Next weekend, the last Women's Giant Slalom and Slalom of the Alpine Ski World Cup season before the Finals in Sun Valley will be held in Åre.
Åre has hosted the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships three times, the last one in 2019.
Åre first hosted the Alpine World Ski Championships for the first time in 1954.
In 2007, and 2019 again, Åre hosted the Alpine World Ski Championships.
The 2007 Championships made a permanent impression on Åre’s ski system and the village, as a new Ladies’ Downhill was built, commercial space doubled and a 130-meter-long tunnel replaced the bridge that once led the world championship slopes across the E14. The 39th Alpine World Ski Championships was a success for both the host and the Swedish team.
Åre also has great experience organizing Alpine World Cup races. Åre Slalomklubb and Världscupbolaget have organized more than 100 World Cup races over the years, with great success. Thanks to the now legendary Åre son Bibbo Nordenskiöld’s initiative, the Alpine World Cup was first held in Åre in 1969.
In 2024 Åre will welcome a race of the Alpine World Cup for the 110th and 111th time.
Are (SWE)
March 8th Giant Slalom / Women 9:30 CET 1st run 12:30 CET 2nd run
March 9th Slalom / Women 9:30 CET 1st run 12:30 CET 2nd run
Technical Data
Giant Slalom
Course Name: Störtloppsbacken
Start Altitude: 736m
Finish Altitude: 396m
Vertical Drop: 340m
Average Gradient: 31%
Slalom
Course Name: Störtloppsbacken
Start Altitude: 597m
Finish Altitude: 396m
Vertical Drop: 201m
Average Gradient: 29%
The village of Åre and its surroundings have a long alpine tradition and the tourist industry has been an important source of income for the village since the mid-1800s.
Interest in winters in Åre increased in the 1900s and the construction of the funicular, Bergbanan, in 1910 was Åre’s start as a winter resort. The Second World War temporarily stopped development, but during the 1950s and 60s Åre, just like much of the rest of Europe, started to recover. Åre’s true golden years began at the end of the 1970s and, thanks to Ingemar Stenmark and the "Åre Project", which facilitated huge investment in Åre, interest boomed in the ski resort.
Nowadays, Åre, a small and rural town located in the Jämtland region, amid the Swedish mountains, and with 1400 inhabitants, welcomes around 800 000 visitors yearly. Around 11,000 of Jämtland’s 126,000 inhabitants live in Åre Municipality. The county is about the same size as Switzerland (which has eight million inhabitants).
Last season Federica Brignone won a thrilling Giant Slalom in Åre. After finishing in third place in the first run, she mastered the second run setting the best time to win her fifth race of the season, the third one in Giant Slalom. The Italian skier finished with a lead of 0.33 seconds over Sara Hector. Lara Gut-Behrami rounded out the podium 0.40 seconds behind Brignone.
Last season Mikaela Shiffrin made her comeback in Are after a 6-week injury break. She was out of competition since she fell in the Alpine Ski World Cup Downhill in Cortina d'Ampezzo on January 26.
44 days after she was injured in Italy, Mikaela Shiffrin seamlessly continued her previous Slalom performances. The 28-year-old American went into the decision with a narrow lead of 0.02 seconds over the Swiss Michelle Gisin. Croatian Zrinka Ljutic is also just 0.11 seconds behind in third place.
In the second run, in a technical and turny course setting, she delivered a master class posting the best time to score her 96th World Cup victory, 83rd Slalom podium, 59th Slalom victory, and 6th Slalom win of the season. Shiffrin finished 1.24 seconds ahead of Ljutic and 1.34 seconds over Gisin.
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