C World Cup Montafon © Gregor Lengler / Vorarlberg Tourismus
Time and again, Vorarlberg has hosted ski and snowboard World Cup races. Here, amateur skiers can also test their prowess on the slopes where professional skiers from all over the world race through the gates or zoom down the slopes into the valley. The conditions on the slopes are the main difference: racers ski on much harder and icier slopes than recreational skiers.
The excitement was palpable: after a break of 26 years, Lech Zürs am Arlberg once again hosted Ski World Cup races during the winter of 2020 and 2021. The “Flexenrace,” a moderately steep slope at the Trittkopfbahn cable car in Zürs, was designed especially for this occasion.
Every year the world’s top ski and snowboard cross athletes meet at the Hochjoch mountain near Schruns in the Silvretta Montafon ski resort for a major test of their mettle. For the first time in winter 2019, these top pros competed on a new 600-metre course that finishes above the Kapellrestaurant. Several blue and red slopes for amateur skiers pass through this area.
From 1988 to 1994, Lech was the venue of eight World Cup ski races. At that time, both the women’s and men’s slalom and super-G competitions took place on the slopes of the Schlegelkopf. For amateur skiers, the Schlegelkopf, which is clearly visible from the village, has several ski runs to enjoy.
From 1963 to 1983, Schruns-Tschagguns and the Golm ski area hosted the “Goldschlüssel-Rennen” (Gold Key Races) for women’s skiing. Today, skiers in the Silvretta Montafon ski resort race down the Kapellabfahrt slope from Hochjoch to Schruns and the World Cup piste (Slope 6) from Golm to Tschagguns in the valley below.
With a length of three kilometres and a 700-metre vertical drop, the Spielmoos ski run was, for a time, considered the longest downhill race course in the Women’s Ski World Cup. The start was on the Hochälpelekopf at 1,460 metres above sea level, and the finish was in the district of Geroldsegg. A downhill competition (1987) and a giant slalom race (1989) were also held here. Today, the 4.5-km “World Cup Downhill” ski run leads from Bödele to Schwarzenberg, provided there is enough snow.
Between the winters of 1978/79 and 1988/89, several women’s Ski World Cup races took place in Mellau. Since then, the Mellau ski resort has been connected to the Damüls ski resort to form one of the largest ski resorts in the Bregenzerwald. Two slopes in the Mellau part of the ski resort, the red slope next to the Wildgunten lift and the ski run into the valley, still bear the title “FIS race course.”
Riefensberg-Hochlitten is a small ski resort in the Bregenzerwald. One of its special features is a FIS certified piste, which is used time and again for races and race trainings. In 2014, shortly before the Olympic Games in Sotchi, the famous US racer Mikaela Shiffrin trained here. Her training paid off, as shortly afterwards Shiffrin won gold in Sotchi.
Those who ski the Olympic run in the Ifen ski resort in Kleinwalsertal may wonder where the name comes from. After all, Kleinwalsertal has never hosted the Winter Olympics. Garmisch-Partenkirchen, however, hosted in 1936. Because Garmisch suffered from a lack of snow at the time, some winter athletes trained at the Ifen resort. As a result, the ski run and the cable car were named “Olympiabahn” (Olympic cable car).
