The 2026/27 alpine skiing world cup season opens at the end of October in Sölden, Austria, launching a packed international calendar featuring 94 total races across the World Cup tour and the world championships. Governing bodies and athletes alike face an extensive slate that tests depth across speed and technical disciplines from autumn through spring.
Opening Weekend Sets the Alpine Pace in Sölden
Following the October opener, the tour moves into November with stops in Levi, Finland, and Gurgl, Austria, where men and women are scheduled to visit.
The men’s World Cup calendar spans 43 races, with the slalom standing as the most frequent discipline at 13 events. Defending the overall men’s title requires overcoming Swiss dominator Marco Odermatt, who secured the large crystal globe ahead of Brazil’s Lucas Pinheiro Braathen by roughly 500 points in the previous standings. On the women’s side, 40 races make up the circuit, featuring 12 giant slaloms and 10 slaloms. Mikaela Shiffrin engaged in a close duel for the overall title with Germany’s Emma Aicher.
Racing Circuits Move to North America and Europe
Late November and December send the racing circuits overseas. The men’s tour stops in Copper Mountain and Beaver Creek in the United States, while the women undertake an extended North American swing through Killington in the United States, Tremblant in Canada, and a return to Beaver Creek.
The calendar also incorporates venue shifts and new additions. Gosau in Upper Austria stages women’s races shortly after Christmas, taking over a slot historically tied to Lienz. Meanwhile, Flachau introduces a new double-header format in early January, hosting slalom and giant slalom competitions at Snow Space Salzburg.
Medaillenkampf at the Crans-Montana World Championships
The centerpiece of the 2026/27 campaign runs from February 1 to February 14, 2027, as Crans-Montana, Switzerland, hosts the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships. The championship program includes 11 medal events, highlighted by a mixed team parallel competition and team combined events for both genders, pairing athletes in downhill and slalom duels.
Following the championship break, the World Cup circuit resumes in late February. Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Germany welcomes both men and women for speed events, while Lenzerheide and Saalbach return to the calendar as rotating hosts. March brings a World Cup premiere for Narvik in Norway—designated as the host for the 2029 World Championships—alongside technical races for men in Åre, Sweden.
Sun Valley Hosts the World Cup Finals
The season concludes in the United States, with Sun Valley, Idaho, staging the World Cup finals for the second time following its 2025 debut. Competition opens during the first weekend with speed races, followed midweek by the decisive technical events that crown the final discipline champions and overall globe winners.
