Events in skiing

• World Cup series measure performance across a season; World Championships bring title decisions together in a time-limited major event.
• Alpine competitions include both speed and technical disciplines.
• Nordic events combine cross-country skiing, ski jumping and Nordic combined.
• The Four Hills Tournament is an annual ski-jumping competition at four venues in Germany and Austria.
• The Hahnenkamm Races have been part of the Alpine World Cup since 1967.
• Popular races and special formats add participation and spectator experiences to major federation competitions.

Winter sports range from a single World Cup race to championships lasting several days. To understand a competition, start with its format and discipline: a World Cup awards points across a series of races, while World Championships decide medals in a concentrated programme. There are also individual classics and open cross-country races, each with its own rules.

In the Alpine Ski World Cup, racers collect results through the winter in downhill, super-G, giant slalom and slalom. Each discipline has different demands: speed events are shaped by line choice and pace, while technical races require close turns and rapid changes of direction. Alongside the overall standings, each discipline has its own ranking. The Alpine Ski World Cup therefore highlights both consistent all-round performance and specialisation.

At the Alpine World Ski Championships, medals and world titles take centre stage. Rather than a season-long points table, the event concentrates the decisions in a host region that can use several competition venues. In Nordic skiing, cross-country, ski jumping and Nordic combined share one championship programme; the Nordic World Ski Championships showcase these distinct forms of the sport.

Some events become famous beyond their place in a series. The Hahnenkamm Races in Kitzbühel combine downhill on the Streif with other Alpine events in a distinctive setting close to town. The Four Hills Tournament takes ski jumpers across four hills around New Year. Its overall standings make every jump in the connected series count.

World Cups and championships are joined by events with regional or open formats. The Biathlon World Cup in Ruhpolding combines cross-country skiing and shooting; the Vasaloppet is a traditional popular cross-country race. In Zell am See, the Ski & Golf World Championship combines winter sport with a second sporting discipline. First held in 1922, the Vasaloppet now covers 90 kilometres from Sälen to Mora; its long distance makes endurance and even pacing central to the challenge. The Ruhpolding Biathlon World Cup, by contrast, is a stadium event with a shooting range and trails around the Chiemgau Arena. The Ski & Golf World Championship moves from giant slalom on the Kitzsteinhorn to the Zell am See–Kaprun golf course.

Venues differ too: downhill uses the terrain of an Alpine race course, jumping events centre on a hill, and cross-country races follow long trails through a landscape. To learn about the sports themselves, start with ski jumping or cross-country skiing.

Cross-country skiing and popular races bring endurance events to the trails. Our overview of cross-country and popular races introduces regional events. Freestyle disciplines are also part of the Olympic winter sports programme: freestyle and freeride events bring competitions in this field together.

Skiing's event history includes more than World Cups and traditional championships. The Sellaronda Ski Marathon is an Alpine ski-touring race around the Sella Group; the World Cup opener in Sölden traditionally starts the Alpine season with giant slalom on the Rettenbach Glacier. Ski-flying hills host the Ski Flying World Championships, while the Special Olympics World Winter Games bring together international snow and ice-sport competitions for athletes with intellectual disabilities. The Winter Universiade, now called the FISU World University Games, brings university athletes together across several winter sports. Interski represents professional exchange about instruction rather than competition.

At the Schwarzwald Cup in Schonach, Nordic combined meets a competition tradition dating back to 1967. The Kandahar Races in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, by contrast, are Alpine downhill competitions on a traditional World Cup course.

The Australia–New Zealand Cross-Country Cup is a FIS-recognised Continental Cup for Australia and New Zealand. The series brings individual cross-country races together in an international cup ranking.

Alpine Masters races place adult competitors in separate age categories by gender. Our guide to Masters ski races and age groups summarises current FIS rules and race entry.

The major race series show different sides of winter sport: the Cross-Country World Cup combines sprint and endurance, while the Ski Jumping World Cup measures distance and technique. Also on the calendar are the Biathlon World Championships, with ski and shooting events, and the development of city and parallel races in Alpine skiing.

The Biathlon World Cup in Östersund takes place at the compact national arena about two kilometres from the city centre. The city hosted the World Championships in 2008 and 2019 and has been selected to host in 2031.