Five things to know about the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup opener

The 56th edition of the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup will start this weekend in Soelden, Austria, with the classic women’s and men’s Giant Slalom to be raced on the Rettenbach glacier course.

The women’s race will be up first with the start time set for 7pm on Saturday. The men’s Giant Slalom will start at the same time on Sunday, with live results available on the FIS website. 

Here are five things you should know about the Alpine World Cup ahead of all the action kicking off:

1. Will there be Aussies in the start gate?

National Alpine Ski Team members Madi Hoffman (21) and Louis Muhlen-Schulte (23) will be flying the Aussie flag in the season opener. It will be the first ever World Cup start for Hoffman, while Muhlen is at his second World Cup appearance after racing in the Slalom in Levi (FIN) in 2019.

2. Is it a tough course?

The GS course in Soelden is on par with some of the most demanding and technically challenging races on the circuit. The start gate is at 3,040m of altitude and the athletes will have to navigate approximately 50 gates and 370m of incline as they race towards the finish line, set at 2,670m. The average gradient is around 33%, but there are sections at 65%.

3. When did Soelden become a classic?

Soelden will host the opening events of the alpine season for the 21st time. The tradition of having early Giant Slaloms at the end of October in the Austrian resort started in the year 2000 when Martina Ertl (GER) and Hermann Maier (AUT) won gold in their respective events. For the 2021 edition the organisers will be able to welcome spectators back after holding last year’s races with no public. Up to 5,000 fans will be able to attend each of the two GS races.

4. What? No Alpine Combined?

The Crystal Globes will be assigned at the FIS World Cup Finals in Meribel/Courchevel (FRA) in March 2022, after 37 individual events (the same number for men and women) and 1 Mixed team event. For the first time since the 1976-77 season, FIS decided not to include any combined event in the race calendar. The event inclusion in future editions of the FIS World Cup is currently under review, even though the Alpine Combined is still in the Olympic program - at least for the next edition. The combined events at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games might be the last races we see in this format.

5. When was the last time an Australian finished on the podium in a World Cup race?

Zali Steggall is the last Australian alpine skier and one of only three Australians to have finished on the podium at a FIS Alpine Ski World Cup event. Steggall was second in the Mammoth Mountain (USA) Slalom in 1998, after already having won gold in Slalom at Park City the previous year. Before her only two other Australian alpine skiers had been able of such an achievement: Steven Lee (gold, Super-G Furano 1985) and Malcom Milne (gold, Downhill, Val d’Isere 1969 and silver, Downhill, Gardena 1970).