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What Is Alpine Skiing? Everything You Need To Know

Originally posted on Powder | By Izzy Lidsky | Last updated Jun 9, 2025 5:32 PM ET

In its simplest terms, alpine skiing is the type of skiing you'd probably describe if you were to try to tell a Martian about the sport. Technically, alpine skiing is just skiing downhill with your heels locked into bindings.

As it pertains to competitive skiing, though, alpine skiing is an entire facet of ski racing that constitutes several specific disciplines and has launched some of the biggest names in skiing to fame. Alpine ski racing is when skiers race down a snow-covered slope on skis in an effort to lay down the fastest time. Races are held in a time trial format as opposed to head-to-head races. Keep reading for more.

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Different alpine race courses. Clockwise from the top left: downhill, giant slalom, super-g, slalom. Photo: Dorling Kindersley/ Getty Images

What Are the Different Disciplines?

Downhill: Downhill racing is when racers have to ski down a set course on a predetermined slope with maximum speed and minimal turns for the fastest time. The slope's vertical drop must be between 800m–110m for male competitors and 450m–800m for female competitors. Speeds in downhill are known to reach 130km/h (80mph+).

Slalom: Racers ski down a course through gates, or two plastic poles set apart, for the fastest time. Gates are set between 4m and 6m apart. Skiers must race two courses, and eliminations take place after the first based on time. The lowest combined time across the two courses wins. Slalom slopes have a vertical drop of 180m–220m for men and 140m–80m for women.

Giant Slalom: Like slalom, giant slalom involves racing on a slope and passing through gates for time, but the courses are much steeper. Giant slalom slopes have a vertical drop of 250m–450m for men and 250m–400m for women. Gates on giant slalom courses can also be set between 4m and 8m apart.

Super-G: Super-G combines downhill and slalom/giant slalom. Super-G slopes are similar to downhill slopes (400m–650m for men and 400m–600m for women), but they have gates like slalom and giant slalom that racers must pass through, and racers must stay within course boundaries.

Alpine Combined: In alpine combined, racers make one downhill run and one slalom run, and the fastest combined time wins.

Breezy Johnson in a combined racePhoto: Klaus Pressberger/SEPA.Media /Getty Images

History of Alpine Skiing

Skiing emerged as more than just a military mode of transportation during the late 19th century. The first recorded ski competitions were supposedly held in Norway in the 1840s. The first International Ski Congress was held in Christiania, Norway in February 1910, and had 22 delegates from 10 different countries.

Skiing became more widespread and popular across Europe and the U.S. over the next several decades. The first recorded slalom competition was held in Mürren, Switzerland, in 1922, and the International Ski Federation (FIS) was officially formed two years later in Chamonix. In its inception, FIS was only responsible for Nordic ski disciplines, but in 1930, the FIS Congress decided to include alpine skiing, as well.

Prior to its inclusion in FIS, alpine ski pioneers Arnold Lunn and Hannes Schneider organized one of the first downhill and slalom races in 1928, dubbed the Arlberg-Kandahar. The competition hosted 45 races from Austria, Switzerland, the UK, and the U.S.

The first FIS World Championship alpine race took place in Mürren in 1931. From 1931 to WWII, ski races were held alternately at Arlberg and Mürren, before they expanded to Chamonix in 1948, Sestriere in 1951, and Garmisch-Partenkirchen in 1954.

Alpine skiing was first included in the Winter Olympic Games in 1948, where Henri Orellier took gold in the first men's downhill, and Hedy Schlunegger took gold in the women's. Giant Slalom was introduced to the Winter Olympics during the 1952 games in Oslo, Norway, where Stein Eriksen took gold for men and Andrea Lawrence came in first for women. Super-G was then added in 1988.

The FIS Alpine World Cup, as we know it today, was launched in 1966 and backed by the FIS during the Championships the same year in Portillo, Chile. The inaugural World Cup race was held in January 1967 in Berchtesgaden, Germany.

Alpine World Cup Scoring

The World Cup races are scored based on an assigned number of points to each place in a race. The system itself has undergone a number of iterations and changes throughout the years. As of 1992, the top 30 finishers in a race receive points of different values, which are tallied for an overall score.

The number of races throughout a season has also changed, but since 1992, it has ranged from 30 to 44 races, although most racers don't ski in every event. Bode Miller is the only racer to have competed in every World Cup race during three consecutive seasons from 2003–2005. As a general rule, more than 1,000 points are needed to contend for an overall World Cup title.

Lindsey Vonn.Photo: Christian Petersen/Getty Images

Notable Alpine Skiers

Some of the most famous people in the entire sport of skiing, discipline notwithstanding, are alpine racers. Some of the most well-known athletes in the sport currently include (but there are lots of very prominent, talented ski racers, for all those about to freak out that their favorite racer isn't in here):

Marco Odermatt: Marco Odermatt holds the men's record for the most overall points won in a season, most prize money won in a season, highest average points per race during a season and over his career, and most wins in a single season. Odermatt has four overall World Cup titles.

Mikaela Shiffrin: Mikaela Shiffrin is one of the most well-known skiers of all time. Shiffrin holds the women's record for most prize money in a single season, the most wins in alpine ski racing history (men or women), the highest average points per race, and the most World Cup wins overall (five) in a single season.

Lindsey Vonn: Lindsey Vonn is another name synonymous with alpine racing and fame. Vonn holds the most discipline titles overall and in a single season, most wins at one venue, both in a single discipline and across disciplines, and four overall World Cup titles. Vonn returned to racing in the 2024/25 season after a partial knee reconstruction.

Marcel Hirscher: Marcel Hirscher is an Austrian ski racer who has won an impressive number of medals over his 12 World Cup seasons. Hirscher has more overall World Cup titles than anyone else, with eight under his belt, seven of which were won consecutively between 2013 and 2019.

Bode Miller: As mentioned previously, Miller is the only skier to have raced every World Cup event during a season. Miller is generally considered one of the greatest male American ski racers of all time, with two overall victories and more than five victories in each discipline.