Stelvio, pure adrenaline.
The Stelvio slope is with no doubt the most important piste of the ski area. It was inaugurated in 1982 for the first edition of the World Series and has twice hosted the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships: in 1985 and exactly twenty years later, in 2005. Since 1993 the Stelvio has hosted the World Cup end-of-year downhill race on every December 29.
Alongside the Streif of Kitzbuhel, the Stelvio is by unanimous opinion the most spectacular and technically difficult course. Champions of the calibre of Luc Alphand, Stephan Eberharter, Johann Grugger, Lasse Kjus, Hermann Maier, Daron Rahlves, Andreas Schifferer, Hannes Trinkl, Fritz Stobl, Bode Miller and Michael Walchhofer have triumphed on the “Stelvio”.
The Stelvio is almost 3,230 meters long with a 986-meter vertical drop and a maximum gradient of 60%. It is a notoriously unforgiving track.
Description of the course
The start is breathtaking. Two really fast turns lead immediately to the Rocca jump. Then it’s straight into the Canalino Sertorelli, where the skiers gather speed. Then, once past the Fontana Lunga turn, the skiers meet the insidious Ermellini turns, which lead them to the Carcentina diagonal, one of the most spectacular parts of the course.
Just a few seconds to catch their breath and from the Ciuk, they hit the fastest part of the course, theSan Pietro jump, which opens up like an chasm under their skis. After the flat stretch they are into the woods where the course is on a counterslope, with big, fast and demanding turns that leave no room for error. Competitors reach more than 100 km/h as they approach the last jump and then fly under the finish banner. Barely two thrilling minutes of pure adrenaline.
