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A skier attacks a gate in GS

Giant slalom (GS) is an alpine skiing and alpine snowboarding discipline. It involves skiing between sets of poles (gates) spaced at a greater distance from each other than in slalom but less than in Super-G.

Giant slalom and slalom make up the technical events in alpine ski racing. This category separates them from the speed events of Super-G and downhill. The technical events are normally composed of two runs, held on different courses on the same ski run.

Course

The vertical drop for a GS course must be 250–450 m (820–1,480 ft) for men, and 250–400 m (820–1,310 ft) for women. The number of gates in this event is 56–70 for men and 46–58 for women. The number of direction changes in a GS course equals 11–15% of the vertical drop of the course in metres, 13–18% for children. As an example, a course with a vertical drop of 300 m (984 ft) would have 33–45 direction changes for an adult race.^[1]

Speed

Olympian Lotte Smiseth Sejersted
in a GS race

Although not the fastest event in skiing, on average a well-trained racer may reach average speeds of 40 km/h (25 mph) in the giant slalom.

Equipment

Top: giant slalom skis from 2006,
bottom: slalom skis.

Giant slalom skis are shorter than super-G and downhill skis, and longer than slalom skis.

In an attempt to increase safety for the 2003–04 season, the International Ski Federation (FIS) increased the minimum sidecut radius for giant slalom skis to 21 m (69 ft) and for the first time imposed minimum ski lengths for GS: 185 cm (72.8 in) for men and 180 cm (70.9 in) for women. A maximum stand height (the distance from the snow to the sole of the boot) of 55 mm (2.17 in) was also established for all disciplines.

In May 2006, the FIS announced further changes to the rules governing equipment. Beginning with the 2007–08 season, the minimum radius for GS skis was increased to 27 m (89 ft) for men and 23 m (75 ft) for women. Additionally, the minimum ski width at the waist was increased from 60 to 65 mm (2.36 to 2.56 in), and the maximum stand height for all disciplines was reduced to 50 mm (1.97 in).^[1] The best skiers tended to use a bigger sidecut radius, like Ted Ligety 29 m (95 ft) and Lindsey Vonn 27 m (89 ft).

For the 2012–13 season, the FIS increased the sidecut radius to 35 m (115 ft) and the minimal length to 195 cm (76.8 in). Many athletes criticized this decision. Often David Dodge was cited. Dodge argues that FIS used studies which do not comprise a scientific proof. He states that it is well known that if one tips the ski 7° more the 35 m ski will have the same turning radius as the 28 m ski. He states as well that knee injuries are decreasing since the 1990s, when carving skis started to be used.^{[2][3][4][5][6]}

History

The first giant slalom was set in 1935 on the Mottarone in Italy, over the Lake Maggiore, near Stresa, on January 20.^[7]
After one month, the second giant slalom was set on the Marmolada in Italy's Dolomite mountains, by Guenther Langes.^[8]

The giant slalom was added to the world championships in 1950 at Aspen, Colorado, and debuted at the Winter Olympics in 1952 at Oslo, Norway, run at Norefjell. The GS has been run in every world championships and Olympics since. Originally a one-run event, a second run was added for men at the world championships in 1966, run on consecutive days, and at the Olympics in 1968. The second run for women was added at the world championships in 1978, and made its Olympic debut in 1980.

The world championships changed to a one-day format for the giant slalom in 1974, but the Olympics continued the GS as a two-day event through 1980. Also scheduled for two days in 1984, both giant slaloms became one-day events after repeated postponements of the downhills. Following the extra races added to the program in 1988, the GS has been scheduled as a one-day event at the Olympics.

Upon its introduction, giant slalom briefly displaced the combined event at the world championships; it was absent in 1950 and 1952. The combined returned in 1954 in Åre, Sweden, but as a "paper race," using the results of the three events (downhill, giant slalom, and slalom), a format used through 1980. The combined returned as a stand-alone event at the world championships in 1982 at Schladming, Austria, and at the 1988 Calgary Olympics. It was changed to the super-combined format (one run of slalom on same day as downhill) at the world championships in 2007 and the Olympics in 2010.

