ASPEN, Colo. (AP) — Mikaela Shiffrin held a slim lead after the first run of a World Cup giant slalom Friday while American teammate Lindsey Vonn lost a ski and slid into the netting in her season debut.

Shiffrin finished a tricky course in 59.04 seconds and led Federica Brignone of Italy by 0.11 seconds. Lara Gut of Switzerland was third.

The 20-year-old Shiffrin was trying to become the first American to win a World Cup race at this venue since Tamara McKinney in 1981. Shiffrin has never won at home — all 15 of her victories coming in Europe.

"I felt really solid," said Shiffrin, the reigning Olympic and world slalom champion who is planning to race more speed events this season. "I was attacking, really attacking like crazy. That was a really good thing for me to do in a GS course."

The 1-2 finish of Shiffrin and Brignone after the first leg was the reverse of last month's season-opening GS race in Soelden, Austria. Brignone amassed a big lead after the first run in Soelden and Shiffrin couldn't make up the ground.

Brignone knows this course well, finishing third in Aspen last season. Eva-Maria Brem of Austria is the defending champion and was in eighth place, 1.37 seconds behind Shiffrin.

Vonn, returning from a broken left ankle, was tentative out of the start gate. But the 31-year-old was beginning to find her rhythm when her left ski popped off. She was not hurt when she slid into the side netting, calling the wipeout "super annoying."

"It wasn't even really bumpy," Vonn added. "I'm kind of perplexed how that actually happened. It's never happened to me in a race before. To have it happen in Aspen is definitely disappointing."

Vonn hasn't trained all that much in GS since her breaking her ankle in training three months ago. She thought about racing in Austria but waited until Aspen to heal further.

This has already been an injury-filled season for her. She also needed stitches after being bitten on her right thumb while trying to break up a fight between her dogs over a Frisbee.

Shiffrin has a chance to gain more points in an overall race that could very well come down to her and Vonn. Shiffrin will be a big favorite in two slaloms this weekend. Vonn will sit out those races and concentrate on the speed races next weekend in Lake Louise, Alberta, a venue that's always treated her well.

For a change, though, Shiffrin will be there to compete in the super-G.

On hand to watch the competition in Aspen was McKinney, who would love to see the overall race boil down to two Americans.

"It would be fantastic for U.S. skiing and hopefully people would be paying attention," said McKinney, who's coaching and selling real estate in Squaw Valley, California. "The great thing that Lindsey and Mikaela have brought to visibility is there's always work involved. But they have made working hard look cool."