2023 World Cup Schedule Confirmed, Including Four U.S. Races
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This article originally appeared on Ski Mag
In May, FIS surprised American ski racing fans by announcing it would be adding two additional U.S. stops to the 2022-'23 alpine World Cup schedule: one race in Aspen, Colo., and one at Palisades Tahoe, Calif. With these additions, American fans now have twice as many opportunities to watch U.S. athletes race on home snow, since the annual World Cup calendar already includes stops in Killington, Vt., and Beaver Creek, Colo.
Following the 2022 FIS fall meetings in Zurich, Switzerland, U.S. Ski and Snowboard can now confirm the dates and specifics of the two additional U.S. World Cup races. Both will be added to the men's World Cup calendar, with the Palisades Tahoe races scheduled for Feb. 25-26 and the Aspen World Cup slated for March 3-5.
Palisades Tahoe will host two tech races for the men: a slalom on Feb. 25 followed by a giant slalom on Feb. 26. This will mark the first men's World Cup slalom event on American snow since the World Cup Finals were hosted in Aspen in 2017, and the first men's World Cup event held at Palisades Tahoe since 1969. Both races will be held on the same trail used in 2017 for the women's alpine cup races, a course described as one of the toughest venues on the women's circuit at the time.
Meanwhile, Aspen Mountain will host three men's speed events, with two downhill races scheduled for March 2 and March 3, followed by a super-G on March 5. Here, all eyes will be on American Ryan Cochran-Siegle, the Olympic silver medalist in super-G at the Beijing Games.
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"It's thrilling to see World Cup racing back in Aspen," said John Rigney, senior vice president of Aspen Snowmass. "Having the men on our iconic America's Downhill track will be incredible. World Cup Finals in 2017 was amazing, but we haven't seen this level of racing on that course in years."
While American women won't get a chance to test themselves at these new venues, they will still get to race in front of a home crowd at the annual Killington Cup, with a giant slalom set for Nov. 26 followed by a slalom on Nov. 27. This annual event is one of the highlights on the women's World Cup circuit, drawing a crowd of 40,000 to cheer on honorary Vermonters and slalom stars Mikaela Shiffrin (who attended Vermont's Burke Mountain Academy) and Paula Moltzan (a University of Vermont alumni). Shiffrin, the most successful slalom racer in World Cup history, has won the last five consecutive World Cup slaloms in Killington.
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"I personally can't wait to see if Mikaela Shiffrin will be able to hold on to her title for the sixth time or if a new face will claim the crown," said Mike Solimano, president and general manager of Killington Resort.
The addition of the U.S. World Cup stops is exciting news for American fans as well as athletes, though it does bring up more complicated travel logistics for racers on the men's World Cup circuit.
Per usual, the World Cup Tour will begin in Europe, with the men's tech circuit kicking off in Solden, Austria, while the men's speed circuit starts with the brand new Zermatt-Cervinia races in Italy/Switzerland at the end of October. Then the Tour hops back across the pond for the annual men's races in Lake Louise and Beaver Creek before crossing the ocean once more for the next Euro leg from December to February. But instead of staying in Europe for the remainder of the World Cup season, the men will once again travel back to the U.S. for the Palisades Tahoe and Aspen races, before ending their season back in Europe.
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As always, it's a jam-packed schedule, and weather events will undoubtedly come into play and potentially impact race dates. But for now, it's game on and t-minus 16 days until the 2023 World Cup officially gets underway.
2023 Alpine World Cup Schedule
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