UPDATE: The Zermatt-Cervinia World Cup Downhill 2022: All You Need To Know

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Proposals were first revealed in May 2020 for Zermatt and Cervinia to host a new joint downhill course.

The race will become the longest on the World Cup circuit, be the first to traverse two countries and entirely reshape the FIS World Cup calendar.

Highest World Cup start at 3900m

The route will be almost three miles long, starting at the very top of the ski area at Gobba di Rollin near Klein Matterhorn at 3899m (marked on the map below).

It will start in the Zermatt ski area in Switzerland and then drop down towards Laghi Cime Bianche at 2814m in Cervinia, Italy.

The course has been designed by the Swiss skier, Didier Defago, winner of the 2010 Winter Olympic downhill, and experienced race director Bernhard Russi.

The top of the course will be smooth with long downhill curves. After around 30 seconds, skiers will hit the first big jump, before gliding to Testa Grigia where racers will cross the border into Italy.

From this point, it will feel more like a Super-G course, culminating in a jump ‘over a 65% slope with a distance of about 80 metres’.

Spectators at the finish should be able to view nearly 50% of the race.

No trees need to be felled, nor are any major structural changes be required. And of course there is guaranteed snow!

“I wanted to design a complete downhill with its own character. Physically, this descent should be a challenge due to the altitude where it will be run and given its length.”

Didier Défago

First European Downhill of the season

Although it was initially anticipated that the 5km course could be ready for its debut race as early as October 2022, with men’s and women’s races held on consectutive weekends, it seems that the race will join the FIS calendar after the traditional season opener in Solden, Austria.

While planning the race, Zermatt made it clear they did not the new race conflicting with Switzerland’s iconic men’s downhill run at Wengen in January.

Wengen Downhill at risk

The famous ‘Lauberhorn’ downhill race in Wengen is currently the longest on the World Cup circuit. It usually takes about 2½ minutes for the world’s best racers to cover the 4.4km course – that’s 30-45 seconds longer than it takes for most races.

Wengen has been a fixture on World Cup calendar with races taking place since 1930. However, the future of the race is unclear as there is currently a financial dispute between the organisers and the Swiss ski federation.

“We want these races…”

Heinz Julen, President of Zermatt Bergbahnen, is clear about their ambitions:

“The organization of a Ski World Cup underlines our forward strategy – we want these races and we will do everything we can to do so.”

Swiss Ski president Url Lehmann believes that a Europa Cup race in the first season could be followed by the World Cup the following winter:

“With this project, we would start the season earlier, taking pressure off the World Cup schedule and allowing longer stays in North America, or maybe we even come back in March.”

Key Stats

Start altitude: 3800m

Finish altitude: 2840m

Elevation: 960m

Length: ~4000m

Maximum Speed: 135-145 km/h

Maximum Gradient: 65%

Race Time: ~2 minutes 20 seconds