| Saslong | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Place: |  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): |  Franz Klammer (4x)Kristian Ghedina (4x) |
| Most wins (L): |  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): |  Aksel Lund Svindal (5x) |
| Most wins (L): | Ilka Štuhec (1x) |
Saslong is aWorld Cupdownhill ski course inItaly just aboveVal Gardena/Gröden. Located on theLangkofel in theDolomites, the race course made its World Cup debut in February1969.[1] The ski course is named after the mountainSaslonch (German:Langkofel,Italian:Sassolungo) with an adapted spelling.
Franz Klammer andKristian Ghedina won record 4 downhills andAksel Lund Svindal record 5 super-G's.
This section starts as a very difficult jump short after the start, into the steepest section (56.9%gradient), then virtual change direction in mid-air to compression.
A forty-metre (130 ft) jump which takes skiers into the second compression.
This section starts as a 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 ca. 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 first Camel Hump with top speed at about 130 km/h (81 mph).
TheCamel 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.
This section its corrugated ripples and bumps is where the race is often decided. In this extremely and technically very demanding section of the course racers face overall 17 different ripples.
Skiers take the Nucia jump into the final schuss following the exit from Ciaslat.
The last and finals section of the course starts with jump that 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.
The first downhill winner in1969 wasJean-Daniel Dätwyler (SUI), and this annual ski event is part of the prestigious Saslong Classic competition. Saslong hosted theWorld Championships in1970, which also counted for1970 World Cup season points and wins/podiums statistics.
On 23 March1975, Saslong hosted the first parallel slalom in history,Gustav Thöni won in front of 40,000, beatingIngemar Stenmark in the final.[2]
| Downhill start | Upper section 1 | Upper section 2 | Intermediate section |
|---|---|---|---|
 |  |  | .jpg) |
| Werner Heel (2013) | Bode Miller (2006) | Final section | Finish area |
 |  | .jpg) |  |
World Championships, also counted for World Cup.
Not part of classic Saslong competition. It only replacedLake Louise (2001),Beaver Creek (2022),Zermatt-Cervinia (2023)
| No. | Type | Season | Date | Winner | Second | Third |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1611 | DH | 2018/19 | 18 December 2018 | Ilka Štuhec |  Tina WeiratherNicole Schmidhofer | |
| 1612 | SG | 19 December 2018 | Ilka Štuhec | Nicol Delago | Ramona Siebenhofer |
In 1986, elite Club5 was originally founded by prestigious classic downhill organizers:Kitzbühel,Wengen,Garmisch,Val d’Isère andVal 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 andÅre.[4]
