Saslong

Saslong
Place: Italy Val Gardena/Gröden
Mountain: Langkofel, Dolomites
Member: Club5+
Opened: 1969
Level: expert
Downhill
Start: 2,249 m (7,379 ft) (AA)
Finish: 1,410 m (4,626 ft)
Vertical drop:    839 m (2,753 ft)
Length: 3.446 km (2.14 mi)
Max. incline: 29.6 degrees (56.9%)
Avg. incline: 13.8 degrees (24.5%)
Min. incline:   6.4 degrees (11.2%)
Most wins (M): Austria Franz Klammer (4x)
Italy Kristian Ghedina (4x)
Most wins (L): Slovenia Ilka Štuhec (1x)
Super-G
Start: 2,000 m (6,562 ft) (AA)
Finish: 1,410 m (4,626 ft)
Vertical drop:    590 m (1,936 ft)
Length: 2.365 km (1.47 mi)
Max. incline: 29.6 degrees (56.9%)
Avg. incline: 14.0 degrees (24.9%)
Min. incline:   6.5 degrees (11.4%)
Most wins (M): Norway Aksel Lund Svindal (5x)
Most wins (L): Slovenia Ilka Štuhec (1x)
Val Gardena is located in Italy
Val Gardena
Val Gardena

Saslong is a World Cup downhill ski course in Italy just above Val Gardena/Gröden. Located on the Langkofel in the Dolomites, the race course made its World Cup debut in February 1969.[1] The ski course is named after the mountain Saslonch (German: Langkofel, Italian: Sassolungo) with an adapted spelling.

Course sections

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Spinel

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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

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A forty-metre (130 ft) jump which takes skiers into the second compression.

Looping

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Muri di Sochers

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Fifteen-to-twenty-metre (49 to 66 ft) jump in the air, followed by a flat, yet intense, left-right-left gate combination ending at the 1st Mauer ("Wall").

Skiers jump approximately 35 metres (115 ft) 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 1st Camel Hump with top speed at 130 km/h (81 mph).

Gobbe del Cammello (Camel Humps)

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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 88 metres (289 ft) reaching a height of 4–5 meters in 2003.

Ciaslat

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Ciaslat with its corrugated ripples and bumps is where the race is often decided. In this technically very demanding section of the course racers face overall 17 different ripples.

Nucia (Tunnel)

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Skiers take the Nucia jump into the final schuss following the exit from Ciaslat.

Schuss

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The jump 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

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Downhill start
Upper section
Upper section
Intermediate section
Werner Heel
Bode Miller
Final section
Finish area

The first downhill winner in February 1969 was Jean-Daniel Dätwyler from Switzerland, 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.[2]

