ASPEN — The 2024 giant slalom narrowly evaded Battle Mountain then-sophomore Ruthie DeMino. It’s penance in 2025? Two DeMinos —- at the top.

On Thursday in Aspen, the only skier that came close to topping Ruthie was her mini version, her freshman sister, Eden. Ruthie took the giant slalom gold by more than a full second over her sister —- and nearly two full seconds quicker than anyone else.

“It definitely makes us a lot more competitive because we just want to beat each other, basically,” Ruthie said after Thursday’s race.

Eden came within just 0.2 seconds of her sister on the first run on Thursday, running the Aspen Highlands Thunderbowl track in 36.6 seconds. The third-place finisher on the first run, Summit junior Mackenzie Cross, gave the DeMino sisters plenty of room at 37.34.

The second run, however, was all the elder. Ruthie completed her second lap in 37.68 seconds, 0.71 seconds faster than Aspen junior Rocksy Kroeger in second place. The younger DeMino was nearly a full second behind her sister, but hung on for the silver.

“I think I skied pretty good today, I’m pretty happy with second,” Eden said. “But tomorrow, hopefully I can beat Ruthie. I was pretty close to her at least on the first run, but I kind of sold the second run.”

The Colorado High School Ski League gives the sisters an opportunity to compete with (and against) each other for one of the first times, separated in club competition due to their ages.

Before Thursday, it could be argued that Eden had gotten the better of her sister this season. The freshman was the individual winner in the giant slalom at Beaver Creek on Jan. 17 and the slalom at Winter Park on Jan. 24 —- beating her sister both times in the process. But the elder got the last (giant slalom) laugh with her first state championship, redeeming a fifth place last year at Loveland.

“I’m pretty happy with it because I’ve been pretty close all the other years and I’ve never actually made it on the podium or won any of them,” Ruthie said. “So that’s pretty exciting to finally do it.”

But the younger will get another crack at her sister —- and the rest of the field —- on Friday in the slalom.

Rounding out the girls giant slalom podium was Cross in third place, Kroeger in fourth and Aspen senior Eden Bohart in fifth.

Aspen leads the team scoring in the event overall, with 165 team points. The Huskies tied with Middle Park with 154 points each to sit in second.

The team state champions will be determined on Friday with the combined scores of the giant slalom and slalom. For the first time this year, there will be a distinct Alpine state champion, separated from Nordic competition.