Shiffrin won the overall World Cup title for the fourth time, thanks to speed races that turned her expected battle with Vlhov into a runaway success.
Shiffrin finished second in the super-G at the World Cup finals, one day after a surprise victory in downhill, to put more pressure on Vlhov for the overall title.
The Slovakian skier had to finish no worse than seventh to stop Shiffrin from extending her lead in the slalom and giant slalom races.
The defending champion finished 17th, behind Shiffrin by 236 points.
Shiffrin sat in the snow watching her rival run, shielding her eyes and smiling at her moment of victory. The first to greet Shiffrin was Ragnhild Mowinckel of Norway.
Aamodt Kilde was at the top of the slope preparing to race in the men's super-G. He is the champion in that discipline.
Shiffrin won three straight overall titles and one month after the Beijing Olympics, she won her fourth giant crystal globe trophy.
American skier Lindsey Vonn won four overall titles in her career, trailing behind only Austrian great Anne Marie Moser-Prll, who won six titles in the 1970s.
Shiffrin finished 0.05 seconds behind Mowinckel in the super-G. The third place was held by the Swiss woman, who was 0.13 behind.
Federica Brignone of Italy won the season-long super-G title on Thursday.
Gut-Behrami missed a gate and did not finish.
Shiffrin rested and trained for a strong March, after enduring one of the toughest months of her career at the Olympics, winning no medals in six events.
With eight races left, Shiffrin and Vlhov are tied for the lead with five technical disciplines and three speed races.
The speed races were decisive. In Switzerland, Shiffrin was runner-up in a super-G and then won the downhill in the World Cup Finals.
Vlhov posted results of 18th, 16th and 17th. She competed in downhills on Feb. 26 and 27 that Shiffrin missed.
The rest was paid for by Shiffrin. Vlhov placed 16th and 29th in those races to tie the American in the race.
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