Industry News
The preliminary FIS Alpine World Cup calendar has been making its rounds across chat boards and emails. While it is not officially released by the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS), national coaches receive the preliminary schedule for planning and feedback purposes and it’s exciting news for North American ski racing fans.
The 24/25 Alpine World Cup season sees a total of 17 events in North America, thanks largely to the World Cup Finals being held in Sun Valley, Idaho, from March 21-27, 2025. The World Cup Finals alone account for eight events while a further five events will be held in in Beaver Creek, Colorado, in December 2023, two events will be held in Killington, Vermont, in November 2023, and two events will be held in Mont Tremblant, Canada, in December 2024.
Mont Tremblant hosted two women’s Giant Slalom events this past season, which were both won by Italy’s Federica Brignone, while Killington hosted a Giant Slalom and Slalom race, with the Slalom victory going to Mikaela Shiffrin. Unfortunately, not returning to the 24/25 schedule will be Aspen Snowmass, Colorado, which held three men’s events in early March 2024, and Palisades Tahoe, California, which held two events in February 2024.
The Birds of Prey course at Beaver Creek will see the return of the men’s speed events, which were unfortunately canceled in the 23/24 season due to heavy snowfalls. New for the 24/25 season will be the addition of the women’s speed events, which was rumored to happen due to the cancellation of the speed events in Lake Louise, Canada. It is only the second time in the resort’s history, that it will host a women’s FIS World Cup race. The one previous time it hosted a FIS World Cup race was in December 2011, when Val d’Isère, France, could not host the women’s Super-G due to lack of snow. Back then, Team USA’s Lindsey Vonn won the Super-G on homesoil at Birds of Prey.
Sun Valley hosting the World Cup Finals at the end of the season will certainly be a highlight for American fans of Alpine ski racing if the proposed calendar is ratified. The approval from FIS for Sun Valley as host will be dependent on the creation of an additional course on Warm Springs run, along with grading slopes and installing new snowmaking guns and winch cat pick up points, safety fencing, and race staging areas, according to files shared by the Forest Service. This will require the removal of some sections of trees on Warm Springs run, which is subject to approval by Forest Services. Sun Valley had initially proposed to host the World Cup Finals across two weekends, similar to Saalbach, Austria, in the 23/24 season, but it appears that this did not fit the FIS calendar which has seen a shift to a later start after much criticism from skiers and national ski associations about the early start of some event which ultimately had to be canceled due to a lack of snow. The Norwegian Ski Association issued a formal written proposal to FIS last month which saw a start of the ski season in North America before the circuit moved across to Europe. While FIS seems to have taken some of the criticism into account, such as the later start and less travel back and forth, it is still a far cry from the demands of many participants for a more sustainable FIS calendar.