Men

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Event Key: DH – Downhill, SG – Super Giant Slalom, KB – Combined, PS – Parallel Slalom
No. Type Season Date Winner Second Third
51 DH 1968/69 14 February 1969   Switzerland Jean-Daniel Dätwyler France Henri Duvillard Austria Rudi Sailer
79 DH 1969/70 15 February 1970   Switzerland Bernhard Russi Austria Karl Cordin Australia Malcolm Milne
128 DH 1971/72 15 March 1972   Switzerland Bernhard Russi Switzerland René Berthod United States Mike Lafferty
135 DH 1972/73 15 February 1973   Switzerland Roland Collombin Austria Karl Cordin Austria David Zwilling
203 DH 1974/75 21 March 1975   Austria Franz Klammer Norway Erik Håker Switzerland Bernhard Russi
204 PS 23 March 1975   Italy Gustav Thöni Sweden Ingemar Stenmark Switzerland Walter Tresch
232 DH 1976/77 17 December 1976   Austria Franz Klammer Italy Herbert Plank Norway Erik Håker
233 DH 18 December 1976   Austria Franz Klammer Austria Josef Walcher Switzerland Bernhard Russi
267 DH 1977/78 18 December 1977   Italy Herbert Plank Austria Peter Wirnsberger I Austria Franz Klammer
289 DH 1978/79 16 December 1978   Austria Josef Walcher Switzerland Peter Müller Switzerland Walter Vesti
290 DH 17 December 1978   Norway Erik Håker Switzerland Peter Müller Canada Ken Read
323 DH 1979/80 17 December 1979   Switzerland Peter Müller Norway Erik Håker Austria Werner Grissmann
324 KB 11 December 1979  
Madonna di Cam. (SL)  
----------------------------  
17 December 1979  
Val Gardena (DH)  
Switzerland Peter Lüscher Liechtenstein Andreas Wenzel Austria Anton Steiner
348 DH 1980/81 14 December 1980   Switzerland Peter Müller Austria Harti Weirather Canada Steve Podborski
349 KB 9 December 1980  
Madonna di Cam. (SL)  
----------------------------  
14 December 1980  
Val Gardena (DH)  
Switzerland Peter Müller Austria Leonhard Stock Liechtenstein Andreas Wenzel
350 DH 15 December 1980   Austria Harti Weirather Austria Uli Spieß Switzerland Peter Müller
385 DH 1981/82 13 December 1981   Austria Erwin Resch United Kingdom Konrad Bartelski Austria Leonhard Stock
386 KB 9 December 1981  
Madonna di Cam. (SL)  
----------------------------  
13 December 1981  
Val Gardena (DH)  
United States Phil Mahre Liechtenstein Andreas Wenzel Norway Even Hole
417 DH 1982/83 19 December 1982   Switzerland Conradin Cathomen Austria Erwin Resch Austria Franz Klammer
418 KB 12 December 1982  
Val d'Isere (SG)  
----------------------------  
19 December 1982  
Val Gardena (DH)  
Switzerland Franz Heinzer Switzerland Peter Müller Switzerland Peter Lüscher
419 DH 20 December 1982   Austria Franz Klammer Switzerland Peter Müller Switzerland Urs Räber
458 DH 1983/84 18 December 1983   Switzerland Urs Räber Canada Todd Brooker Canada Steve Podborski
459 SG 19 December 1983   Switzerland Pirmin Zurbriggen Switzerland Martin Hangl Austria Leonhard Stock
461 KB 19 December 1983  
Val Gardena (SG)  
----------------------------  
20 December 1983  
Madonna di Cam. (SL)  
Liechtenstein Andreas Wenzel Switzerland Thomas Bürgler Italy Alex Giorgi
493 DH 1984/85 15 December 1984   Austria Helmut Höflehner Switzerland Conradin Cathomen Austria Peter Wirnsberger I
528 DH 1985/86 14 December 1985   Austria Peter Wirnsberger I Switzerland Peter Müller West Germany Sepp Wildgruber
530 KB 14 December 1985  
Val Gardena (DH)  
----------------------------  
15 December 1985  
Alta Badia (GS)  
Luxembourg Marc Girardelli Sweden Niklas Henning Switzerland Pirmin Zurbriggen
575 DH 1986/87 13 December 1986   Canada Rob Boyd Italy Michael Mair West Germany Markus Wasmeier
606 DH 1987/88 12 December 1987   Canada Rob Boyd Switzerland Pirmin Zurbriggen Canada Brian Stemmle
636 DH 1988/89 9 December 1988   Switzerland Peter Müller Austria Armin Assinger Canada Rob Boyd
