After a tough start to the alpine race season that included a hard spill at an event in December, North Tahoe’s AJ Hurt returned to the top of the podium for the first time this year, winning today’s North American Cup event at Georgian Peaks, Canada.

Hurt, 19, outpaced the field by 0.18 to claim victory in giant slalom with a combined time of 1 minute, 43.43 seconds.

The Squaw Valley Ski Team member has spent the 2019-20 season racing World Cup and North American Cup events, but hasn’t had a top-30 result until winning Tuesday’s race in Canada.

Fellow Squaw teammate, Keely Cashman, 20, finished in ninth place with a total time of 1:44.77.

Cashman holds a commanding lead in the overall North American Cup standings with 869 points. Croatia’s Andrea Komsic, 23, is second with 497 points. Incline Village skier Lila Lapanja, 25, sits in third place with 438 points. Lapanja, who leads the slalom standings, finished in 19^th place at Georgian Peaks with a total time of 1:46.59.

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Another skier with Squaw ties, Foreste Peterson, 26, was competing and finished in 14^th place with a total time of 1:45.81. Sugar Bowl Ski Team & Academy’s Ainsley Proffit, 18, took 48^th place with a total time of 1:51.81.

Nina O’Brien, 22, who also has ties to the area and is the defending North American Cup overall champion, didn’t finish her first run.

There will be another giant slalom event at Georgian Peaks tomorrow. The series will then head to Osler Bluff, Ontario, Canada this weekend for two slalom races.