Adelboden Alpine Ski World Cup Races Preview
Updated: Jan 6
After the Night Slalom in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, the Men’s tour heads to Adelboden, Switzerland, for a Giant Slalom race on Saturday, followed by a Slalom on Sunday.
Adelboden is a Swiss Alpine village in the Bernese Oberland region. It’s known for the ski resort of Adelboden-Lenk, host of the FIS Ski World Cup.
Adelboden-Lenk is one of the largest and most attractive snow sports regions in Switzerland. 72 high-performance transport facilities provide access to a piste network of just over 210 kilometers.
The Alpine Ski World Cup Adelboden on the Chuenisbärgli Mountain will take place on Saturday with the Giant Slalom and on Sunday with the Slalom. The event is officially recognised as one of the "Swiss Top Sport" events, and one of Switzerland's fourteen foremost sporting attractions. Adelboden is also part of the the Club 5+ Alpine Classics, a union of the leading alpine ski race organizers from all over the world. It was founded 1988 upon an idea of worldcup founder and sports journalist Serge Lang. Charter members had been the "Five Downhill classic sites in the Alps", Gardena/Gröden (ITA), Garmisch (GER), Kitzbühel (AUT), Wengen (SUI), Val d’Isere (FRA).
Adelboden, Wengen, and Kitzbühel are the only venues which have been part of the World Cup circuit since its foundation in 1967.
Adelboden's World Cup Hill "Chuenisbärgli" is one of the classics of the Ski World Cup and the home of the world’s most challenging Giant Slalom run. The Zielhang section, the extreme steepness (60%) of the track is a challenge even for the best in the world.
Austrian Marcel Hirscher won nine times in Adelboden (5 Slalom and 4 Giant Slalom).
In 2019 the Giant Slalom in Adelboden was a super exciting race, full of goosebumps moments with Marcel Hirscher at the end grabbing a 4th win in this discipline on the Chuenisbärgli ahead of Henrik Kristoffersen and Thomas Fanara.
On January 13, 2019 the Slalom showdown from Adelboden took place under continuous snowfall but whatever the conditions, Marcel Hirscher mastered the Chuenisbärgli once again. He took his 9th World Cup win in Adelboden ahead of Clément Noel and Henrik Kristoffersen.
Racecourse facts:
Start Elevation: 1730 m (Giant Slalom), 1513 (Slalom)
Finish Elevation: 1310 m (Giant Slalom), 1302 (Slalom)
Vertical Drop: 420 m (Giant Slalom), 211 (Slalom)
Distance: 1290 m (Giant Slalom), 622 (Slalom)
Max. slope: 60 %
Average slope: 30%
Adelboden (SUI)
January 7th Giant Slalom / Men. 1st run 10:30 - 2nd run 13:30 CET
January 8th Slalom / Men. 1st run 10:30 - 2nd run 13:30 CET
Last season Marco Odermatt celebrated his fourth victory in the fifth Giant Slalom of the season in an impressive manner on a slope that was even more icy and treacherous than in previous years. The 24-year-old Swiss, who was leading the race after the first run, outclassed the competition and won despite a mistake in the last section of the course with a clear lead of 0.48 seconds.
Manuel Feller finished in second place (+0.48) after setting the best time in the second run thanks to his extremely dynamic ride of the demanding Chuenisbärgli racecourse.
Alexis Pinturault finished in third place, 0.54 seconds back.
Last season the Slalom in Adelboden was an amazing race. With 24 racers finishing the first run within a second, the thriller continued in the second one to end with a surprise winner.
With bib number 38, and after finishing in the 7th position in the first run, Johannes Strolz was able to end at the top of the podium ahead of his teammate Manuel Feller (+0.17 sec.). It was his first World Cup Victory and podium for the skier from Vorarlberg. Before Adelboden, the best result in the World Cup for the Austrian skier was a 10th position in Madonna di Campiglio in 2020.
After finishing second the day before in the Giant Slalom, Manuel Feller repeated the same position in the podium in the Slalom.
Linus Strasser (+0.29) rounded out the podium. He stormed from 14th to third place with the second-best time in the second run in the legendary Chuenisbärgli.