The World Cup seed was first planted in Moscow in 2009 when FIS organized a couple of promotional events on massive ramps in the middle of the city. The excitement grew into last season’s inaugural Audi FIS World Cup city event in Munich and for the 2011/12 season, the tour makes two metropolitan stops. Both men and ladies race once again in Munich on 1^st January and then in Moscow on 21^st February, both in a parallel slalom format.

The 2009 races were part of the Alpine Skiing Champions Cup and took place in Moscow in January and November. Both of these were invitational events staged on a massive scaffolding ramp and saw the participation of some of alpine ski racing’s biggest stars. The first event in January was held in the heart of Moscow in the Vorobyovy Mountains, in front of Moscow State University. In November 2009, the competition was carried out on the grounds of the Moscow City Palace of Children's and Youth Creativity.

This season, the new location for the Audi FIS World Cup event in Moscow will be the Luzhniki Palace of Sports, which hosted the gymnastics and judo events during the 1980 Summer Games and has hosted a series of world class ice skating and hockey events, as well as several large scale rock concerts. The 2012 event will be held on a ramp in the Luzhniki Olympic Complex. The ramp is 56 meters high, 37 meters wide and 175 meters long. Racers are expected to get from top to bottom in about 20 seconds.

In the alpine city events, athletes will be competing for Audi FIS Ski World Cup overall points. The top-ranked 15 ladies and the top ranked 15 men of the overall World Cup Starting List (WCSL) are qualified for this parallel event. If qualified athletes do not enter the event, the 16th ranked and following athletes of the overall World Cup Starting List (WCSL) may enter.

Germany’s Felix Neureuther won the first Alpine City Event in Moscow in January 2009, followed by France’s Jean-Baptiste Grange and American Bode Miller. In November 2009, Austrian Marcel Hirscher claimed victory, beating France’s Steve Missilier while Sweden’s Therese Borssen edged Maria Riesch in the ladies competition. In last season’s World Cup city races in Munich, Croatia’s Ivica Kostelic and Sweden’s Marie Pietilä-Holmner claimed victory.

The 21^st Feb Moscow City Event follows the Audi FIS World Cup’s first ever stops in Sochi, Russia, the location of the 2014 Games. The men race in Sochi on 11-12 Feb and the women 18-19 Feb.  Intensity will reach nail-biting proportions by the time the tour rolls into Moscow.