Pam Fletcher, who was nearly dropped from the United States Ski Team earlier this season, captured her first World Cup victory today, winning the final women's downhill of the season.
Switzerland's Maria Walliser, who finished third, claimed the season downhill title.
Miss Fletcher, who is 23 years old and from Acton, Mass., went nearly two years without a top-15 finish until placing 13th in a downhill in France in mid-January. She has had two seventh-place finishes in recent weeks. In today's race on Vail Mountain, after starting 30th, she was timed in 1 minute 54.28 seconds.
Canada's Laurie Graham was second in 1:54.60. Miss Walliser was timed in 1:55.08, followed by Canada's Liisa Savijarvi in 1:55.65.
Six Americans finished in the top 15 - the best performance by the American women in four years.
The race was the final downhill for Holly Flanders, the top American woman downhiller of the 1980's, who is retiring after nine seasons with the ski team. Miss Flanders finished 11th in 1:56.23.
''I made a pretty bad mistake up there, but I recovered well from it,'' she said. ''No matter where I placed, I feel I'm going out in a good way.'' ----Steiner Posts Downhill Upset WHISTLER, British Columbia, March 15 (UPI) - Anton Steiner of Austria was the surprise winner at the final World Cup downhill race of the year on an icy course at Whistler Mountain today.
Switzerland's Peter Mueller, the favorite heading into the race, lost his chance to tie Austria's Peter Wirnsberger for the World Cup downhill title, when he crashed off the final jump on the 3,832-meter course, just 200 meters from the finish.
Steiner won in 2 minutes 09.78 seconds. Italy's Michael Mair took the silver with 2:09.89 and Austria's Leonard Stock was third in 2:10.84. The Olympic gold-medal winner, Bill Johnson, of Van Nuys, Calif., had his best race of the year, placing seventh in 2:11.31.