Saslong is a World Cup downhill ski course in northern Italy, just above Val Gardena/Gröden in the South Tyrol. Located on the Langkofel in the Dolomites, the race course made its World Cup debut in February 1969. The ski course is named after the mountain Saslonch (, ) with an adapted spelling.
Franz Klammer and Kristian Ghedina won record 4 downhills and Aksel Lund Svindal record 5 super-G's.
Course sections
Spinel This section starts as a very difficult jump short after the start, into the steepest section (56.9% gradient), then virtual change direction in mid-air to compression.
Saut dl Moro A jump which takes skiers into the second compression.
Looping
Muri di Sochers This section starts as a jump in the air, followed by a flat, yet intense, left-right-left gate combination ending at the 1st Mauer ("Wall").
Skiers jump ca. directly to the 1st Mauer and have to sway to the right to the 2nd Mauer.
The jump on the 2nd Mauer contemporaneously serves as the entry into the flat section leading to the first Camel Hump with top speed at about .
Gobbe del Cammello (Camel Humps) The Camel Humps represent the most spectacular section of the Saslong. They were named by the late and former Austrian FIS TD Sepp Sulzberger. Uli Spiess from Austria was the first athlete to attempt and succeed in jumping all three Humps at the same time instead of taking each jump separately.
Since Spiess' premiere, skiers today mostly absorb the first jump (a.k.a. "Girardelli Line") and leap from the second over the third. The record jump belongs to Austrian skier Michael Walchhofer who leaped reaching a height of 4–5 meters in 2003.
Ciaslat This section, with its corrugated ripples and bumps, is often where the race is decided. Racers encounter 17 ripples in this technically demanding part of the course.
Nucia (Tunnel) Skiers take the Nucia jump into the final schuss following the exit from Ciaslat.
Schuss The last and finals section of the course starts with jump that owes its name to the new tunnel that runs below the Final schuss and is part of the new street by-passing St.Christina which was opened in 2009.
World Cup The first downhill winner in 1969 was Jean-Daniel Dätwyler (SUI), and this annual ski event is part of the prestigious Saslong Classic competition. Saslong hosted the World Championships in 1970, which also counted for 1970 World Cup season points and wins/podiums statistics.
On 23 March 1975, Saslong hosted the first parallel slalom in history, Gustav Thöni won in front of 40,000, beating Ingemar Stenmark in the final.
Downhill startUpper section 1Upper section 2Intermediate sectionWerner Heel (2013)Bode Miller (2006)Final sectionFinish area
Men + Event Key: DH – Downhill, SG – Super Giant Slalom, KB – Combined, PS – Parallel SlalomTypeSeasonDateWinnerSecondThird51 DH 1968/69 14 February 1969 Jean-Daniel Dätwyler Henri Duvillard Rudi Sailer79 DH 1969/70 15 February 1970 Bernhard Russi Karl Cordin Malcolm Milne128 DH 1971/72 15 March 1972 Bernhard Russi René Berthod Mike Lafferty135 DH 1972/73 15 February 1973 Roland Collombin Karl Cordin David Zwilling203 DH 1974/75 21 March 1975 Franz Klammer Erik Håker Bernhard Russi204 PS 23 March 1975 Gustav Thöni Ingemar Stenmark Walter Tresch232 DH 1976/77 17 December 1976 Franz Klammer Herbert Plank Erik Håker233 DH 18 December 1976 Franz Klammer Josef Walcher Bernhard Russi267 DH 1977/78 18 December 1977 Herbert Plank Peter Wirnsberger I Franz Klammer289 DH 1978/79 16 December 1978 Josef Walcher Peter Müller Walter Vesti290 DH 17 December 1978 Erik Håker Peter Müller Ken Read323 DH 1979/80 17 December 1979 Peter Müller Erik Håker Werner Grissmann324 KB 11 December 1979 Madonna di Cam. (SL) ---------------------------- 17 December 1979 Val Gardena (DH) Peter