Alpine Ski World Cup Races in Levi Preview
- Raúl Revuelta
- Nov 8
- 5 min read
Updated: Nov 14
The 2025–2026 FIS Alpine Ski World Cup Slalom season will begin on the 'Levi Black' slope in Levi, Finland, on 15–16 November. The Slalom Season opener will once again bring together the world’s best male and female Slalom skiers. Last season, the Men's World Cup Slalom returned to Levi after a four-year absence.
The first World Cup race took place in Levi in February 2004, marking a premiere on Finnish soil. Since then, the Slalom competitions held in the province of Lapland have been a fixture on the FIS racing calendar, making them the northernmost alpine competitions in the Alpine Ski World Cup. Since then, there have been 24 Slalom Alpine Ski World Cup races in Levi. Between 2020 and 2023, two women’s Slaloms were held on consecutive days, but since 2024, Levi reverted to the previous format of a Women’s Slalom on Saturday and a Men’s Slalom on Sunday.
It was during a slope inspection in 1996 that the idea of a Slalom World Cup on Levi's slopes was born. It was officially decided to build a new slope and lift to host the event. The opening date was set for the turn of the year 1999-2000. On New Year's Eve 2000, Archbishop Johannes inaugurated the new lift. It opened at 00:01 on 1 January 2000.
Kalle Palander's Slalom world championship at the 1999 World Championships in Vail was the final turning point in launching the World Cup project.
Levi hosted the first Men’s Europa Cup races in November 2000.
Finally, all the hard work paid off, and on February 28, 2004, the white circus of Alpine Skiing landed in the cold of Levi. The competition was held as a two-day Women's race. On the first day, local skier Tanja Poutiainen scored the first World Cup victory of her career at Levi's first World Cup event 20 years ago.
Until 2006, the World Cup was held at the end of February, when it was moved to November as the opening event of the slalom World Cup. As a result, two races were held in Levi in 2006. The Men's event was also on the agenda, so Levi was the venue for the opening of the slalom season.
The idea of giving the winner a reindeer as a prize was born in 2013.
Renowned for its snow reliability, World Cup Levi guarantees optimal conditions for skiers through its snow-making capabilities. Every early winter, teams from almost 40 different countries come to Levi to train.
Levi Program (FIN):
Saturday, 15.11.2025 Slalom / Women
11:00 LOC / 10:00 CET 1st run
14:00 LOC / 13:00 CET 2nd run
Sunday, 16.11.2025 Slalom Men
11:00 LOC / 10:00 CET 1st run
14:00 LOC / 13:00 CET 2nd run
Technical Data Levi Black racecourse
Start Altitude: 438m
Finish Altitude: 258m
Vertical Drop: 180m
Lowest gradient: 4 %
Steepest section: 62%
Average gradient: 31%
The Levi Black slope has the second-lowest finishing area on the Alpine Skiing World Cup calendar after the Olympiabakken in Kvitfjell, Norway (182 meters).
Levi Winners:
2022 Mikaela Shiffrin (USA) / Clement Noel (FRA)
2023 Petra Vlhova (SVK) / Mikaela Shiffrin (USA)
2022 Mikaela Shiffrin (USA) / Mikaela Shiffrin (USA)
2021 Petra Vlhova (SVK) / Petra Vlhova (SVK)
2020 Petra Vlhova (SVK) / Petra Vlhova (SVK)
2019 Mikaela Shiffrin (USA) / Henrik Kristoffersen (NOR)
2018 Mikaela Shiffrin (USA) / Marcel Hirscher (AUT)
2017 Petra Vlhova (SVK) / Felix Neureuther (GER)
2016 Mikaela Shiffrin (USA) / Marcel Hirscher (AUT)
2014 Tina Maze (SLO) / Henrik Kristoffersen (NOR)
2013 Mikaela Shiffrin (USA) / Marcel Hirscher (AUT)
2012 Maria Hoefl-Riesch (GER) / Andre Myhrer (SWE)
2010 Marlies Schild (AUT) / Jean-Baptiste Grange (FRA)
2009 Maria Riesch (GER) / Reinfried Herbst (AUT)
2008 Lindsey Vonn (USA) / Jean-Baptiste Grange (FRA)
2006 Marlies Schild (AUT) / Benjamin Raich (AUT)
2006 Janica Kostelic (CRO) / Anja Paerson (SWE)
2004 Tanja Poutianen (FIN) / Maria Riesch (GER)
Tanja Poutiainen was the first and only Finnish athlete to win the Levi Women's Slalom, triumphing in the race's inaugural edition in 2003–2004 ahead of Elisabeth Görgl and Maria Riesch. She was also on the podium in 2009-2010, 2010-2011, and 2012-2013.
Skiers from ten nations have won the Levi reindeer trophy, but no Swiss skier has accomplished this feat yet.
Mikaela Shiffrin has more victories in Finland than any other country combined.
Austria is the second-most successful nation in Levi, with seven wins. Marlies Schild has won twice, in 2006 and 2010. Benjamin Raich won in 2006. Reinfried Herbst won in 2009, and Marcel Hirscher went on to win three times (in 2013, 2016, and 2018).
Third place in the national rankings goes to Slovakia, with Petra Vlhova, who has won six times (in 2017, twice in 2020, twice in 2021, and in 2023).
Last season, Mikaela Shiffrin claimed her 98th Alpine Ski World Cup victory in Levi. She was once again in a class of her own in the Finnish ski resort. In Petra Vlhova's absence, the American achieved her eighth win in Levi. Katharina Liensberger and Lena Dürr rounded up the podium.
Since 2016, all 13 women's Slalom World Cup races in the Finnish ski resort have been won by Mikaela Shiffrin or Petra Vhlová. Shiffrin's eight Slalom victories in Levi (2013, 2016, 2018, 2019, twice in 2022, 2023, and 2024) is a new record for the number of victories in this discipline at one specific venue. Only Lindsey Vonn (14 Downhill in Lake Louise) has recorded more than seven World Cup wins in a specific event at a single resort among Women's skiers.
Shiffrin has only finished off the podium three times in her 16 Slalom World Cup appearances in Levi.
Clément Noël won the opening Slalom race of the 2024–25 season in Levi, setting the scene for an exciting men's slalom season. The reigning Olympic slalom champion returned to the top of the podium thanks to two sensational runs. This was his first win since Schladming on 24 January 2023. Henrik Kristoffersen and Loic Meillard completed the podium.
Levi, located approximately 170 km north of the Arctic Circle, is one of the largest ski resorts in Finnish Lapland. The village of Levi Fell is a small holiday resort that offers its guests a wide range of first-class services.
The Levi fell is 531 meters above sea level. There are some 50 ski slopes in Levi and the skiing and snowboarding season is particularly long, typically lasting from mid-October to the beginning of June. Levi has repeatedly been voted the best domestic ski resort in Finland.
Besides the 43 slopes and 27 ski lifts, there are 230 km of cross-country tracks and 880 km of snowmobiling routes.
More than 20,000 spectators are expected at the two races on the weekend and the organizers have put great emphasis on involving local schools and youngsters to bring them to the events.
Update 6.11.2025: The Audi FIS Ski World Cup races in Levi, Finland, have been confirmed following the official snow control conducted today, November 6, 2025. As scheduled, the races will take place on November 15 and 16, 2025.
Update 7.11.2025: Marcel Hirscher, who did not start in the Giant Slalom Alpine Ski World Cup opener in Sölden nearly two weeks ago, will also miss the Slalom event in Levi on November 16. The 36-year-old three-time winner in Levi currently feels unfit to compete after suffering from a viral infection.