Wengen Lauberhorn Alpine Ski World Cup Races Preview
- Raúl Revuelta
- Jan 16
- 4 min read
From 17 to 19 January 2025, the 95th International Lauberhorn Alpine Ski World Cup will be held in Wengen, Switzerland.
As part of the Men's Alpine Ski World Cup, the Lauberhorn Races will take place from Friday with three events: a Super-G, the classic #Lauberhorn Downhill, and a Slalom.
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.
Since the start of the Alpine Ski World Cup in 1967, the Lauberhorn races have been an integral part of this racing Tour. Jean-Claude Killy won the Downhill and the Slalom in the first World Cup event held in Wengen.
The record winner in the Downhill is Karl Molitor, who celebrated six victories between 1939 and 1947. Toni Sailer won four times in a row from 1955 to 1958. Ivica Kostelić won the Slalom four times; Anderl Molterer, Guy Périllat, Ingemar Stenmark, Benjamin Raich, and Henrik Kristoffersen each won three times.
Switzerland with 74 victories (32 Downhill, 18 Slalom, 1 Super-G, and 23 Combined), and Austria with 74 victories (31 Downhill, 20 Slalom, and 23 Combined) are the most successful nations at the Lauberhorn.
Wengen (SUI)
January 17th Super-G / Men 12:40 CET
January 18th Downhill / Men 12:30 CET
January 19th Slalom / Men 10:15 CET 1st run 13:15 CET 2nd run
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 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 Traditional Downhill will be held on Saturday.
The start of the longest Downhill run in the Alpine Ski World Cup 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. 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: 4270m
Max. slope: 87 % at the Hundschopf jump
"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 won the first Downhill in Wengen, a shortened Downhill that replaced the canceled Beaver Creek event. He celebrated his first World Cup Downhill win ahead of Cyprien Sarrazin (+0.58) and Aleksander Aamodt Kilde (+0.81). With his victory, Odermatt became the first male skier to win a Giant Slalom, a Super-G, and a Downhill World Cup race in a single season since Didier Kuche achieved this feat in the 2009-2010 winter season.
After achieving his first victory on the discipline Marco Odermatt took the double win in the Lauberhorn. Only Cyprien Sarrazin, second (+0.59), looks to be able to threaten Odermatt's dominance. Before Odermatt, only Marc Girardelli won in 1989 two Downhill races in Wengen in the same year. Dominik Paris finished in third place behind Odermatt (+1.92).
Cyprien Sarrazin won the Super-G in Wengen and took his second win of the season by a respectable margin of 0.58 seconds over big favorite Marco Odermatt. The Norwegian Aleksander Kilde completed the podium one second behind.
Last season Manuel Feller won a thrilling Slalom race in Wengen beating Atle Lie McGrath by a mere 0.10 seconds. Henrik Kristoffersen finished in third place +0.21 seconds behind.
Listen to the following Podcast if you want to know more about one of the Classic Downhills on the World Cup Calendar.
Update 01.03.2025: The Men's Alpine Ski World Cup races in Wengen (Switzerland) were confirmed following the official snow control from today 3rd January 2025. As scheduled, the races will take place on 17th - 19th January 2025.
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