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What is Super-G Skiing?

Originally posted on Powder | By Izzy Lidsky | Last updated Mar 25, 2025 1:24 PM ET

Alpine ski racing is broken into several different events with some skiers participating in multiple disciplines and some focusing on one or two. The disciplines include Downhill, Giant Slalom, Super-G, Slalom, and Combined. Different disciplines place different emphasis on speed versus technicality, but in general, alpine racing is one of the most technique-heavy types of skiing and ski racing.

In the simplest terms, Super-G is one of the disciplines of competitive downhill alpine ski racing. With more turns than downhill and less gates than giant slalom gates, super-G hits a sweet spot of speed and technique.

Austrian Raphael Haaser speeds past a gate at the FIS World Cup in Sun ValleyPhoto: Patrick T. Fallon/ Getty Images

What is Super-G?

Super-G stands for Super Giant Slalom and combines the speed of downhill racing with the precision of giant slalom. Similarly to a downhill course, super-G courses are made up of a number of widely set gates on a groomed ski slope.

During World Cup competitions, racers have 90 minutes to inspect or ski the course at lower speeds prior to the race. Each athlete then has one chance to ski out of the start gate and turn between gates as fast as they can for the best time. Skiers must make more turns in super-G than downhill, but are skiing at much higher speeds than in a giant slalom race.

Skiers use long (200-205cm length), thinner, more rigid skis with large turn radii for super-G, and wear skin-tight speed suits to increase aerodynamics as opposed to your average Gore-Tex ski outerwear.

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

What Makes a Super-G Course?

Super-G courses have certain specifications that distinguish them from a downhill course or a giant slalom course.

The vertical drop for a super-G course varies per category. For men, courses have a vertical drop of 350-650m or 1,150-2,130ft. For women, course vertical drop is between 350-600m or 1,150-1,970ft, and for children, drop is between 250-450m or 820-1,480 ft.

During Olympic races, FIS World Ski Championships and FIS World Cups, the minimum vertical drop is raised to 400m or 1,300ft for men and women. Courses are usually 30m wide but sometimes have narrower sections, terrain permitting.

On a super-G course, gates must be between 6m/20ft and 8m/26ft for open gates (gates with two poles horizontal to one another across the fall line) and 8m/26ft and 12m/39ft for vertical gates (where the two poles of the gate are parallel to the slope's fall line). The distance between turning poles of consecutive gates must be at least 25m/82ft.

Swiss racer Marco Odermatt competes at the 2025 FIS World ChampionshipPhoto: Ezra Shaw/ Getty Images

History of Super-G

During the 1982 season, the International Ski Federation (FIS) ran super-G as a 'test' World Cup event, where results had no affect on racer's current standings. It was approved by the FIS that summer and officially run for the first time during the 1982/83 season with a men's race at Val-d'Isère. The first official women's race took place a month later in Verbier.

For the first three seasons it ran, super-G results were added to giant slalom results for season standings. The event did not gain a separate event status for Crystal Globes until 1986. Five events were held for men and women during that season.

In 1987, super-G was added to the World Championships, which were held at Crans-Montana. The event then made its debut into the Olympic Winter Games in 1988 in Calgary.

Notable super-G competitors include American skier Lindsey Vonn, who took her 138th World Cup podium in 2025 and is one of the most decorated ski racers of all time.

Lara Gut-Behrami of Switzerland has won more than 20 World Cup super-G races as well as an Olympic Gold medal in the event. Austrian Hermann Maier is regarded as one of the best male super-G racers of all time with 24 World Cup wins and five World Cup titles as well as an Olympic gold.

This article first appeared on Powder and was syndicated with permission.

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