Matteo Marsaglia claimed his maiden World Cup victory in the Super-G at Beaver Creek and warned more was to come.
Crash
The race was marred by several crashes, the most serious involving Max Franz, runner-up in the Lake Louise downhill a week earlier. The Austrian collided with a gate at the end of jump and went down, briefly losing consciousness.
He was taken to hospital in Vail for checks with bruises to his face but his legs and arms were unhurt, Austrian team spokesman Markus Aichner said.
"Max is with us again, he's conscious. He jumped into a gate and probably lost consciousness straightaway. It's too early to say anything about his injuries," Austrian coach Mathias Berthold said.
World Cup holder Marcel Hischer, who will be the leading favourite with Ligety in Sunday's giant slalom, stayed in the coaches' room after the crash in shock.
Still number Vonn
Meanwhile, American Lindsey Vonn won her second World Cup downhill in as many days at Lake Louise on Saturday to continue her dominance at the Canadian Rockies resort.
Vonn, a four-time overall World Cup champion, notched her 28th career victory and her 13th at Lake Louise, where she swept three races last season. Her winning time was one minute 52.90 seconds.
For the second straight day American Stacey Cook finished second, 0.52 seconds behind, and Switzerland's Marianne Kaufmann-Abderhalden third, 0.62 seconds adrift of Vonn.