637 DH 10 December 1988   Austria Helmut Höflehner Austria Patrick Ortlieb Switzerland Peter Müller
673 DH 1989/90 16 December 1989   Switzerland Pirmin Zurbriggen Switzerland Franz Heinzer Italy Kristian Ghedina
703 DH 1990/91 14 December 1990   Switzerland Franz Heinzer Germany Berni Huber Norway Atle Skårdal
704 DH 15 December 1990   Norway Atle Skårdal Canada Rob Boyd France Luc Alphand
733 DH 1991/92 14 December 1991   Switzerland Franz Heinzer Austria Leonhard Stock Norway Atle Skårdal
764 DH 1992/93 11 December 1992   Switzerland William Besse Norway Jan Einar Thorsen Austria Patrick Ortlieb
765 DH 12 December 1992   Austria Leonhard Stock Switzerland William Besse United States A J Kitt
801 DH 1993/94 17 December 1993   Liechtenstein Markus Foser Austria Werner Franz Luxembourg Marc Girardelli
802 DH 18 December 1993   Austria Patrick Ortlieb Switzerland Daniel Mahrer France Jean-Luc Crétier
870 DH 1995/96 16 December 1995   Austria Patrick Ortlieb Switzerland Xavier Gigandet France Luc Alphand
904 DH 1996/97 20 December 1996   France Luc Alphand Norway Atle Skårdal Italy Kristian Ghedina
905 DH 21 December 1996   Italy Kristian Ghedina France Luc Alphand Austria Josef Strobl
978 DH 1998/99 18 December 1998   Norway Lasse Kjus Austria Werner Franz Austria Hermann Maier
979 DH 19 December 1998   Italy Kristian Ghedina Norway Lasse Kjus Austria Werner Franz
1013 DH 1999/00 17 December 1999   Italy Kristian Ghedina Austria Josef Strobl Canada Ed Podivinsky
1014 DH 18 December 1999   Austria Andreas Schifferer Italy Kristian Ghedina Austria Hermann Maier
DH 2000/01 16 December 2000   cancelled; replaced in Val-d'Isère on same dates
SG 17 December 2000  
1085 DH 2001/02 14 December 2001   Italy Kristian Ghedina Norway Lasse Kjus Italy Kurt Sulzenbacher
1086 DH 15 December 2001   Austria Stephan Eberharter Austria Michael Walchhofer Norway Kjetil André Aamodt
1123 SG 2002/03 20 December 2002    Switzerland  Didier Défago Austria Hannes Reichelt Liechtenstein Marco Büchel
1124 DH 21 December 2002   France Antoine Dénériaz Austria Michael Walchhofer Austria Josef Strobl
1160 SG 2003/04 19 December 2003   Norway Lasse Kjus Austria Stephan Eberharter Austria Hermann Maier
1161 DH 20 December 2003   France Antoine Dénériaz Austria Michael Walchhofer Austria Hans Knauß
1199 SG 2004/05 17 December 2004   Austria Michael Walchhofer Austria Hermann Maier Austria Benjamin Raich
1200 DH 18 December 2004   Germany Max Rauffer Switzerland Jürg Grünenfelder Austria Hans Grugger
1235 SG 2005/06 17 December 2005   Austria Hans Grugger Canada Erik Guay Switzerland Ambrosi Hoffmann
1236 DH 17 December 2005   Liechtenstein Marco Büchel Austria Michael Walchhofer Canada Erik Guay
1270 SG 2006/07 15 December 2006   United States Bode Miller Austria Christoph Gruber Canada John Kucera
1271 DH 16 December 2006   United States Steven Nyman Switzerland Didier Cuche Austria Fritz Strobl
1308 SG 2007/08 14 December 2007   Switzerland Didier Cuche United States Bode Miller Liechtenstein Marco Büchel
1309 DH 15 December 2007   Austria Michael Walchhofer Switzerland Didier Cuche United States Scott Macartney
1347 SG 2008/09 19 December 2008   Italy Werner Heel Switzerland Didier Défago Sweden Patrik Järbyn
1348 DH 20 December 2008   Austria Michael Walchhofer United States Bode Miller Canada Manuel Osborne-Paradis
1384 SG 2009/10 18 December 2009   Norway Aksel Lund Svindal Switzerland Carlo Janka Italy Patrick Staudacher
1385 DH 19 December 2009   Canada Manuel Osborne-Paradis Austria Mario Scheiber Switzerland Ambrosi Hoffmann
France Johan Clarey
1415 SG 2010/11 17 December 2010   Austria Michael Walchhofer Germany Stephan Keppler Canada Erik Guay
