The

International Ski Federation The ''Fédération internationale de ski et de snowboard'' (FIS; en, International Ski and Snowboard Federation) is the highest international governing body for skiing and snowboarding. Founded on 2 February 1924 in Chamonix, France during the ...

(FIS) Alpine Skiing World Cup is the premier circuit for

alpine skiing Alpine skiing, or downhill skiing, is the pastime of sliding down snow-covered slopes on skis with fixed-heel bindings, unlike other types of skiing ( cross-country, Telemark, or ski jumping), which use skis with free-heel bindings. Whether for ...

competition. The inaugural FIS

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

season launched in January

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

and this 51st season began on 22 October 2016 in

Sölden Sölden is a municipality in the Ötztal valley of Tyrol, Austria. Geography At c. , it is the largest municipality in the country. The population of 3,449 (as of 2003) is outnumbered by tourists, of which 15,000 can be accommodated. With tou ...

, Austria, and concluded in the United States at

Aspen Aspen is a common name for certain tree species; some, but not all, are classified by botanists in the section ''Populus'', of the ''Populus'' genus. Species These species are called aspens: *'' Populus adenopoda'' – Chinese aspen (China ...

on 19 March 2017. The biennial

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

interrupted the tour in early February in

Saint Moritz St. Moritz (also german: Sankt Moritz, rm, , it, San Maurizio, french: Saint-Moritz) is a high Alpine resort town in the Engadine in Switzerland, at an elevation of about above sea level. It is Upper Engadine's major town and a municipality in ...

, Switzerland. The season-ending finals in March were held in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

for the first time in two decades: the last finale in the U.S. was in

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

Vail Vail is a home rule municipality in Eagle County, Colorado, United States. The population of the town was 4,835 in 2020. Home to Vail Ski Resort, the largest ski mountain in Colorado, the town is known for its hotels, dining, and for the numer ...

. Chief Race Director for the WC Tour, Markus Waldner, offered his pre-season thoughts on the pending 2016-17 tour in an early October interview. He addressed: early season scheduling and weather considerations, the growing global interest in alpine skiing beyond the core market in Europe and Scandinavia, the balance between what disciplines were scheduled and the marketability concerns each present, course construction that is safely competitive and manages risk, and a new change to regulation that allows top qualifiers to pick their starting position across a much wider range of bibs between 1 and 19. Former overall World Cup champion

Tina Maze Tina Maze (; born 2 May 1983) is a retired Slovenian World Cup alpine ski racer. Career Maze is the most successful Slovenian ski racer in history with a career that culminated with two gold medals at the 2014 Winter Olympics. She was awarded t ...

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

, who missed the entire 2015-16 World Cup season, retired in January 2017. At the end of the season, former two-time overall World Cup champion

Bode Miller Samuel Bode Miller ( ; born October 12, 1977) is an American former World Cup alpine ski racer. He is an Olympic and World Championship gold medalist, a two-time overall World Cup champion in 2005 and 2008, and the most successful male America ...

of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, who had not raced in the last two seasons, also officially retired. ;Summary

Men

Calendar

Rankings

Overall

Downhill

Super G

Giant slalom

Slalom

Alpine combined

Women

;Summary The women typically have had technical events in the U.S. in late November in Colorado at

, but instead stopped this season in Vermont at Killington for its first effort as a World Cup venue. The most recent World Cup races in the Eastern U.S. were over a quarter century earlier, in March

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

Waterville Valley Resort Waterville Valley is a ski resort in Waterville Valley, New Hampshire, United States. It is located within the White Mountain National Forest. Built on Mount Tecumseh, with a summit elevation of above sea level, the ski trails extend to a high p ...

, New Hampshire and the last World Cup races in Vermont were in

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...

Stratton Mountain Resort Stratton Mountain Resort is a ski area in the northeastern United States, located on Stratton Mountain in Stratton, Vermont, east of Manchester. History Stratton was established in December 1961 with three double chairlifts and a three-story ba ...

