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)

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.

Val Gardena is located in Italy
Val Gardena
Val Gardena

Course sections

Spinel

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

Looping

Muri di Sochers

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)

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

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)

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

Schuss

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

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

Event Key: DH – Downhill, SG – Super Giant Slalom, KB – Combined, PS – Parallel Slalom
No.TypeSeasonDateWinnerSecondThird
51DH1968/6914 February 1969   Jean-Daniel Dätwyler Henri Duvillard Rudi Sailer
79DH1969/7015 February 1970   Bernhard Russi Karl Cordin Malcolm Milne
128DH1971/7215 March 1972   Bernhard Russi René Berthod Mike Lafferty
135DH1972/7315 February 1973   Roland Collombin Karl Cordin David Zwilling
203DH1974/7521 March 1975   Franz Klammer Erik Håker Bernhard Russi
204PS23 March 1975   Gustav Thöni Ingemar Stenmark Walter Tresch
232DH1976/7717 December 1976   Franz Klammer Herbert Plank Erik Håker
233DH18 December 1976   Franz Klammer Josef Walcher Bernhard Russi
267DH1977/7818 December 1977   Herbert Plank Peter Wirnsberger I Franz Klammer
289DH1978/7916 December 1978   Josef Walcher Peter Müller Walter Vesti
290DH17 December 1978   Erik Håker Peter Müller Ken Read
323DH1979/8017 December 1979   Peter Müller Erik Håker Werner Grissmann
324KB11 December 1979  
Madonna di Cam. (SL)  
----------------------------  
17 December 1979  
Val Gardena (DH)  
Peter Lüscher Andreas Wenzel Anton Steiner
348DH1980/8114 December 1980   Peter Müller Harti Weirather Steve Podborski
349KB9 December 1980  
Madonna di Cam. (SL)  
----------------------------  
14 December 1980  
Val Gardena (DH)  
Peter Müller Leonhard Stock Andreas Wenzel
350DH15 December 1980   Harti Weirather Uli Spieß Peter Müller
385DH1981/8213 December 1981   Erwin Resch Konrad Bartelski Leonhard Stock
386KB9 December 1981  
Madonna di Cam. (SL)  
----------------------------  
13 December 1981  
Val Gardena (DH)  
Phil Mahre Andreas Wenzel Even Hole
417DH1982/8319 December 1982   Conradin Cathomen Erwin Resch Franz Klammer
418KB12 December 1982  
Val d'Isere (SG)  
----------------------------  
19 December 1982  
Val Gardena (DH)  
Franz Heinzer Peter Müller Peter Lüscher
419DH20 December 1982   Franz Klammer Peter Müller Urs Räber
458DH1983/8418 December 1983   Urs Räber Todd Brooker Steve Podborski
459SG19 December 1983   Pirmin Zurbriggen Martin Hangl Leonhard Stock
461KB19 December 1983  
Val Gardena (SG)  
----------------------------  
20 December 1983  
Madonna di Cam. (SL)  
Andreas Wenzel Thomas Bürgler Alex Giorgi
493DH1984/8515 December 1984   Helmut Höflehner Conradin Cathomen Peter Wirnsberger I
528DH1985/8614 December 1985   Peter Wirnsberger I Peter Müller Sepp Wildgruber
530KB14 December 1985  
Val Gardena (DH)  
----------------------------  
15 December 1985  
Alta Badia (GS)  
Marc Girardelli Niklas Henning Pirmin Zurbriggen
575DH1986/8713 December 1986   Rob Boyd Michael Mair Markus Wasmeier
606DH1987/8812 December 1987   Rob Boyd Pirmin Zurbriggen Brian Stemmle
636DH1988/899 December 1988   Peter Müller Armin Assinger Rob Boyd
637DH10 December 1988   Helmut Höflehner Patrick Ortlieb Peter Müller
673DH1989/9016 December 1989   Pirmin Zurbriggen Franz Heinzer Kristian Ghedina
703DH1990/9114 December 1990   Franz Heinzer Berni Huber Atle Skårdal
704DH15 December 1990   Atle Skårdal Rob Boyd Luc Alphand
733DH1991/9214 December 1991   Franz Heinzer Leonhard Stock Atle Skårdal
764DH1992/9311 December 1992   William Besse Jan Einar Thorsen Patrick Ortlieb
765DH12 December 1992   Leonhard Stock William Besse A J Kitt
801DH1993/9417 December 1993   Markus Foser Werner Franz Marc Girardelli
802DH18 December 1993   Patrick Ortlieb Daniel Mahrer Jean-Luc Crétier
870DH1995/9616 December 1995   Patrick Ortlieb Xavier Gigandet Luc Alphand
904DH1996/9720 December 1996   Luc Alphand Atle Skårdal Kristian Ghedina