1416 DH 18 December 2010   Switzerland Silvan Zurbriggen Austria Romed Baumann Switzerland Didier Cuche
1452 SG 2011/12 16 December 2011   Switzerland Beat Feuz United States Bode Miller Norway Kjetil Jansrud
DH 17 December 2011   cancelled after 21 skiers due to strong winds; replaced on 3 February 2012
1497 SG 2012/13 14 December 2012   Norway Aksel Lund Svindal Italy Matteo Marsaglia Italy Werner Heel
1498 DH 15 December 2012   United States Steven Nyman Slovenia Rok Perko Canada Erik Guay
1531 SG 2013/14 20 December 2013   Norway Aksel Lund Svindal Canada Jan Hudec France Adrien Théaux
1532 DH 21 December 2013   Canada Erik Guay Norway Kjetil Jansrud France Johan Clarey
1565 DH 2014/15 19 December 2014   United States Steven Nyman Norway Kjetil Jansrud Italy Dominik Paris
1566 SG 20 December 2014   Norway Kjetil Jansrud Italy Dominik Paris Austria Hannes Reichelt
1601 DH 2015/16 18 December 2015   Norway Aksel Lund Svindal Norway Kjetil Jansrud Norway Aleksander Aamodt Kilde
1602 SG 19 December 2015   Norway Aksel Lund Svindal France Guillermo Fayed Norway Kjetil Jansrud
1644 SG 2016/17 16 December 2016   Norway Kjetil Jansrud Norway Aleksander Aamodt Kilde Canada Erik Guay
1645 DH 17 December 2016   Austria Max Franz Norway Aksel Lund Svindal United States Steven Nyman
1681 SG 2017/18 15 December 2017   Germany Josef Ferstl Austria Max Franz Austria Matthias Mayer
1682 DH 16 December 2017   Norway Aksel Lund Svindal Norway Kjetil Jansrud Austria Max Franz
1716 SG 2018/19 14 December 2018   Norway Aksel Lund Svindal Italy Christof Innerhofer Norway Kjetil Jansrud
1717 DH 15 December 2018   Norway Aleksander Aamodt Kilde Austria Max Franz Switzerland Beat Feuz
1757 SG 2019/20 20 December 2019   Austria Vincent Kriechmayr Norway Kjetil Jansrud Germany Thomas Dreßen
DH 21 December 2019   heavy snowfall; replaced in Bormio on 27 December 2019
1789 SG 2020/21 18 December 2020   Norway Aleksander Aamodt Kilde Switzerland Mauro Caviezel Norway Kjetil Jansrud
1790 DH 19 December 2020   Norway Aleksander Aamodt Kilde United States Ryan Cochran-Siegle Switzerland Beat Feuz
1826 SG 2021/22 17 December 2021   Norway Aleksander Aamodt Kilde Austria Matthias Mayer Austria Vincent Kriechmayr
1827 DH 18 December 2021   United States Bryce Bennett Austria Otmar Striedinger  Switzerland  Niels Hintermann
1862 DH 2022/23 15 December 2022   Austria Vincent Kriechmayr  Switzerland  Marco Odermatt Austria Matthias Mayer
SG 16 December 2022   cancelled due to bad weather conditions.
1863 DH 17 December 2022   Norway Aleksander Aamodt Kilde France Johan Clarey Italy Mattia Casse

 World Championships, also counted for World Cup. 
 Not part of classic Saslong competition. It only replaced Lake Louise (2001), Beaver Creek (2022) 

Women

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No. Type Season Date Winner Second Third
1611 DH 2018/19 18 December 2018   Slovenia Ilka Štuhec Liechtenstein Tina Weirather
Austria Nicole Schmidhofer
1612 SG 19 December 2018   Slovenia Ilka Štuhec Italy Nicol Delago Austria Ramona Siebenhofer

Club5+

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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.[3]

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.[4]

References

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  1. ^ "Facts & Infos of race-slope". saslong.org. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
  2. ^ "Spet Thöni (page 9)" (in Slovenian). Delo. 24 March 1975.
  3. ^ "Srečko Medven predsednik elitnega združenje (page 9)" (in Slovenian). Naše novice. June 2010.
  4. ^ "Club5+ workshop in Adelboden". saslong.org. 23 October 2021.
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46°33′22″N 11°43′48″E / 46.556°N 11.73°E / 46.556; 11.73