The 2024-2025 Alpine Ski World Cup season is just around the corner. After months of waiting, the skiing circus will be back in 60 days. Sölden (Tirol, Austria) again will host the first Races of the season. As every year, the Women's Giant Slalom opens the new World Cup.
In 1993 Sölden held the first World Cup Race. The 1994-1995 World Cup season began in November 1994 in Park City, USA, and in December 1994 in Tignes, France for Men.
After the premiere in 1993, it was decided that Sölden would alternate with Saas-Fee and Tignes as the venue for the opening of the Alpine Skiing World Cup. Saas-Fee, who had organized a Slalom and a Giant Slalom in January 1988, decided to give up organizing another World Cup event. Tignes (1995, 1997, and 1999) and Sölden (1996, and 1998) alternated until Tignes' step down.
Since the 2000/2001 season, the Women's and Men's Ski World Cup has traditionally been held on the Rettenbach Glacier in Sölden.
The races of the Alpine Ski World Cup Season Opener Sölden will be held on 26 and 27 October. Last season Sölden celebrated 30 years of the Alpine Ski World Cup Season Opener on the Rettenbach Glacier.
Alpine Ski World Cup Season Opener Program:
Saturday, 26.10.2024
10:00 CET 1st run Women‘s Giant Slalom
13:00 CET 2nd run Women‘s Giant Slalom
Sunday, 29.10.2024
10:00 CET 1st run Men‘s Giant Slalom
13:00 CET 2nd run Men‘s Giant Slalom
Last season Lara Gut-Behrami won the Alpine Ski World Cup Opener in Sölden ahead of first-run leader Federica Brignone (+ 0.02) and Petra Vlhova (+0.14).
Sölden is a very modern and popular ski resort in the Ötztal valley of Tirol, Austria. The main village of Sölden is located at 1,368 meters above sea level.
Sölden offers the marvelous BIG 3, Austria's only ski area with 3 mountains higher than 3,000 meters which are accessible by lifts. From November through May, thanks to the ski area's high-Alpine location (1,350 - 3,250 m) and the modern snowmaking system (covering all slopes lower than 2,200 m) snow is guaranteed in Sölden.
Bergbahnen Sölden ranks among the leading mountain lift companies in the Alps and is one of the largest employers in the Tirolean Oberland region.
The cable car company owns and operates the 31 lifts in the Sölden ski area, 6 mountain restaurants (including the Ice Q gourmet restaurant at 3048 m. in the Gaislachkogl summit), as well as the 5* Hotel Das Central in Sölden, and the Rastland Nassereith.
In 2023 the cable car company celebrates its 75th anniversary. Sölden has changed a lot between the first one-person chairlift in Hochsölden in 1948 and the ultramodern James Bond Adventure World in 2018.
With a surface covering more than 20 km² and 34.5 km of pistes, Sölden's glacier ski area ranks among the largest in Tirol and all of Austria. Located between 2675 and 3250 meters, the scenic mountain ski areas of Rettenbach and Tiefenbachferner are connected by a ski tunnel.
Eight modern mountain lifts take skiers up the glacier ski mountains. The base lift stations at the Rettenbach and Tiefenbach Glaciers can be also easily reached by car or bus via the highest Panoramic Road in the Eastern Alps.
On spectacular bends and steep ascents, you will quickly gain altitude on this connecting toll road (free of charge with a valid ski pass). An average gradient of 11% awaits drivers on the 13 km-long route to Rettenbach Glacier. If you also want to visit Tiefenbach Glacier you have to cross the mountain through Europe's highest road tunnel (1,8 km), passing also the highest point of the glacier road (2830 m).
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