Australia's two leading alpine skiers, Craig Branch and Jono Brauer, have both gone under the surgeon's knife after sustaining leg injuries in a World Cup event in Beaver Creek, Colorado.

Branch, 29, and Brauer, 25, are likely to be out of racing for up to 12 months.

Competing in the downhill leg of the super combined event, Branch tore the anterior cruciate ligament of his right knee and damaged both menisci after landing awkwardly on the last jump of the Birds of Prey course.

Brauer ruptured his achilles tendon early in his run, and skied off the course.

Branch, a dual Olympian, had a full knee reconstruction early this morning (Saturday AEDT), and Brauer followed him into the operating theatre of the Steadman-Hawkins Clinic in Vail.

The careers of both skiers have been disrupted by injury in the past.

Branch had a microdiscectomy in May 2005 to rectify a long-term bulging disc problem in his back, and shoulder surgery in the lead-up to the 2002 Salt Lake Winter Games.

His New South Wales team-mate battled a persistent patella tendonitis problem for much of the 2004/05 season.

Courtesy OWI/Sportcom