The 2025–26 World Cup season has wrapped up after 37 women’s and 36 men’s races. During the season, one athlete pushed herself to an incredible limit and competed in more races than anyone else: Germany’s Emma Aicher, who started in 36 of the 37 women’s events. The 22-year-old all-rounder did the almost unthinkable, missing just one race all season — the giant slalom in Kronplatz, Italy.
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During those 36 starts, Aicher recorded 21 top-10 finishes and stood on the podium 10 times — a remarkable level of consistency for such a demanding schedule. She finished second overall behind the United States’ Mikaela Shiffrin. While she did not match Shiffrin’s dominance in slalom — winning nine of 10 races — Aicher showed impressive strength across all four disciplines, finishing second in downhill, third in super-G, sixth in slalom, and 18th in giant slalom. The fact she placed in the top six in three disciplines underlines just how complete her skill set already is.
The comparison with Shiffrin at the same age gives an interesting perspective. In 2017, when Shiffrin was 22 and competing across all four disciplines for the first time, she finished first in slalom, second in giant slalom, 24th in super-G, and 36th in downhill — still enough to secure the overall title. Aicher may not yet have that winning efficiency, but shows better competitiveness across-the-board.
The season began in Sölden, Austria, on October 25, 2025, and concluded at the World Cup Finals in Lillehammer, Norway, on March 25, 2026. Across those 22 weeks, Aicher averaged 1.6 races per week. In reality, the calendar was far from evenly spaced. After the opener, there was a three-week gap before Levi, Finland, and a short Christmas break — but at other times, the schedule compressed brutally. During her busiest stretch, Aicher raced six times in 10 days.
Her 36 starts were not just the most among women — they were the most of any skier, male or female. The next closest was Austria’s Marco Schwarz with 28 starts. An eight-race gap in a single season is enormous in a sport that demands constant travel, adaptation, and recovery. Among women, Italy’s Sofia Goggia followed with 26 starts, competing in every downhill, super-G, and giant slalom race but not slalom.
Shiffrin, who now focuses primarily on technical events, made 23 starts. She competed in all slalom and giant slalom races, along with three super-G events. Despite the lighter schedule, she still secured the overall title thanks to her extraordinary efficiency — nine wins in 10 slalom races, with a second-place finish in the other. With 100 points awarded per victory, that level of dominance quickly separates the field.
On the men’s side, Switzerland’s Marco Odermatt claimed the overall title after 25 starts, winning 11 races — a staggering 44% win rate that left little room for challengers. Schwarz, who had the most race starts in the men’s field, finished the season in 11th place, more than 1,000 points behind Odermatt.
What makes Aicher’s season particularly striking is her ability to pivot between speed and technical events within days and still perform at a high level. In modern alpine skiing — an era increasingly defined by specialization — this kind of versatility is rare. Downhill and slalom demand entirely different training regimes, equipment, and physical adaptations. Speed skis are longer with wider turn radii, while technical skis are shorter and built for quick, sharp turns.
Aicher’s ability to switch between those demands so seamlessly stands out in today’s highly specialized field. She is currently the only female athlete, who competes across all four disciplines. The Swedish-German dual citizen appears to embrace that challenge rather than avoid it, racing across disciplines simply because she enjoys it.
The physical toll of such a season, however, is significant. Especially in an Olympic year, where Aicher also competed across five events, taking her race total to 41 races. Since the finals in March, Aicher has stepped away from training to recover — a necessary reset after one of the most demanding campaigns on the circuit.
With her consistency trending upward and her breakout season now behind her, Aicher heads into 2026–27 as one of the most compelling athletes to watch — not just for what she has already achieved, but for how much further she can go. To quote Shiffrin: “I’m so excited to watch what she does in the future!”
