Vreni Schneider of Switzerland mastered one of...

Vreni Schneider of Switzerland mastered one of the toughest courses on the women’s ski circuit with two blazing runs to win the giant slalom at Oberstaufen, Germany, and vault into the overall World Cup lead.

Deborah Compagnoni of Italy finished second and Carole Merle of France was third in the season’s second giant slalom.

Schneider, 27, posted the fastest times in both runs and had a combined time of 2 minutes 19.42 seconds to win by 1.24 seconds.

It gave her 100 points for a total of 380 in World Cup standings, one more than defending overall champion Petra Kronberger of Austria.