Bormio Set For Comeback On Confirmed Men’s World Cup Calendar

The 2017-18 men’s World Cup season officially starts on Sunday, Oct. 29, with the opening race in Soelden, Austria, and the rest of the World Cup calendar was approved by the International Ski Federation (FIS) in annual spring meetings last week in Portoroz, Slovenia.

With 39 total races across all disciplines in addition to the Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang, South Korea, in February, the men’s calendar for the upcoming season will take racers and fans from one corner of the ski world to the other. Along the way, athletes will battle for coveted crystal globes and Olympic medals.

After the season opening giant slalom down the iconic Rettenbach Glacier in Soelden, held one week later than typically scheduled in recent years, the tour will visit many familiar venues as the majority of the stops remain unchanged from seasons past with a few notable exceptions.

Yes, Beaver Creek has been confirmed for its usual early December races, and you can expect to see the fastest men on two skis battle it out down legendary slopes like Val d’Isere, Alta Badia, Wengen, and Kitzbuehel once the tour returns to Europe mid-December; but the return of one venue in particular is sure to send a tingle down many downhiller’s spines come the holiday season.

Making a welcome return to the men’s calendar are downhill and alpine combined races scheduled for Dec. 28-29 in Bormio, Italy. Bormio’s Stelvio piste is famous for its dark, bumpy turns, big airs, and physical challenge. The venue has not hosted World Cup racing since the 2013-14 season due to a scheduling dispute between FIS and the lift operations company Societa Impianti Bormio (SIB).

The race, held during the days between Christmas and New Years since 1993, falls during a high holiday period for SIB, and the lift company requested a race date outside that busy tourism time. Due to the already tight and inflexible scheduling of the World Cup season, FIS and SIB were not able to come to an agreement in 2014, and the traditional Bormio races were held at nearby Santa Caterina during the past three seasons.

American Downhiller Daron Rahlves was the 2005 winner in Bormio. Image Credit: GEPA/Thomas Bachun

Also new to the calendar is New Year’s Day parallel men’s and women’s racing in Oslo, Norway, at the fabled Holmenkollbakken Nordic ski stadium. Oslo is taking over the city event that was scheduled in Munich in the past but has been cancelled the previous two seasons due to lack of snow.

After the classic stretch of races in Switzerland and Austria in January, the Stockholm city event on Jan. 30 will be the last race held before the Olympic break.

For the entire month of February, the World Cup is on hiatus as the sporting world travels to PyeongChang, South Korea, for the XXIII Olympic Winter Games. Along with the traditional events of downhill, super-G, giant slalom, slalom, and combined, team parallel racing will make its Olympic debut as the fast-paced action of parallel competition becomes a medal event.

Heading into March, the usual final stops of the regular World Cup season will once again take place in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, and Kvitfjell, Norway, before World Cup finals are hosted in Are, Sweden, from March 14-18. The Swedish resort will make its final preparations ahead of the World Ski Championships slated there for February 2019.