FIS Alpine Ski World Cup
The FIS Alpine Ski World Cup is the top international circuit of alpine skiing competitions, launched in 1966 by a group of ski racing friends and experts which included French journalist Serge Lang and the alpine ski team directors from France (Honore Bonnet) and the USA (Bob Beattie). It was soon backed by International Ski Federation president Marc Hodler during the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1966 at Portillo, Chile, and became an official FIS event in the spring of 1967 after the FIS Congress at Beirut, Lebanon.
| Alpine Ski World Cup | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Alpine skiing |
| Location(s) | Europe and North America; occasionally in Japan, Russia, Australia, Argentina, South Korea, New Zealand |
| Inaugurated | 5 January 1967 (men) 7 January 1967 (women) |
| Founders | Serge Lang Honore Bonnet Bob Beattie |
| Organised by | International Ski Federation (FIS) |
| People | Chief Race Directors Markus Waldner (men) Peter Gerdol (women) |
| Sponsor | Audi Quattro |
The inaugural World Cup race was held on 5 January 1967 in Berchtesgaden, West Germany, a slalom won by Heinrich Messner of Austria. Jean-Claude Killy of France and Nancy Greene of Canada were the overall winners for the first two seasons.