Wengen Lauberhorn Ski Races Preview
Updated: Jan 12
Wengen (1274 m) is a car-free mountain village located on a sheltered, sun-soaked terrace, 400 meters above the picturesque Lauterbrunnen Valley. The fantastic surrounding scenery is dominated by the Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau massif. The holiday destination of Wengen is situated in the heart of the Bernese Oberland, 18 kilometers from Interlaken, the Lakes of Thun and Brienz, and close to the UNESCO World Heritage Jungfrau-Aletsch-Bietschhorn.
Grindelwald-First, Grindelwald-Wengen, and Mürren-Schilthorn make up the large Jungfrau Ski Region ski area, plus the Meiringen-Hasliberg ski area. In these four ski areas, you can enjoy more than 265 kilometers of pistes up to 2,970 meters.
The 93rd International Lauberhorn Races will take place next weekend in Wengen, Switzerland.
As part of the Men's Alpine Ski World Cup, the Lauberhorn Races will take place from January 13th to 15th including three events, one Super-G, one Downhill, and one Slalom race. The International Lauberhorn races are part of the Club 5+ Alpine Classics, a union of the leading alpine ski race organizers from all over the world. It was founded in 1988 upon the idea of world cup 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). The 1st International Lauberhorn Race Wengen took place in 1930. On November 28, 1929, along with the co-founders of the Swiss Academic Ski Club (SAS) in Berne Ernst Gertsch signed the founding document of the Lauberhorn Race. After the pioneering years (from 1924), with this race, the wonderful story of Alpine ski racing really began to unfold. A story that is marked, to a large extent, by Arnold Lunn and Ernst Gertsch who guided it through many perils. It was a long, difficult, and often bumpy road.
Wengen (SUI)
January 13th Super-G / Men, 12:00 (CET)
January 14th Downhill / Men, 12:30 (CET)
January 15th Slalom / Men, 1st run 10:15, 2nd run 13:15 (CET)
The Super-G on Friday marks the start of the three-day spectacle in Wengen.
For the first time in the history of the Lauberhorn races, the Super-G will also include the jump over the Hundschopf making it the longest World Cup Super-G.
The Downhill will be held on Saturday.
The start of the Downhill is located at 2315 meters above sea level on the Lauberhornschulter.
The view of the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau from the start gate of the Downhill in Wengen is unbelievable.
The Lauberhorn Downhill is the longest race in the FIS Ski World Cup circus. In order to win the Lauberhorn Race, the skiers not only need a lot of courage and be prepared to take risks, but also perfect technique and stamina.
The ski racing weekend will finish on Sunday with the Slalom on the Jungfrau / Mannlichen racecourse.
The track is considered one of the most demanding slalom slopes in the Alpine Ski World Cup: It has a lot of terrain changes, with the steepest section in the middle part of the slope being 72% and the flattest part just after the start being just under 4%.
Downhill Racecourse facts:
Start Elevation: 2315m
Finish Elevation: 1,287 m
Vertical Drop: 1028 m
Distance: 4480m
"You have this run that’s 2.85 miles long in the most beautiful place on earth and its all yours, see how fast you can go down it, see where you can grab your tuck & see how much fun you can have". US Ski Team athletes Bode Miller & Chad Fleischer take us turn-by-turn through Lauberhorn, one of Downhill skiing's most historic and challenging course.
Last season Marco Odermatt achieved a clear victory in the Super-G in Wengen. Five days after his first triumph in the Giant Slalom in Adelboden, Marco Odermatt outclassed the competition and brought the Swiss ski fans another home win.
Aleksander Aamodt Kilde finished in second place +0.23 seconds behind Odermatt.
Matthias Mayer rounded out the podium +0.58 back.
After finishing second in the Super-G, Aleksander Aamodt Kilde won the first of the two Downhills held in Wengen in a shortened Lauberhorn racecourse (start was brought down to the alpine combined start). He was the third Norwegian man to win a World Cup Downhill in Wengen, after Lasse Kjus (1999) and Aksel Lund Svindal (2016).
Marco Odermatt finished second behind Kilde by a mere 0.19 seconds.
Beat Feuz finished in third place, +0.30 seconds behind Kilde.
Last season sunny skies and great snow conditions greeted the racers for the Lauberhorn Downhill Classic, the longest course on the World Cup tour.
Vincent Kriechmayr, after being quarantined and missing both training sessions, played the role of the spoiler in the 2022 Downhill race in Wengen, edging Swiss hero Beat Feuz by 0.34 seconds.
Feuz, a three-time winner of Wengen's Downhill (2012, 2018, and 2020) was on the podium in the Lauberhorn a total of eight times (7 in DH and one in the Super Combined).
Third place went to Dominik Paris (+0.44).
In 2022 Lucas Braathen surprised everyone on a sunny and warm beautiful day in Wengen. The Norwegian skier, who was 29th in the first run, made up 28 positions overcoming a 2.04 seconds deficit and thus clinched victory after a dream second run taking advantage of the degrading conditions of the Männlichen racecourse and a challenging setting by Norwegian Trainer Johnny Davidson.
Daniel Yule finished in second place, +0.22 seconds behind Braathen.
Olympic Champion in Whistler 2010 Giuliano Razzoli finished in third place +0.29 seconds back.
Listen to the following Podcast if you want to know more about one of the Classic Downhills on the World Cup Calendar.