The 31st

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 name is ...

season began in October 1996 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. Wit ...

, Austria, and concluded in March 1997 in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

at the World Cup finals at

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 nume ...

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

. The overall winners were

Luc Alphand Luc Alphand (born 6 August 1965) is a former World Cup alpine ski racer from France. He specialized in the speed events and later became a race car driver. Ski racing Born in Briançon (Hautes-Alpes), Alphand was world junior champion in 19 ...

of France and

Pernilla Wiberg Pernilla Wiberg (born 15 October 1970) is a Swedish former alpine ski racer and businesswoman. She competed on the World Cup circuit between 1990 and 2002, where she became one of the few all-event winners. Having won two Olympic gold medals, f ...

of Sweden, the only championship for each. Alphand, who won by just 34 points, became the first male French overall winner in 29 years, since

Jean-Claude Killy Jean-Claude Killy (born 30 August 1943) is a French former World Cup alpine ski racer. He dominated the sport in the late 1960s, and was a triple Olympic champion, winning the three alpine events at the 1968 Winter Olympics, becoming the most su ...

1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...

. After his overall victory, as well as discipline titles in both downhill (his third straight) and super-G (the only two events in which Alphand competed during the season), Alphand retired from international competition. Five-time overall World Cup champion

Marc Girardelli Marc Girardelli (born 18 July 1963) is an Austrian–Luxembourgish former alpine ski racer, a five-time World Cup overall champion who excelled in all five alpine disciplines. Biography Born in Lustenau, Austria into a family originally from ...

of Luxembourg also retired during the season after suffering another knee injury during a race in December 1996. A break in the schedule was for the

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 ...

, held 3–15 February in

Sestriere Sestriere (, , , ) is a ski resort in Piedmont, Italy, a ''comune'' (municipality) of the Metropolitan City of Turin. It is situated in Val Susa, from the France, French border. Its name derives from Latin language, Latin: ''ad petram sistrariam ...

, northwestern Italy.

Calendar

Men

Ladies

Men

Overall

Downhill

Super G

Giant Slalom

Slalom

Combined