Men's World Cup podiums

In the following table men's giant slalom World Cup podiums from the World Cup first edition in 1967.^[9]

Season	1st	2nd	3rd
1967	Jean-Claude Killy	Georges Mauduit	Jimmy Heuga
1968	Jean-Claude Killy	Edmund Bruggmann	Herbert Huber
1969	Karl Schranz	Reinhard Tritscher	Jean-Noel Augert
1970	Gustav Thöni	Patrick Russel Dumeng Giovanoli
1971	Gustav Thöni Patrick Russel		Edmund Bruggmann
1972	Gustav Thöni	Edmund Bruggmann	Rogers Rossat-Mignod
1973	Hans Hinterseer	Erik Haker	Adolf Rösti
1974	Piero Gros	Hans Hinterseer	Gustav Thöni
1975	Ingemar Stenmark	Piero Gros	Erik Haker
1976	Ingemar Stenmark	Gustav Thöni	Piero Gros
1977	Ingemar Stenmark Heini Hemmi		Klaus Heidegger
1978	Ingemar Stenmark	Andreas Wenzel	Phil Mahre
1979	Ingemar Stenmark	Peter Lüscher	Bojan Krizaj
1980	Ingemar Stenmark	Hans Enn	Jacques Lüthy
1981	Ingemar Stenmark	Alexander Zhirov	Phil Mahre
1982	Phil Mahre	Ingemar Stenmark	Marc Girardelli
1983	Phil Mahre	Ingemar Stenmark Max Julen
1984	Ingemar Stenmark Pirmin Zurbriggen		Hans Enn
1985	Marc Girardelli	Pirmin Zurbriggen	Thomas Bürgler
1986	Joel Gaspoz	Ingemar Stenmark	Hubert Strolz
1987	Pirmin Zurbriggen Joel Gaspoz		Richard Pramotton
1988	Alberto Tomba	Hubert Strolz	Helmut Mayer
1989	Ole-Christian Furuseth Pirmin Zurbriggen		Rudolf Nierlich
1990	Günther Mader Ole-Christian Furuseth		Hubert Strolz
1991	Alberto Tomba	Rudolf Nierlich	Marc Girardelli
1992	Alberto Tomba	Hans Pieren	Paul Accola
1993	Kjetil-Andre Aamodt	Alberto Tomba	Marc Girardelli
1994	Christian Mayer	Kjetil-Andre Aamodt	Franck Piccard
1995	Alberto Tomba	Jure Kosir	Harald Strand Nilsen
1996	Michael von Grünigen	Urs Kälin	Lasse Kjus
1997	Michael von Grünigen	Kjetil-Andre Aamodt	Hans Knauß
1998	Hermann Maier	Michael von Grünigen	Christian Mayer
1999	Michael von Grünigen	Stephan Eberharter	Hermann Maier
2000	Hermann Maier	Christian Mayer	Michael von Grünigen
2001	Hermann Maier	Michael von Grünigen	Erik Schlopy
2002	Frederic Covili	Benjamin Raich	Stephan Eberharter
2003	Michael von Grünigen	Bode Miller	Hans Knauß
2004	Bode Miller	Kalle Palander	Massimiliano Blardone
2005	Benjamin Raich	Bode Miller	Thomas Grandi
2006	Benjamin Raich	Massimiliano Blardone	Fredrik Nyberg
2007	Aksel Lund Svindal	Massimiliano Blardone	Benjamin Raich
2008	Ted Ligety	Benjamin Raich	Manfred Mölgg
2009	Didier Cuche	Benjamin Raich	Ted Ligety
2010	Ted Ligety	Carlo Janka	Benjamin Raich
2011	Ted Ligety	Aksel Lund Svindal	Cyprien Richard
2012	Marcel Hirscher	Ted Ligety	Massimiliano Blardone
2013	Ted Ligety	Marcel Hirscher	Alexis Pinturault
2014	Ted Ligety	Marcel Hirscher	Alexis Pinturault
2015	Marcel Hirscher	Alexis Pinturault	Ted Ligety
2016	Marcel Hirscher	Alexis Pinturault	Henrik Kristoffersen
2017	Marcel Hirscher	Mathieu Faivre	Alexis Pinturault

Men's most podiums in World Cup

Skiers having most podium in FIS Alpine Ski World Cup.^[10]

Updated to 5 February 2018.

#	Skier	Total	Last
1	Ingemar Stenmark	72	19-02-1989
2	Marcel Hirscher	52	28-01-2018
3	Michael Von Grueningen	46	15-03-2003
4	Ted Ligety	41	28-01-2018
5	Benjamin Raich	35	01-03-2015
6	Alberto Tomba	31	06-01-1998
7	Hermann Maier	28	23-10-2005
8	Phil Mahre	26	05-03-1984
9	Gustavo Thoeni	26	02-01-1977
10	Alexis Pinturault	26	06-01-2018
11	Marc Girardelli	26	27-03-1993
12	Massimiliano Blardone	25	13-02-2016
13	Bode Miller	21	08-12-2013
14	Fredrik Nyberg	20	17-03-2006

See also

• List of Olympic medalists in men's giant slalom


• List of Olympic medalists in women's giant slalom


• List of Paralympic medalists in men's giant slalom


• List of Paralympic medalists in women's giant slalom


• List of World Champions in giant slalom

References

External links

• 
  Media related to Giant slalom skiing at Wikimedia Commons