. The women also had two

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

venue orientation speed events in South Korea at the

Jeongseon Alpine Centre Jeongseon Alpine Centre (정선 알파인 경기장) was an alpine skiing area in South Korea. It was located on the slopes of the mountain of Gariwangsan, in Bukpyeong-myeon in the county of Jeongseon. Overview Jeongseon was a venue for the Pye ...

in March, which produced identical podiums led by

Sofia Goggia Sofia Goggia (; born 15 November 1992) is an Italian World Cup alpine ski racer who competes in all disciplines and specialises in the speed events of downhill and super-G. She is a two-time Olympic downhill medalist — gold at the 2018 Winter ...

. Injuries continued to affect several of the top racers. Two-time overall champion

Anna Veith Anna Veith (née Fenninger; born 18 June 1989) is an Austrian former alpine ski racer and Olympic gold medalist. She was the overall World Cup champion for the 2014 and 2015 seasons. Born in Hallein, Veith is from the village of Adnet in Sal ...

(née Fenninger) and three-time overall champion

Lindsey Vonn Lindsey Caroline Vonn ( ; born October 18, 1984) is an American former World Cup alpine ski racer on the US Ski Team. She won four World Cup overall championships — second only amongst female skiers to Annemarie Moser-Pröll — with three ...

both missed the first half of the season due to injuries suffered during the previous season, although both returned by mid-January and competed in the

in early February. However, Veith then missed the end of the season as well to recover further from her injuries. In addition, defending overall champion

Lara Gut Lara Gut-Behrami (; ; born 27 April 1991) is a Swiss World Cup alpine ski racer who competes in all disciplines and specializes in the speed events of downhill and super-G. She won the gold medal in the Super-G event at the 2022 Winter Olympic ...

suffered a season-ending injury during the World Championships, costing her a chance to repeat. At the end of the season,

Mikaela Shiffrin Mikaela Pauline Shiffrin (born March 13, 1995) is an American two-time Olympic Gold Medalist and World Cup alpine skier. She is a four-time Overall World Cup champion, a four-time world champion in slalom, and a six-time winner of the World Cup ...

, who also won the slalom discipline for the fourth time and was second in the giant slalom, became the third American woman and fifth American overall to win the overall World Cup championship, joining men's champions

Phil Mahre Phillip Ferdinand Mahre (born May 10, 1957) is a former World Cup alpine ski racer, widely regarded as one of the greatest American skiers of all time. His total of 27 World Cup race wins is fourth among Americans, only behind Lindsey Vonn, Mik ...

and

and women's champions Tamara McKinney and Vonn. Additionally, women's Super G champion

Tina Weirather Christina "Tina" Weirather (born 24 May 1989) is a retired Liechtensteiner World Cup alpine ski racer. She won a bronze medal in Super-G for Liechtenstein at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang. Racing career Weirather made her World Cup ...

became a second-generation discipline champion, as her father (

Harti Weirather Hartmann "Harti" Weirather (born January 25, 1958) is a former World Cup alpine ski racer from Austria. Born in Reutte, Tyrol, he specialized in the downhill event. Racing career During the early 1980s, Weirather won six World Cup downhill ra ...

) was downhill discipline champion in 1981 and both her mother (

Hanni Wenzel Hannelore (Hanni) Wenzel. vancouver2010.com. 23 January 2010 (born 14 December 1956) is a retired Liechtensteiner alpine ski racer. Weirather is a former Olympic, World Cup, and world champion. She won Liechtenstein's first-ever Olympic medal at ...

) and uncle (

Andreas Wenzel Andreas Wenzel (born 18 March 1958) is a former World Cup alpine ski racer from Liechtenstein, active from 1976 to 1988. Born in Planken, he was the overall World Cup champion in 1980, the same season in which his older sister Hanni won the wome ...

) won the overall World Cup championship. Weirather and her mother thus became the first mother-daughter pair to win season trophies in World Cup competition.

Calendar

Rankings

Overall

Downhill

Super G

Giant slalom

Slalom

Alpine combined

Alpine team event

Nations Cup

Overall Men Women

Prize money

;Top-5 Men ;Top-5 Women

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alpine Skiing World Cup Test events for the 2018 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games