905DH21 December 1996   Kristian Ghedina Luc Alphand Josef Strobl
978DH1998/9918 December 1998   Lasse Kjus Werner Franz Hermann Maier
979DH19 December 1998   Kristian Ghedina Lasse Kjus Werner Franz
1013DH1999/0017 December 1999   Kristian Ghedina Josef Strobl Ed Podivinsky
1014DH18 December 1999   Andreas Schifferer Kristian Ghedina Hermann Maier
DH2000/0116 December 2000  cancelled; replaced in Val-d'Isère on same dates
SG17 December 2000  
1085DH2001/0214 December 2001   Kristian Ghedina Lasse Kjus Kurt Sulzenbacher
1086DH15 December 2001   Stephan Eberharter Michael Walchhofer Kjetil André Aamodt
1123SG2002/0320 December 2002      Didier Défago Hannes Reichelt Marco Büchel
1124DH21 December 2002   Antoine Dénériaz Michael Walchhofer Josef Strobl
1160SG2003/0419 December 2003   Lasse Kjus Stephan Eberharter Hermann Maier
1161DH20 December 2003   Antoine Dénériaz Michael Walchhofer Hans Knauß
1199SG2004/0517 December 2004   Michael Walchhofer Hermann Maier Benjamin Raich
1200DH18 December 2004   Max Rauffer Jürg Grünenfelder Hans Grugger
1235SG2005/0617 December 2005   Hans Grugger Erik Guay Ambrosi Hoffmann
1236DH17 December 2005   Marco Büchel Michael Walchhofer Erik Guay
1270SG2006/0715 December 2006   Bode Miller Christoph Gruber John Kucera
1271DH16 December 2006   Steven Nyman Didier Cuche Fritz Strobl
1308SG2007/0814 December 2007   Didier Cuche Bode Miller Marco Büchel
1309DH15 December 2007   Michael Walchhofer Didier Cuche Scott Macartney
1347SG2008/0919 December 2008   Werner Heel Didier Défago Patrik Järbyn
1348DH20 December 2008   Michael Walchhofer Bode Miller Manuel Osborne-Paradis
1384SG2009/1018 December 2009   Aksel Lund Svindal Carlo Janka Patrick Staudacher
1385DH19 December 2009   Manuel Osborne-Paradis Mario Scheiber Ambrosi Hoffmann
Johan Clarey
1415SG2010/1117 December 2010   Michael Walchhofer Stephan Keppler Erik Guay
1416DH18 December 2010   Silvan Zurbriggen Romed Baumann Didier Cuche
1452SG2011/1216 December 2011   Beat Feuz Bode Miller Kjetil Jansrud
DH17 December 2011  cancelled after 21 skiers due to strong winds; replaced on 3 February 2012
1497SG2012/1314 December 2012   Aksel Lund Svindal Matteo Marsaglia Werner Heel
1498DH15 December 2012   Steven Nyman Rok Perko Erik Guay
1531SG2013/1420 December 2013   Aksel Lund Svindal Jan Hudec Adrien Théaux
1532DH21 December 2013   Erik Guay Kjetil Jansrud Johan Clarey
1565DH2014/1519 December 2014   Steven Nyman Kjetil Jansrud Dominik Paris
1566SG20 December 2014   Kjetil Jansrud Dominik Paris Hannes Reichelt
1601DH2015/1618 December 2015   Aksel Lund Svindal Kjetil Jansrud Aleksander Aamodt Kilde
1602SG19 December 2015   Aksel Lund Svindal Guillermo Fayed Kjetil Jansrud
1644SG2016/1716 December 2016   Kjetil Jansrud Aleksander Aamodt Kilde Erik Guay
1645DH17 December 2016   Max Franz Aksel Lund Svindal Steven Nyman
1681SG2017/1815 December 2017   Josef Ferstl Max Franz Matthias Mayer
1682DH16 December 2017   Aksel Lund Svindal Kjetil Jansrud Max Franz
1716SG2018/1914 December 2018   Aksel Lund Svindal Christof Innerhofer Kjetil Jansrud
1717DH15 December 2018   Aleksander Aamodt Kilde Max Franz Beat Feuz
1757SG2019/2020 December 2019   Vincent Kriechmayr Kjetil Jansrud Thomas Dreßen
DH21 December 2019  heavy snowfall; replaced in Bormio on 27 December 2019
1789SG2020/2118 December 2020   Aleksander Aamodt Kilde Mauro Caviezel Kjetil Jansrud
1790DH19 December 2020   Aleksander Aamodt Kilde Ryan Cochran-Siegle Beat Feuz
1826SG2021/2217 December 2021   Aleksander Aamodt Kilde Matthias Mayer Vincent Kriechmayr
1827DH18 December 2021   Bryce Bennett Otmar Striedinger    Niels Hintermann
1862DH2022/2315 December 2022   Vincent Kriechmayr    Marco Odermatt Matthias Mayer
SG16 December 2022  cancelled due to bad weather conditions.
1863DH17 December 2022   Aleksander Aamodt Kilde Johan Clarey 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

No.TypeSeasonDateWinnerSecondThird
1611DH2018/1918 December 2018   Ilka Štuhec Tina Weirather
Nicole Schmidhofer
1612SG19 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.[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

46°33′22″N 11°43′48″E / 46.556°N 11.73°E / 46.556; 11.73