FIS Alpine Ski World Cup

The FIS Alpine Ski World Cup is the premier international circuit of alpine skiing competitions, initiated in 1966 by a group of ski racing aficionados and experts. It was soon endorsed by International Ski Federation (FIS) president Marc Hodler, becoming an official FIS event in the spring of 1967. The inaugural World Cup ski race was held in Berchtesgaden, West Germany, on January 5, 1967.

The World Cup is an annual event, held in high esteem in the ski racing community, considered the premier competition after the quadrennial Winter Olympics. Many regard the World Cup as a more prestigious title than the Olympics or the biennial World Championships, as it demands consistent high-level performance across multiple disciplines throughout the season, rather than excelling in a single race.

The FIS oversees over 7000 events annually, including Alpine, Cross-Country, Ski Jumping, Nordic Combined, Freestyle, and Snowboarding competitions. The World Cup encompasses four disciplines: slalom, giant slalom, super G, and downhill, with the combined event utilizing results from selected downhill and slalom races.

The current scoring system, implemented in the 1991-92 season, awards points to the top 30 finishers in each race, with 100 points for the winner, 80 for second, and 60 for third, decreasing to 1 point for 30th place. The racer with the most points at the end of the season, typically in mid-March, wins the cup, represented by a 9 kilogram crystal globe.

World Cup competitions are primarily hosted at ski resorts in the Alps in Europe, with regular stops in Scandinavia, North America, and east Asia. However, a few races have also been held in the Southern Hemisphere. Since its inception, the World Cup has been hosted in 25 countries worldwide.

The World Cup season concludes with the World Cup Finals in March, featuring races in all four disciplines, as well as a team event. Only a limited number of racers are invited to ski at the Finals, including the top 25 in the World Cup standings in each discipline, the current junior World Champions in each discipline, and any skiers with at least 500 points in the general classification.