Lüscher Andreas Wenzel Anton Steiner348 DH 1980/81 14 December 1980 Peter Müller Harti Weirather Steve Podborski349 KB 9 December 1980 Madonna di Cam. (SL) ---------------------------- 14 December 1980 Val Gardena (DH) Peter Müller Leonhard Stock Andreas Wenzel350 DH 15 December 1980 Harti Weirather Uli Spieß Peter Müller385 DH 1981/82 13 December 1981 Erwin Resch Konrad Bartelski Leonhard Stock386 KB 9 December 1981 Madonna di Cam. (SL) ---------------------------- 13 December 1981 Val Gardena (DH) Phil Mahre Andreas Wenzel Even Hole417 DH 1982/83 19 December 1982 Conradin Cathomen Erwin Resch Franz Klammer418 KB 12 December 1982 Val d'Isere (SG) ---------------------------- 19 December 1982 Val Gardena (DH) Franz Heinzer Peter Müller Peter Lüscher 419 DH 20 December 1982 Franz Klammer Peter Müller Urs Räber458 DH 1983/84 18 December 1983 Urs Räber Todd Brooker Steve Podborski459 SG 19 December 1983 Pirmin Zurbriggen Martin Hangl Leonhard Stock461 KB 19 December 1983 Val Gardena (SG) ---------------------------- 20 December 1983 Madonna di Cam. (SL) Andreas Wenzel Thomas Bürgler Alex Giorgi493 DH 1984/85 15 December 1984 Helmut Höflehner Conradin Cathomen Peter Wirnsberger I528 DH 1985/86 14 December 1985 Peter Wirnsberger I Peter Müller Sepp Wildgruber530 KB 14 December 1985 Val Gardena (DH) ---------------------------- 15 December 1985 Alta Badia (GS) Marc Girardelli Niklas Henning Pirmin Zurbriggen 575 DH 1986/87 13 December 1986 Rob Boyd Michael Mair Markus Wasmeier606 DH 1987/88 12 December 1987 Rob Boyd Pirmin Zurbriggen Brian Stemmle636 DH 1988/89 9 December 1988 Peter Müller Armin Assinger Rob Boyd637 DH 10 December 1988 Helmut Höflehner Patrick Ortlieb Peter Müller673 DH 1989/90 16 December 1989 Pirmin Zurbriggen Franz Heinzer Kristian Ghedina703 DH 1990/91 14 December 1990 Franz Heinzer Berni Huber Atle Skårdal704 DH 15 December 1990 Atle Skårdal Rob Boyd Luc Alphand733 DH 1991/92 14 December 1991 Franz Heinzer Leonhard Stock Atle Skårdal764 DH 1992/93 11 December 1992 William Besse Jan Einar Thorsen Patrick Ortlieb765 DH 12 December 1992 Leonhard Stock William Besse A J Kitt801 DH 1993/94 17 December 1993 Markus Foser Werner Franz Marc Girardelli802 DH 18 December 1993 Patrick Ortlieb Daniel Mahrer Jean-Luc Crétier870 DH 1995/96 16 December 1995 Patrick Ortlieb Xavier Gigandet Luc Alphand904 DH 1996/97 20 December 1996 Luc Alphand Atle Skårdal Kristian Ghedina905 DH 21 December 1996 Kristian Ghedina Luc Alphand Josef Strobl978 DH 1998/99 18 December 1998 Lasse Kjus Werner Franz Hermann Maier979 DH 19 December 1998 Kristian Ghedina Lasse Kjus Werner Franz1013 DH 1999/00 17 December 1999 Kristian Ghedina Josef Strobl Ed Podivinsky1014 DH 18 December 1999 Andreas Schifferer Kristian Ghedina Hermann Maier DH 2000/01 16 December 2000 cancelled and replaced in Val-d'Isère on same datesSG 17 December 2000 1085 DH 2001/02 14 December 2001 Kristian Ghedina Lasse Kjus Kurt Sulzenbacher1086 DH 15 December 2001 Stephan Eberharter Michael Walchhofer Kjetil André Aamodt1123 SG 2002/03 20 December 2002 Didier Défago Hannes Reichelt Marco Büchel1124 DH 21 December 2002 Antoine Dénériaz Michael Walchhofer Josef Strobl1160 SG 2003/04 19 December 2003 Lasse Kjus Stephan Eberharter Hermann Maier1161 DH 20 December 2003 Antoine Dénériaz Michael Walchhofer Hans Knauß1199 SG 2004/05 17 December 2004 Michael Walchhofer Hermann Maier Benjamin Raich1200 DH 18 December 2004 Max Rauffer Jürg Grünenfelder Hans Grugger1235 SG 2005/06 17 December 2005 Hans Grugger Erik Guay Ambrosi Hoffmann1236 DH 17 December 2005 Marco Büchel Michael Walchhofer Erik Guay1270 SG 2006/07 15 December 2006 Bode Miller Christoph Gruber John Kucera1271 DH 16 December 2006 Steven Nyman Didier Cuche Fritz Strobl1308 SG 2007/08 14 December 