World Cup Alpine Ski Racing Season Preview
15th October 2022
Last modified on October 31st, 2022
Alpine ski racing gets underway in Soelden in Austria Next Weekend. The International Ski Federation has published its look forward to the season ahead.
The 57th edition of the FIS alpine skiing World Cup season gets underway on 22nd-23rd October with the traditional opening Giant Slalom races in Soelden, Austria.
It ends in mid-March with the competition Finals in Soldeu, Andorra.
Olympic gold medallists Mikaela Shiffrin and Marco Odermatt are the defending champions ahead of a 2022/23 campaign that features 42 events for both women and men across 20 and 21 venues, respectively.
There a new schedule featuring four North-American stops and the first cross-border event.
Despite putting in one its best season’s the GB slalom team has been hit by reduced funding.
All GB eyes will be on Dave Ryding as he seeks to maintain his position as one of the best slalom skiers in the world.
Dave Ryding. Image © PlanetSKI
PlanetSKI spoke to him at the end of last winter, after another podium and before the cut in funding.
Image © GB Alpine Ski Team
The women’s calendar includes 11 Downhills, 9 Super Gs, 10 Giant Slaloms, 11 Slaloms and 1 Parallel race.
The men’s programme comprises 14 Downhills, 7 Super Gs, 10 Giant Slaloms, 10 Slaloms, and 1 Parallel event.
For the third consecutive season there will be no Combined events, a race that is under review to and may not be on the Olympic programme for Milano Cortina 2026.
The World Cup will take a two-week break with the World Championships in Courchevel-Meribel, France, taking place from 6-19 February.
One of the new features of the upcoming campaign will be the speed season opener from Zermatt, Switzerland, to Cervinia, Italy.
The event, the first across a border in World Cup history, includes four downhill races split between the men’s (29-30 October) and women’s tour (5-6 November).
After a 20-year absence, Kvitfjell, Norway, will be back on the women’s programme, while the German resort of Garmisch-Partenkirchen will host three men’s races (a Slalom on 4 January, and a Downhill-Giant Slalom on 28-29 January).
From this season, there will be two more North American stops in addition to the traditional events of Lake Louise and Beaver Creek as the World Cup will return to the USA resorts of Palisades Tahoe and Aspen at the start of 2023.
Here’s a guide to the things you need to know ahead of the new season.
Men’s alpine ski season 2022/23: Odermatt looks to emulate Hirscher
Odermatt starts the new season as the man to beat after topping last year’s overall rankings with 1,639 points, almost 500 more than second-placed Aleksandr Aamodt Kilde (1,172).
The Norwegian claimed the overall title two years ago and in 2022 came back from a severe injury to take both speed globes (Downhill and Super G).
Another skier to watch will be Kilde’s compatriot Henrik Kristoffersen: the 28-year-old, who last season finished in the overall top-3 for the sixth time in the last seven years, this summer started a technical collaboration with a new ski brand owned by his former rival Marcel Hirscher.
Since the Austria’s legend retired in 2019, no male skier has managed to retain the title from the previous season.
The new calendar, featuring a number of Downhills which is twice the number of Super Gs (14 vs 7), may favour pure ‘speedsters’ such as Beat Feuz, Dominik Paris, and Austria’s duo of Matthias Mayer and Vincent Kriechmayr.
Marco Odermatt celebrates his gold in GS at the Beijing 2022 Winter Games
Women’s alpine ski season 2022/23: Shiffrin chases fifth overall title
Shiffrin is looking for her fifth overall title, which will put her in second place in the all-time list of winners, only behind Austria’s Annemarie Moser-Proell with six crowns.
The American is one of the four active female skiers to have won the big globe along with Switzerland’s Lara Gut-Behrami (2016), Italy’s Federica Brignone (2020) and Slovakia’s Petra Vlhova (2021).
Last season the Beijing 2022 Olympic champion in Slalom gave Shiffrin a run for her money, but this year other potential contenders include Swiss all-rounder Michelle Gisin, Italian ‘speed queen’ Sofia Goggia and Norwegian ace Raghnild Mowinckel.
Other women to watch in the battle for the small globes are Corinne Suter and Ester Ledecka (Downhill), Elena Curtoni (Super G), Lena Duerr and Katharina Liensberger (Slalom), and Tessa Worley and Sara Hector (Giant Slalom).
Mikaela Shiffrin in action in Courchevel, France, during the women’s GS in March 2022.
Skiing rising stars
In a sport where experience is key for success, in the last couple of seasons new exciting talents have emerged.
The future looks promising for Winter Olympic powerhouse Norway: at 22 both Lucas Braathen and Atle Lie McGrath have already collected five World Cup podiums and two wins.
Alice Robinson had a season marred by several DNFs but the 20-year-old Kiwi is eager to recover the form that since 2019 has earned her three wins and 11 top tens in the top-tier circuit.
At 21 years old, Giovanni Franzoni of Italy is ready to make an impact at World Cup level after claiming the 2022 European Cup and two titles at last year’s junior World championships in Panorama, Canada.
