It was 50 seconds into the training session when the 28-year-old Alphand fell and medical personnel were seen putting a neck brace on him. He was then taken to hospital by helicopter.
A few hours later, however, a reassuring message came from the French Ski Federation.
"After losing consciousness, he underwent a full-body X-ray, which turned out to be normal. Nils will, however, continue to be kept under observation," says the federation.
He is the son of Luc Alphand, who has three World Championship gold medals in downhill, and the younger brother of Estelle Alphand, who competes for Sweden.
The French national team has been hit by several severe crashes this World Cup season. At the end of December, downhill star Cyprien Sarrazin fell badly during training in Bormio and was taken to hospital by helicopter, where he underwent surgery for a bleeding between the brain and skull.
He was able to leave intensive care at the beginning of January for rehabilitation at a neurological clinic in Lyon. The season is over for Sarrazin – and possibly his career.
Team-mates Blaise Giezendanner and Alexis Pinturault both crashed in January and have had their season ruined.
On Thursday, news also came that Czech skier Tereza Nova had woken up from the medically induced coma she was placed in after a horrific fall during training for the World Cup event in Garmisch-Partenkirchen.
Nova suffered a severe traumatic brain injury with bleeding, an injury to the carotid artery, and a fracture in the eye socket.
