were much-improved from their recent meeting at the European Championships.
But amid very challenging ice conditions, Team Muirhead slipped to successive defeats to Turkey and South Korea.
"It’s proving very difficult for us, but we've got to come together as a team" said the three-time Olympian.
“It’s conditions here that we’ve not experienced all season, in fact we’ve not experienced for years unfortunately on the circuit.
"It’s going to be difficult, it’s going to be a challenge. We know the conditions probably aren’t going to change, so we need to try to play for it to be on our side."
The top four in the field of nine advance to the playoffs at the event, with three Olympic berths still available in the last-chance qualifier.
Sportsbeat 2021