Industry News
Aspen Snowmass, CO, was successful in its bid to host events for the 23/24 Alpine World Cup season and has been awarded two races by the International Ski & Snowboard Federation ‘FIS’.
A delegation from SkiCo, the Aspen mountain operations company, traveled to the FIS working group meetings in Europe in May to throw their weight behind the application to host Alpine FIS World Cup events. The preliminary race schedule was approved at the International Ski Congress on May 24, 2023, in Zurich, Switzerland.
Last year saw Aspen’s return to the World Cup circuit after a six-year hiatus. In March 2023, Aspen Snowmass hosted two Downhill races and one Super-G race. The first of the two Downhill events had to be called off mid-race, as poor visibility and wind gusts made it unsafe to continue after the first 23 skiers had started. The other two events went ahead without a hitch, with Norway’s Aleksander Aamodt Kilde winning the Downhill race and Switzerland’s Marco Odermatt winning the Super-G race.
Kilde, who is Mikaela Shiffrin’s partner, however, won’t be returning to Aspen, as the glamorous Colorado resort will host two tech events next season instead of speed events. Aspen Snowmass was awarded a Giant Slalom and a Slalom race for a change.
“We just had speed and I think the idea of mixing it up with tech gives a different flavor. If you look back to the finals in ‘17, everyone loved every aspect of the races, so I think it’s the best of both worlds. This year we did not get to see the tech specialists, so it will be a blast to see the best in the world in slalom and GS charging down Aspen Mountain. It really is an exciting format and to pack the bottom of the hill on a beautiful March day sounds pretty appealing to me.”
– John Rigney, Aspen Skiing Co. Senior Vice President
Instead, Aspen will be home to the world’s best technical specialists, such as Norway’s Lucas Braathen and Henrik Kristofferson and Switzerland’s Daniel Yule and Ramon Zenhäusern.
The appointment of Aspen as a World Cup host is great news for U.S.-based fans of Alpine ski racing and will hopefully give a much-needed boost to American viewership numbers. Hopefully, broadcasting rights in the U.S. will be re-negotiated for next season and allow for a wider audience.
