Feuz triumphed with a time of 1min 13.59sec on the famous "Birds of Prey" course in Beaver Creek in the United States, holding off compatriot Mauro Caviezel by 0.07 seconds.

Olympic champion Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway was forced to settle for third after finishing in a further 0.01 seconds behind Caviezel.

The men's event was moved to the reserve starting position owing to tricky conditions on the course.

"My strength is not in the flats," Feuz said.

"After the coaches told me that the start was moved down, I knew I would have a good chance to win. 

"I have good memories here and I'm happy to make it to the top."

Schmidhofer, the 2017 world champion in the super-G discipline, arrived at the venue in Lake Louise desperate to end her streak of World Cup podium results without a win.

The 29-year-old managed to do just that as she banished her demons in the Canadian resort - where she has a previous best downhill result of eighth - by recording a time of 1:48.13.

Michelle Gisin of Switzerland was second, 0.15 seconds adrift of the victorious Austrian, while Kira Weidle of Germany earned her first World Cup medal by taking third.

Ilka Štuhec of Slovenia, overall downhill crystal globe winner in 2017, made her return to competition following a 20-month break due to injury and finished sixth.