Zermatt to Propose New Course to FIS for World Cup Return in 2027/28

Zermatt intends to regain a place on the Alpine Skiing World Cup calendar. This time, the Swiss resort is proposing to stage the races not on the cross-border “Gran Becca” course, but on a new route in the Gornergrat sector. If the project is completed on schedule and approved by the FIS, the event could return to the calendar as early as the 2027/28 season.

The proposal concerns a men’s downhill race planned for March 2028. Zermatt and Swiss-Ski (the Swiss Ski Federation) hope that the race will take place entirely on Swiss territory. The organisers are therefore changing several key elements of the previous concept at once: the course, the timing and the overall approach to staging the event.

The new attempt follows the failure of the Matterhorn Cervino Speed Opening project. These races were intended as a spectacular opening to the speed-event season. The “Gran Becca” course began in Switzerland, crossed the border and finished in Italy, offering athletes and spectators impressive views of the Matterhorn along the way.

However, not one of the eight planned races took place over the course of two seasons. In autumn 2022 and 2023, the organisers were forced to cancel all the races on the glacier course running between Switzerland and Italy.

In October 2022, the FIS cancelled the men’s speed events. Rain and a lack of snow made the lower section of the course unsafe. Later, warm weather and heavy precipitation scuppered the women’s races, which were due to take place in November.

A year later, the reasons were different. Heavy snowfall, poor visibility and gusting winds made it impossible to hold the two men’s downhill races. The alpine skiers managed to try out the new course during training, but the weather conditions then deteriorated sharply. The women’s downhills also had to be cancelled, as persistent strong winds posed a danger to the competitors.

Image from a webcam in November 2023

Following consultations with athletes, teams and other stakeholders, the FIS, Swiss-Ski and the Italian Winter Sports Federation removed the Zermatt-Cervinia event from the World Cup calendar for the 2024/25 season. The repeated cancellations also led to a dispute. In 2024, Zermatt Bergbahnen announced that national teams would no longer be given access to its glacier training courses.

The organisers are now pinning their hopes on Gornergrat and spring dates. The project involves reconstructing an existing publicly accessible course in the ski area. According to available information, the work will cost around 13 million Swiss francs. Once upgraded, the route will be approximately 3.2 kilometres long.

The new course will be considerably shorter than the historic route on which international competitions were held until 1967. Its layout was designed by Olympic downhill champion Didier Défago with the involvement of Pirmin Zurbriggen.

Map of the Gornergrat sector’s courses

Zermatt residents approved the project at a general meeting in June. However, the construction work will affect the local landscape: the plan provides for the clearance of around 8,300 square metres of forest. This aspect is also being taken into account as the project is implemented.

An agreement between Zermatt, Swiss-Ski and the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) envisages a long-term programme. Under the plan, two men’s downhill races are to be held on Gornergrat every year in the second half of March from 2028 to 2034.

The agreement will come into force provided that the course passes FIS homologation and meets all the other requirements necessary for hosting World Cup events. The document also provides for national teams to regain the opportunity to train on the Zermatt glacier until 2034.

Swiss newspaper Blick reported that Zermatt has already been included in the FIS’s provisional calendar for the 2027/28 season. However, this does not yet guarantee that the race will take place. The organisers will have to complete construction within the निर्धारित time frame, prepare the course and demonstrate that it meets safety requirements.

According to Blick, the construction work is expected to be completed in autumn 2027. The first training runs are scheduled for January 2028. As a dress rehearsal, it has been proposed that a European Cup downhill event be held on the new course.

It is precisely these dates that are causing concern among FIS representatives. FIS Speed Events Race Director Hannes Trinkl is insisting on additional training and test runs. He also accepts that the event’s debut could be postponed until 2029 if preparing the course takes more time.

Representatives of Zermatt and Swiss-Ski take a more optimistic view. They believe that the planned period will be sufficient to complete the work, fully prepare and test the route before the competitions begin.

Swiss alpine-skiing stars Marco Odermatt and Franjo von Allmen have already voiced their support for the project. Nevertheless, the final decision will depend not on the names of the participants or the appeal of the idea, but on the site’s practical readiness. Safety, adherence to the schedule and timely homologation of the course will remain the key conditions.

Thus, after two seasons in which weather conditions scuppered all eight races on the “Gran Becca”, Zermatt is proposing to start the event’s story again. Instead of a glacier route crossing the border, there will be the Gornergrat course; instead of an autumn season opener, competitions in the second half of March. The success of this attempt will depend on how reliably the resort can prepare the new facility and convince the FIS that it is ready to host World Cup races.

Map of Zermatt’s courses

Photos: Zermatt Bergbahnen, Superski.ru

15:28 14.10.26