Bringing the Audi FIS Ski World Cup closer or into big cities has long been a goal of FIS, after successful city events have already taken place in several disciplines, such as the sprints in Cross-Country Skiing, and aerial Freestyle and big air Snowboard competitions.

Following the successful World Cup events in Zagreb and the two Promotional Events on the large ramp in Moscow (RUS) in 2009, the 2010/11 season will feature the first Audi FIS Ski World Cup City Event, which will be staged on 2nd January 2011 in the Olympic Park in Munich (GER). Felix Neureuther won the first Alpine City Event organized on a massive ramp in Moscow (RUS) in January 2009, where the so-called Audi FIS Champions Cup was also staged in November 2009.

The parallel slalom competition at the Olympic Mountain will see the world's best racers fight for overall World Cup points on a 200 meter long slope with approximately 20 gates, ending at the bottom of the upper Olympic Lake. The Munich City Event will also include new elements such as special lighting and music, all designed to create a fantastic show with all the top stars of today's Alpine ski racing.

Other similar mega-events have previously been held in the Munich Olympic Park including a FIS Ski World Cup parallel slalom demonstration event in 1986 and FIS Snowboard World Cup events at the Olympiaberg in the early 2000's. In 1986 and 1987, there were actually more than 50'000 attendees at the two parallel slalom races held on the north slope of the so-called Olympic Mountain.

The athletes will be competing for Audi FIS Ski World Cup overall points, however not for the individual event point standings. 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. The hosting nation may apply for one wild card for ladies and one for men if there are no qualified athletes among the top 15 ranked athletes. If the hosting nation is presented in the top 15, automatically the top ranked 16th athlete of the overall World Cup Starting List is qualified. If qualified athletes do not enter the event, the 16th ranked and following athletes of the overall World Cup Starting List (WCSL) may enter.

The final list of qualified competitors for the City Event Munich will be known on 29th December, following the Audi FIS Ski World Cup events in Bormio and Semmering. The overall World Cup Starting List on that day will determine the eligible top 16 ladies and 16 men starters for the competition on Munich's 200 m long slope.

To find out more about the 2nd January event, visit the new event website here.