2007 Didier Cuche Bode Miller Marco Büchel1309 DH 15 December 2007 Michael Walchhofer Didier Cuche Scott Macartney1347 SG 2008/09 19 December 2008 Werner Heel Didier Défago Patrik Järbyn1348 DH 20 December 2008 Michael Walchhofer Bode Miller Manuel Osborne-Paradis1384 SG 2009/10 18 December 2009 Aksel Lund Svindal Carlo Janka Patrick Staudacher1385 DH 19 December 2009 Manuel Osborne-Paradis Mario Scheiber Ambrosi Hoffmann Johan Clarey1415 SG 2010/11 17 December 2010 Michael Walchhofer Stephan Keppler Erik Guay1416 DH 18 December 2010 Silvan Zurbriggen Romed Baumann Didier Cuche1452 SG 2011/12 16 December 2011 Beat Feuz Bode Miller Kjetil Jansrud DH 17 December 2011 cancelled after 21 skiers due to strong winds; replaced on 3 February 20121497 SG 2012/13 14 December 2012 Aksel Lund Svindal Matteo Marsaglia Werner Heel1498 DH 15 December 2012 Steven Nyman Rok Perko Erik Guay1531 SG 2013/14 20 December 2013 Aksel Lund Svindal Jan Hudec Adrien Théaux1532 DH 21 December 2013 Erik Guay Kjetil Jansrud Johan Clarey1565 DH 2014/15 19 December 2014 Steven Nyman Kjetil Jansrud Dominik Paris1566 SG 20 December 2014 Kjetil Jansrud Dominik Paris Hannes Reichelt1601 DH 2015/16 18 December 2015 Aksel Lund Svindal Kjetil Jansrud Aleksander Aamodt Kilde1602 SG 19 December 2015 Aksel Lund Svindal Guillermo Fayed Kjetil Jansrud1644 SG 2016/17 16 December 2016 Kjetil Jansrud Aleksander Aamodt Kilde Erik Guay1645 DH 17 December 2016 Max Franz Aksel Lund Svindal Steven Nyman1681 SG 2017/18 15 December 2017 Josef Ferstl Max Franz Matthias Mayer1682 DH 16 December 2017 Aksel Lund Svindal Kjetil Jansrud Max Franz1716 SG 2018/19 14 December 2018 Aksel Lund Svindal Christof Innerhofer Kjetil Jansrud1717 DH 15 December 2018 Aleksander Aamodt Kilde Max Franz Beat Feuz1757 SG 2019/20 20 December 2019 Vincent Kriechmayr Kjetil Jansrud Thomas Dreßen DH 21 December 2019 heavy snowfall; replaced in Bormio on 27 December 20191789 SG 2020/21 18 December 2020 Aleksander Aamodt Kilde Mauro Caviezel Kjetil Jansrud1790 DH 19 December 2020 Aleksander Aamodt Kilde Ryan Cochran-Siegle Beat Feuz1826 SG 2021/22 17 December 2021 Matthias Mayer Vincent Kriechmayr1827 DH 18 December 2021 Bryce Bennett Otmar Striedinger Niels Hintermann1862 DH 2022/23 15 December 2022 Vincent Kriechmayr Marco Odermatt Matthias Mayer SG 16 December 2022 cancelled due to bad weather conditions.1863 DH 17 December 2022 Aleksander Aamodt Kilde Johan Clarey Mattia Casse1895DH 2023/2414 December 2023 Bryce Bennett Aleksander Aamodt Kilde Marco Odermatt1896SG 15 December 2023 Vincent Kriechmayr Daniel Hemetsberger Marco Odermatt1897DH 16 December 2023 Dominik Paris Aleksander Aamodt Kilde Bryce Bennett1936SG 2024/2520 December 2024 Mattia Casse Jared Goldberg Marco Odermatt1937DH 21 December 2024 Marco Odermatt Franjo von Allmen Ryan Cochran-Siegle1975DH 2025/2618 December 2025 Marco Odermatt Franjo von Allmen Dominik Paris1976SG 19 December 2025 Jan Zabystřan Marco Odermatt Giovanni Franzoni1977DH 20 December 2025 Franjo von Allmen Marco Odermatt Florian Schieder
Women TypeSeasonDateWinnerSecondThird1611 DH 2018/19 18 December 2018 Ilka Štuhec Tina Weirather Nicole Schmidhofer1612 SG 19 December 2018 Ilka Štuhec Nicol Delago Ramona Siebenhofer
Club5+ In 1986, elite Club5 was originally founded by prestigious classic downhill organizers: Kitzbühel, Wengen, Garmisch, Val d’Isère and Val Gardena/Gröden, with goal to bring alpine ski sport on the highest levels possible.
Later over the years other classic longterm organizers joined the now named Club5+: Alta Badia, Cortina, Kranjska Gora, Maribor, Lake Louise, Schladming, Adelboden, Kvitfjell, St.Moritz and Åre.
References
External links
FIS Alpine Ski World Cup – Val Gardena, Italy Ski-db.com - Val Gardena men's races