The Olympic bronze medallist in the discipline came home in 1min 47.84sec to upset local skiers Stefan Rogentin, second in 1:48.11, and Marco Odermatt, third in 1:48.50.

The Swiss had five finishers in the top ten and it had seemed that they would be celebrating after Rogentin posted the fastest time.

Kilde set out with bib number 15 to chase it down.

"I tried just to keep my momentum up, from the start I just pushed as hard as I could," Kilde told Eurosport Discovery.

"I had to race on the limit, this is how you have to do it in super-G, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't."

It was Kilde's fifth FIS Alpine Ski World Cup victory this season and second in the super-G following his win at Beaver Creek in the United States last month.

This was ninth overall in the super-g discipline to bring him level in the all-time standings with the great Marc Girardelli of Luxembourg, a leading figure in the 1980s and 1990s.

Odermatt retained his overall lead in the World Cup standing with 1,106 points.

Kilde is second with 746 points, with another Norwegian, Henrik Kristoffersen, third on 565.

In the super-G standings competition is considerably closer.

Odermatt leads with 340 points, but Kilde is only 28 behind in second.

"It'll be a tight race until the end," Kilde predicted. 

"I know Odermatt is never giving up, the same with me.

"We'll see until the last race who's the best super- skier in the world right now."

Racing in Wengen is scheduled to continue over the weekend with slalom and downhill races.