The International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) has released the provisional 2026-27 FIS Alpine Ski World Cup calendar, featuring new venues, the return of several classics, and what officials describe as a renewed effort to balance the sport’s speed and technical disciplines. The men’s circuit is scheduled to feature 43 races across 21 venues, while the women’s calendar includes 40 races at 20 resorts.
The men’s calendar will feature 10 Downhill, 10 Super-G, 10 Giant Slalom, and 13 Slalom events, so a split of 47% speed events and 53% technical events, while the women’s calendar foresees nine Downhill, nine Super-G, 12 Giant Slalom, and 10 Slalom events, giving a split of 45% speed versus 55% technical events. “We are glad to have achieved the main objective for today, which was to ensure a healthy balance between speed and technical events on the calendar,” said Men’s World Cup Chief Race Director Markus Waldner. “This brings fairness to the fight for the overall Crystal Globe and, from what we have heard from the athletes’ representative in today’s meeting, has been received very positively by the athlete community.”
Next season’s calendars were presented Thursday, May 7, during the FIS Spring Meetings in Portorož, Slovenia. The tech-speed split offers more balance than last year’s preliminary race calendar which had only eight Super-G scheduled for the women and seven Downhill for the men, resulting in protest by speed specialists. After the protest, the number of speed events was increased for both men and women and some tech events cut from the schedule. This year, the athlete body appears content with the balance. However, as every year, tech events remain in the majority, mainly due to the lack of suitable venues for speed events, which require a large vertical drop as well as infrastructure not many ski resorts can offer.
For American ski fans, next season promises 25% home events with a total of 19 World Cup races on U.S. soil across four venues: Copper Mountain (CO), Killington (VT), Beaver Creek (CO), and Sun Valley (ID), and two races in Canada at Mont Tremblant. With one in four races across the entire combined World Cup season happening in North America, U.S. and Canadian fans will have several opportunities to watch their favorite ski racers live and in person.
How the Season Unfolds
As tradition has it, both the men’s and women’s tours open with the Giant Slalom at Sölden, Austria, before heading north for Slaloms in Levi, Finland and Gurgl, Austria. After that, both tours head to North America, where men and women split. The men will return to Copper Mountain, Colorado for a Super-G and Giant Slalom on November 28-29 — the resort hosted men’s World Cup racing for the first time ever. The return to Copper is conditional on improved TV production infrastructure at the resort.
The women, meanwhile, return to Killington for their North American races. The Vermont resort makes its long-awaited return after sitting out last season for snowmaking and chairlift infrastructure upgrades. Since its World Cup debut, Killington has become one of the most electric atmospheres on the women’s tour, drawing massive crowds and introducing alpine racing to a new American audience. Its absence last season was felt — but thankfully it is back. The women then compete at Tremblant, while the men stay in Colorado but move to Beaver Creek. Following the conclusion of four men’s races on the Birds of Prey course, the women will stage their speed opening on the legendary race course with two Downhill and one Super-G. Beaver Creek is cementing itself as a genuine women’s speed destination.
Back in Europe: The Notable Changes
Following the first set of American races, the tour returns to Europe, where a few new additions await. Alta Badia, Italy, hosts a men’s night Slalom for the first time on December 21, following the installation of floodlights for the 2026 Winter Olympics. Other Italian venues that are back on the calendar are Bormio for the men and Cortina d’Ampezzo for the women, also both Olympic venues.
Gosau, Austria stages its first-ever World Cup races — a women’s Giant Slalom and Slalom on December 28-29, replacing Lienz on the women’s schedule. New floodlights at Flachau mean an additional women’s night Giant Slalom on January 4 and a night Slalom on January 5. Meanwhile, St. Anton in Austria leaves the women’s schedule. The Karl Schranz course — named after one of Austria’s most celebrated ski racers, finishing in the heart of a town widely regarded as the cradle of alpine skiing — hosted a women’s Downhill and Super-G as recently as January 2025. Its removal leaves a gap in the women’s speed program that the Garmisch additions only partially address.
Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany returns to the women’s speed calendar with two Downhills on February 27-28, replacing Lenzerheide which has limitations on its upper course section. Garmisch is one of the most storied venues in women’s speed racing — Lindsey Vonn won nine World Cup races on the Kandahar course, one of the most dominant records at a single venue in the sport’s history. The two Downhills, rather than the traditional Downhill/Super-G combination, give the venue an unusually speed-heavy program.
Jasná, Slovakia, and Soldeu, Andorra, both return to the women’s calendar, with Soldeu replacing Åre in the early March slot. Åre, Sweden moves from the women’s schedule to the men’s calendar in March — but this is not a simple gender switch. The men have not raced in Åre since 2018. Meanwhile for the women, its departure carries significant symbolic weight. Åre is where Mikaela Shiffrin won her very first World Cup race in December 2012, a night slalom at just 17 years old. It is where she broke Ingemar Stenmark’s all-time wins record with her 87th victory on March 11, 2023 — on Stenmark’s home soil. It is where she broke his career podium record in March 2025. She has won seven career races in Åre. Losing the venue that witnessed more of Shiffrin’s historic milestones than any is a significant loss for the women’s circuit. Instead, Narvik, Norway, appears on the women’s calendar for that timeslot just before the World Cup Finals. Narvik is host of the 2029 World Championships and as such needs to hold test races ahead of the actual event, but infrastructure work ahead of the 2029 event means contingency plans remain under consideration.
The World Cup circuit ends as always with the World Cup Finals, which return to Sun Valley, Idaho. Sun Valley hosts the World Cup Finals for the second time this decade after hosting the finals in 2025 as well. The finals consist of four women’s races and four men’s races, offering another eight races for American fans to experience live.
The World Championships
2027 is a World Championship year and this year will be held in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, from February 1-14. While the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships are not part of the World Cup circuit, they are another FIS event that needs mentioning.
What’s Still Missing
Two slots on the women’s calendar remain TBD: a midweek Slalom on December 22 in France — expected to go to either Méribel or Courchevel — and a speed double-header on January 9-10. Women’s World Cup Chief Race Director Peter Gerdol was clear that Thursday’s calendar is a step in a longer process. “This 2026-27 season is an important transitional step for the process of how FIS builds the Alpine calendar,” Gerdol said. “We are working to put together a long-term calendar to be presented at the Fall Meetings, and from that point onwards we hope to achieve an even more balanced situation.”
The broad shape of the 2026-27 season is now clear: more night racing, a heavier North American presence early in the winter, and a deliberate effort by FIS to give equal weight to downhill specialists and technical skiers alike. Whether the balance holds — and whether the TBC venues confirm — will become clear at the FIS Council meeting ahead of the season.
Please note: The full provisional calendars are available at fis-ski.com. All dates and venues are subject to FIS Council approval.