Expectations are also high for 18-year-old Zrinka Ljutic, the reigning junior world champion in Slalom.
Tthe Croatian, who looks to follow in the footsteps of her idol Janica Kostelic, has already made her Olympic debut in Beijing and finished fifth in the last World Cup Slalom of the season in Courchevel/Meribel.
One more name to watch is 15-year-old Lara Colturi: the daughter of Italy’s Olympic champion Daniela Ceccarelli from this season represents Albania and is set to be the youngest skier to make an appearance in World Cup since Mikaela Shiffrin.
2022/23 FIS Alpine Ski World Cup calendar – Women
Information subject to change. Correct as of 14 October 2022, according to the FIS World Cup Calendar.
22 October 2022
Soelden (Austria): Giant Slalom
5-6 November 2022
Zermatt/Cervinia (Switzerland/Italy): Downhill (x2)
12 November 2022
Lech/Zuers (Austria): Parallel
19-20 November 2022
Levi (Finland): Slalom (x2)
26-27 November 2022
Killington (USA): Giant Slalom, Slalom
2-3-4 December 2022
Lake Louise (Canada): Downhill (x2), Super G
10-11 December 2022
Sestriere (Italy): Slalom, Giant Slalom
16-17-18 December 2022
St. Moritz (Switzerland): Downhill (x2), Super G
28-29 December 2022
Semmering (Austria): Giant Slalom, Slalom
4-5 January 2023
Zagreb (Croatia): Slalom (x2)
7-8 January 2023
Kranjska Gora (Slovenia): Giant Slalom (x2)
10 January 2023
Flachau (Austria): Slalom
14-15 January 2023
St. Anton (Austria): Downhill, Super G
20-21-22 January 2023
Cortina d’Ampezzo (Italy): Super G, Downhill, Super G
24 January 2023
Kronplatz/Plan de Corones (Italy): Giant Slalom
28-29 January 2023
Spindleruv Mlyn (Czech Republic): Giant Slalom, Slalom
25-26 February 2023
Crans-Montana (Switzerland): Downhill, Super G
4-5 March 2023
Kvitfjell (Norway): Downhill, Super G
10-11 March 2023
Are (Sweden): Giant Slalom, Slalom
15-16-17-18-19 March 2023
Soldeu (Andorra): Downhill, Super G, Team Parallel, Slalom, Giant Slalom
Total individual events: 41
Speed: 19 – Downhill: 11; Super G: 8;
Technical 22 – Giant Slalom: 10; Slalom: 11; 1 Parallel
Team Event: 1
2022/23 FIS Alpine Ski World Cup calendar – Men
Information subject to change. Correct as of 14 October 2022, according to the FIS World Cup Calendar.
23 October 2022
Soelden (Austria): Giant Slalom
29-30 October 2022
Zermatt/Cervinia (Switzerland/Italy): Downhill (x2)
13 November 2022
Lech/Zuers (Austria): Parallel
25-26-27 November 2022
Lake Louise (Canada): Downhill, Super G (x2)
2-3-4 December 2022
Beaver Creek (USA): Downhill (x2), Super G
10-11 December 2022
Val d’Isere (FRA): Giant Slalom, Slalom
16-17 December 2022
Val Gardena (Italy): Super G, Downhill
18-19 December 2022
Alta Badia (Italy): Giant Slalom (x2)
22 December 2022
Madonna di Campiglio (Italy): Slalom
28-29 December 2022
Bormio (Italy): Downhill, Super G
4 January 2023
Garmisch Partenkirchen (Germany): Slalom
7-8 January 2023
Adelboden (Switzerland): Giant Slalom, Slalom
13-14-15 January 2023
Wengen (Switzerland): Super G, Downhill, Slalom
20-21-22 January 2023
Kitzbuhel (Austria): Downhill (x2), Slalom
24 January 2023
Schladming (Austria): Slalom
28-29 January 2023
Garmisch Partenkirchen: Downhill, Giant Slalom
4 February 2023
Chamonix (France): Slalom
25-26 February 2023
Palisades Tahoe (USA): Giant Slalom, Slalom
3-4-5 March 2023
Aspen (USA): Downhill (x2), Super G
11-12 March 2023
Kranjska Gora (Slovenia): Giant Slalom (x2)
15-16-17-18-19 March 2023
Soldeu (Andorra): Downhill, Super G, Team Parallel, Giant Slalom, Slalom
Total events: 42
Speed: 19 – Downhill: 14; Super G: 8;
Technical: 21 – Giant Slalom: 10; Slalom: 10; 1 Parallel
Team Event: 1
Courchevel Méribel 2023 Alpine World Ski Championships
FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 2023 in Courchevel-Meribel, France – Medal events Schedule
6 February: Women’s Alpine Combined
7 February: Men’s Alpine Combined
8 February: Women’s Super G
9 February: Men’s Super G
11 February: Women’s Downhill
12 February: Men’s Downhill
14 February: Men’s and Women’s Parallel
15 February: Team Parallel
16 February: Women’s Giant Slalom
17 February: Men’s Giant Slalom
18 February: Women’s Slalom
19 February: Men’s Slalom
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