Holly Brooks began her solo act with flair Friday.
Brooks, the two-time Olympic skier from Anchorage, made her debut on the FIS Marathon Cup circuit by capturing second place in the first race of the season.
Skiing in a mixed-gender 42-kilometer freestyle race in Livigno, Italy, Brooks edged a skier from Belarus by eight seconds to grab runnerup honors in the La Sgambeda Loppet. She finished in 1 hour, 43 minutes, 54.9 seconds, trailing winner Riitta Roponen-Liisa of Finland by 3:12.
"I was nervous," Brooks told fasterskier.com. "It was the first race of the season for me and I usually don't wait this long to start racing."
Nor does she usually compete as a solo act. Brooks chose to take a break from the U.S. Ski Team this season but not from ski racing, choosing to ski the World Loppet circuit on her own in the hope she would not have to spend months and months away from home, which was the case during the years she competed on the World Cup circuit with the national team.
The upside: she'll be home for Christmas. The downside: she doesn't have a coach or a wax technician.
On the eve of Friday's race, Brooks wasn't sure how she would get her skis waxed.
"Luckily it worked out and I found some local Italians who were willing to do it," she told fasterskier.com.
This is a new world for Brooks, who said she will need to work on her tactics in mixed-gender mass starts like the one used Friday.
"Unfortunately I was never in contact with Riita Liisa," she said. "She had a faster start than me and she got lost in the crowd of men. There were tons of people between the two of us and I couldn't weave through to catch her.
"I would prefer our own wave but in the meantime I will have to work on my mixed-gender racing tactics. Once gaps open up in the big groups it's impossible to 'ski up' without a good draft."
Topping the field of 1,000 skiers was Benoit Chauvet of France in 1:32:11.4.
Former UAA skier Lukas Ebner of Germany -- a two-time All-American who wrapped up a four-year career with the Seawolves last season -- was 21st in 1:34:34.4.