The FIS Alpine Ski World Cup is the top international circuit of alpine skiing competitions, launched in 1966 by a group of ski racing friends and experts which included French journalist Serge Lang and the alpine ski team directors from France and the USA. It was soon backed by International Ski Federation president Marc Hodler during the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1966 at Portillo, Chile, and became an official FIS event in the spring of 1967 after the FIS Congress at Beirut, Lebanon.
Giant slalom (GS) is an alpine skiing and alpine snowboarding competitive discipline. It involves racing between sets of poles ("gates") spaced at a greater distance from each other than in slalom but less than in Super-G.
Super giant slalom, or super-G, is a racing discipline of alpine skiing. Along with the faster downhill, it is regarded as a "speed" event, in contrast to the technical events giant slalom and slalom. It debuted as an official World Cup event during the 1983 season and was added to the official schedule of the World Championships in 1987 and the Winter Olympics in 1988.
Alberto Tomba is a former World Cup alpine ski racer from Italy. He was the dominant technical skier in the late 1980s and 1990s. At 182 cm and 90 kg, his powerful build was a contrast to the lighter, more traditional technical skiers who prioritised agility over muscle. Tomba was able to take advantage of the introduction of spring-loaded ski gates which replaced the older, solid gates in the early 1980s by using his power to maintain a faster, more direct line through courses. Tomba won three Olympic gold medals, two World Championships, and nine World Cup season titles: four in slalom, four in giant slalom, and one overall title. He was popularly called Tomba la Bomba.
Alpine skiing has been contested at every Winter Olympics since 1936, when a combined event was held in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.
Combined is an event in alpine ski racing. The event format has changed within the last 30 years. A traditional combined competition is a two-day event consisting of one run of downhill and two runs of slalom; each discipline takes place on a separate day. The winner is the skier with the fastest aggregate time. Until the 1990s, a complicated point system was used to determine placings in the combined event. Since then, a modified version, called either a "super combined" or an "Alpine combined", has been run as an aggregate time event consisting of two runs: first, a one-run speed event and then only one run of slalom, with both portions held on the same day.
The 37th World Cup season began in October 2002 on Sölden, Austria, and concluded in March 2003 at the World Cup finals in Lillehammer, Norway. The overall winners were Stephan Eberharter of Austria and Janica Kostelić of Croatia.
The 23rd World Cup season began in November 1988 in Austria and concluded in March 1989 in Japan. The overall champions were Marc Girardelli of Luxembourg and Vreni Schneider of Switzerland. Schneider established the record for victories in a World Cup season, winning a total of 14 races, surpassing the record of 13 established in 1978-79 by the great Swedish skier and three-time overall World Cup champion Ingemar Stenmark.
The 20th World Cup season began in August 1985 in Argentina, resumed in December 1985 in Italy, and concluded in March 1986 in Canada. Because of the South America events, this was the first time that the World Cup season had started prior to December 1. The overall champions were Marc Girardelli of Luxembourg, his second consecutive overall win, and Maria Walliser of Switzerland, her first.
The 19th World Cup season began in December 1984 in Italy and concluded in March 1985 in the United States. The overall champions were Marc Girardelli of Luxembourg and Michela Figini of Switzerland; both were first-time champions.
The 17th season of World Cup competition began in December 1982 in Switzerland and concluded in March 1983 in Japan. For the first time, the overall titles were both won by Americans, Tamara McKinney and Phil Mahre. Mahre won his third consecutive overall World Cup title; McKinney became the first American woman to win the overall title.
The 14th World Cup season began in December 1979 in France and concluded in March 1980 in Austria.
The 12th World Cup season began in December 1977 and concluded in March 1978. Ingemar Stenmark of Sweden won his third consecutive overall title. Hanni Wenzel of Liechtenstein won the women's overall title.
The 44th World Cup season began on 24 October 2009, in Sölden, Austria, and concluded on 14 March 2010, at the World Cup finals in Garmisch, Germany.
The 48th World Cup season began on 26 October 2013, in Sölden, Austria, and concluded on 16 March 2014 at the World Cup finals in Lenzerheide, Switzerland. The defending overall champions from the 2013 season were Marcel Hirscher of Austria and Tina Maze of Slovenia. The overall titles were won by Hirscher and Anna Fenninger, also of Austria. The season was interrupted by the 2014 Winter Olympics that took place from 7 to 23 February in Sochi, Russia, with the alpine events at Rosa Khutor.
The 49th World Cup season began on 25 October 2014, in Sölden, Austria, and concluded on 22 March 2015 at the World Cup finals in Meribel, France. The defending overall champions from the 2014 season - Marcel Hirscher and Anna Fenninger, both of Austria, defended their titles successfully. The season was interrupted by the World Championships in February, in the United States at Vail/Beaver Creek, Colorado. Combined events were not awarded as a discipline trophy.
Gran Risa is a World Cup giant slalom ski course in Italy at Alta Badia. On Piz La Ila mountain in the Dolomites, it hosted its first World Cup event in 1985.
Italy 
Ingemar Stenmark 
Hubert Strolz 
Yugoslavia 
Joël Gaspoz 
Markus Wasmeier 
Norway 
United States 
